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The Tennessee Valley Authority was set into action by President Franklin Roosevelt on May 18, 1933. The purpose of Roosevelt's programs, collectively known as the New Deal was to set in place programs to attempt to lift the country out of a devastating Depression. In addition to providing much needed jobs to individuals all over the country, the Tennessee Valley Authority sought to bring electricity to the residents of the Tennessee Valley as well as brining a much needed irrigation source to the area. The Tennessee Valley area is the area sorrounding the Tennessee River. The authorities therefore utilized the natural energy of the river to provide hydel power to the area. This provided a much needed relief to the residents of the area by bringing power to their homes and businesses during the time of severe depression. The Tennessee Valley's people were very poor and were called the "Forgotten Americans". There was a shortage of funds and it was rather logical for the area to be short of electricity. President's Tennessee Valley Authority rejuvenated the area by coming to the aid of these deprived individuals. Their average income started to grow and the area finally arrived on the economic scene. In addition to harnessing the river's massive power and turning it into electricity, the TVA worked to control the river itself. On an annual basis, the Tennessee River would flood, thus ravaging the land and the towns that rest in the river's destructive path. Residents would suffer from ruined crops and destroyed houses after the river breeched its banks and came tearing into the valley. The TVA worked to create dams in an effort to control the river and stop this devastating flooding. The control of flood also gave rise to the avenues of irrigation. During depression the farmers suffered a lot due to the lack of water and resulting crop failures. This lead them to sink deeper and deeper into debts. The farmers till then followed the old methods of irrigation inherited from their ancestors. The new agricultural irrigation techniques however soon caught their fancy. Even the boat captains benefited from the TVA's development of the system of dams in the valley. The once difficult to navigate river became a lot easier. It, in turn, gave a boost to the travel industry, bringing more money into the Tennessee Valley. There were many beneficial natural effects of the Tennessee Valley Authority also. The project helped in controlling and preventing forest fires. The workers replanted trees to rebuild the forest that had been cleared for various reasons. Thus wildlife was encouraged to converge in the newly minted forests, just as fish had been encouraged to populate the new bodies of water after the construction of dams. The timing of Tennessee Valley Authority was crucial in this country's history. It not only provided jobs to thousands of Americans who were unemployed at the time, but improved the life for the residents of the Tennessee Valley.
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