GKE Task 1
A. Significant environmental /geographical factors that contributed to the development or expansion of the United States:
1. The Dust Bowl
Farmers began to plow and plant wheat crops. When World War 1 began the massive wheat crops helped feed many Americans that in another part of the country try where in the beginning of a depression that was caused by the war. The wheat crops also helped feed numerous nations overseas. A drought that began in the beginning of the 1930’s persisted and was leading things in a very negative direction. No matter the circumstances farmers kept on farming hoping the rain would soon come back. In 1931 the rain just stopped and the farmers still kept trying to farm. Without adequate
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B. One significant environmental or geographical factor that contributed to the development or diffusion on one human society from:
Egypt’s geographic characteristics that affect the development of human society were the Nile River. The Nile River made the ability of a large population in a desert region. Also, the Nile would flood bringing rich soil to the lower regions of the rivers course. The crops in this area did well and the flooding helped set a steady schedule for planting and harvesting and because of this the societies remained stable and had extra time to develop art and science in their culture. The people of Egypt also had access to some of the largest quantities of stone such as granite. This began the development and building of pyramids instead of mud buildings. The Nile River played a huge role in the development of Egypt.
1. Cultural diffusion between Mesopotamia and Egypt.
The social and politically elite from Egypt sought exotic goods and items of symbolic prestigiousness from India (Mesopotamia). For example: Mesopotamian cylinder seals and Afghan Lapis Lazuli which were found in early Egyptian tombs. Not only was there trades of items but there was trades of ideas. Egyptians imitated the Lapis Lazuli in their Egyptian Faience (ceramic of glass). Due to the Lapis Lazuli being very rare and expensive the Egyptian felt they could benefit from doing this. The Faience represents the first known
The Nile shaped Egypt by influencing its geography, popular distribution, and settlements. The majority of settlements in Ancient Egypt were located around the Nile River Delta (Doc. A), where land was fertile, trade was good, and there were many natural resources. Because of geography in this civilization, Egyptians could easily protect and defend themselves, as well as settle down and have good lives.
The Dust Bowl, battering the Midwest for nearly a decade with high winds, bad farming techniques, and drought, became a pivotal point in American history. The wind storm that seemed relentless beginning in the early 1930’s until its spell ended in 1939, affected the lives of tens of thousands of Americans and the broader agriculture industry. The catastrophic effects of the Dust Bowl took place most prominently around the Great Plains, otherwise known as the farming belt, including states such as Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas, which were hit extraordinarily hard. Millions of farming acres destroyed by poor farming techniques was a major contributor to what is considered to be one of the worst man-made environmental disasters in American history. This period resulted in almost a decade of unstable farming and economic despair. Thousands of families sought government assistance in order to survive. Luckily, government aid to farmers and new agriculture programs that were introduced to help save the nation’s agriculture industry benefited families and helped the Great Plains recover from the Dust Bowl. Furthermore, the poor conditions in the farm belt were also compounded by the Great Depression as it was in full swing as the Dust Bowl began to worsen. In addition, World War I was also underway which caused a high demand for agricultural products, such as wheat, corn, and potatoes to be at its peak, which lured many people to the farm belt with the false expectation that farming
Because of the Dust Bowl, many peoples’ lives in the midwest were drastically changed, and California experienced a surge of refugees looking for agricultural opportunities. Because of this, many families, just like the fictional character Merliah, were forced to take jobs that required hard labour and not much pay. Merliah, a girl of 10 years old, watched, stunned, as dark clouds rolled in, and the wind whistled, making trees bend at its will. It was only 2 in the afternoon, but anyone could’ve thought it was midnight. That afternoon, Merliah watched as her father corralled all the cattle into a ditch. He was going to shoot them. Merliah covered her eyes as she heard the gunshots echo into the distance. In the morning, she put on a dust mask and jogged to get to school, afraid she would become stuck in a dust storm. Although this was Merliah’s life, everyone around her was experiencing the same things. Dust, storms, poverty-- they were what were on everyone's’ mind.
The Dust Bowl was "the darkest moment in the twentieth-century life of the southern plains," (pg. 4) as described by Donald Worster in his book "The Dust Bowl." It was a time of drought, famine, and poverty that existed in the 1930's. It's cause, as Worster presents in a very thorough manner, was a chain of events that was perpetuated by the basic capitalistic society's "need" for expansion and consumption. Considered by some as one of the worst ecological catastrophes in the history of man, Worster argues that the Dust Bowl was created not by nature's work, but by an American culture that was working exactly the way it was planned. In essence, the Dust Bowl was the effect of a society, which deliberately set out to
According to answers.com, a dust bowl is a region reduced to aridity by drought and dust storms. The best-known dust bowl is doubtless the one that hit the United States between 1933 and 1939.
