Civil Works Administration

During the Great Depression, there were astonishing unemployment rates, and as a way to combat this, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) arose to create more manual labor jobs for millions of unemployed workers. These jobs were only temporary, and were meant to help families survive during the hard winter of 1933-34. The jobs were mainly construction and aimed at improving the current state of city property. This organization proved to be a success, as its workers built over 255,000 miles of road, laid 12 million feet of sewer pipe, and constructed 40,000 schools. The CWA was funded by the Public Works Association along with the Federal Emergency Relief Administrations. Although the CWA provided a lot of employment opportunities, there were a few critics who believed that there was no permanent value of this organization. This criticism motivated Roosevelt to replace this administration with something that provided long term value for society. President Roosevelt passed laws on employment, allowing for some of these employees to remain working for for a longer period of time, instead of having temporary jobs. In all, the works of the CWA have left a lasting impact on the American government today. This administration during the Great Depression has expanded the field of public work to something that requires more attention and  it is now a field that allows for more employment.