The Great Depression brought widespread hardship including homelessness, hunger, and unemployment across the United States. Millions lost their jobs and homes, resulting in makeshift shanty towns popping up in urban areas. Rural farmers faced difficulties too, with thousands losing their land between 1929-1932. The Dust Bowl drought in the 1930s exacerbated issues, destroying farms across the Great Plains and displacing many farmers who migrated west. Conditions were especially difficult for minorities, with increased violence against African Americans and Mexican Americans encouraged to leave.