Imagine living during the progressive era, if you know a little about your U.S. History then you should know that there were many hardships during that era. Many people would say that the leaders of the progressive movement didn’t do anything to improve the lives of people during that time. In matter of fact the leaders of the progressive movement came up with a new idea of government that changed the nation and people lives forever. We may have seen a little improvement during that era, but now if we look around, we see that those “little” improvements came a long way. During the progressive era, there were many issues with society that needed change and of course the “progressive” reformers worked to better the lives of people. Therefore the leaders of the progressive movement helped America change in many ways, such as protecting our land,changing conditions, and giving rights/equality to all sex. …show more content…
No doubt Theodore Roosevelt was considered the “conservationist” president, in fact he led the conservation movement during the progressive era which protected natural resources.
In the middle of the 19th century natural resources were being misused by companies, americans were alarmed by this issue and congress started taking notice in the issue. Congress wanted to protect the nation's resources, during that time period Theodore Roosevelt was president, he made sure to put conservationist issue on top of the national agenda. Because of this Roosevelt achieved putting an end to wasteful use of our resources along with the help of Gifford Pinchot,Chief of Forestry. In document H, it points out that if it wasn't for forest reserves the lumber companies would have monopolized and destroyed forests just to make a quick buck. In addition, if the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 wasn't passed alongside with the help of Theodore Roosevelt working for new laws to protect natural resources our land would of been barred due to the companies
monopolizing. Muckrakers were very common during the progressive era they’re known for exposing “dirty” practices such as in companies.factories, and even corruption between political and business leaders. As a matter of fact Upton Sinclair,a muckraker, wrote a novel called “The Jungle” which dealt with exposing what was happening in the meatpacking companies. Which included unsanitary and dangerous conditions. Sinclair described the way it looked in the inside using very vivid details, it was in fact disturbing and to top it the business owners didn't do anything about it. There was no change being done whatsoever the “meat” being produced wasn’t even meat it was mixed with a variety of things, to make matters worse people still had to work even if they had some type of disease. The meatpacking industry was very poorly maintained, floors were dirty, employees didn't have take care of their appearance, etc. Of course when Sinclair commented this to the floor superintends they would say that the meat would be cooked therefore it wouldn't harm anyone. Disturbing right how they didn't even care or that no one did anything about what was going on ?
These two sides of the issue bring about a major controversy in America today. Should the Pacific Northwest’s old growth forests and the welfare of the Northern Spotted Owl be sacrificed for America’s economy, and the jobs of the people in the logging industry? Which should be placed at a higher value, the forests in the Pacific Northwest and the northern spotted owl, or the American economy and the jobs and welfare of thousands and thousands of people?
Without the populists, the progressive movement would have never been able to complete so many accomplishments. Progressive party did not last but its goals, similar to the populist goals, become influential in the future. The progressive movement was overall a more overcoming movement. It took the populist ideals and influenced them in order to become successful during the progressive movement rather than in the populist. If the populist had an expanded argument rather than just based on farmers, then they could have been more successful in setting out their goals.
The election of 1912 signified a turning point in American history. Friends, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, competed against each other for the presidency. Though both progressive, they disagreed on how the country needed to run. Roosevelts ever increasing progressivism caused their stances on many important issues to be much different. Although, they did have some points on which they agreed. In what ways were Roosevelt 's and Taft 's stances on progressivism similar, and different?
Progressives wanted to end corruption, as it was everywhere before there were laws to stop it, including government positions. Government corruption still exists today, it’s just not as blatant as in 1900 when it was discovered that members of the legislature had chosen a Montana senator that just so happened to give said member $100,000 in secret bribes. Initially, the idea of direct election of senators was shot down by the senate. It is evident why it was shot down at the senate level, those same senators would no longer be able to bribe their way into office, now having to work for it. Finally, in 1913 direct election of US senators became law with the Seventeenth Amendment. Now, senators and individuals running for senate have to show their constituents they are willing to work for their
When analyzing more closely, it becomes obvious that the elaborations made on the civil rights, feminist and gay rights movements, are designed to express that those involved suffered greatly for the cause. For example, Epps states that “the price for our freedom—a price in genuine pain and intimidation—was paid… by civil-rights and women's-rights advocates subjected to vile abuse in public and private, and by gay men and lesbians who endured decades of deafening homophobic propaganda before the… public opinion turned (2014).” Epps fails, however, to include the even the slightest details of what those movements accomplished. In the case of the civil rights movement, for instance, that meant equal citizenship rights to white Americans for African Americans, which is nothing to bat an eye at (Virginia Historical Society, n.d.). Through doing this the argument becomes even more biased because it discredits the fact that the outcomes had long-lasting positive
The Progressive Movement that occurred during the early 20th century was a time of major reform in the United States of America. During this time, there was a group of activists that referred to themselves as the Progressives, and they sought to change society for the people. The way that they intended to do this was change through their ideals of democracy, efficiency, regulation, and social justice. With this movement came the election that changed the course of America’s history “…demonstrating a victory for progressive reforms as both Progressive candidates accounted for 75 percent of all the votes” (Bowles). The candidates in this election were Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. While both of these men considered themselves to be part of the progressives and shared some similar opinions, they also differed from each other greatly and were apparent in their views during this time.
