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This lecture was based off of two videos that had slightly different views regarding the Dust Bowl. The first video, titled "The Plow that Broke the Plains," began with information regarding the last frontier. The buffalo and natives were cleared from the land by the 1880s. Images were shown of vast grasslands. The phrase "a lot of grass with wind and sun, no trees, streams, and little rain" was repeated multiple times to give the impression of a wasteland. The horse-drawn plow was a breakthrough in tilling up the land. It enabled more efficient means of breaking up the land to provide a living on the plains. The onset of World War I sent wheat prices soaring, and it was a boom in the economy of the plains area. "Wheat will win the war!" was also repeated as farmers were encouraged to make a living on the plains. The old tractors were a huge breakthrough as much more land could be farmed. With the tractor came other new equipment like the threshing machine. The video took a dramatic turn when the drought and wind brought about a story of loss of hope. People had to move to find livings, and depended on the government to pull them through. The second video, titled "Rain for the Earth," was the same information but a different perspective. It showed some of the history of the area- the pioneers, industrial revolutions, war, and the Great Depression. The second video also showed more images of sheep, and the dependence on the animal through difficult times. This video, however, had more of a happy ending. Although the land was troubled, the people could not be shaken. The inhabitants stuck it out, and seemed more optimistic about the situation.

I had no idea the situation was that bad. When I thought of dust bowl, I thought of the top soil blowing off of the fields. The images showed no vegetation at all. This is a very difficult concept for me to grasp. I lived through a drought at the end of the 1990s, but could not imagine my parents' farm with everything dead and dust engulfing the land. The question "Why did the government of the US make the film?" I did some research on the videos, and found that they came out around the time the New Deal was being proposed. These videos were more than likely used as propaganda to win votes in establishing farm plans and conservation practices. The first video had the theme of taking advantage of what the government was offering (propaganda to pass new programs?). The second video may have been used to counteract the programs that were being proposed because it had more of a theme "People can make it on their own if they stick it out."~Chris Schmaltz