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Reform During The Progressive Era

1218 Words5 Pages

During the Progressive Era, a period of reform in the early twentieth century sparked by rapid industrialization, immigration, and urbanization, three presidents raced to improve our country in three different areas. These men being Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, and Woodrow Wilson, three progressive presidents who tackled attacking big businesses, the abuse of the working class, and environmental destruction. Although all three of the progressive presidents made many efforts of reform during this time period, Theodore Roosevelt was the most overall progressive president, for he gained control of corporations, fought for consumer protection, and conserved many natural resources using his “Square Deal” policy. During this time …show more content…

In 1902 the coal workers of Pennsylvania went on strike, demanding a twenty percent pay raise and their workday to be reduced by one hour. This left the country facing a coal shortage, and the president debating whether or not he should intervene. Though he had no official authority on the matter, Roosevelt decided to step in when heating shortages become more evident. Inviting both the mine owners and the union representatives to meet with him in the White House, Roosevelt was in full support of the miners. When management refused to negotiate, Roosevelt threatened to seize the mines and use troops to force them to run as a federal operation. With so much now at stake owners agreed to compromise, giving the miners a ten percent pay raise, and reducing their workday from ten to nine hours. Roosevelt proceeded to give his administration the nickname “Square Deal,” as he felt that everyone benefited fairly from the agreement. In 1906 Roosevelt gave a speech where he first used the term “muckrakers.” This term is used to describe the investigative journalists and reporters who used media to expose scandals and abuses in their era. Roosevelt had recently read Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” which exposed in graphic detail the horrors of the meatpacking industry. He was shocked and disgusted, and responded by appointing a special investigating committee to look into the food handling processes in this industry. Coming back with reports confirming much of what Sinclair had written, Roosevelt began pressuring Congress to address the issue. Though he realized the devastating effects these reports could have on the meatpacking industry, he chose to put consumer protection first. Congress soon passed the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 after much pressure from Roosevelt. These new laws

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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.

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I think President Theodore Roosevelt was worried about the strike because of its potential to expand into a social war. President Theodore Roosevelt responded by calling a meeting in Washington to discuss the problem. He asked for immediate resumption in the coal mines to meet the needs of the people. I believe that owners do not have the right to do business with unfair wages and dangerous working conditions. Many people believe that which was the reason for the coal strike because the workers wanted higher wages and shorter work days.

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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.

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The 1902 miners strike became one of the most famous of these strikes, as the strike became so large and affected the daily lives of so many Americans that President Roosevelt deemed it necessary to personally call a meeting between the Miners and their employers. This marked the first time that the President of the United States personally became involved in ending a strike. The president's engagement led to “ rancorous negotiation” and which eventually led to the miners returning to the mines six months after the strike began. While this strike provided miners with better wages, it made it harder for the mining companies to turn a

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The Progressive Era lasted from the 1890’s to the early 1920’s. It was centralized around socialism and political reform. One of the major changes that took place during this era, was the labor legislation. Many workers were working long shifts, for several days straight, making their work life just about unbearable, and unworkable conditions. The job environment had become to where it was unsafe, unsanitary, and unregulated conditions for very low wages.

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In order to encourage the growth of trade unions he passed this bills that did more than intended. As the book Who built America details,"The Wagner Act guaranteed workers the right to freely organize their own unions and to strike, boycott, and picket their employers(Rosenzweigh 454).This was exactly what all Middle and working class Americans needed to push them over. It had the stern language that the NIRA lacked and the backing of the National Labor Relation board to hear complaints. Because people thought there jobs were safer due to Roosevelt 's policies, they were more willing to join unions, leading to hike in

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The United Mine Workers Of America (UMW)

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In March 1902, John Mitchell, a newly elected President of the union, entered into negotiations with the operators to deliver requests of the miners. They demanded a twenty percent increase in pay, cutting a working day from ten to eight hours, implementing a fairer weighting system, and, most importantly, recognising the union along with giving it authority to influence the industry. After the negotiations broke down, on May 12, 1902, John Mitchell called 147,000 miners out for a strike (Grossman, 1975). With a hope for a speedy settlement, he also warned operators that the engineers, firemen, pump men who were keeping mines dry and preventing the flood will join the strike. The response never followed and on June 2 the work came to a

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