All Topics  
Civil Works Administration

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Civil Works Administration
 
 
  Topics Civil Works Administration Topic Home

The Civil Works Administration was established by the New Deal
New Deal

The New Deal was the name that United States President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to a sequence of central economic planning and economic stimulus programs he initiated between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of giving aid to the unemployed, reform of business and financial practices, and recovery of the Economy of the Unite...
 during the Great Depression
Great Depression

File:International depression.pngThe Great Depression was a worldwide economic Recession starting in most places in 1929 and ending at different times in the 1930s or early 1940s for different countries....
 to create jobs for millions of unemployed. The jobs were merely temporary, for the duration of the hard winter. Harry L. Hopkins was put in charge of the organization. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveiled the CWA on November 8, 1933.

The CWA was a project created under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Federal Emergency Relief Administration

Federal Emergency Relief Administration was the name given by the Roosevelt Administration to a program similar to unemployment-relief efforts of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation set up by Herbert Hoover and the U.S....
 (FERA). Because the FERA failed to give people jobs, another program was needed and the CWA was set up along with the Civilian Conservation Corps, a.k.a.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Civil Works Administration'
Start a new discussion about 'Civil Works Administration'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Civil Works Administration was established by the New Deal
New Deal

The New Deal was the name that United States President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to a sequence of central economic planning and economic stimulus programs he initiated between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of giving aid to the unemployed, reform of business and financial practices, and recovery of the Economy of the Unite...
 during the Great Depression
Great Depression

File:International depression.pngThe Great Depression was a worldwide economic Recession starting in most places in 1929 and ending at different times in the 1930s or early 1940s for different countries....
 to create jobs for millions of unemployed. The jobs were merely temporary, for the duration of the hard winter. Harry L. Hopkins was put in charge of the organization. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveiled the CWA on November 8, 1933.

The CWA was a project created under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Federal Emergency Relief Administration

Federal Emergency Relief Administration was the name given by the Roosevelt Administration to a program similar to unemployment-relief efforts of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation set up by Herbert Hoover and the U.S....
 (FERA). Because the FERA failed to give people jobs, another program was needed and the CWA was set up along with the Civilian Conservation Corps, a.k.a. the CCC.

The CWA created construction jobs, mainly improving or constructing buildings and bridges. It ended on March 31, 1934, under the advice of Lewis Douglas, after costing $200 million a month. So much was spent on this administration because it hired 4 million people and was mostly concerned with paying high wages.

Accomplishments

The CWA's four million workers "laid 12 million feet of sewer pipe and built or made substantial improvements to 255,000 miles of roads, 40,000 schools, 3,700 playgrounds, and nearly 1,000 airports (not to mention 250,000 outhouses still badly needed in rural America)." The program was praised by Alf Landon
Alf Landon

Alfred "Alf" Mossman Landon was an United States History of the United States Republican Party politician, who served as Governor of Kansas from 1933–1937....
, who later ran against Roosevelt in the 1936 election
United States presidential election, 1936

The United States presidential election of 1936 was the most lopsided presidential election in the history of the United States . The election took place as the Great Depression in the United States entered its eighth year....
.

Opposition

Although the CWA provided much employment there were many who criticized it for its expensiveness and limited effects. Over the course of its five month run, it spent over a billion dollars, although initial plans projected a maximum cost of $400,000,000. Al Smith
Al Smith

Alfred Emanuel Smith, Jr. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American politician who was elected List of Governors of New York four times, and was the History of the United States Democratic Party United States presidential election, 1928....
 and Harold Ickes
Harold Ickes

Harold Ickes may refer to:*Harold L. Ickes , U.S. Secretary of the Interior in Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration*Harold M. Ickes , son of the Interior Secretary, deputy White House official in Clinton's administration...
 were two main protesters, and it is much from their objection that the CWA was ended in March 1934.

See also

  • Works Progress Administration
    Works Progress Administration

    The Works Progress Administration was the largest New Deal agency, employing millions of people and affecting almost every locality in the United States, especially rural and western mountain populations....
  • Civilian Conservation Corps
    Civilian Conservation Corps

    File:CCC constructing road.gifThe Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program for unemployed men, focused on natural resource conservation from 1933 to 1942....


Further reading

  • Kennedy, David M., Cohen, Lizabeth, Bailey, Thomas A. The American Pageant. New York: Houghton Mifflin
    Houghton Mifflin

    Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company is a leading educational publisher in the United States. The company's headquarters is located in Boston's Back Bay....
    , 2002.
  • Lawson, Don. FDR's New Deal. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1974.
  • Nardo, Don. The Great Depression. San Diego: Greenhaven Press
    Greenhaven Press

    Greenhaven Press has been an imprint of Gale since 2000. Greenhaven primarily publishes books on social issues for middle school and high school students, and is best known for its Opposing Viewpoints series....
    , Inc., 2000.


External links

  • 119 images showing work projects in King County, Washington established under the auspices of the Civil Works Administration in 1933-34.