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The Civil Works Administration was established by the New Deal during the Great Depression 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 (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.
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 and Harold Ickes were two main protesters, and it is much from their objection that the CWA was ended in March 1934.
It was also seen that many jobs that were being done were either pointless or trivial. Such examples are sweeping leaves in parks or cleaning the benches. Some thought that jobs were created for no reason, other than an excuse to give away money for pointless reasons.
See also
References
- Kennedy, David M., Cohen, Lizabeth, Bailey, Thomas A. The American Pageant. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
- Lawson, Don. FDR's New Deal. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1974.
- Nardo, Don. The Great Depression. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 2000.
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