Agricultural Policies
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
During the Great Depression, millions of people were so bankrupt that they could not even buy a bushel of apples. Farmers lost tons of money because of this. Think of it like a chain reaction, when the Great Depression started, everyone became extremely poor, that causes farmers to lose business, and without business the demand of a product goes down, if the demand goes down, then the prices go down. Keep in mind that almost all farmers were growing the same exact crops (Wheat, cotton, field corn, rice, and tobacco). That made the demand go down even more. In response to the demand being so low, the Roosevelt administration created the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). This Act was passed in 1933.
The purpose of this act was to reduce crop surplus, and therefore effectively raise the value of crops. In other words, the government would go to different farms and pay the farmer to stop growing crops. The government did this so that the demand for the product would go up, and ultimately raise the price of the product. You might be asking yourself, "How did the people get money to buy said such product?" Why, the WPA of course! This program gave jobs to millions of people around the U.S ( Read more about WPA on top right ). Over the years the economy was restored and farmers were making more money than ever. The Dust Bowl and Soil Conservation In 1930 a major drought occurred in the state of Texas, and over the 8 years of this drought it just got worse and worse along the way. 3 Way before the drought occurred, farmers were over using the land to make a lot of wheat and other cash crops. This had a huge impact on the soil. Farmers weren't doing so well with business and made about $48.02 a year ($48.02 = $571.67)4. In the spring of 1934, the winds started to take a toll on the mistreated land, by eroding away all of the lose top soil, resulting in a particle in which we know as "dust".3 The dust became so incredibly intense that you could only breath if you placed a damp cloth over your mouth and nose to prevent choking on such dust. 3 Food was getting very scarce and farmers could not feed their cattle . The cows had to be taken to auction for sale. They sold for about 5 to 10 cents a head (cow).3 Every farmer thought that the rain would come next year and that the next season would be a lot better than the last. It did not get any better in the near future. As a result of the Dust bowl event, about 350,000 farmers and there families packed up all of their belongings and headed west looking for better settlement in California.3
In 1935 an association called the "Soil Conservation Service" was formed, to help promote farm rehabilitation. Farmers started to plant trees and other grasses to help anchor the soil down so that it wouldn't keep eroding away from the wind. This was only one of the New deal laws passed by FDR .
|
Works Progress Administration Program (WPA)Shortly after the stock market crashed, tons and tons of people were suffering with major famine and poverty. A couple months ago, I interviewed my Grandfather and asked him what life was like as a farmer during the
depression. He told me that when he was growing up, people were so poor that they could not even buy apples at his family's produce stand . Even if someone did try to buy an apple, they offered a crazy low price for it , and my Grandfather stated, that those apples would be worth more as animal feed than to be sold at market. By the year 1935 the unemployment rate of America was at 20%1, this quickly changed when the "Works Progress Administration program " (WPA) came into play.1 This program gave employment to about 8.5 million different americans during its 8 years of existence.1 Here are just some of the totals for the WPA’s work projects:1 *Half a billion garments & other articles produced in sewing room projects *1.2 billion school lunches served *650,000 miles of new or improved roads (enough roadwork to go around the Earth 26 times) *124,000 new or improved bridges *1.1 million new or improved culverts *39,000 schools built, improved, or repaired *85,000 public buildings built, improved, or repaired (excluding schools) *8,000 new or improved parks *18,000 new or improved playgrounds & athletic fields *2,000 swimming & wading pools *4,000 new or improved utility plants *16,000 miles of water lines installed (enough water line to extend from New York to India…and back again) *24,000 miles of sewer lines installed (nearly enough to circle the globe) *950 airports/airfields built, improved, or repaired *1,500 nursery schools operated *225,000 concerts performed *475,000 works of art *276 full length books Thats a ton of projects to do in just 8 years . Right now in my own community, there are buildings and projects that were funded by the WPA. The Catonsville post office has a beautiful mural that was painted to show depictions of history. To learn more visit ; (WPA Art: Catonsville Post Office). Down the street is the Baltimore National Cemetery. It serves as a burial ground for our soldiers, and was also funded by the WPA.
The WPA was only one of many New Deal projects funded by the Roosevelt administration. Following, are some examples of other projects funded by FDR. The Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC), was another project that helped build trails and promoted work to citizens.2 The Federal Security Agency (FSA) was an agency that helped promote drug safety, federal education funding, and gave food to people in need.2 The Social security act was created to battle poverty with senior citizens and provide income to retired aged earners.2 Some of these programs are still around to this day, helping people with their daily quality of life. It is phenomenal that the WPA did all of that progress in just 8 years, and how these programs positively impacted so many peoples lives. If FDR did not create these New Deal laws/programs, the Great Depression would probably have lasted a lot longer. Today we are all beneficiaries of the programs funded by the WPA, the trails we walk on, the roads we drive on, the bridges we cross, the parks we play on, and so much more . (Sources) 1) Hansan, J. (2014, January 1). WPA: The Works Progress Administration. Retrieved January 24, 2015. 2)Kelly, Martin. "Top Ten New Deal Programs." About Education. About .com, 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 25 Jan. 2015. 3)"Dust Bowl - A 1950s Documentary." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 25 Jan. 2015. 4)Mabry, Donald. "United States Income, 1914, 1924." Historical Text Archive. The Historical Text Archive. Web. 25 Jan. 2015. |