Preview

Roosevelt And Woodrow Wilson: The Progressive Movement

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
746 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Roosevelt And Woodrow Wilson: The Progressive Movement
At the start of the 19th century, a new era had begun that would forever change the course of American history. This new era was known as the Progressive era; an era of change amongst the common worker and the powerful giants of industry. Two major leaders that occupied this specific moment in time were Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. However, these prominent men had contributed much to the efforts of the progressive movement; each one had different personal views that dictated their approach. This paper attempts to compare and contrast these men’s progressive ideas apart from their actions. We will start with Woodrow Wilson, in his inaugural speech, he had addressed changes in the government to show favor towards the popular Party (Wilson, 1913). Wilson explains, by asserting that the nation desires the Party to interpret and change the nation’s designs and views. He claims that now the government and the nation’s job are to cleanse and correct the carelessness and ills conveyed about by the country’s industrialization (Wilson, 1913). Wilson also touches on the matters that need settlement, which extends from the need to adjust the foreign tariff, the banking strategy, the industrial scheme, and the agricultural strategy. He also discusses how the government desires to protect its people’s lives with sanitary regulations, …show more content…
Roosevelt brought about change in the meat packing industry with the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act, which is due to the work of Upton Sinclair (Roosevelt, 1911). However, like Wilson, he would fail to achieve any changes for women and African Americans. This occurred because of growing criticism and his belief in African American inferiority. As for women, he did not bring about their right to vote. It would not be until the ratification of the 19th amendment during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency that the suffrage movement reached its goal (Roosevelt,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    Woodrow Wilson (Harnessing the Power of Innovation in the Progressive Era par 2.). In World…

    • 3879 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the early years of this great nation we find to amazing men that wanted to preside over the United States in ways no others had attempted to do as of yet. They both had great ideas and in some ways were similar and yet others miles apart. They believed their way was gospel and this country would perish under the other so to speak. President Roosevelt was out to be our great Nationalist with a campaign based on a human welfare goal. However, Woodrow Wilson was out to be the first great Freedomist with a campaign based more on a property welfare goal. There are pros and cons from both sides when you think about it but the question is which is best for the United States and its future. It was a time for Progressivism here in the good old USA…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    During this period, progressivism was gradually rising from the local and state level to the national level. Increasing numbers of people across the nation supported expanding the role of the federal government to ensure the welfare of the people. Roosevelt felt that Taft was defying everything that they were for in government and decided to run agains't him. Roosevelt created the "Bull Moose" party. Although Roosevelt and Wilson were both progressives, they differed over the means and extent to which government should intervene or regulate the states and the economy. Differences between New Nationalism and New Freedom over trusts and the tariff became a central issue of the campaign. Roosevelt believed the federal government should act as a "trustee" for the American people, controlling and supervising the economy in the public interest. Wilson had greater reservations about a large federal government and sought a return to a more decentralized republic. Roosevelt and Wilson's national reforms made them successful during the progressive era. They were both successful progressive presidents.…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Progressive Era was the time period after the depression of the 1890s and before World War I. During this time the United States was going through a period of social change and political tumult. The American Society embarked on a journey of many reforms as a response to the diverse tensions and pressures presented by industrialization, urban growth, and ethnic tension. The roots of this reform clearly lay in the depression of the 1890s (1893 to 1897). The depression dramatized the problems in society, and raised the possibility of more violent upheavals if reform was not instituted. Major areas needing reform were poor public facilities, tax favoritism, corruption, environmental reform, and urban reform. This was a period of self-examination and renewal; it was a healthful contribution to the nation's history books. Even if the new regulatory agencies direct primaries, municipal reforms and conservation legislations may not have made all "wrong" things "right, they were able to make some significant change for the better. These new laws and commission's act had alleviated many citizens and had established the principle of government's responsibility for the general welfare of the…

    • 1882 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    During the Progressive Era,The United States faced many problems that needed to be addressed which were unfair business, poor working conditions and destruction of the environment. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson worked to fix some of these problems. While all the Presidents worked to correct these problems during the Progressive Era, Woodrow Wilson was the most progressive president because he attacked big business’s, signed the act to create the national park service and supported for workers.…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the years, American has given birth to some of the most prominent, sagacious and influential leaders in history; leaders such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln amongst many others. This was embodied all through the early 20th and late 19th, with the presence of the progressive presidents in the oval office. President Theodore Roosevelt, President William Howard Taft and President Woodrow Wilson had diverse levels of effectiveness on reforming our nation, however they had one factor in common; they were great leaders who promoted the growth and prosperity of our country.…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the same time, progressives pushed for reform at every turn, from women’s suffrage to shorter working hours. Many progressives, like Walter Weyl, agreed that “military efficiency is useless without economic efficiency.” To keep the war movement going, a movement from open markets to managed markets had begun. Wilson created agencies, such as the War Industries Board, that composed the “administrative state,” that merged business and government together (199). Progressives’ goals of government regulation of trusts, railroads, and telegraph nationalization had temporarily been reached. Concurrently, railroad wages increased while the Railroad Administration took over the Railroad lines and telegraph.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In his first term as President, Wilson persuaded a Democratic Congress to pass major progressive reforms. Historian John M. Cooper argues that, in his first term, Wilson successfully pushed a legislative agenda that few presidents have…

