Great Depression

Crop production in the mid-west went up to meet the demand for food during World War I.  Many people purchased goods using credit which allowed them to make payments over time.  They were expecting to keep making the same amount of money. When the war ended, demand and prices went down.  Farmers could not make as much money as they had in the previous years.  As a result, the money left in their bank accounts went down to nothing. Adding to their problems was a severe drought.  A drought happens when an area does not get enough rainfall to support plant life.  As the ground became dryer and dryer, the soil began to blow away in the wind. Huge dust storms made living in the mid-west difficult.  The two images below show the same car in the same field during the drought and after the drought.  Notice how the ground was so dry in the picture on the left, that foot prints could be seen in the soil as if it were sand or snow.  Many people left the areas and migrated to California.  They were nick-names Okies, because so many of them came from Oklahoma.