How Did Roosevelt Contribute To The Rise Of The Women's Reform Movement

C2. The Progressive Era had a rise in reform movements. Two important reform movements are “the woman movement” and conservation efforts. Women were viewed as inferior to men and women banded together to move beyond these prejudices. Women’s rights activists gave their movement the title “the women movement”. These women wanted to expand their professions out of the house and into higher paying jobs. They spread their belief that women’s unique homemaking traits would make society more humanized. Women’s clubs through the late nineteenth century began taking a stand on public affairs. These reformers started working more outside of the house in jobs such as consumer protection and housing improvement. A specific group called the National

Roosevelt was inspired to contribute to the conservation of resources from his love for the outdoors and efficiency. Roosevelt progressed his efforts by preferring conservation over preservation. He used his powers as president to protect natural wonders by declaring them national monuments. He also believed that to conserve resources more efficiently that public lands should be managed by the federal government instead of transferring ownership to the states. His reform movement also included creating national parks, national bird reservations and charging fees for those who produced hydroelectricity. Gifford Pinchot was also an important person in the reform movement. He promoted scientific management of woodlands. To aid in the management fees were charged for grazing livestock and bidding for tree-cutting was supervised. The goal of this conservation reform was not to permanently preserve the resources but to conserve their use and make the government benefit from companies profiting from public land. (Norton,

Imperialism showed in the annexation of Hawai’i in the forms of political power, force, and military power. Secret clubs and military units formed by Americans on the Hawaiian Islands to challenge the royal government. The king was forced to accept a constitution that the decision making would be done by the legislature instead of the monarchy. Then within months, Hawai’i had granted the United States naval rights. These two things had already expanded the United States political and military power. To continue their imperialistic methods the United States removed the duty-free status of exported sugars from Hawai’i as a way for them to be forced into annexation. When Queen Lili’uokalani took her throne, she tried to recover the political power, but the United States reacted by sending USS Boston troops to Honolulu. The queen was then arrested and held captive and eventually surrendered her authority to the United States government. Grover Cleveland suspected foul play and declared an investigation into the Hawaiians desire for annexation. Despite the investigation, imperialism dominated. Hawai’i was proving to be a strategic and commercial way station during the Spanish-American War, so President McKinley moved annexation through Congress and it only took a couple years until Hawaiian people were considered citizens. (Norton,