The Progressive Period
The United States in 1901 have the youngest President ever. His name was Theodore Roosevelt. At forty-two years old, the former New York governor dominated the news unlike any previous president had done. He loved being a president. He became very popular because of his many exploits, such as boxing and horseback riding, led the press to gain interest in him. Known for being very outgoing and likable, the public loved him and called him “Teddy” and named a stuffed bear after him (Nash 632). Roosevelt used his personality and popularity to advance in his programs. “His leadership and publicity campaigns helped create the modern presidency, making him a model by which all future presidents would be measured”(524). He felt that the government should take control when states show incompetence in dealing with problems. Roosevelt saw the presidency as a “bully pulpit.” He believed he could use the media to persuade the public, rather than going to congress.
“By 1900, trusts-legal bodies created to hold stock in many companies-controlled about four-fifths of the industries in the United States”(525). Some trusts used unfair business practices. This gave trusts a bad reputation. There were many trusts that lowered their prices to drive competitors out of the market. These trusts then took advantage of the lack of competition and jacked prices up even higher. Even though Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in 1890, the act’s indistinct language made enforcement difficult. “President Roosevelt did not believe that all trusts were harmful, but he sought to curb the actions of those that hurt the public interest”(525). The president’s main focus was filing suits under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Roosevelt made newspaper headlines in 1902 when he ordered the Justice Department to sue the Northern Securities Company, which established a monopoly over northwestern railroads. The Supreme Court dissolved this company in 1904. “Although the Roosevelt administration filed 44 antitrust suits, winning a number of them and breaking up some of the trusts, it was unable to slow the merger movement in business”(525).
President Roosevelt was focus and very enthusiastic, he also had considerable skill at compromise. This led to laws and policies that were good for both public health and the environment. After reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, which was a novel that portrayed the dangerous and unhealthy conditions prevalent in the meatpacking industry, Roosevelt appointed a commission of experts to investigate this industry. The commission found some disgusting conditions in the meatpacking industry, backing up Sinclair’s account. This led Roosevelt to push the passage of the Meat Inspection Act in 1906. The Meat Inspection Act “dictated strict cleanliness requirements for meatpackers and created the program of federal meat inspection that was in use until it was replaced by more sophisticated techniques in the 1990s” (528). Roosevelt made a compromise that the government would pay for inspections while the companies were not required to label their canned goods with date-of processing information. This was the compromise that won the act’s passage.
Manufacturers would say that their product could do anything before federal regulations were passed for advertising foods. Also, children's medicine often contained substances as cocaine opium or alcohol. The chief chemist at the Department of Agriculture, Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley, was the first to bring attention to this issue by conducting a series of lectures across the country. Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906 “which halted the sale of contaminated foods and medicines and called for truth in labeling”(528). Even though this act did not outwardly band harmful products, it went with the progressive belief that if given accurate information, people would act wisely.
The federal government was not worry about the nation’s natural resources before
The Effect of Immigration on the Progressive Era. The period of time between 1870 and 1919 marked the Progressive Era, an age of reform. During this period, there was a massive influx of immigrants to the United States. During a roughly fifty years following the 1860s, the number of cities/locations with a population of over fifty thousand residents grew from 16 to 109. This rapid increase in inhabitants caused a unique problem with the governing of this populations. Due to the fact that many villages in America…
The Progressive Era was a period of social activism and political reform in the United States, that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s.[1] One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political machines and bosses. Many (but not all) Progressives supported prohibition in order to destroy the political power of local bosses based in saloons.[2] At the same time, women's suffrage was promoted…
The Progressive Movement changed the American government and way of life in response to the wake that the Industrial Revolution left behind. It meant big business, and long business hours for the factory workers. This era brought an end to slavery, promoted women’s rights, and reconstructed what the Civil War had destroyed. The progressives aimed to control big business with free enterprise in mind, put an end to all of the corruption and return control to moral citizens, and preserve American…
ssignment 2: “Progressive Era through the Great Depression” Must be in zip format! Write a four to five (4-5) page paper on the period from the Progressive Era through the Great Depression. Your paper should cover the following: 1.Identify at least (2) two major historical turning points in the period under discussion. 2.Analyze the impact of the two (2) or more major historical turning points selected on America’s current society, economy, politics, and culture…
Colin Ruckel Period 6 3/10/13 The Progressive Era was a time of social activism and political reform in the United States staring from the 1890s to the 1920s. Three men, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson, were presidents in these times, each playing an important role. The two presidents that made a major impact on the Progressive Era though were Roosevelt and Wilson. Though both presidents were hard working and intelligent, Roosevelt was the bigger progressive. Three reasons…
The Progressing Progressives The progressive reformation which last from the 1890s to World War 1 was characterized by the transition from personal action to political activism of everyday citizens. It was a movement that saw much success and accomplishment as it became the stepping stone foreshadowing what the United States looks like today. While naysayers point out progressivism’s flaw in encompassing too many social problems, this movement has also rectified much of those social…
The Progressive Era The progressive era was a major period in the United States. During this period, social activism and political reformed helped make the government better. They did so by eliminating corruption such as political machines and bosses. Reformers also improved people’s rights and their health/safety issues. The progressive era had three presidents that helped fixed these problems. They are Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. It is known that Theodore Roosevelt…
an American author who was born in 1869 and died in 1930, once said, “The combination of Federalism and Republicanism which formed the substance of the system, did not constitute a progressive and formative political principle, but it pointed in the direction of a constructive formula.” Theodore Roosevelt took office in 1901, right at the beginning of the Progressive Era and he began the change of America. He battled with big corporations that looked to take over smaller companies and the corrupt politics. He was not…
Century American History - 11 Instructor: Stuart Collins In the Progressive Era period that it was called the Social Activism, the reform of the political party in the 1890’s and to the 1920’s. The goals were to make the Progressive movement to refine the government. They have tried to remove the dishonest politicians. The support was from the Progressives to prevent the power in the local bosses that own the saloons. The women’s suffrage that it did endorse…
classical form. There were two notable directions that were taken by music contemporaries of this time, however: the progressive and the conservative. The so called conservatives, notably headed by Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Schumann, together sought to hold on to the classical forms that had been left to them and expand within them; this is referred to as absolute music. The progressives, lead by the trinity of Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner, sought to move away from classical forms, taking the ideas associated…