Modern America

Where did some of modern America's issues originate from? The answer to that is the Progressive Era. The Legislation of that era laid all of the groundwork for today, and much of it is still in public debate today. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson, three of the presidents from that era, all played roles in the groundwork. These presidents passed acts, tariffs, and amendments that are still with us, and debated today.

The Progressive mind was run by the needs for reform. Reform was run mainly by women, who started feminism; a term meaning freedom for full person development. Women wanted to have the same rights as men. Women wanted the right to vote, and have some decision making within our government, because they felt like they were worth nothing. Moreover, women wanted to make more for their hard labor. Feminists fought for their right to vote, but they were not granted it until later years. Other reforms during this era consisted of a municipal reform which raised taxes in cities in order to get public services, and to help clean up the cities. There were also racial reforms, where blacks pushed to be treated the same as whites, and there was also a political reform started by La Follette to deny bosses the power to choose a political party's candidates. Today women have the right to vote and are treated much more equally to men in the workplace, there are laws in place reducing racism as much as possible, and because of La Follette candidates had to be voted in by a popular vote and this still holds true today.

Along with reforms by citizens the presidents of the Progressive era also fought to make things right. President Roosevelt was a war hero, and a great leader of the United States. During his role as president, Roosevelt accomplished a lot. His biggest accomplishment was the "Square Deal." Roosevelt's square deal was put into place to assure Americans fair prices, and the best ones possible. His goal was not to break up the trust, but to restrict them instead. To do this Roosevelt set low tariffs to cause competition between American and foreign companies making similar products. This was often referred to as "Trust-busting" because it forced them to lower prices to compete with the foreign companies, thereby lowering profits, taking away power and slowly destroying the influence that trusts have over government officials. Roosevelt also called for a stronger federal power, another of his steps to help diminish the trusts. One trust that was causing trouble was a coal mining company. They were mistreating and underpaying their workers, who worked long, hard, and in a life threatening atmosphere. Roosevelt quickly settled that issue by threatening to have the United States Armed Forces take over the company's operations. Roosevelt, to further help the American people, passed the Pure Food and Drug Act. After reading the book The Jungle, President Roosevelt along with congress agreed that something had to be done to protect consumers from disease, and other potential life killers. "The Pure Food and Drug Act" of June 30, 1906 is a United States federal law that provided for federal inspection of meat products, and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products or poisonous patent medicines. The Act arose due to public education and exposes from authors such as Upton Sinclair, author of the book The Jungle (No Author, 1). If Roosevelt had accomplished enough already with his "square deal" he added to it yet again by reserving five national parks around the United States. He wanted to be sure that some land be left untouched for all to enjoy and for nature to thrive in.

Moreover, President Roosevelt's Square Deal is, for the most part, still in effect today. His Pure Food and Drug Act is still in public debate today. It is said that food processing plants are now safe and clean, but how can consumers be 100 percent sure about that, when meat and vegetables are being called back because of possible diseases? Well on September 29, 2007 "Maryland Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due to Possible E. Coli O157:H7 Contamination...E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration. The very young, seniors and persons with compromised immune systems are the most susceptible to food borne illness" (Meriman, 1). Furthermore there was recently another food recall for Dole Bagged Salad also with the threat of E. coli. In both cases no reported illnesses have been reported, however, there is still a threat that has some consumers scared. The Pure Food and Drug Act is still in debate today, because if it was doing its job there would NO threats of disease, and if there were, they would be stopped before the product was shipped anywhere. Also being continued today is Roosevelt's conservation of forests and national parks. During his presidency he established five national parks and forests. Through his efforts the United States was able to produce an additional eleven national parks to bring today's total to sixteen National parks and forests. These national parks are enjoyed today; however, the Untied States could have had even more land preserved, if all of Roosevelt's plans had been fulfilled.

William Howard Taft, Roosevelt's replacement, did not live up to Roosevelt's goals. Roosevelt helped Taft get elected, with the promise that he would continue to carry out everything Roosevelt had started. However, Taft was a huge disappointment; he did almost the exact opposite of what he promised to do. Roosevelt was a progressive republican and was under the impression that Taft was as well, unfortunately it turns out that Taft was a Stand Patter; a member of the Republican Party, who did not agree with the views of the Progressives. The first thing Taft did against his friend, Roosevelt, and the rest of the

Progressives, was to pass the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909. This raised the tariff prices and sheltered the Trusts from foreign competition, giving them back their power. Next in Taft's presidency came the Pinchot-Ballinger affair. Pinchot, a conservationist of Roosevelt's, accused Ballinger of conspiring to sell land in Alaska to a private business. Pinchot did not want this to happen because the land was so full of natural resources and he did not want it to be developed. However, because he accused Ballinger he was fired by President Taft for insubordination. This made the Progressives mark Taft as an enemy of conservation. The Progressive Republicans had had it with Taft and asked Roosevelt to run for president during the next election, not to win, but to make sure that Taft isn't elected for a second term. Roosevelt and Taft battled it out; however, in the end the vote had been