Average Southwest Migrant Family example essay topic

Dust Bowl Odyssey The Dust Bowl Odyssey begins with an excerpt from the famous novel The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck. The novel told the story of the Joad family during the depression era and their journey from Oklahoma to California in hopes of getting their lives back on track. The book, which was written in 1939, was Steinbeck attempt to not only describe the plight of migrant farm workers during the Depression but to also offer sharp criticism of the polities that has caused the predicament in the first place. The novel is often recognized as a chronicle of the Depression and as a commentary of the economic and social systems that caused it. The "Dust Bowl" phenomenon occurred throughout western Oklahoma and Kansas and in the Texas panhandle. Severe drought during the 1930's had led to massive agricultural failures in the Southwest.

These areas had been heavily over cultivated by the wheat farmers for the last decades and were covered with millions of acres of loose, uncovered topsoil. Without precipitation the crops withered and died. The topsoil, which did not have any anchoring roots, was picked up by the winds and carried in billowing clouds across the region. Huge dust storms blew across the area, at times blocking out the sun and even suffocating those caught unprepared. The Grapes of Wrath recounts the story of the Great Depression in Southwest America. By the mid-1930's, the drought had destroyed multitudes of farm families, and America had fallen into the Great Depression.

Unable to pay their mortgages or invest in the kinds of industrial equipment now required, many Dust Bowl farmers were forced to leave their land. Without employment, thousands of families traveled to California in hopes of finding new means of survival. But the farm country of California quickly became overcrowded with the migrant workers. Jobs and food were scarce, and the migrants faced prejudice and hostility from the Californians, who labeled them "Okies". These workers and their families lived in cramped, impoverished camps called "Hooverville's", named after President Hoover, who was blamed for the problems that led to the Great Depression. Many of the residents of these camps starved to death, unable to find work.

John Steinbeck took his work very seriously. To prepare for his novel he lived with an Oklahoma farm family and made the journey with them to California. When The Grapes of Wrath appeared, it soared to the top of the best-seller lists. The story of the Joad family captured a turbulent moment in American history. In 1940, the novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and made into a movie. John Steinbeck wrote many famous novels but none of them had the impact of The Grapes of Wrath.

As popular and as real as this book seemed, it is the Historians job to find how valid the story really is. Were the Joads a typical American family that migrated to California? What parts of his novel were embellishments of the truth? What facts were left out of his account? These are all questions the authors of this article are attempting to answer. This article uses the U.S. census, which in 1940 was even more comprehensive than in previous years, to answer these questions.

The first thing the authors find in their analysis of the Grapes of Wrath in that Stienbeck's geography was not very accurate. The Joads actually came from the eastern part of Oklahoma, hundreds of miles out side of the "Dust Bowl". So, this would make the Joads more of displaced agriculture laborers from the Southwest than "Dust Bowl" refugees. The next analysis involves numbers. How many Californian immigrants came from "Dust Bowl"? Historian James Gregory analyzed the census records from 1910 to 1970.

The first thing that he found was the 1930's was not really different from the others. Both the 1920's and the 1940's had substantial immigrants from the Southwest. One of the reason for this was the tractor was replacing human labor. The authors suggest that the explanation for the migration to California needs to include agricultural changes as well as the mechanization of farming. (267) Gregory's census analysis also reveals a few other interesting statistics. In a 1930 census of 116, 00 families that migrated to California only 43% farmers workers, additionally only 36% reported working on a farm.

This suggests some exaggerations on the part of Steinbeck on the numbers of farmers in the migrant flow. His statistics also indicate the average Southwest migrant family had 4.4 members and the average migrants age was 35. The census data also indicated that 70% of the Southwestern migrants located in urban California and that a mere 28% "Dust Bowl" refugees chose the San Joaquin Valley. This proves that the Joads family was not typical. Steinbeck's account suggests that the road to California was dangerous and treacherous, however further analysis indicates the trip took 3 to 4 days in a decent vehicle. Once again indicating that exaggeration helps make a story more interesting.

This article proves that numerical data such as the census can be extremely useful in uncovering the real story. While Steinbeck's account tells a semi-accurate story of the Depression era, we also find that the story is not the typical "Dust Bowl" refugee testimony. We discover there are several exaggerations not only in the numbers but in the recollection. For example, California fared better than most other states during the depression and "Okies" were paid better that most other groups of migrant farm workers.