How Did Fdr Establish The Tennesse Valley Authority

Franklin Roosevelt fought the Great Depression as if fighting a war, and so assumed wartime presidential power. During the Great Depression, FDR and the government were able to pass legislation that created a more socialist and seemingly communist society. In the areas of the country hit hardest, like the Tennessee Valley, extreme measures were taken. The government established the Tennessee Valley Authority with the purpose to address the crisis. With the Tennessee Valley Authority, the government nationalized land across six southern states. There was also federal ownership of hydroelectric dams, and this led to the government entering the power business as a competitor. Finally, the government launched propaganda campaigns across the region in order to gain local support. The Tennessee Valley Authority was a very socialist act, and embodied the creeping communistic legislation that was changing the American way of life. The Tennessee Valley was hit very hard by the Great Depression. The region had already been on the brinck of collapse, and the depression pushed it over. “Most of the valley land was undernourished” because many farmers had been planting row-crops for years that mined out the topsoil. The topsoil being uprooted from the mountains was being sent down into valley water,
One aspect of this program involved widespread government aid being pumped into the region. One county in the Tennessee Valley reports “$60,000 [for] state aid” and “$51,000 [for] federal aid”. Along with pumping money into counties, the government’s demonstration farms served as propaganda. People were meant to model their farms after the “perfect” government-approved way. “Critics saw mostly manipulation in this approach” of educational outreach, however. By feeding money into counties and showing people the “proper” way to live, the government improved local perception of the