Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Teddy Roosevelt and his impact


Teddy Roosevelt

         Teddy Roosevelt was elected the youngest president at age 42. He thought being the president was a "bully pulpit" meaning the because he was the president people would have to do as he says. He also believed that every american should be treaded equal, because they are equal.

         He believed not all trusts were bad, but also wanted to protect the american public from harm. He helped with the solution of the 1902 coal strike and the Northern Securities. He also oversaw the railroad construction and helped people getting around teh country fast and easy.
         He went after the food and drug administration to help with the food and its process to go the table of american homes. He was also very into saving nature. He passed an act that stated thatthey can use federal funds from public land sales to pay for irrigation and land development projects. He added millions of acres to form protected national forests, wildlife reservations and national parks.

The 19th amendment

         The 19th amendment was a huge turning point in american history. Many people, mostly women, were happy of the change, becuase now they had the right to vote. It was a hard step toward this goal, but they didn't let the ideas of others came in their way.
         It all started with the idea of women suffrage. Women wanted to vote and they didn't want anything in their way. Susan B. Anthony wanted to vote and did, she got arrested but during her trial, she said that the 14th amendment said taht she could vote. The court couldn't do anything against her word and let her go.

Susan B. Anthony

         Women were tired of being labeled, and they didn't want the stereotype of being a women come in their way. So they fought hard, words of discouragement were said, but that didn' slow them down. In 1920 the 19th amendment was passed and all of their hard work finally paid off, women could now vote. Not everyone was happy. Black women couldn't vote because of their color and them being a women. They couldn't vote, and they had to fight hard to someday vote and to be finally treated like a real person.

William Jennings and Populism



 

William Jennings Bryan

         Farmers were facing a lot of problems during the 1900's. One person, William Jennings, visited the farmers and saw what they were facing. He didn't want to see the pain the farmers were facing and started to help them. He was against using gold as currency because it would drive prices down and debts up, farmers liked what he said and started to follow him.
         Williams said that if we use gold, then we die. Farmers agreed with him and stated to act on his word. Populism was now at its peak, and Williams thought now he has power and run for office. He had good speeches and farmers liked what he said. They supported him for running for office.
         People that weren't farmers didn't like the idea of not using gold, and didn't want him to run for office. When the ellections came, williams was running against more powerfull people. Most people didn't like his idea and didn't vote for him. Because of that he lost and populism died.

Friday, October 21, 2011

1902 Coal Strike and how it was Resolved

                During the 1902 Coal strike Teddy Roosevelt was president. He believed that presidency was a bully pulpit. When the Coal Strike started, he could use his presidency to his advantage. He believed that he was the nation’s manager.
                Because he believed he was the nation’s manager, he thought he could resolve the issue between the different groups and their interest. Coal miners were getting paid less for more work and wanted a raise. Their bosses wouldn’t give it to them, so they started to strike which took national news. No one worked and it started to get cold, which made coal prices go up and the general public might freeze because they couldn’t afford it.
                Roosevelt made and arbitration which the mine owners did not except. Roosevelt didn’t want the public to freeze, so he took the problem to his hands. He talked to the miners and said: if you don’t work I will get army to do the work instead. This made the miners think twice and started to work again. As months passed coal prices went down and the general public would not freeze in the winter.

The Act because of "The Jungle"

                In class we read the story “The Jungle”. It was written in 1906 by Upton Sinclair, a Muckraker, and during this time Muckrakers were at their peak. They found the bad and the worst things about what they were researching. In “The Jungle” Upton talks about meat processing and how horrible it was.
                The factory was dirty, and all you hear was the screaming of the pigs. They allowed people to come and watch the processes the meat goes through. Women were crying and men were laughing nervously. The workers didn’t mind the sound or the smell, probably because they got used to it. Hogs were getting their throat slit. Other workers cut the hog into pieces, and each time the hog looks more like it does in stores. An inspector, who doesn’t really does his job, who stand there to add authority to the factory.
                Everything is dirty, the meat is placed on the ground where people walk, rat die and workers spit. Everything listed is used in packing the meat. Old moldy meat is made to look good and added to the fresh meat. They are packed and shipped to stores, were people are going to eat it. Nothing is wasted, the old skin on old hogs is used in head cheese, and they will reuse meat as they get it.
                Those conditions are bad and many people dies because of it. If someone blamed the factory, they would say it wasn’t their fault. In 1906 after this story was published they made food regulations, which limit what factories add to their food. Because of it food got fresher and less people got sick. Everything was cleaner and safer. It was a good thing that this story got published.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Progressivism Four Goals to Help People

                Progressivism had a huge impact of the daily life of people and the people in need for help including the poor and needy. It had for main goals which are protecting social Welfare, Promoting Moral Improvement, Creating Economic Reform, and Fostering Efficiency.
                Protecting the Social Welfare worked on softening the effects on industrialization. They helped the poor by giving them a place to stay, sleep, eat, giving them a church and social services. Promoting Moral Improvement said that morality was the key to improving lives of the poor. This helped gain people higher moral to stand up for what you believe in, like women suffrage.
                 Because Creating Economic Reform, many people questioned the capitalistic system after the panic of 1893. During this time Muckrakers made a lot of people question the people that represent them. Even some Laborers began to embrace socialism. To make the workplace more efficient, progressive put faith in experts and scientific principles, which is the last goal of Fostering efficiency.

Farmers and their troubles

                Farmers had a terrible time between 1900 and 1920. Everything was harder because no one really wanted to help them. They faced many problems including low crop value, being in debt, and being broke. Everything started to cost more, which made farmers raise their prices and people didn’t want to buy the expensive crops.
                One of the main reasons crop prices went up, was because of the shipping rates. They went far up and farmers just couldn’t compete with that. Farmer needed more money and they wanted more money to go into circulation. If there is more money, the prices of the crops would go down and they debt would go down.
                Consumers were not a big fan with putting more money into circulation. It meant prices of other items would go up, and many consumers didn’t have a lot of money. One person knew what farmers was  going through and he explained his situation that using gold as currency would sooner or later backfire and people would “die out”. Farmers had that exact same feeling and made sure that gold was not going to be a form of currency.
After a few years and after railroad company’s lowered the shipping prices, farmers finally had more control over their crops. They could set the prices lower and but more seeds for the next season. They could pay of their debt and loans. This all helped people everywhere have cheaper food.