Teddy Roosevelt: The Progressive Era

During the time of the Progressive Era in 1900s-1920s, the majority of the American believed that the industrialization, immigration, and the urbanization had produced critical social disorders and believes that reforms were needed to be reshaped America. They also believed that it was time to eliminate the problem caused by the corruption in the government and promote the improvement in order to address the social and economic problems. People like Theodore Roosevelt and W.E.B.Du Bois also accepted that change was needed to improve and develop. The major changes were made in social, economic and political reforms. But, was the Progressive Era a success?

Question 1. The progressive period in US history started in the 1890s and remained current through the 1920s. Progressive leaders in the US include President Teddy Roosevelt, President William Howard Taft, and President Woodrow Willson. The main objective of progressives was to rid the government of corruption. These progressive leaders targeted political machines and worked to rid the country of monopolistic enterprises that were exploiting regular citizens.

Progressivism is a movement focused on rectifying politics, modernization, and justice for the American people. In the Progressive Era, the citizens had many important economic issues to address, such as exploitation of women and children, the advancement of scientific research, and the consequences of big businesses taking over the work force. On the legislative side, many issues such as corrupt political leaders, Americans being given the freedom the Constitution allows, as well as citizens voices being heard as far as political issues are concerned. The Progressives were motivated by corruption at the hands of the government, inequality for American citizens, and greed by larger companies. The Progressive Era accomplished many advancements such as growth on an economic and city population level, improvement in the industrial production, as well as development of the consumer marketplace.

The mid to early 1800s marked a dynamic period in America’s history. Powerful movements such as the Market revolution the Second Great Awakening gave way to new moral and socio-economic beliefs. These new found beliefs fueled a series of reform movement and earned this era the name the Age of Reforms. Although movements such as temperance restricted democracy in the US, to a greater extent, reform movements such as public education, women’s rights, and abolition expanded democracy by giving power and basic rights to women, slaves, and the lower class. Although Temperance was founded on good principles, it was not a democratic reform because it was not supported by the majority.

Progressive Era Reforms During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the United States was experiencing a time of widespread reform. This movement brought great changes to multiple fields and areas in the United States. These reforms were ideas that improved the quality of life for working and normal citizens in the United States. Two such examples of these movements are found in reforms made within the working and living conditions across America. The American workplace before the Progressive Era was an abysmal and dangerous environment.

Since the progressive movement was all about beating down the political corruption of the party bosses and political machines. And since Mrs.Roosevelt was the face for the government, you would image there would be lots of chaos and controversy surrounding that. With her extreme power she was able to spread what was happening. She had brought up Social reformers such as Jane Addams and W. E. B. DuBois who argued that education and intervention could improve the lives of the underprivileged. Making their names more noticeable and crediting them for what they have done.

In his first Inaugural Address, Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued a call to action for the New Deal, stating: “Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now,” (Roosevelt). He wanted to fix the problems that had resulted from the Great Depression, and in many ways he succeeded with his New Deal. Roosevelt created programs to provide direct and indirect relief to his people, applied reforms to clean up banking and finance, and facilitate economic recovery to get the U.S. back on track and keep another crisis from occurring. Those who disagree believe that FDR didn’t do enough for America’s poor, or that his deficit spending resulted in even worse consequences for America later on.

Imperialism is a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. It is a great way to strengthen the economy and gain power and territory for countries that practice it, though it often failed and resulted in war and the deaths of innocents. Four intellectuals that played a big part in influencing American imperialism were Frederick Jackson Turner, Alfred T. Mahan, Herbert Spencer and John Fisk. All of these influencers had different ideologies and came together to justify American imperialism. They believed America needed to expand power and gain territories.

Victors often have certain crucial strengths that are instrumental to their victory, such as possessing ideologies and promoting policies that appeal to their targets and having a strong military force. For instance, in the rise of Stalin, Stalin effectively used his position as Party Secretary to control party membership. He doubled its membership to one million and his policies appealed to the new members, hence he was able to expand his support base. He was also extremely cunning, deliberately tricking Trotsky into not showing up at Lenin’s funeral, severely damaging his reputation and political prestige, and Stalin made the most of the funeral, setting himself up as Lenin’s disciple. In the rise of Mao, Mao called for and led the Long March, which inspired many of the Communist Party’s members and soldiers to see Mao as a courageous, selfless hero who saved their lives.

As a result of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, the government has since played an integral part in shaping our society into what it is today. However, in doing so, they have also created numerous rules and regulations that limit our individual rights. “The war ended the Great Depression, but the work of the New Deal added a new dimension to the American Dream: the broad expectation that government had a role to play in advancing individual lives” (5). The New Deal created jobs and opportunities during a time of economic despair, giving hope to Americans struggling to achieve their Dream. I support the development of federal programs that create jobs or provide aid to people with special needs, but there is a limit to how much authority the government has over our lives.