Roosevelt Monopolies Analysis

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s public image has been nothing short of superb. He was the charismatic man who overcame polio and brought back America from the Great Depression and led them to victory in World War II. But, in actuality, Roosevelt was not as great as the history books make him seem. Where he succeeded in some areas, he failed in others. FDR’s lack of moral principles and abuse of federal power, as well as his inept handling of the Great Depression and failure to retain any foresight of his actions, results in an evaluation of a 3 out of 10 rating.

Government oversight of big business (monopolies) and child labor were serious issues during the early 1900 's. Progressives were a group of reformers during these years that were fighting to "purify" the government, and eliminate political bosses and the corruption frequently connected with them. There were four main goals of the Progressives, fostering industrial efficiency, creating economic reform, promoting moral improvement, and protecting social welfare. The two Presidents that shared commitment to enacting these major social reforms were Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt, through use of the Square Deal, promoted the conservation movement and placed millions of acres of land under federal protection to preserve America

I do not believe that Theodore Roosevelt was anti-business; rather he opposed their unethical practices. During this time big corporations set rates that were too high, underpaid their employees, and made employees work long hours. The Interstate Commerce Commission was established in 1887 by Grover Cleveland to investigate railroad rates and rebates. President Roosevelt introduced the Hepburn act to give the ICC the right to set rates for railroad shipping. By doing this railroads and big business were unable to set their rates too high because it no longer offered rebates. He helped the working class by pioneering the eight hour day that restricted employers from overworking their employees. By establishing the eight hour working day,

The 1912 Election and the Power of Progressivism: A Brief History with Documents by Brett Flehinger is about the four Presidential candidates during the election of 1912, their political parties and campaigns. The book shows how opposed each candidate 's platform was and which problems the candidates agreed on. The book has documents from this time to further aid in understanding what exactly was happening. None of the candidates, however, were as different as Theodore Roosevelt and his predecessor, William Howard Taft. Their platforms and ideas regarding trusts, direct democracy and courts and the constitution differed greatly, whilst they agreed on the important issue of women 's suffrage.

The wealth during the 1920s left Americans unprepared for the economic depression they would face in the 1930s. The Great Depression occurred because of overproduction by farmers and factories, consumption of goods decreased, uneven distribution of wealth, and overexpansion of credit. Hoover was president when the depression first began, and he maintained the government’s laissez-faire attitude in the economy. However, after the election of FDR in 1932, his many alphabet soup programs in his first one hundred days in office addressed the nation’s need for change. Although Roosevelt’s administration was not very effective in immediately ending the Great Depression, it left a lasting effect on the role of the federal government by creating

During the 20s, which became known at the Roaring 20s, American society was at an all time high and people were prospering as the nation’s wealth almost doubled and American was sent into the modern, consumer age. However following almost directly after the Roaring 20s, America entered a period of economic failure, also known as the Great Depression. During this period, the U.S faced economic, social, and political turmoil. The government and various individuals quickly sought after solutions to address the problems facing America during this time. Herbert Hoover, who was President at the start of the Depression, and his many reforms intended to revitalize the economy and create more jobs but would fail and his belief in rugged individualism

During the Progressive Era there were multiple of changes occurring that people became overwhelmed. New resources in the oil market, industrialization, fights for equality. There were many factory jobs, however, no one to stand up for the workers. So of course people will turn to their government for help, the power house of the country. However, even the government was picky in what they helped with. During this time three different president- Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson-each played a part in fixing the monopolies and corporate greed. Breaking up one company into many, securing that not one person made all the profit. Which is good for the economy, being able to share the wealth. Yet, the government didn 't bother in touching other important

Thesis : After the Civil War, America was in a post-war boom. During the 1870-1890, big business moguls, such as Rockefeller and Carnegie, create huge corporations which not only affected the economy, but also affected the political realm of America. While many may assume that during the rise of these big business helped to change the economy and politics,  the real focus was on the responses formed by society, such as labor unions, increase public outcry, and political opposition groups that helped to change society.

During the misfortune month of October of 1929, the United States experienced one of the most horrifying depressions of them all. Starting with The Wall Street Crash of 1929, America commenced feeling the terrifying symptom of the Great Depression that would last for several exhausted years. Surrounded by millions of unemployed citizens starving to death, the government changed the philosophy of how the government should help their people to prosper. Later on, the dedicated 32nd president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, would take the position on 1933 and would present his astute program, the New Deal. Roosevelt explained his plan with detail as the Three Rs, for which they stand as Relief, Reform, and Recovery. Nevertheless, the New Deal had

