Applying What You Have Learned free essay sample

The origin of progressivism was the Greenback Labor Party of the 1870’s and the Populist Pary of the 1890’s. Progressive reformers included militarists such as Theodore Roosevelt, who thrilled to the stenuous life, as well as pacifists such as Jane Addams, whose loftiest goals included the abolition of war. The two chief goals of progressivism are to use the state to curb monopoly power and to improve the common person’s conditions of life and labor. Overall, the goals of progressives were continuing social advancement, improvement, and reform. 2. Progressivism started in cities and tried to fix the inefficiency and corruption in the city government. In urban areas reform was trying to be made to the slums and the improvement of the cities. Gradually the progressivism moved to the state level where it made reforms. All of this reform ultimately led to the greater national progressivism. 3. Women were sopposed to stay in their sphere, the home. We will write a custom essay sample on Applying What You Have Learned or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But, with progressivism they got out more and fought for reform. They tried to reform many things such as child labor and making sure food that got to the table was safe. Female reformers joined many groups and gave themselves a national stage for social investigation and advocracy. Women fought for factory reform and for temperance. Women were successful in factory reform in many ways. 4. Roosevelt brought the time of controlling the big businesses and not letting them be to powerful and continue the problems(like bribing officials) that they had in the past. Roosevelt created the Bureau of Corporations, which probed businesses engaged in interstate commerce. Roosevelt had used force against a mining company to give workers a higher pay and lower working hours. The Elkins Act (1903) was created against the railroad companies. The Hepburn Act (1906) said that free passes, with the hint of bribery, were severely restricted and the Interstate Commerce Commission was expanded. Also, Roosevelt sought to stop bad trusts, such as J. P. Morgan and empire builder James Hill who were going to create a monopoly on the railroads of the Northwest. Roosevelt caused the Meat Inspection Act (1906) and the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) to get passed to improve the quality of food especially meat (nasty slaughter houses). Roosevelt was big on conserving the natural resources of the US. He made federal reserves of about 125 million acres. He stopped the lumberman from destroying the forests. He was on both the nature people’s side and the people who wanted the natural resources. Lastly, he did many other things like built dams. 5. Many of Taft’s policies offended progressives, and mainly Roosevelt. Roosevelt was infuriated when Taft pressed an antitrust suit against the U. S. Steel Corporation because Roosevelt was personally involved in one of the mergers that prompted the suit. Taft also passed an upward tariff revision called Payne-Aldrich Bill. The Ballinger-Pinchot quarrel, where Taft dismissed Gifford Pinchot (chief of the Agricultural Departments Division of Forestry) because he criticized the opening of public lands in Whyoming, Montana, and Alaska. He was a Rooseveltian so Taft was criticized. 6. The Republican party split in the spring of 1910 and Roosevelt came back in the summer of 1910 and stirred up a tempest. He said a speech about urging the national government to increase its power to remedy economic and social abuses (popularly known as â€Å"New Nationalism. †