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What caused the Dust Bowl, and how did it deepen the suffering of the Great Depression?

Analyze the causes and effects of the Dust Bowl, including drought and poor farming practices, the migration of Okies to California, and its connection to the Great Depression (NGSSS SS.912.A.6, Reporting Category 2).

An EOC-level answer on the Dust Bowl for the Florida US History exam: the causes of the dust storms in drought and poor farming practices, the human and environmental impact, the migration of Okies to California, and the link to the Great Depression, with worked stimulus questions.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.811 min answer

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

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  1. What this topic is asking
  2. A natural and human disaster
  3. The impact on farm families
  4. Migration and disappointment
  5. The connection to the Great Depression and the New Deal
  6. Try this

What this topic is asking

While the cities suffered the Depression, the Great Plains were struck by an environmental catastrophe that compounded the misery. The NGSSS benchmark SS.912.A.6 wants you to analyze the causes of the Dust Bowl (both natural and human), its effects on farm families, and the migration it triggered. This is a Reporting Category 2 topic the EOC tests with a famous photograph or a question linking environment, economy, and migration.

A natural and human disaster

When strong winds swept the dry, exposed soil, they created towering dust storms ("black blizzards") that darkened the sky, buried homes and machinery, and made farming and even breathing difficult.

The impact on farm families

The storms destroyed crops and livestock and made vast areas unfarmable. Families who could no longer pay their debts lost their farms and homes. Hundreds of thousands packed up and headed west, especially to California, hoping for agricultural jobs.

Migration and disappointment

The migration was one of the largest internal movements in American history. But California already had too many workers, and the Okies often faced low wages, miserable camps, and prejudice. Their hardship became a symbol of the Depression, immortalized in John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath and in the documentary photographs of the era.

The connection to the Great Depression and the New Deal

The Dust Bowl made the Great Depression far worse in rural America, ruining farmers who were already battered by low crop prices and debt. It also shaped policy: the New Deal created programs to teach soil conservation and better land use, and to help farmers, so that such a disaster might be prevented in the future.

Try this

Q1. Identify the two main causes of the Dust Bowl. [2]

  • Cue. Severe drought (natural) and poor farming practices that stripped the Great Plains of the native grasses holding the soil in place (human).

Q2. Explain how the Dust Bowl affected farm families on the Great Plains. [2]

  • Cue. Dust storms ruined crops and livestock and buried farms; many families lost their land and migrated west (the Okies), especially to California, where they often found poverty and prejudice.

Exam-style practice questions

Practice questions written in the style of FLDOE exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.

FL EOC (US History, style)1 marksA 1936 photograph shows a farm family in Oklahoma standing before a house half-buried in drifting dust, with a caption noting they are leaving for California. This image is most directly associated with the
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A single-select stimulus item (Reporting Category 2, SS.912.A.6).

Correct answer: the Dust Bowl, the severe dust storms on the Great Plains in the 1930s that drove many farm families to migrate west.

Markers reward connecting the buried farm and the move to California to the Dust Bowl migration. Distractors such as the Great Migration (African Americans moving north) or the California Gold Rush name different movements.

FL EOC (US History, style)1 marksThe Dust Bowl of the 1930s was caused by a combination of
Show worked answer →

A single-select item (Reporting Category 2, SS.912.A.6).

Correct answer: severe drought and poor farming practices that had stripped the Great Plains of the grasses that held the soil in place.

Markers reward identifying both the natural cause (drought) and the human cause (over-farming and the loss of native grasses). Distractors blaming the dust storms only on factory pollution or only on the stock market crash miss the agricultural and environmental causes.

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