Relief to The People Who Needed It Most
The Great Depression affected millions of Americans. Roosevelt saw their great need and took immediate action to help them. He focused on the people who were hardest hit by the Depression, and introduced programs that were designed to give relief for the economy and for the people. The following are some of the most influential and most effective programs that provided relief in the New Deal.
The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration
The Civilian Conservation Corps, more commonly known as the CCC, was considered to be one of the most important of all of the New Deal programs. The CCC was created on March 31, 1933. The program had two goals: creating jobs, and provide training for jobs, for the unemployed American men, as well as conserving the natural resources abundant in the United States. The CCC workers did many jobs, including planting trees, building and improving roads, fighting fires, and other various jobs that helped improve areas throughout the country. Many areas that needed work were in the western part of the country, while the majority of the unemployed were from the East. CCC workers often had to leave their families and work far across the country. The CCC provided employment to men between the ages of 18 and 25, between five feet and six feet six inches tall, and weighed more than 107 pounds. They had to have no quickly spreading diseases, and at least three natural teeth. The workers families also had to be already receiving some type of relief, from the state or locally. The men often stayed in old military camps that were from World War I. Workers were paid $30 a month, which is about $450 in today's money. The families of the workers were sent $25 of the salary, while the worker was allowed to keep $5 of their salary as spending money, which is about $75 in today's money. The men were able to provide some income to their families, as well as stimulate the economies of the cities in which they worked in. They would use their spending money to buy from the local businesses, which helped them stay open. The CCC had a huge impact on the environment as well as the economy. Accomplishments of the CCC include over 38,000 bridges, almost 84,000 miles of telephone lines, over 122,000 miles of roads, over 3 billion trees planted, and helped stop erosion on 20 million acres of land across the United States.
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration, or FERA, was created in May of 1933. It was established to help the Americans who were ineligible to participate in the CCC. Like the CCC, it created small work projects, but it mainly was created to help people by supplementing other welfare programs by giving money to the people directly. For every $3 a state gave for direct relief, the government gave $1. The government set aside $500 million to help give relief to the 6 million Americans that were on state and local relief, as well as the over 15 million people that were unemployed across the country. Throughout the following two years, the federal government and state governments spent a total of $3 billion through FERA.
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration, or FERA, was created in May of 1933. It was established to help the Americans who were ineligible to participate in the CCC. Like the CCC, it created small work projects, but it mainly was created to help people by supplementing other welfare programs by giving money to the people directly. For every $3 a state gave for direct relief, the government gave $1. The government set aside $500 million to help give relief to the 6 million Americans that were on state and local relief, as well as the over 15 million people that were unemployed across the country. Throughout the following two years, the federal government and state governments spent a total of $3 billion through FERA.
The Emergency Farm Mortgage Act and the Farm Credit Act
FERA and the CCC mainly helped people who lived in cities. But people in the cities were not the only people facing struggles from the Depression. Farmers were in need for relief as well, and the Emergency Farm Mortgage Act and the Farm Credit Act helped to give the relief that the farmers needed. Across America, farmers would lose their property because they couldn't pay their mortgage payment. Their farm would be foreclosed, the farmer and their family lost their home, their livestock, their machinery, and sometimes even their personal possessions. In addition to farmers losing their properties, a seven year drought that began in 1931 brought on dust storms throughout the Great Plains in 1932. Topsoil on lands in the Great Plains were completely blown away, leaving the farmers hopeless. Many farmers went to California to find other jobs as migrant workers. But the people of California struggling with unemployment, and many of the farmers could not find jobs. The Emergency Farm Mortgage Act, passed in May 1933, helped stop foreclosures for farmers. It also helped farmers by allowing them to refinance mortgages so they were easier to pay off. The Farm Credit Act was passed on June 16, 1933. It helped famers across the nation by offering more relief by giving an abundance of refinancing options.
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority, or the TVA, began in 1933 and helped benefit the rural areas that surrounded the Tennessee River. The river often flooded, so the land around the river were stripped of the important nutrients in the soil because of soil erosion. This made farming in that area difficult. The TVA hired workers to help control the river to prevent floods by constructing dams. The dams would help stop erosion that the flooding of the river causes, which would help the land become more fertile for farming. The dams would also produce cheaper electricity for residents in the surrounding area. The TVA spent $2 billion to build twenty new dams and improve previously built ones. The workers perfected agricultural techniques to make the land more fertile, and began to teach other farmers nationwide. One of the most important accomplishments of the TVA is it gave jobs to 40,000 men that built the dams and the power plants.
The Home Owners' Loan Corporation
The Home Owners' Loan Corporation, or HOLC, was passed by the United States Congress in June of 1933. The HOLC was similar to the Emergency Farm Mortgage Act because the HOLC helped homeowners who were in risk of losing their homes. The government gave loans to homeowners that helped them to be able pay off their mortgages at a lower monthly payment and over a longer time period. In one year, the HOLC gave over 300,000 loans to American homeowners that needed them. The program help a million people nationwide to be able to keep their homes that, if the HOLC didn't exist, they would have lost.
The Works Progress Administration or the Works Projects Administration
One of the most well known and important program of the New Deal was the Works Progress Administration, which in 1939 was renamed to the Works Projects Administration, both having the same acronym WPA. The WPA was given a budget of $4.8 billion when it was introduced on May 6, 1935. About two million jobs were given to unemployed people across the country every month. The WPA provided work in a variety of fields. Workers built airports, hospitals, roads, and schools. With the Rural Electrification Administration in 1935, WPA workers brought electricity to rural areas that had never had electricity before. It not only had construction projects, but it created work for actors, musicians, painters, and writers. Painters of the Federal Arts Project were able to use their talent to paint murals and help create posters and other pieces of art for the government. Many of the pieces still exist in public buildings today. Writers were able to write pamphlets and books; some of the most famous being the American Guide Series. Many famous writers got their start in writing during their time in the Federal Writers' Project, including John Steinbeck and many others. Musicians received employment through the Federal Music Project. Many orchestras and other musical performers completed over 200,000 performances, with over 132 million in attendance. Actors were also given the chance of having a job through the Federal Theatre Project. Performances included plays, dance, and "living newspapers": performances that showed current events in an entertaining way on stage. The Federal One, as all the programs were somtimes referred to as, often worked together. For example, the Federal Writers' Project and the Federal Arts Project might have worked together on creating posters to advertise for a future musical or theatrical performance. The WPA as a whole is believed to have provided jobs to 8.5 million unemployed Americans.