The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was one of the most destructive in United States history, demonstrating the failure of the levee policy and the limits of human control over the river. The beginning of the flood, from the initial crevasse, poured over the Delta “468,000 second feet that triple the volume of a Colorado flood, more than double a flood of Niagara Falls and the entire upper Mississippi ever carried” (p. 203). The flood of 1927 “changed perceptions of the role and responsibility of the federal government…destroyed the myth of a quasi-feudal bond between Delta blacks and the Southern aristocracy…accelerated the great migration of blacks northward. And it altered both Southern and national politics...” (p. 422). America is a product of the flood of 1927 in shaping the political, social and economic structure. With each repeating disaster, America, in that region, continues to face the same issues of social conditions and poor working conditions that have not been addressed. The aftermath of the 1927 flood demonstrates the continuing struggle to dominate the Mississippi River despite understanding the river's true nature. For example, “The average gauge readings for the last three months of 1926…of the three largest rivers…were the highest ever known…no one at the Weather Bureau or the Mississippi River Commission has correlated or even compiled this information" (page 175) . Failure to understand the nature of the river is a prelude to more elaborate control schemes, expanding the federal government's responsibility to wrest full control of the Mississippi River from state jurisdiction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is fully responsible for the construction of va...... middle of paper ......The flood of 1927 awarded limited compensation to sacrificed residents with rigorous claims procedures. There has been “no bank, corporation, or government agency that has ever made a voluntary payment to victims to fulfill its self-proclaimed moral obligation…” (p. 360). The problems of social conditions and poor working conditions continue to resurface because the line between the roles of the federal government towards its citizens remains indirect with the lack of socialist reforms and the maintenance of ideals of individual altruism. The federal government maintains the position that free markets and private enterprise will lead to recovery. The problem is that free markets and private businesses base loans to businesses and individuals on income or some sort of collateral for access to credit. Those who are already poor have no guarantees and will continue to remain poor in this system.