What is going on in Georgia during the early 1900's?
In the early 1900's, Georgia was slowly rising from the ashes of the destruction from the Civil War. Many plantation owners lost their farms during the war then became sharecroppers and tenant farmers during reconstruction. In the 1920's, two-thirds of farm land in the state was operated by share croppers. The majority were poor whites with an income of less than $200 a year.
Georgia, along with the rest of the country, soon realized that it was in an economic depression.
Georgia, along with the rest of the country, soon realized that it was in an economic depression.
The Boll Weevil Attacks
In 1915-1923 the boll weevil had made it's way from Texas and attacked cotton crops all across the region. As the boll weevil ravaged Georgia's cotton fields and robbed many small farmers of any prospect of making a living, some farmers were forced to abandoned their farms and move to cities or out of state. Others were forced off their land by foreclosures and became sharecroppers on terms dictated by large landowners.
The Drought Takes What Is Left
Georgia experienced its worst drought on record in 1930-31. As the depression wore on, the negative trends of cash-crop agriculture became magnified. The typical Georgia farm family had no electricity, no running water, and no indoor privies. Diets were inadequate, consisting mainly of molasses, fatback, and cornbread.
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Franklin D Roosevelt: Speech, August 11, 1938 Barnesville, GA
Fourteen years ago a Democratic Yankee came to a neighboring county in your state in search of a pool of warm water wherein he might swim his way back to health. The place- Warm Springs was a rather dilapidated small summer resort. His new neighbors extended to him the hand of genuine hospitality, welcomed him to their firesides and made him feel so much at home that he built himself a house, bought himself a farm, and has been coming back ever since.
There was only one discordant note in that first stay of mine at Warm Springs; when the first-of-the-month bills came in for electric light at my little cottage, I found that the charge was eighteen cents per kilowatt hour- about four times as much as I paid in Hyde Park. That started my long study of proper utility charges for electricity and the whole subject of getting electricity into farm homes throughout the United States. So it can be said that a little cottage at Warm Springs, Georgia was the birthplace of the Rural Electrification Administration.
There was only one discordant note in that first stay of mine at Warm Springs; when the first-of-the-month bills came in for electric light at my little cottage, I found that the charge was eighteen cents per kilowatt hour- about four times as much as I paid in Hyde Park. That started my long study of proper utility charges for electricity and the whole subject of getting electricity into farm homes throughout the United States. So it can be said that a little cottage at Warm Springs, Georgia was the birthplace of the Rural Electrification Administration.
Who is Responsible?
FDR steps up to the plate when it came to getting electricity to rural Georgia. As President, he felt it was his duty. As a part-time Georgia resident, he felt he owed it to his neighbors. Many Georgians (and fellow Americans) did not support his decision. The Georgia Power Company felt he was overstepping his bounds and the government should not be responsible for electrification.