Preview

The Great Depression: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
784 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Great Depression: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
The Great Depression, a notorious period marked as the most severe economic downturn in the 1930s, affecting numerous countries, including the United States. Characterized by widespread business failures and a significant influx in unemployment rates, this time period saw countless individuals losing their jobs and property, with little hope for recovery. The Great Depression is estimated to have resulted in the deaths of 5-10 million people. Despite the grim reality, President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced the New Deal: a series of programs and reforms aimed at alleviating the impact of the Great Depression and restoring the American economy. However, the New Deal has sparked ongoing debates regarding its effectiveness and scope. When analyzing …show more content…
The TVA aimed to enhance the well-being of the southern region by promoting reforestation, improving waterways, managing floods, and providing affordable electricity in the Tennessee Basin. Right-wing critics raised concerns, likening the TVA to socialism, fueled by the Red Scare fears of the time. The TVA's initiatives led to community displacements and heightened tensions between private businesses and local governments. Similar skepticism surrounded the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), which aimed to reduce surplus crops and boost their value. However, the act overlooked assistance to tenant farms and sharecroppers without land ownership. Critics argued that the AAA excessively controlled farms and owners, aligning with growing concerns about communism. These two acts fueled worries among many critics that President Roosevelt was amassing too much power. When talking about the New Deal, people often focus heavily on its downsides. Opinions differ, with some saying it was too much, while others think it didn't go far enough. The New Deal displayed areas where it both weren’t effective enough to address systemic issues and were highly
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    New Deal Argumentative Analysis
    • 1990 Words
    • 8 Pages

    New Deal Argumentative Analysis

    The Great Depression of the 1930’s was the worst economic period in the history of the United States. Taking over the presidency in 1932, three years after the Depression began, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became responsible for leading America’s quest to escape the Depression. Roosevelt passed the New Deal in an attempt to help the nation recover through a series of initiatives focused on economic recovery. While most people would agree that the New Deal had a definite impact on the United States throughout the early-1930’s, there are some critics that think that the New Deal prolonged the Great Depression. These critics believe that different initiatives could have returned the United States to prosperity much sooner, and that the Depression would’ve continued much longer if not for the start of World War II.…

    • 1990 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    New Deal DBQ
    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages

    New Deal DBQ

    The 1929 stock-market crash and the ensuing Great Depression exposed major weaknesses in the U.S. and world economies. These ranged from chronically low farm prices and uneven income distribution to trade barriers, a surplus of consumer goods, and a constricted money supply. As the crisis deepened, President Hoover struggled to respond. In 1932, with Hoover's reputation in tatters, FDR and his promised “New Deal" brought a surge of hope. Although FDR's New Deal did not end the Great Depression it eased the people’s suffering and reformed many of the problems that contributed to the depression by providing relief, recovery, and reform while fundamentally changing the role of the federal government towards the people.…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
    • 1600 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

    The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) tried to raise prices by regulating the production of basic crops such as wheat, dairy, tobacco and corn by giving cash payments to farmers. It paid farmers who voluntarily cutback and left their fields vacant to end agricultural excess. This system limited the amount of each crop grown so there would be a demand for the crops and farmers could sell them at higher prices. The AAA also gave loans to farmers facing bankruptcy. Farm income increased by more than fifty percent. (Britannica, History.com, Hardman,…

    • 1600 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Great Depression Dbq Essay
    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Great Depression Dbq Essay

    The Great Depression was an economic downturn that began in 1929. The long term causes of the Great Depressions were the overproduction of farms and the instability of banks. Hoover was elected in 1928 and he believed in rugged individualism, the economy had natural cycles, and a do nothing approach. Hoover not stimulating the economy by putting money into it and providing jobs prolonged the Great Depression. FDR was elected in 1932 and he created the new deal, which was a series of government programs to provide reform to the stock market, relief to the American people, and recovery to the United States economy. The New Deal was a success in pulling America out of the Great Depression.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    DBQ: The Great Depression
    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages

    DBQ: The Great Depression

    The Great Depression in the United States was the worst and the longest economic collapse in the history of the modern industrial world, lasting from the end of 1929 until the early 1940s. The Great Depression saw rapid decline in the production and sale of goods and a sudden, severe rise in unemployment. Businesses and banks closed their doors, stock market crashed (Document 2), people lost their jobs, homes, and savings, and many depended on charity to survive. Natural calamities, such as the dust bowl added to the sufferings of the people. It caused major agricultural and ecological damage, destroying the lives of several thousands of families (Document 1). In 1933, at the worst point in the depression, more than 15 million Americans—one-quarter…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address
    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address

    The Great Depression was the greatest economic crisis in the Western World. The stock market crashed on October 1929, sending Wall Street up in flames. By 1933, the Great Depression reached a high point leaving over thirteen million Americans jobless (“The Great Depression”). Relief and reform measures were soon put into place to lessen the heavy load the Great Depression created, but America would not fully recover until after 1939.…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Great Depression Dbq Analysis
    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Great Depression Dbq Analysis

