River Development in the 1930's A Comparative Study of the Tennessee and Columbia Rivers

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Johnson, Robert

Keywords

Electricity, Hydroelectric, Salmon

Area of Concentration

History

Abstract

This thesis examines the history of water development on two rivers during the 1930�s, the Columbia River and the Tennessee River. It will answer several very important questions: How were each of these rivers developed and for what purposes during the 1930s? What were the political debates that surrounded the development of these rivers? How were each of these rivers represented in 1930s popular culture? And what ecological changes did development of each of these rivers cause? The introduction of the thesis lays out the context of water development during the 1930�s. This section will be an analysis of mostly secondary sources, but will include some primary sources, such as public statements about the importance of water development from President Franklin Roosevelt. This thesis will then move into a chapter organized around political legislation and debates regarding the development of each of these rivers. This section will be based on secondary sources. The third chapter of this thesis will look at the popular representation of each of the rivers, and how culture and politics were intertwined in public discussions over 1930s water development. This section will also be based mostly on primary sources, including illustrations and songs. Finally the paper will turn to the ecological consequences that the development of each of the rivers has had. This section will move back to an analysis of secondary sources.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS