US_Ch4_webquest-govt-more-involved

=**Government Increases Role in Natural Disasters**= Objective: To explain how government got bigger and took on its modern role in natural disasters.

In the cases discussed with natural disasters and also in the area of strikes, the federal government had only gotten involved when there was a threat to the public order that could affect national interests. It wouldn't be until the Cold War period (post-WWII) that citizens would start to expect the government to contribute more to the relief of natural disasters. Pre-Cold War administrations were careful not to tread on the rights of states. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 was a response to troops in the South to maintain order in Reconstruction. The law said federal troops for law enforcement was prohibited except when authorized by the Constitution or an act of Congress. There was concern about the army becoming police and then quite possibly a dictatorship (keep in mind of the time period - democracies were rare, dicatatorships were on the rise).


 * 9. How did the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 maintain more state power rather than an increase in federal control?**

Change began to take place under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s. The nation was in the Great Depression. FDR tied national security to the economy and then also tied the economy to confidence. At the time, the nation would be in no mood to put FDR's policies under a microscope even if his New Deal policies increased the size and power of the federal government due to public opinion wanting government action in the depression. Will Rogers, one of the best known celebrities and social critic of the time said "The whole country is with him...If he burned down the Capitol, we would cheer and say, well we at least got a fire started anyhow." FDR convinced ordinary Americans that welfare wasn't shameful while at the same time encouraged more Americans to accept it even when they could work. Americans began to see government as a savior that addressed life's inequities. And nothing was more unfair than a natural disaster.


 * 10. How did public perception of government begin to change under President Franklin D. Roosevelt? Was this good or bad in your opinion? Why?**

The Cold War completed the final impetus (momentum that makes something happen) toward transferring disaster response to the federal government. The Disaster Relief Act was passed in 1950 (Truman Administration). This act included assistance to states and local government in major peacetime disasters, which opened the door for the federal government to act at any time. Authority would go to various agencies.


 * 11. How was the Disaster Relief Act of 1950 meant to be a positive law while at the same time increasing the size and power of the federal government?**

Authority would stay with various federal agencies until President Jimmy Carter set up FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Administration) in the late 1970s. Federal response to the nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island in Harrisburg, PA was seen as inadequate, which led Carter to create FEMA. This new agency focused on preparedness, not relief and did not overhaul how disasters were handled. The underlying assumption was that the federal government should get involved. Still, the burden of response and coordinating efforts was on the states, while the federal government would merely provide manpower.


 * 12. With FEMA increasing the size of government (new agencies staffed with new employees/bureaucrats paid by tax dollars), what should you expect in terms of results when FEMA gets involved in natural disaster relief efforts?**

FEMA's first major test would be in 1989 with Hurricane Hugo. Click here to continue to FEMA's efforts.