Date of Award
1999
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Rose, Mark H.
Abstract
During the Progressive Era, technical experts--state and independent engineers, United States Department of Agriculture scientists, and United States engineers increasingly influenced drainage and reclamation policy in central and southern Florida. Engineers agreed with the general method of drainage but at times disagreed over engineering specifics. The federal, state and local govemments were aware of the benefits associated with internal improvements, at the same time, however, they frequently fought over their control. Between the mid-nineteenth century and the early 1900s, drainage engineering knowledge and technology increased along with the role of the engineers. As a result, Florida's Progressive Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward began a state-financed and state-managed effort to drain and reclaim the Everglades in 1905. The role of the state engineer, however, differed from the expert described by historian Robert H. Wiebe, in that the engineer was not an independent policy-maker. The state engineer was always subordinate to the Florida Legislature and the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund, including the Governor of Florida.
Extent
161 p.
Recommended Citation
Strickland, Jeffery Glenn, "origins of Everglades drainage in the Progressive Era: Local, state and federal cooperation and conflict" (1999). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 1990 - 1999. 1501.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_4/1501
Identifier
FADT15643
Comments
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1999.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters