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"many of the farms literally dried up and blew away creating what became known as the "Dust Bowl." Driven by the Great Depression, drought, and dust storms, thousands of farmers packed up their families and made the difficult journey to California where they hoped to find work"

"California was emphatically not the promised land of the migrants' dreams" This was the common misconception that the migrant workers had, they believed and with good reason that when they reached california all of their struggles would disappear. This was not the case because of the 30% unemployment rate and the constant scheming of their employers to find the cheapest workers available, even if it caused children to starve.

Discusses the treatment of the Okies, their ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and why they were so disliked. It is pointed out how the Dust Bowl encompasses many universal human experiences such as the discomfort of displacement, cultural tensions, and discrimination.

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This article views the dust bowl from an unbiased point of view. The text says that the federal government was quite involved with the aid of those suffering in the dust bowl for not the sake of the people, but for the sake of the economic dependency of the united states

"when the high price of wheat and the needs of Allied troops encouraged farmers to grow more wheat by plowing and seeding areas in prairie states, such as Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma..."

This discusses the cause and effect of the dust bowl for the Grapes of Wrath

A quick historical summary of what happened during the Dust Bowl.

This source gives a general description of the hard times of the 1930s, beginning with the stock market crash in 1929. The Grapes of Wrath is written about this time period, when the dust bowl was also occurring. Times were tough for millions of American, as the unemployment rate rose to 25% nationwide and many more suffered cuts in wages. The migrant Okies and others affected by the Dust Bowl were hardest hit, as they had to deal with mother nature and a near-dead economy.

Steinbeck portrays the reealism in the struggles of the migrants. He showed the horrors of the dust bowl the way no on else saw it. He helped to bring help and attention to the migrants.

This article discusses how social isolation hinders one's ability to cognitively function on a normal level. Studies have been done showing that those who interact socially for 10 minutes before a test out-perform those who do mental exercises such as crosswords. By isolating himself, Victor faced the psychological effects described in this article.

The article details the historical background of the migrant workers plight in the Great Depression. 3.5 million people joined the migrant work force in the Dust Bowl. The article also tells of how the over farming led to the desertification of the soil. The article is useful for historical background information on "The Grapes of Wrath".

Good information about the Dust Bowl, the migrant workers in California, and different actions taken by the government to try to ameliorate their positions, attributed to the writers of the era. See Drought and Dust, and A Second New Deal sections

This article talks about the role of exposé writers at the turn of the century. They had a large impact on the social reform that took place. They inspired the people to make a change and they proved the government to be corrupt. They were called muckrakers.

"But there was not enough work for everyone who came. Instead of immediate riches, they often found squalor in roadside ditch encampments." This was exactly the problem for most of the migrant workers, including the Joads. They had false hope of finding a better life in California when in reality they had just been deceived by the higher ups .

"...10 percent of Oklahoma farmers lost their land to foreclosure, and tenant farmers (who comprised more than 60 percent of Oklahoma farmers in the 1930s) had little incentive to endure poor crops and low prices year after year. Mechanization of farming began to consolidate small farms into larger ones. "Just as the Joads had struggled to maintain income sufficient to live on at their farm, so did the rest of the tenant farmers during their time period. The large corporations such as the ones that took over the Joads were forcing many of the small farmers off their land with no regard or care as to what would happen to these people and their families

About the migration of those affected by the Dust Bowl to California and how poorly they were treated in California.

"In larger ranches, they often had to buy their groceries from a high-priced company store." The lack of ethics was not uncommon during this period. Many of these stores made it so that the farmers were eternally in debt to them and were then forced to continue working for them for less and less. The Joads experience with this was no different.