Autobiography of a Nation Episode Two: Revenge of the Seethe
One of my favorite New Deal programs (after you have taken a 400 level class named “America in the Great Depression, you are entitled to have a favorite) has always been the Civilian Conservation Corps or CCC. Something about serving this great nation while helping build trails in national parks, planting over 5 billion trees, or improving our national power grid made me want to strap on some hiking boots, don a flannel shirt, grab some heavy tools and help rebuild America from the ground up. Lack of hand sanitizer, fear of blisters, and uncertain exposure to new episodes of Lost inevitably lead to disavowing myself from such romantic inclinations, but for over 3 million hearty souls during the Great Depression, the CCC provided rewarding work, three square meals, and a stipend of $30 per month.
Designed primarily to provide employment, the CCC grew into an immensely popular program, and more than any other New Deal program extended President Roosevelt’s personal philosophy of government intervention towards the Great Depression. Provide work, not welfare, and simultaneously improve the national infrastructure. The CCC was responsible for planting billions of trees to combat erosion stemming from the Great Dust Bowl, erecting over 3400 fire towers, and devoting more than 11 million man hours towards fighting fires. (For a more complete listing of accomplishments and completed projects, please click here)
In addition to the aforementioned stipend, the work camps established to house groups of up to 5,000 workers also made available vocational training and additional educational opportunities that over 90 percent of CCC workers took advantage of. In fact more than 40,000 workers were taught to read in the camps.
The CCC was one of the most popular New Deal programs established to fight the Great Depression, and even after being disbanded in 1942, the concept of the CCC survives on in numerous states that have adopted the principle of employment through conservation. In my next post (Matt advises not holding your breath as he claims my blog per week average is lower than Andruw Jones’ 2008 batting average, in a word; not prolific) I will conclude this fascinating look into the history of stimulus packages by providing two certain solutions to the 2009 financial crises.
