Its important to understand how poor conditions were in America starting around 1930.

• Unemployment was about 25% (!!!)
• Coal Fired Eastern Cities were filthy
• The Dust Bowl severely crippled America's Agrarian economy
• The American west was mostly a dry, arid wasteland (but it was huge)

As a result of these conditions there was a large effort to "reclaim" the wasteland and turn it into productive farmland for settlement and growth. This marked the era of big dam building, as document in the video. Below are some visuals representations of various aspect of life in America in the 1930s.

Week 4