Today, we did blog discussions again....We also reviewed what we talked about yesterday..
*The Dust Bowl: a sensation sweeping the nation...the great plains had numerous dust storms that were occuring...it happened because the earth was very dry and it was windy..it was because during WWI the farmers in the great plains started tilling up pasture land and planting crops..they didn't do crop rotation or plant trees to prevent erosion causing erosion...This also caused a drought..Over a 100 million topsoils were torn up.. Congress passed a soil conservation law to make farmers keep up their land..Families that had had enough, moved to cities..Dorthia Lange was a very famous photographer during the Great Depression.
*Men in the Streets: Many unemployed people went to bread lines and soup kitchens. They moved to Hoovervilles and made homes of cardboard boxes, newspapers, etc. WW2 helped people to get off of the streets so they went to war. Men became soldiers and women were able to get more jobs. "Direct Relief" is giving cash payments to people every month (a.k.a. welfare)..New York city was one of the few cities that gave out money to people. (in the 1920s there really wasn't any welfare)..
* Women struggle to survive: women were expected to have jobs inside and outside of the house. (household chores, care for kids, can food..if their husbands lost their jobs, they were expected to find jobs outside of the house..they were accused of stealing men's jobs.) ..they were discriminated against, they weren't paid the same amount as men... on average, women are still paid less even today. Some women were starving..
*Children suffer hardships: a lot of children had malnutrition because of lack of food..many schools had closed down so children had to teach themselves..a lot of teenagers hopped on trains to find adventure and jobs..many times they left because they thought they were burdens to their parents..many of them were killed during that time (wild boys, or box car boys) because they were trespassing on the trains..it was a dangerous lifestyle..suicide rates went up..
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