Progressive Era Dbq

The Progressive Era was a period in time where reformers wanted to make changes and improve American life during the early 1900s. Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson are three Presidents of the United States who are known as “Progressive Presidents”. Each of them set goals to modernize America, and made it what it has become today. Theodore Roosevelt was the first Progressive President of the United States. He was a very energetic reformer, who used his personality to get things done. Roosevelt was known to get rid of unfair business practices (trustbuster), to regulate railroads, to protect consumers, and was also known to protect natural resources. He wanted to enforce his “Square Deal” to make everyone have an opportunity to succeed. According to large business leaders, Roosevelt was a trustbuster. Powerful companies violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, cheated the public, and

Taft was considered to be the opposite of Roosevelt; he was quiet, and feared power. Although they were “opposites” in some ways, Taft did support many of Roosevelt’s Progressive ideas, especially trustbusting. Although Taft believed in reforming America (Anti-trust, Payne-Aldrich Act, Mann-Elkins Act, Sixteenth Amendment), he did have problems with Progressives. Taft began to loose his Progressive supporters after signing a high tariff bill that Progressives opposed, and for blocking conservation policies. When Roosevelt noticed that Taft had betrayed reformers, Roosevelt became furious. He decided to run against Taft in the election of 1912 as a part of the Bull Moose Party (the Progressives Party). Wilson, a Democrat, ended up wining the election, which left Taft and Roosevelt splitting up the Republican Party. Despite the problems Taft had to face being a Progressive President, he managed to keep Progressivism alive for President Wilson to