Not only did Theodore Roosevelt push to better himself, he also pushed America to better itself and to improve itself as a country, that impact that he made in America still shows today.
For example, the Progressive movement saw many laws passed which are still in effect today. Also, without the Civil Rights movement we would still be living in a hypocritical, racist society. In the late 1800’s, a group of Americans decided that something needed to be done about the decline of moral and ethical values in most Americans. These people called themselves the progressives and started one of the most comprehensive reform movements in the United States to this day. Progressivism became so widespread that by the end of World War I, anyone who didn’t agree with Progressive ideals was labeled a communist.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the early 1900s? The turn of the century left Americans feeling more optimistic about life (Woog 4). People were honest and kind (Woog 5). The 1900s can be remembered as a happy time, but also a time of hardship for some Americans (Woog 5). Theodore Roosevelt, President 1901-1910, guided America in a way in which he created laws to help the social and economic problems of the time as well as improving politics by being a strong leader and recognizing the true needs of the country.
Many progressives thought that the greatest way to reform society was through its schools. Public education had grown rapidly since the Civil War. Progressives had new ideas about the purpose of education. Progressive educators believed that children should learn best by contributing in activities where they can work on projects and learn at their own rate. I thought this idea was a better way of learning because memorizing methods were really stressful and many people have diverse ways of learning: visual, hearing, hands on, and etc.
Theodore Roosevelt was one of our greatest presidents. He created the FDA and improved the position of the presidency greatly. Before Theodore came to be president, the position of presidency was slow and wasn’t very interesting so he made the executive branch more powerful by starting new reforms and a strong foreign policy. The life of a president is hard. It is full of stress, responsibilities, and a strong dedication the welfare of your country. Theodore had to deal with all of these presidential stresses, taking up much of his time. Do you know, though, that despite being a president, he led a life of excitement and freedom that many other presidents had never before experienced? Theodore, “Teddy” as his first wife Alice called him, Roosevelt was more than just our president, he was a dedicated author who wrote many books; he was also a rancher, and, surprisingly, he was a big time hunter. Even though Theodore Roosevelt was a president, his life was filled with exciting adventure, times of hardships, responsibilities to many, and influences upon many government positions.
...ch was a democracy and also wanted to limit the rise of big business and capitalists. Progressives tried to reform American institutions while preserving ideals of the past, such as a sense of community. A major concern of the Progressives was the way “Corporate America” did business. Progressives called for new reforms and proposed political measures to make government more responsive to the desires of the voters. Progressives also believed in the power of science and technology to solve social problems.
The progressive movement of the early 20th century has proved to be an intricately confounded conundrum for American historians. Who participated in this movement? What did it accomplish, or fail to accomplish? Was it a movement at all? These are all significant questions that historians have been grappling with for the last 60 years, thus creating a historical dialogue where in their different interpretations interact with each other.
The Progressive mind was run by the needs for reform. Reform was run mainly by women, who started feminism; a term meaning freedom for full person development. Women wanted to have the same rights as men. Women wanted the right to vote, and have some decision making within our government, because they felt like they were worth nothing. Moreover, women wanted to make more for their hard labor. Feminists fought for their right to vote, but they were not granted it until later years. Other reforms during this era consisted of a municipal reform which raised taxes in cities in order to get public services, and to help clean up the cities. There were also racial reforms, where blacks pushed to be treated the same as whites, and there was also a political reform started by La Follette to deny bosses the power to choose a political party's candidates. Today women have the right to vote and are treated much more equally to men in the workplace, there are laws in place reducing racism as much as possible, and because of La Follette candidates had to be voted in by a popular vote and this still holds true today.
The citizens and leaders of the reform movements realized that without action, these movements would be nothing (DOC G). So many of them decided to step out and stand up for their cause. Without these important American leaders, our nation would not have grown into the nation it is today. Through their determination and sacrifice, they made a huge difference in expanding America’s democratic ideals by laying the foundation for religion and education, movements through abolition and temperance acts, expanding beliefs by caring for the insane, and taking a stand for personal rights.