10. The Tennessee Valley Authority was born of the depression
In May 1933, a corporation owned by the federal government was created named the Tennessee Valley Authority. It was proposed by a Senator not from the states it most directly benefited but rather from Nebraska, George Norris. Roosevelt, himself from New York, supported it wholeheartedly. Several congressmen from the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Mississippi opposed it, arguing that it would usurp private jobs and the development of privately held industries. The TVA was created to electrify the Tennessee Valley and neighboring states through the construction of hydropower dams, with the purpose of providing an environment for the expansion of industry and with it the creation of jobs from the private sector. Electrification was just part of the TVAs role in helping the residents of the Tennessee Valley however.
The TVA provided training to assist farmers in maximizing their crop yields, and developed new fertilizers and pesticides to help. It also provided instruction in erosion control techniques, reforestation of unused land, and conservation of natural resources. The technique of crop rotation was introduced to the valley, and though many locals were initially suspicious and distrustful of the folks from the federal government, the improvements in living conditions which electrification provided gradually won over the natives. The TVA also gradually earned the approval of both conservatives and liberals in Congress and in the legislatures of the states which it serves. In 1964 Senator Goldwater of Arizona proposed selling the TVA to private investors as a cost-saving measure and was stunned by the overwhelming opposition to the idea from both sides of the aisle. He quickly dropped the idea.