How Did The Civilian Conservation Corps Work During The Great Depression

The Great Depression began in October of 1929 and this caused many people to lose their jobs and left many young men on the streets with nothing. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was president at the time, created the New Deal programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Civilian Conservation Corps focused on soil conservation, reforestation, and providing men with work during the Great Depression. The men that were part of the Civilian Conservation Corps helped a great deal with soil conservation. They saved thousands of acres of land from erosion. They kept farmland from ruining and land from fires and diseases. They decreased soil erosion by laying some topsoil to prevent landslides and mudslides. Another way to decrease soil erosion

The men that worked within the Civilian Conservation Corps were responsible for over half the reforestation done in the nation (Civilian Conservation Corps). They were responsible for many things like building truck trails, irrigation dams, gulling and fencing three-thousand acres of land (Cole Jr.), and restocking the parks with fish and game (Greenblatt, 60). There were 3470 fire towers raised, 97000 miles of fire roads built, and 4,235,000 man hours of fighting fires (CCC Brief History). They cleared beaches and campgrounds, built over three-thousand wildlife shelters, dug ditches and canals, and stocked lakes and rivers with almost a billion fish. Some of their other projects included planting trees, restoring battlefields and building national parks (Civilian Conservation Corps). Under the direction of the forestry experts the men planted almost 200 million trees from Mexico to Canada. These trees kept the soil on the Great Plains from being whisked away by the wind (Greenblatt, 60). In less than ten years the Civilian Conservation Corps built over 800 national parks. (Civilian Conservation Corps). The men in the Civilian Conservation Corps had a huge impact on the nation with all the work they did in the parks. Most of the trails that are in the national parks were done by the Civilian Conservation Corps. And there are also places people did not know the Civilian Conservation Corps had anything to do

Roosevelt put this program together for unemployed men. These men were put to work in the woods in camps. This work for the Civilian Conservation Corps got the men out of trouble and out of the city slums. A good portion of the men came from the city and had never seen the the mountains or slept in the woods (Greenblatt 60). This kind of work exposed the men to new and different people from other parts of the country (The Civilian Conservation Corps: The History of the New Deal’s Famous Jobs Program). The men could be employed in the corps for no longer than eighteen months and the his family had to be receiving some kind of government assistance. The Department of Labor recruited men from the ages of 18-25. The war department clothed and trained the men. The Department of Agriculture managed and designed the work assignments. To start their day off they woke up early for breakfast before they worked hard for eight hours. Their lunch was brought to them at their worksite and in the evening most of the men took classes provided in subjects from welding to literature. Within nine years 40,000 illiterate men learned to read and write (The Civilian Conservation Corps). They made very little working in the Civilian Conservation Corps. They got thirty dollars a month and of that thirty they had to send about twenty-five home to their families (Greenblatt