At the start of his presidency, the biggest threat to America was the Great Depression. Within his first 100 days, Roosevelt introduced his first set of New deals. They were a large amount of various acts, that called for radical action. Some of the most notable accomplishments of Roosevelt's new deal included the AAA, the Social Security Act, and the Emergency Banking Act. The Agricultural Adjustment Act allowed the government a firmer position in American agricultural. The act allowed the government to pay farmers to limit the crops they grew and buy livestock. The Social Security Act is probably the most famous of Roosevelt's acts. The act set up a huge pension system that covered 35 million people. The Emergency Banking Act was imperative at the time. The act help increase the public's trust in banks when they had none. Roosevelt's Second set of deals came much later, but were just as important. The most notable of the acts in the second wave was probably the Fair Labor Standards Act. The act established a maximum amount of working hours for any employee and a minimum wage. Many of Roosevelt's deals were meant with success, but it is important to note that some were declared unconstitutional at later dates. The AAA was one of such acts declared unconstitutional in 1936, however, it was rewritten and implanted again at a later date ("The New Deal", n.d.). Roosevelt actually faced a large amount of resistance when trying to pass his new deals. During one of his terms, Roosevelt announced a controversial plan to expand the supreme court. He was quickly criticized of trying to "Pack" the courts in order to neutralize hostile opinions towards his new deals ("Roosevelt announces 'court-packing' plan", 2010). Later in his presidency Roosevelt had to manage the daunting task that was World War II. Before America even enter the war, Roosevelt was working to provide

The period between 1865 to 1900, also known as the Gilded Age, was an era of rapid industrialization, immigration, and capitalization in America. After the civil war, previously used factories remained and flourished as manufacturing started to replace farming; which was possible due to vast immigration from Southern and Eastern part of Europe. With an available cheap labor source, businesses rose to great heights, and competition thrived. While companies thrived, working laborers and citizens suffered. Because industrial statesman expanded wealth and created opportunities, but also exploited workers, disrupted competition, and manipulated factors of production, it is justified to characterize the industrial leaders of the Gilded age as both

Baseball is one of the most defining qualities about our country, it is the embodiment of who we are. Gerald Early, an American culture critic, once said, “There are only three things that America will be remembered for 2000 years from now when they study this civilization: The Constitution, Jazz music, and Baseball. These are the 3 most beautiful things this culture's ever created.” This quote is not just an accurate prediction, but could be said to be true know. All three: the constitution, jazz, and baseball are talked about now by historians. While still an opinion, baseball is beautiful, and had impacted the lives of Americans for generations. There are many historians that study baseball when studying U.S. history. When discussing our

Trusts, or large monopolies, were corporations that combined and lowered their prices to drive competitors out of the business. This infuriated many americans at that time because it allowed such a small number of people to become wealthy, or even successful at all. When Theodore Roosevelt became president, he sympathized with workers unlike most of the presidents in the past who usually tried to help the corporations. As illustrated in Document A, Roosevelt wanted to hunt down the bad trusts ad put a leash on the good ones in order to regulate them. However, it only had a limited effect because the government was unable to control the activity of banks and railroads which were two of the most powerful industries in the world. Other presidents were also able to establish antitrust reforms. President Woodrow Wilson established the Federal Trade Commission Act, aimed to prevent monopoly, and the Clayton Antitrust Bill. As Document E illustrates, the Clayton Antitrust Bill claims it unlawful to "lessen competition” or “tend to create a monopoly in any line of commerce". Although Presidents Roosevelt and Wilson established reforms to stop monopoly, they still had many holes in their trust-busting campaign which severely limited the full effects of

The transition between presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt marked the transformation from a weak, to a strong form of government, which became directly involved in the lives of the people. This was primarily caused by the difference in the executive leaders ideologies, where Hoover was more focused on individual responsibility and capitalism, Roosevelt was more concerned with immediate action based on government intervention. Overall, the New Deal sacrificed the amount of personal responsibility that the people had with their own economic security. The power of the federal government was strengthened, but the long-lasting effects based on the social and economic policies was beneficial for the United States.

Theodore Roosevelt was aware of this and presented his idea of “New Nationalism” and the Square Deal. For example, to prevent corruption, Roosevelt spoke out for “direct nominations by the people”, (document D) and he was successful because the 17th amendment, preventing former representatives from picking the new ones, was ratified in 1913. Also within Roosevelt’s plans, he wanted to regulate big business and their trusts, which can be seen in the 1907 Washington Post political cartoon. In the cartoon, Roosevelt has his left leg upon a slain bear that represents “bad trusts”, such as the Northern Securities Company, and a gun in his right hand. To his left side there is a fearful bear representing “good trusts” on a restraint. (document A) This cartoon demonstrates that Roosevelt would be able to recognize and destroy bad trusts and regulate the good trusts, since not all trusts are bad. Successes in doing so included the Clayton Antitrust Act, which made it “unlawful for any person engaged in commerce… to discriminate in price between different purchases of commodities which commodities are sold for use, consumption, or resale within the United States.” (document E) Ensuring consumer protection was also successful due to acts such as the Federal Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. They allowed for the improvement of dangerous conditions and the