Liberal Reform 1906-1914
The huge scale of the Liberal party's victory in the 1906 general
election guaranteed many new faces among the ranks of Liberal MPs, in
favour of change in the field of social welfare. Between the years
1906 and 1914, the Liberals took steps to improve the health standards
and the living and working conditions of the lower class. The main
areas of people new legislation was targeted on was the working class
under risk of poverty due to sickness or unemployment, their children
and old age pensioners. The effectiveness of Liberal rule on these
matters is not clear, as much of the legislation introduced to solve
poverty problems, can be argued to be unsuccessful at what it was
intended to achieve.
The first task undertaken by the new Liberal government was the
welfare of children. The issue of malnourished children had
increasingly surfaced since the extension of rate aid to all schools
and creation of Local Education Authorities in 1902, so the issue of
children too hungry or generally debilitated was well documented by
1906. A report from the Committee on Physical Deterioration noted
inadequate feeding-"It is the height of cruelty to subject half
starved children to the process of education". To solve this problem
the government introduced the Education Act of 1906. Local education
authorities were enable to provide school meals for destitute children
by levying an additional rate of halfpenny in the pound. Although the
Act was seen as progressive, the fact that it was not made compulsory
argues if it was effective enough. By 1911, less than a third of all
education authorities were using rates to su...
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...troduce various laws, such as
the National Insurance Act and the Pensions Act. The amount of people
below the poverty line at the time was estimated at being as high as
one third of the population. A view that no other government could
have dealt with the situation of poverty any more effectively at that
time adds to the theory that the Liberals were as successful as they
could have been under the circumstances. Liberal legislation between
the years of 1906 to 1914 laid the foundations of a welfare state. The
time spent in power may not have been long enough for the Liberal
reform to make a clear improvement to the poverty situation due to the
social state of the nation being so bad.
This view shows that the Liberals were very successful at dealing with
the situation if considering the magnitude of task they undertook.
The history of welfare systems dates back to ancient China and Rome, some of the first institutions known to have established some form of a welfare system. In both of these nations, their governments created projects to provide food and aid to poor, unemployed, or unable families and individuals, however these were based on “moral responsibility.” Later in history, in 1500’s England, parliament passed laws that held the monarchy responsible for providing assistance to needy families by providing jobs and financial aid. These became known as “poor laws” (Issitt).
Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th president of the United States of America. Roosevelt took an active role in reform. His policies were called the Square Deal, a phrase that means fair treatment. Roosevelt promised to give fair treatment to all aspects of the economy—industry, workers, and the American public. He believed that all elements should work together for the common good. Under the Square Deal, Roosevelt increased federal regulation of industry. The Northern Securities court case illustrates Roosevelt’s emphasis on government
The Effects of American Reform Movements in the 1900s Living in the United States of America is all about opportunity. The opportunity to get a good job, make money, and lead a life of good quality; in other words, the opportunity to live, live, and live the Pursuit of Happiness. However, the opportunity for many people was not around throughout the 1800s. Certain groups of people did not hold the basic rights that were guaranteed by the Constitution. In fact, most of the people that had opportunity were the wealthy white men, and few other people ever had any chance to lead a good life.
While some citizens of the United States, between 1825 and 1850, believed that reform was foolish and that the nation should stick to its old conduct, reformists in this time period still sought to make the United States a more ideally democratic nation. This was an age of nationalism and pride, and where there was pride in one’s country, there was the aspiration to improve one’s country even further. Many new reformist and abolitionist groups began to form, all attempting to change aspects of the United States that the respective groups thought to be unfair or unjust. Some groups, such as lower and middle class women and immigrants, sought to improve rights within the county, while other reformers aspired to change the American education system into a more efficient way of teaching the county’s youth. Still other reform groups, particularly involved in the church and the second great awakening, wanted to change society as a whole. This was a time and age of change, and all these reforms were intended to contribute to the democratic way our country operated.
Instead they declared people were in poverty due to unfair social conditions, such as, low wages (due to urbanisation), old age or illness which meant that they couldn’t work anymore. In many cases there just were not ... ... middle of paper ... ... to the lib lab pact which benefited both parties and helped liberals to win the 1906 election. Therefore, social reform was necessary to counteract the development of the labour party, to try and show to the nation that they need not change party because the Liberal’s were reforming to meet the changing demands in society.
Reform movements including religion, temperance, abolition, and women's rights sought to expand democratic ideals in the years 1825 to 1850. However, certain movements, such as nativism and utopias, failed to show the American emphasis on a democratic society. The reform movements were spurred by the Second Great Awakening, which began in New England in the late 1790's, and would eventually spread throughout the country. The Second Great Awakening differed from the First in that people were now believed to be able to choose whether or not to believe in God, as opposed to previous ideals based on Calvinism and predestination.
