The New Deal and the West Chapter 24 Section 4 Notes 6.0

The New Deal and the West

Chapter 24 Section 4Notes 6.0

Objectives…

• Evaluate the impact of the New Deal on the West….

TheDust Bowl

Where? Why? Who?

Where was the Dust Bowl?

Dust Storm - Beaver, Oklahoma

Texas Today

• U.S. Drought Monitor

What were the effects?

• Destroyed crops• Dust Pneumonia• People stranded• Black Blizzards• 1/5 to 1/3 applied for

relief• 90% applied for relief in

some areas

Phoenix dust storms - July 2011

• YouTube video

http://www.azcentral.com/commphotos/azcentral/19441/1#1

Federal Agencies and the Dust Bowl

• RA ….(Resettlement Administration)• WPA….• AAA …• Drought Relief Service • Soil Conservation Service…• By 1940 Dust Bowl reduced from 50 million

acres to 4 million

Migration

• Okies• Many went to CA• Became poorly paid

agricultural workers• Forced Mexicans out

How did U.S. water policy change?

• Boulder Dam/Hoover Dam

• Colorado River• Flood prevention• Irrigation• Water S. Cal.• Cheap electricity

Boulder / Hoover Dam Vital Statistics

•Location: AZ & NV•Built: 1931-1936•Cost: $165 million•Purpose: Hydroelectric/ Flood control•Employed: 8,000 workers

Hoover Dam Fast Facts

•660 ft. Thick - 726 ft. tall•20K gals. of water per sec. run the generators •Concrete equals 2 lane road - Seattle, WA, to Miami, FL

What were the consequences of U.S. water policy?

• West wanted gov’t run project to provide cheap electric power

• Increased FDR’s popularity• Helped make California’s Imperial Valley

one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world

A New Deal for Indians

• 1933-320,00 Indian people belonging to 200 tribes lived on reservations

• Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico and South Dakota

• Worst Poverty• Infant mortality rate 2x of white population• Alcoholism, tuberculosis, measles • Bureau of Indian Affairs-appointed John Collier

• Collier-progressive era social work and community organization

• Pledged to “stop wronging the Indians and to rewrite cruel and stupid laws that rob them and crush their families”

• Driving force behind Indian Reorganization Act• Navajo rejected the IRA-protest against the

reduction of their livestock• Howard Gorman-Navajo political leader did

not get along with Collier

• BIA under Collier’s tenure became more sensitive to Indian cultural and religious freedom

• Employment rose• BIA and Congress interfered with tribes-

especially economically• Margold Opinion-tribal governments retained

all their original powers-except when specifically limited by Congress