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Essay / Critical Changes Made by Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson During the Progressive Era
During the period 1901-1921, Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson made critical changes that were beneficial to development of the Progressive Era. The Progressive Era was a time when America began to grow through new innovations, organizations, and industry as a whole. However, many people still face difficulties, including working in poor conditions and low wages. Women also demanded the right to vote, but the administration was made up of elites who completely controlled trusts, companies and monopolies. As a result, progressive reformers worked to both expand democracy and hopefully improve the poor working conditions that many people faced in the United States. Progressives felt a need to improve their lives and seemed ready to take a more active role in the federal government, but they struggled to overcome the problems that constantly came their way. President Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents to advocate broad changes, and his presidency had a significant impact on the development of the progressive movement. Roosevelt was a man who was both an environmentalist and an advocate of reform. He was a pro-war president, and as a result, he worked to serve the nation in a variety of ways. While in office, he was strongly affiliated with both environmentalist and dynamic beliefs. Woodrow Wilson, on the other hand, had similar desires and ideas, but instead took an alternative approach to finding solutions. The two brought very different social and individual changes. Throughout the Progressive movement, motivations ranged from the women's suffrage movement to the destruction of trusts. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayTheodore Roosevelt was a great conservationist and he loved and desired to protect the environment and wildlife; including forest reserves and mountain ranges. In Document 2, Roosevelt spent three nights in Yosemite with John Muir in 1903. Roosevelt liked John Muir's views on the need to protect wilderness areas. During this time, railroads played an important role in the Progressive Era, as they were widely used for transportation. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt sought to lead the industry. That same year, the Northern Securities case led to the Supreme Court, which in turn ruled that the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 had been ignored by railroads throughout the northern part of the United States. President Roosevelt felt disapproval of railroad monopolies, but he felt the opposite toward railroad workers. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt became better known as a trust buster because of the Northern Securities affair that had been established. Theodore Roosevelt did little to help preserve black suffrage in the South, which granted blacks the right to vote over time. Then, in October 1901, he hosted Booker T. Washington to dine with him at the White House. This led to a debate early in his presidency that remained highly controversial and important. In Document 3 we can see that Roosevelt and Washington talked about agreements to support the South and that many accusations were made in the South. Although he chose blacks for some support positions in the South, he was.