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What was the impact on California of the migration of people from Oklahoma to California during the Dust Bowl?
California: The Promised Land The arrival of the Dust Bowl migrants forced California to examine its attitude toward farm work, laborers, and newcomers to the state. The Okies changed the composition of California farm labor. They displaced the Mexican workers who had dominated the work force for nearly two decades.
What happened when migrant Okies went to California?
Once the Okie families migrated from Oklahoma to California, they often were forced to work on large farms to support their families. Because of the minimal pay, these families were often forced to live on the outskirts of these farms in shanty houses they built themselves.
What drew migrants to California in the 1930s?
Which best describes what drew migrants to California in the 1930s? The promise of fruit picking jobs. What did Herbert Hoover do to help Americans survive the Depression? He urged local governments to create jobs.
What path offered the best chance for a better life for the Okies in the 1930’s remaining in the Dust Bowl or migrating to the West?
Route 66
Finally, many left when relatives and friends, already in California, beckoned them to a land of better prospects. The families packed their belongings and set out on a journey of three days or more down Route 66 to a supposedly better life in the Far West.
Why did people migrate in the 1930s?
Drought in the 1930s allowed dust storms to carry away top soil, darkening the sky even at mid-day. As families realized that the drought and dust storms would not end, some sold what they could not take and began to drive west on Route 66.
When did the Okies migrate to California?
This migration began in earnest in 1935 and peaked between 1937 and 1938. When the migrants got to Barstow, California, they had to decide whether to follow Highway 66 into Los Angeles or turn north toward California’s central agricultural valleys.
What was happening in California in the 1930s?
California was hit hard by the economic collapse of the 1930s. Businesses failed, workers lost their jobs, and families fell into poverty. In spite of the general gloom of the decade, Californians continued to build and celebrate their Golden State.
What were the migrants who moved to California known as?
Although Oklahomans left for other states, they made the greatest impact on California and Arizona, where the term “Okie” denoted any poverty-stricken migrant from the Southwest (Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas). From 1935 to 1940 California received more than 250,000 migrants from the Southwest.