The Nile River was the life force of ancient Egypt. People from all over the region immigrated to the area for its irrigation waters and rich silt deposits. The geography of the region played a huge role in the way the inhabitants and civilization in general was formed. The main core of Egypt covered 386, 560 square miles, of which only 11, 720 were cultivable (Tignor et al., Worlds Together, 62). The Nile differed itself specifically from the Tigris and Euphrates in that its waters did not irrigate or fertilize nearly as well but it did create green belts along the water. This created a society that flourished along the river. The Nile unlike Mesopotamia did not have a bountiful borderland but did have a desert rich in materials. The Niles predictability as the source of life and abundance shaped the character of the people and their culture. (Tignor et al., Worlds Together, 63). The Nile was peaceful and calm unlike the vicious Tigris And Euphrates Rivers. Egypt with its natural borders, which included the Mediterranean Sea, Deserts, and Large Waterfalls, was very isolated. This helped to achieve
The Dust Bowl a tragic event that occurred during the 1930's primarily in the southern plains states. It hurt the lives of many people, and it was preventable. This event is relevant to what we are studying in class.
Natural disasters can cause massive damage, but few realize that many barely last a few days. If so much can be done in such a minute amount of time, imagine what a decade would do. The dust bowl was a weather event that lasted for the entirety of an eight-year drought and lingered for multiple years after. The result: Economic devastation for the agriculture of the area. The dust bowl was a large contributor to agriculture’s role in the great depression and defines how we approach environmental protection today.
The reasons why the people had started the madness. People’s actions caused the Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl left people with nothing at the time. It also killed lots of people around the areas of the Dust Bowl.“Most early settlers used the land for livestock grazing until agricultural mechanization combined with high grain prices during World War I.” (Dust Bowl) People wanted even more when they should have stopped sooner. “By 1941 much of the land was rehabilitated, but the region repeated its mistakes during World War II as farmers again plowed up grassland to plant wheat when grain prices rose.” (Dust Bowl) The land was improving a little bit, but the people made the same mistake again. “ Lured by a land lush with shrubs, grasses, and soil so rich it looked like chocolate, the farmers didn’t realize that what they were witnessing.”(Introduction, Surviving The Dust Bowl) The
In what was one of the most fertile areas of the United States, one of the Nation’s worst agricultural disasters occurred. No rain came so crops did not grow, leaving the soil exposed to the high winds that hit the area in the 1930s. Stretching over a 150,000 square mile area and encompassing parts of five states—these being Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico—the Dust Bowl was a time where over 100 million acres of topsoil were stripped from fertile fields leaving nothing but barren lands and piles of dust everywhere (Ganzel). While things were done to alleviate the problem, one must question whether or not anyone has learned from this disaster. If not, one must look into the possibility that the United States may be struck
It was around 1931, we lived in the rural area outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma. We were on the brink of becoming homeless. The rent on our rather modest farm house had become three months overdue. We were unable to grow anything in the state the land had been in. I knew with my sister’s condition, we couldn't afford any further complications. My mother and the oldest of my younger brothers took their time to aid my sister with her asthma. My other younger brothers were twins and mainly just ran around playing, since they were too young to truly grasp the misfortune of our ordeal. My Aunt had recently moved in with us as well. She had become too depressed to genuinely help after the death of her husband, caused by an illness from the Dust Bowl. Our
PO 2. Describe the environmental, economic, cultural, and political effects of human migrations and cultural diffusion on places and regions.
The Effects of the Dust Bowl Did you know that during the great depression there were about one hundred million acres of land affected by the Dust Bowl? The Dust Bowl appeared along with the great depression. At the time there was dust blowing everywhere along the northern states. The majority of the communities moved to California.
The 1930’s were a decade of great change politically, economically, and socially. The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl wore raw the nerves of the people, and our true strength was shown. From it arose John Steinbeck, a storyteller of the Okies and their hardships. His books, especially The Grapes of Wrath, are reflections of what really went on in the 1930’s. John Steinbeck did not write about what he had previously read, he instead wrote what he experienced through his travels with the migrant workers. “His method was not to present himself notebook in hand and interview people. Instead he worked and traveled with the migrants as one of them, living as they did and arousing no suspicion from employers militantly alert against
Imagine you lived during the time period where poor farming techniques were created, and dust was being deposited or dropped into your lungs, forcing you to walk slowly down the steps of death. The phenomenon, the Dust Bowl, took place in the United States during the years around the 1930’s. It was an event that occurred in the United States, where the area it was taken place did not have moist soil, healthy crops, and a considerable amount of water. During this time, the soil was poor, meaning there was a small amount of nutrients in it. From this, it caused the seeds being planted to wilt, and die.. Compost helps the nutrients and moisture to stay within the soil, in order to allow the plants to not wither from being over watered or the lack of this liquid.