8. Conservative opposition to the TVA continued as it proved to be a success
To build the dams which generated the power, as well as redirecting navigable channels in rivers and creating reservoirs and spillways, the TVA was forced to relocate more than 15,000 families during its initial projects. Most of these were poor, rural, and clannish residents of the Appalachians. The seizure of property by eminent domain or outright purchase led to resistance against the project, and longstanding resentment toward the government which displaced families. The resentment created distrust of the experts brought in by the TVA to improve crop production via better use of land and the idea of crop rotation.
The resentment was furthered by conservative politicians who fed it with cries of socialism and the expansion of the power of the federal government. The TVA established libraries for the local populations, and created other social programs including childcare and healthcare facilities in areas where they had never before been seen. The inexpensive electricity offered by the TVA spurred industrialization, including textile, steel, and during World War II aluminum mills, offering better-paying jobs and creating growth in the populations of previously dormant areas. By the end of the Depression the Tennessee Valley region, which had been among the hardest hit, was among the nation’s most prosperous.