    The Great Depression was the largest economic crisis in the history of the United States. During this time there was an outbreak of poverty that swept the nation. There were many economic, social, and political changes during this time. Although this was a difficult time, the government was able to create job opportunities and projects to end the Depression.…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Franklin D Roosevelt's Accomplishments
    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Franklin D Roosevelt's Accomplishments

    The Great Depression started in 1929 and lasted ten years. It was the longest deterioration of the economy in history of the industrialized world of the West. Nearly half of the country’s banks had failed and about fifteen million Americans were unemployed by 1933. When Roosevelt took office, he came up with program called “The New Deal”. Designed to lessen and get rid the problems of the Great Depression, the New Deal branched into three parts.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Franklin D. Roosevelt During The Great Depression
    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Franklin D. Roosevelt During The Great Depression

    The Great Depression was the biggest economic crash that the United States has ever had. After the “Black Thursday” on September 3, 1929 stock market crash and right after that is when Franklin D. Roosevelt took over the new Presidency of the United States. During the Great Depression, millions of people became unemployed and homeless and a huge number of banks failed and closed. The new president Franklin D. Roosevelt, walked into a position that required immediate actions to help a suffering country, and he began to take those immediate actions right away. Since the traditional policies had been based on a set budget, people were afraid to turn too far from the policies. But a set budget was the last thing that the economy needed at that…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The New Deal Pros And Cons
    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The New Deal Pros And Cons

    One of the first to be presented and instituted was the AAA, the Agricultural Adjustment Act. Surprisingly, Congress announced that it was “the policy of Congress” to adjust free market activity for homestead items with the goal that costs would bolster a respectable obtaining power for ranchers. This idea, plot in the AAA, was known as “parity.” AAA controlled the supply of seven fundamental products: corn, wheat, cotton, rice, peanuts, tobacco and milk by offering installments to ranchers as an end-result of removing some of their territory from cultivating, not planting a crop. LeRoy Hankel says there just a couple of agriculturists who declined to take the administration installments. "There's a few that said, 'The government isn't going to tell me what to do.' There was a few of them. Now, I don't think there was too many." Most agriculturists couldn't bear the cost of not to take the administration installments. In 1937, the Supreme Court decided that the AAA was unlawful, however the fundamental program was changed and again gone into law. Indeed, even faultfinders conceded that the AAA and related laws resuscitated trust in homestead groups. Ranchers were put on neighborhood boards of trustees and talked their brains. Government checks started to stream. The AAA did not end the Depression and dry season, but…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    New Deal Dbq
    • 1734 Words
    • 7 Pages

    New Deal Dbq

    The catastrophic stock market crash on October 24th, 1929 brought about widespread panic and the onset of incomparable consequences for America. From this crash, the Great Depression arose which was a long period of increased unemployment, poverty and deflation. The onset of the Depression left society blaming the government and seeking relief from the increased levels of poverty. Due to society being worried and troubled, the government, in which Republican Herbert Hoover was president, took a conservative approach toward reconciling America’s problems, while Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt chose the liberal approach by establishing the New Deal.…

    • 1734 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did The Great Depression Affect The Economy
    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Did The Great Depression Affect The Economy

    In the history of United States, Great depression that occurred in late 1920’s and 1930’s made a dramatic and tragic impact on American economy along with American people. The depression set at time when many were just arriving in new country and try to settle their feet on ground. Theodore Roosevelt, the president of time, began several programs to slow down the impact of great depression. The government began new deals to tackle the dilemmas of great depression.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Great Depression Dbq
    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Great Depression Dbq

    The Great Depression was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the world. After the stock market crash of 1929, the American economy plummeted. This was devastating for many families. Thousands of people were out of their jobs, and left to starve on the streets. Many were forced to simplify their wardrobes, problems in the education systems arose, and the banking system was destroyed. People turned to the government to help them out of their problems. Hoover and FDR worked to pass relief acts that would boost the American economy.…

    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Impact on Great Depression
    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Impact on Great Depression

    Subsequently after the roaring twenties, a period of economic boom, the United States entered an era of darkness. It was as if the US was a wet sponge, and someone wrung the water out of the sponge, leaving it dry, and defeated. This era of hardships and economic troubles was called the Great Depression. President Herbert Hoover, main president for the duration of the Great Depression did little to no use in calming this political epidemic. Americans were lost and hopeless until President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stepped onto plate and started turning the tide. During Roosevelt’s term, he installed several economic organizations that were detrimental to pulling the US out of the Great Depression. Using Roosevelt’s program, The New Deal, he created groups that helped a specific subject. Some of the associations that Roosevelt created are still in use today, and still impacts the nation vastly. The whole nation was in economic depression, but the main group that suffered the utmost was farmers. Thankfully, the government responded to their situation, and pulled farmers from their debt and grievances..…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Living New Deal
    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Living New Deal

    The Great Depression was a huge part in the history of America. It took lots of people's jobs and left them stranded with no work, struggling to keep their family supported. The New Deal, created by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was the reason America started to leave the Great Depression. Lots of things led to the start of the New Deal, and because of all the assistance it gave, it helped get lots of people start getting out of the Depression.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More