The Baseball: The Progressive Era In The United States

Baseball is one of the most defining qualities about our country, it is the embodiment of who we are. Gerald Early, an American culture critic, once said, “There are only three things that America will be remembered for 2000 years from now when they study this civilization: The Constitution, Jazz music, and Baseball. These are the 3 most beautiful things this culture's ever created.” This quote is not just an accurate prediction, but could be said to be true know. All three: the constitution, jazz, and baseball are talked about now by historians. While still an opinion, baseball is beautiful, and had impacted the lives of Americans for generations. There are many historians that study baseball when studying U.S. history. When discussing our

The country was improving public health, health care, as well as increasing labor protection and environment protection. Due to industrialization, factories became a very big part of the US economy. Factories created so many jobs, even children joined the workforce. This was a time like no other, entire families would have jobs. Workers, upset with big business owners began to try and improve their working conditions and created labor unions. The labor unions helped so the owners could not take advantage of the workers. The discontent between the working class and big business owners was very important for the entire country, so President Theodore Roosevelt used his power as the President to pass laws fitting to the progressive era. He proposed a number of legislative measure to protect the health and welfare of the public and the environment. He helped to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Roosevelt also intervened in coal strikes on the side of the workers to help force the owner to negotiate. This ere some of the policies and events that happened during the progressive era. This is the environment in which baseball was born and became our national

Barzun is a French born American, who has always been in love with baseball. Sometimes in history, in order to understand one idea, it is easier to compare it to an idea you already know. This is exactly what Barzun has done in some of his books. He compares baseball to Greek tragedy. In his book, “God’s Country and Mine”, he said, “the despair groaned out over the fate of the Dodgers, from whom the league pennant was snatched at the last minute, give us some idea of what Greek tragedy was like.” The comparison may seem random and a stretch, but the way in which Greece treasured their tragedies, we treasure baseball. Ancient Greece is a history topic taught to students of all ages, and for someone who might be reading a book by Barzun about America that is not American, the Greece analogy might put the impact baseball has in our country into perspective. He once said, “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball”. Another ideas Barzun stresses in his work it the idea that baseball is unique to us. It is separate from all other sports, and separates us from all other countries, including Great Britain. Another famous quote from “God’s Country and Mine” is, “That baseball fitly expresses the powers of the nation's mind and body is a merit separate from the glory of being the most active, agile, varied, articulate, and brainy of all group games. It is