    • 7467 Words
    • 30 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the progressive era, presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, and Woodrow Wilson were often known as the “Progressive Presidents.” President Theodore Roosevelt, in 1908, very easily could’ve won the presidential election, but in 1904 he made a big promise not to run for a second term as president. He didn’t want to just give up control, so he chose the next president. He chose his successor, President Howard Taft to become the next president. He was a 350 pound Secretary of War and he was chosen in 1908 to become the Republican candidate. President Taft was a progressive president that the other past presidents would thought would be easy to control him.…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    father and also his mentor, to be a religious man. Mr. Wilson encouraged his son, Woodrow…

    • 1252 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Progressive Era Dbq

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The progressive leaders led the reform process of the nation’s industrial economy in the early years of the 20th century. Through the antirust acts, inspection acts, and regulations on trading, progressive reformers reshaped the way the economy ran. In a political cartoon by the Washington Post in 1907, President Roosevelt is on a dead raccoon with the words “bad trust” shaved into it. The political cartoon does over exaggerate the effectiveness of Roosevelt’s policies regarding trusts, but it does represent the way Roosevelt started the new regulation policies. In his second presidency, he started the “square deal.” This deal first passed Hepburn Railroad Regulation Act of 1906 which put regulations on the industry. Next, the square deal went after the meat industry. In the Neill-Reynolds Report of 1906, the meat industry was accused of insanitary food practices. “Meat scraps were found being shoveled into receptacles from dirty floors where they were left to lie until again shoveled into barrels…” stated the report. This caused Congress to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act. With the election of Woodrow Wilson in the 1912, he sold his idea of “new freedom”. As stated in the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, “It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in commerce that directly or indirectly discriminated in price between different purchasers…” “The effect of such discrimination may be to substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly in any line of commerce…” The act was put forth by President Wilson to encourage business competition. However, the act was attacked by the conservatives who caused it to not take full effect in legislation. However, a similar act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, took full force. This act set up an agency that regulated business’ actions and helped determined whether they were lawful or not. In a statement made by Herbert Croly in the New Republic, Croly questions Wilson’s…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    chapter 21

    • 10774 Words
    • 57 Pages

    • Recognize how Wilson sought to enact his “New Freedom” once in office. Understand the reforms he supported, and his views on the tariff 336 issue, banking, and trusts. Explain why Wilson earned the name “the reluctant Progressive.” • Understand the limits of progressive reform, and identify the organizations that offered more radical visions of America’s future. Consider why some critics charged the movement with advocating reform “for white men only.”…

    • 10774 Words
    • 57 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Firstly, one of the events that became a turning point for the U.S. was the Women’s Suffrage Movement and the passing of the 19th Amendment. The Women’s Suffrage Movement was started during the Progressive era when labor reform and a better standard of living for the average citizen became pushed. In addition, there was now a generation of women who protested traditional gender roles and promoted the idea of personal freedom as a woman. Critics like Charlotte Perkins Gilman questioned traditional beliefs and inspired women to become more independent. She mentioned, “When women stand free as economic agents, they will [achieve a] much better fulfillment of their duties as wives and mothers and [contribute] to the vast improvement in health and happiness of the human race.”…

    • 1732 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Woodrow wilson, the 28th president of the United States of America. He did a lot of great things in his term so let's take a look at what he did throughout his life. Woodrow Wilson was under the party of Democrat, and was favored by many to be a great president.Wilson also served as president during World War 1. Wilson stated he wanted to make the world “safe for democracy” (Whitehouse.gov), meaning he wanted to make sure no place was being ruled by a tyrant or any kind of related government. The items that will be stated in this essay about Woodrow Wilson are: Early life, Presidency, and After presidency.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In his speech Roosevelt stated that “if the average citizen is guaranteed equal opportunity in the polling place, he must have equal opportunity in the marketplace” (Roosevelt n.d.). The government should promote justice, equality and stability inspiring much confidence on the part of the American citizens. Roosevelt saw the government as freedom’s ally compared to the previous presidency when the government was freedom’s enemy causing economic inequality. Roosevelt claimed that many government leaders forgot “what the Flag and the Constitution stand for, stand for democracy, not tyranny; for freedom, not subjection; and against a dictatorship by mob rule” (Roosevelt n.d.). The New Deal resulted in a new role for the federal government supporting individuals financially and promoting economic stability in the country. Roosevelt saw economic security as a political condition of personal freedom, as “the New Deal reduced individual liberty for the sake of increasing economic security” (Cohen 171). Thus, the New Deal benefited the country and people living there changing the role of the government in the country’s economy and other…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays