Theodore Roosevelt's Strenuous Life Speech

The “Strenuous Life” was not just the mere title of Theodore Roosevelt’s famous speech; it was a lifestyle Roosevelt introduced to an evolving America. Nearing the turn of the twentieth-century, America was experiencing an industrial metamorphosis. In this urbanizing nation, Americans felt suffocated by Victorian ideals and sought a solution. Traditional values of masculinity were converging with women's rights movements, thus, social culture was shifting. Roosevelt’s famous notion of the “Strenuous Life” embodied proverbial values by highlighting the importance of a successful work ethic and overcoming struggles and hardships. Instead of the Victorian ideals of self-control, character, and scarcity, the “Strenuous Life” presented empowerment

in which Americans can overcome their struggles, and should not refrain from self-fulfilling and leisurely activities. But how did these new ideas react with genteel traditions of the Victorian Era? The “Strenuous Life” directly led to the fall of Victorianism by prompting changes in American culture values, through self-fulfillment and a refined culture of abundance.
In the late nineteenth-century, America was becoming unsettled in sedentary Victorian culture. The traditional construct of Victorian values emphasized conservatism primarily through the idea of self-control. Victorianism asserted that there was only so much of everything and people must control themselves in their habits and desires. This was grounded in the idea of sentimentalism, in which Victorian culture still held onto morals of the past. Ideals of masculinity and patriotism were highly revered by Victorian America, still rooted in genteel tradition. As industrialization continued to advance, men were working long and demanding hours. This caused Americans to portray the “fragmented self” because they had no time for any leisure outside the walls of work. Men were growing sedentary, and “confusion over the meaning of manliness grew acute”. Women pursued an education during this time, only to be faced with gender inequality in the workplace, and this helped spark a movement of women’s rights. These factors of suffrage created spaces for the “Strenuous Life” to later emerge as a solution in Victorian culture. People very much wanted to break out of these confines, however the Victorian Era still held its leash on American culture. It would not be long though, before a glimmer of hope would overshadow this stubborn era.
On April 10, 1899, Theodore Roosevelt delivered a new idea in his “Strenuous Life” speech in Chicago.

The “Strenuous Life” was Roosevelt’s idea that exalted remedial virtues embraced by Americans, such as the importance of overcoming hardships to better oneself. This changed American culture through increased self-fulfillment. Anti-Victorian in nature, Roosevelt’s speech aimed to restore America’s relaxed culture, through the fear of other nations surpassing the United States. Roosevelt stated:

“I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate

triumph”.
Roosevelt’s speech presented more than an idea; it handed Americans ways to break out of Victorian restraints, and to live a better life for themselves and their families. This inspired Americans to get up and fight for the fulfillment of which the Victorian Era deprived them from, and to end their relaxation within this culture. Based on his own childhood struggles, Theodore Roosevelt’s “The Strenuous Life” speech also fueled the rise of sport culture. Baseball was now being played by Americans of all classes that pursued a more leisurely lifestyle. Baseball represented leisure in this time, and it “was the most important sport played by the middle-classes in the period from 1870 to 1920.” The NCAA was formed, and college football was on the rise. Women enjoyed taking on the hobby of cycling as well. America “was evolving, and no one could bottle up that change”. If the idea of the “Strenuous Life” had not been introduced at this time, America would have remained trapped in Victorianism until something else prompted their departure. Affecting more than just sports culture, Roosevelt’s speech would later set a precedent for cultural change in America.
Through all of the “Strenuous Life” ideas, a new culture of abundance rose.

Replacing Victorian control, character, and individualism, this new culture introduced self-fulfillment, personality, and bureaucracy. Americans were enlightened to chase their full potential in life. The idea that men should be able to not spend so many hours at work and still be able to provide for their families ensured that they would no longer be slaves of the workplace. Because of the “Strenuous Life” idea, Americans began to realize that filling the gaps in their lives was how they were going to release themselves from Victorianism. As the Victorian Era officially ended with Queen Victoria’s death in 1901, America had already found itself slipping from the Victorian Era’s

grasp.
The Victorian Era represented a cage over society, and the idea of the “Strenuous Life” helped Americans realize that the key to this cage could be found through self-fulfillment. Thus, a culture of abundance replaced the Victorian Era. Theodore Roosevelt’s “Strenuous Life” speech not only introduced the “Strenuous Life” idea, but it shaped the way America would break out of Victorianism. As Victorian culture aged, factors of oppression and discontentment formed cracks that would be filled by an emerging cultural reorientation. The “Strenuous Life” directly led to the fall of Victorianism by prompting changes in American culture values, through self-fulfillment and a refined culture of abundance.