Section 4 Flashcards
During the 1930s, states from Texas to the Dakotas suffered a what? What did the area become known as?
Severe drought. The Dust Bowl.
What happened during dust bowls?
Top soil dried out and high winds carried the soil away in blinding dust storms.
What caused the dustbowl?
Years of overgrazing by cattle, and plowing by farmers destroyed the grasses that once held the soil in place.
The ______ dried out the soil, and the _____ _____ blew it away.
drought, high winds.
Who were the hardest hit by the duststorms?
Poor farmers in Oklahoma and other Great Plains states.
What did poor farmers do when they were majorly affected by the dust storms?
They packed their belongings into cars and trucks and headed west.
What did they become?
Migrant workers.
What were migrant workers?
People who move from one region to another in search of work.
When the migrants reached the West Coast, what was their new hardship they faced?
They were not wanted. Sometimes angry crowds blocked the way and sent the migrants away.
What took on added importance during the depression?
Traditional roles.
To help pay the rent what did women do?
Took in laundry or borders.
What special problems did working
women face?
Employers hired men before they would hire a woman, and the federal government refused to hire a woman if her husband had a job.
What was the percentage of increasing marriages of women in the workforce?
52%
What did some women do for better pay when employers lowered their wages?
Went on strike.
What was Eleanor Roosevelt’s new role for the First Lady?
She toured around the nation as the president’s eyes and ears and used her position to speak out for women’s rights.
Who were the first to lose their jobs when hard times hit?
African American workers.
What else happened to African Americans during hard times?
They were often denied public works, and some charities even refused to serve blacks.
What did Eleanor Roosevelt and others close to the president urge him to do?
They urged him to improve the situation of African-Americans.
Who were the unofficial black advisors that FDR invited into the White House?
The black cabinet.
Who was the first African-American to head a government agency?
Mary McLeod Bethune.
Whose advice did Roosevelt often follow?
The black cabinet.
When African-American leaders pressed the president to support an anti-lynching law, what did she do?
Refused.
What support did the president fear he would lose?
Southerners in Congress.
Who did many black leaders call on to obtain their civil rights?
African-Americans.
