Roosevelt, a native New Yorker, first visited Georgia in 1913 on business for the U.S. Navy in Brunswick. In August 1921 he contracted polio while on a family vacation at Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada. He then sought to heal the damage caused by the disease. In October 1924 he learned of Warm Springs and its beneficial waters. He quickly grew to love Georgia and its people, and they welcomed him as their adopted son. The water at Warm Springs maintains an average temperature of about eighty-eight degrees and bubbles out of nearby Pine Mountain, one of several quartzite ridges running through west central Georgia. According to legend, sick and injured Creek Indians once came to the springs to recover from their ills, in much the same way that Roosevelt used the healing waters. He generally visited in late March and April and again in the fall, when he traditionally shared Thanksgiving dinner with other patients. He swam, sat in the sun, caught up on correspondence, and went for drives in the countryside, which had been devastated by the boll weevil and plummeting cotton prices. President Roosevelt likely drew inspiration to create New Deal programs such as the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and the Rural Electrification Administration during these drives—indeed, the president called Warm Springs the birthplace of the Rural Electrification Administration in 1938. Georgia farmers were hit especially hard by the Great Depression, and their recovery was slowed by the high cost of electricity, which was used in 90 percent of urban homes and only 10 percent of rural homes by 1935. Electric companies were simply not willing to string miles of wire to widely dispersed rural families, so those families had to go without economic stimulants like the light bulb, the electric water pump, and the electric iron. Roosevelt himself felt this cost in Warm Springs—his first electric bill at the Little White House was four times greater than that of his New York home. Source: Minchew, Kaye. "Franklin D. Roosevelt in Georgia." New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Aug 14, 2020.

Question

Roosevelt, a native New Yorker, first visited Georgia in 1913 on business for the U.S. Navy in Brunswick. In August 1921 he contracted polio while on a family vacation at Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada. He then sought to heal the damage caused by the disease. In October 1924 he learned of Warm Springs and its beneficial waters. He quickly grew to love Georgia and its people, and they welcomed him as their adopted son. The water at Warm Springs maintains an average temperature of about eighty-eight degrees and bubbles out of nearby Pine Mountain, one of several quartzite ridges running through west central Georgia. According to legend, sick and injured Creek Indians once came to the springs to recover from their ills, in much the same way that Roosevelt used the healing waters. He generally visited in late March and April and again in the fall, when he traditionally shared Thanksgiving dinner with other patients. He swam, sat in the sun, caught up on correspondence, and went for drives in the countryside, which had been devastated by the boll weevil and plummeting cotton prices. President Roosevelt likely drew inspiration to create New Deal programs such as the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and the Rural Electrification Administration during these drives—indeed, the president called Warm Springs the birthplace of the Rural Electrification Administration in 1938. Georgia farmers were hit especially hard by the Great Depression, and their recovery was slowed by the high cost of electricity, which was used in 90 percent of urban homes and only 10 percent of rural homes by 1935. Electric companies were simply not willing to string miles of wire to widely dispersed rural families, so those families had to go without economic stimulants like the light bulb, the electric water pump, and the electric iron. Roosevelt himself felt this cost in Warm Springs—his first electric bill at the Little White House was four times greater than that of his New York home. Source: Minchew, Kaye. "Franklin D. Roosevelt in Georgia." New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Aug 14, 2020.

Question 5:Based on the reading, which New Deal Act do you think was influenced the most by Roosevelt's time in Warm Springs, GA? Why? Your answer should be 2-3 complete sentences. (2 points)

Answer 1

The Rural Electrification Administration was likely influenced the most by Roosevelt's time in Warm Springs, GA. Roosevelt experienced firsthand the challenges faced by rural communities without access to electricity, leading him to create this program to bring electricity to rural areas and stimulate economic growth. Additionally, he referred to Warm Springs as the birthplace of the Rural Electrification Administration in 1938, emphasizing the significant influence of his time in Georgia on the creation of this Act.