First+Hour+Resettlement+Administration

__//**The Resettlement Administration!**//__
These posters show a farmer in distress (left) with his child crying for help in the window as to evoke sympathy from the American people, and a farmer looking strong (right) with a barn, a house, a mule and a plow, and fields that are starting to be sown show the level of prosperity that farmers could achieve through this act.

Fireside chat:
It has been two years since I first came to you over the radio to present the first steps of my New Deal plan, and since this time we have made great strides in the path toward economical and social recovery, whether those stride may at present be visible or invisible. I come to you now with the same goal as I laid down at the beginning of this country’s endeavor, the prevention of the recurrence of the conditions that brought our country close to the destruction of modern civilization. And now, I come to you again, two years later, to request your support for this country’s newest offensive in this fight against these destructive conditions. In order to not only qualm the present predicaments but also annihilate all possibly of reoccurrence as set down by the goal we have fought for as a people, this country must maintain a strong base in perhaps the most essential industry in the matter of sustaining human life. The agricultural industry is a cornerstone of infrastructure that this fledgling nation cannot afford to overlook. Without the necessity of food, this country would completely succumb to the enemy of hunger, which I am sure I do not need to elaborate on during these hard times. To you, the American people, hunger is very much a reality. In order to facilitate the production of food, Congress is working on the establishment of a Resettlement Administration to aid the farmers of this nation. Desolation has swept through this country’s farmlands, putting many farmers and farmhands alike out of work. God has seen fit, however, to provide this country with even more fertile lands than what we are currently using. Through the Resettlement Administration, we will help the out of work farmers of this country who have been struck down by circumstance, and we will allow them a second chance to provide for this country. The function of this new Administration will be to relocate farmers to more productive lands and provide aid in the form of small loans. These loans will be used to purchase new supplies and hire new labor. The loans themselves will be paid back through money earned by the farmers’ crops, but more than the return of money is the return of productivity that this country has been suffering a certain lack of due to shortage of opportunity. Through the Resettlement Administration, I hope to give these farmers opportunity, and thus return productivity to the country. To all you, the American people, we must thank you for your continued support. We are going through hard times, this cannot be masked, but thanks to all of you doing your part for the country, we are slowly climbing out of the depths of this depression. I thank you. Congress thanks you. All of the members of this administration thank. May God watch over this great country, and afford us the courage to move together in these darkened times towards a brighter tomorrow.

Immediate impact:
In just one year, the government used the RA to buy up millions of acres of land. This land was handed out to farmers across the country, and by June of 1936 over 2 million people were clients of the program. At the time this was roughly 10% of the farming population. The program also worked on the soil conservation and reforestation of the unproductive lands. Communities were created for people earning under $2000 a year so that the environment could be preserved.

Lasting impact:
In 1937, the Resettlement Administration was replaced by the Farm Security Administration which kept many of the original programs alive along with reducing the number of tenant farmers and sharecroppers. It is still around today. Another small, but successful impact that the Administration had was its photography campaign which realistically depicted the hardship of the American farmer.

Sources Used:
For information: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fahome.html http://www.mhric.org/fdr/fdr.html (All of Roosevelt's fireside chats. Pretty cool site.)  []    [] For Pictures:  []  [] http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?pp/PPALL:@field(NUMBER+@band(fsa+8e04683))