How Did The Okies Affect The Economy In The 1930's

The 1930’s was a horrendous, dreadful time period that affected the whole world. The U.S got hit especially hard considering the country was very strong and prosperous the previous decade. Farmers that lived in the Panhandle of Oklahoma, Okies, were hit especially hard. The Okies were affected more than any other group in the U.S. during The Great Depression because not only did they suffer the economic problems of no money or jobs, but they also had to deal with dust storms and moving across the country.

When the stock market crashed in 1929, the price of corn and wheat dropped so low, that it was no longer profitable to grow. Farmers were forced to sell livestock or machinery and borrow money from banks to try to keep their farm running. In 1932, one thousand families a week were losing their farms. If farmers couldn’t pay the bank, a tractor would be sent to destroy their farmhouse and they would say the land was “tractored out.” By 1937, the unemployment rate in Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas was 30%. As Jerry Stanley said in his book Children of the Dust Bowl, “The Okies were broke, they were without land, and they were hungry,” (Stanley 3-10).

Farmers had no irrigation systems, reservoirs, or canals, making it almost impossible to grow crops or raise livestock. Five years after it stopped raining, the wind started to blow and things became even more difficult for the Okies. These dust storms opened doors, shattered windows, and leveled barns. They had to sleep with rags over their faces at night, but still found their pillows, blankets, teeth, and tongue caked with dirt or grit. Many people who stayed out in the wind too long caused severe damage to their lungs, which was called “dust pneumonia,” and died. The Okies attempted to stop the wind by planting mulberry trees and plowing furrows, but it was far too late and the harm had already been