Webblog

Bad farming practices caused a great disaster for a while in the United States. It occur ed on the plains and affected many people. This is what we learned about in lecture 11. The two movies we watched we a bit dry (no pun intended) but interesting at the same time. One places blame on the farmers, saying it was their fault and the second was more or less that the farmers could make it through.
The first movie "The Plow that Broke the Plains" was depressing. All the footage shown was sad and depressing. animals dying and such. This disaster brought out the worst in the plains. Grasshoppers consumed anything that was left, and jackrabbits took over. People left the plains to seek jobs elsewhere. At the same time the depression was happening and unemployment was at +25%. No matter where they went there was no money.
In the second movie they showed hope. They explained that people could wait it out they just had to work harder. Some of the farmers started up animal husbandry. The people had to go farther for water and such but they were still making some money. Some bought cattle, or sheep. Then they would sell the animals they didn't need and kept the good breeding stock. Eventually the rains came and the plains were growing again. I liked this movie better because it was more hopeful. It showed how hardy the plains people were and that they could make it through such a hard time.
In school we never really learned much about the Dust Bowl. It's a pretty important part of the U.S. history. It should be taught more and in depth.