Date Range1920s (1920-1929)DescriptionWhen World War One broke out, the demand for cotton—for uniforms, tires, and airplanes—soared. At the same time, Great Britain embargoed Egyptian cotton. Arizona replaced Egypt as the leading source of cotton for the United States during the war, but when the war ended, demand for cotton and migrant workers to pick the cotton plummeted. Crops went unsold and the migrant workers who had come to Arizona to work in the cotton fields were left without work or the means to return to their homes (Sheridan 1995).