Between the years of 1910 and 1920, the Silver Era, the United States experienced many firsts. For the first time in history, women were becoming more politically powerful. In 1916, Jeanette Rankin held a seat in the U.S. Congress, making her the first woman ever to do so (Sheet Music...). Four years later in 1920, the nineteenth amendment was passed, giving women the right to vote in political elections. The eighteenth amendment was passed as well, beginning the short-lived prohibition of alcohol. In 1917, the United States became involved in the First World War by declaring war on Germany, three years after its commencement in 1914 by. Also in this decade, the first Trans-Atlantic ocean liner, the Titanic, sunk in 1912, causing over 1, 500 people to die.
The accomplishments taken place upon the onset of the many New Deal legislations owe much to the seeds implanted and unknowingly disseminated by the pre-WWI Progressive movement. Sparked by the new image as a world power, industrialization, and immigration at the dawn of the new century, a new found reform movement gripped the nation. With the new found image of the nation and world as a whole, the reforms advanced the position of the previously ignored people of the nation, as did its reincarnation and rebirth apparent in the New Deal.
The turn of the century, was a time in which politics was in shambles. The corruption in American politics was at an all time high. The so-called "big business" was overrunning a country, which wanted a real democracy, not government in which the people did not have a say. Although immigration was at an all time high, the country was in decline. The basis of the three presidents to come would be a platform for reforms. The reform policies of three presidents had an effect on an era.
This was a problem as the reforms may have been more of a success if they gave more demands to local authority, which meant they would of carried out these measure no matter how problematic this may have been. When looking at this time with a perspective it is clear that even though these specific reforms were never much of a success they had major significance. It showed that because of the Liberal government, Britain had realised that the working class in Britain needed aid. This was major breakthrough for Britain.
There are couple liberal reforms of 1960-1974 that succeeded and have endured to present day. There is the Medical Care Act of 1965 that provides Medicare and Medicaid, which we still have around today. The policies put into place by the Immigration and Nationality Act, with some modifications, are the same ones governing U.S. immigration in the early 21st century. There are a couple liberal reforms of 1960-1974 that failed to achieve their goals. Most of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty programs failed to achieve their goals. There was not enough spending that lead to a claim of victory. The programs were not only inadequately funded but also hastily planned. They did not focus on reforms that would ensure adequately paying jobs for all.
After the end of the World War I in 1920, the United States entered in a period where great changes were made. During this period known as the New Era of the 1920’s, many innovations were taking place as well as many economic developments, which were stimulating the way through a change in America’s society. However, while for some Americans this was an era of better opportunities for living, some others were suffering the consequences. Later on, with an unequal distribution of wealth and low incomes, America’s economy was in a vulnerable point of a catastrophic collapse. And so it was. By the end of the 1920’s, when the stock market crashed, the prosperity of that period disappeared and the nation was sunk into an economic catastrophe known as the Great Depression. Many factors constituted the reasons for this collapse, for example, the Wall Street crash, the oligopolies domination over American industries, the weaknesses in some industries (textile, coal and agriculture), and also the government policies and international economic difficulties. Then, by the early 1930 with the depression spreading and affecting the entire society, the policies, philosophy and optimism that Herbert Hoover had brought to his presidency was being challenged. As a result, by the time of the elections in 1932, Hoover lost the presidency against the candidate of the Democratic Party, Franklin D. Roosevelt and his campaign of what he called the New Deal. Based on this, FDR pushed towards many solutions for the “crises of a collapsing financial system, crippling unemployment, and agricultural and industrial breakdown” (Goldfield, Page 704). Even thought when various changes were made, it was during the period right after the elections of 1936 that polit...
“After the passing of the Great Reform Bill, the liberal Whig leadership struck a snag. Several years of depression put the conservative Tories back in power in 1841. Wages and living conditions grew steadily worse as the industrial revolution permitted the rise of great fortunes for owners and employers along with starvation and poverty for great numbers of the working classes.” (Earl Davis, The Flint and the Flame, Page 115)
Effectiveness of the Liberal Reforms Between 1900 and 1914 the British liberal government introduced the largest series of reforms ever completed by a government till that date. Prior to these reforms it was not considered the duty of the government to provide any form of relief for the poor and when the reforms were passed they were viewed as radical and amazing. Many conservatives considered them unenforceable and many radicals considered them far too small. Yet how effective were these reforms? Prior to the reforms the only relief for children was either from charities or the workhouse, and many liberals claimed that the workhouses were worse than the conditions that many children had previously lived in.
The United States faced the worst economic downfall in history during the Great Depression. A domino effect devastated every aspect of the economy, unemployment rate was at an all time high, banks were declaring bankruptcy and the frustration of the general public led to the highest suicide rates America has ever encountered. In the 1930’s Franklin D Roosevelt introduced the New Deal reforms, which aimed to “reconcile democracy, individual liberty and economic planning” (Liberty 863). The New Deal reforms were effective in the short term but faced criticism as it transformed the role of government and shaped the lives of American citizens.