However, some people, such as Jefferson and small farmers opposed his ideas, because they believed in states' rights and a strict interpretation of the constitution, which led to the split of two different political parties. Before Hamilton's plan, America was having financial problems. There were war debts that were unpaid and individual states and even Congress issued worthless paper money. Hamilton created a plan that would first pay down the national debt and then assume the debt of the states. This was called the Assumption Plan.
This included women’s suffrage, the direct election of senators, the availability of the referendum, and the right to recall representatives whose behavior in office did not satisfy their constituents. There were also progressives who hoped to increase efficiency in governments there by eliminating the power of elected officials by choosing to use “experts” in their place, thereby putting the progressives at odds with one another. . (www.u-s-history.com/pages/h106.html) Retrieved 11/2008 Throughout the Progressive Movement there were several accomplishments. For example, Teddy Roosevelt ended the 1902 coal mine strike, used the Sherman Antitrust Act to attack a railroad monopoly (known as the Northern Securities Case), and added Departments of Labor and Commerce to the cabinet.
The late 1800s and early 1900s brought major political, social, economic, technological and cultural developments to America. The Progressive era, which started in the late 1800s, was a period of social and political reform in the United States. Those in the Progressive movement, called Progressives, focused on improving society with the use of scientific and technological principles. Progressivism was not an organized movement, so there were many different ideas on how to address societal issues. One form of progressivism “focused on ways to use business practices to make government more efficient” (2006, p.328).
During an age of mass industrialization and urbanization, obtaining social justice was of vital importance because with social justice established, social control would naturally be achieved due to the satisfaction of citizens being treated equally. Progressive reformers moved to correct flaws in government and improve societal equality, but they soon found the widened divisions in American society to be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. (Out of Many, 606) Progressivism was characterized by a series of movements, each of them aimed in one way or another at renovating or restoring American society, its values, and institutions. (Out of Many, 612) The three basic social issues addressed by the Progressives were women suffrage, freedmens civil rights, and working conditions. Each group of reformers challenged the words of our founding fathers as stated in the Constitution, “…in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity,…promote the general welfare…to ourselves and our posterity…,” progressives were searching for a perfect union for every individual to be satisfied with.
Progressivism in the Wilson, Roosevelt, and Taft Administrations The order in which the presidents of the Progressive Era followed their ideals from greatest to least is Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921), Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909), and William Howard Taft (1909–1913). The goals of Progressivism were to strengthen the state, use government as an agent of human welfare, cure the ills of democracy with more democracy, and regain power of people usurped by “interests. Its political objectives were initiative, referendum, recall, secret ballot primary elections, direct election of senators, women’s suffrage, income tax, and prohibition. Wilson is first because he advocated votes for women and a graduated income tax for example and favored government action to prevent monopolies. Roosevelt is second because of his reputation as a “trustbuster” and for his legendary Square Deal.
Though there are some beneficial events, it was an overall devastating era. After the war of 1812, the people of the United States felt enormous pride in winning a war against the almighty Britain and used their nationalism to inspire improvements, such as Henry Clay’s American system. It consisted of the Second National Bank, a strong banking system, the Tariff of 1816, which raised money for the protection of American manufacturing goods, and internal improvements such as networks that build roads and canals which made better transportation to flow foodstuffs and raw materials from west and south to north and east. This shows that America had become a more self-sufficient government and started growing its own national identities. Nationalism also helped the push for westward expansion and the Monroe Doctrine.
As shown by Documents C and G, Jackson overstepped his Constitutional bounds in each of situation, that of the closure of the Second Bank of America, and that of the Indian Removal. If, as in Documents A and F, a particular section of society needs to fight against the majority, the Constitution, which is designed to provide for public happiness, is being somewhat ignored or misused. Another idea we’ll consider is that they were champions of political democracy. This is a two-sided issue. As compared to their predecessors and contemporaries, they were most certainly the more democratic party.
Most people think they understand the differences between conservatism and liberalism. They are correct in a general sense, but the differences are more profound than most believe. They have each had specific influences on modern politics and society. Modern liberalism is basically defined as a “political ideology that seeks to maximize individual liberty, defined as the provision of both negative rights, that is freedom from coercion, and positive rights, such as education, health care and other services and goods believed to be required for human development and self-actualization.” Some of the more famous liberalists are Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt. Liberalists have made a stand on many hot-button topics in the past, such as: a woman’s right to choose an abortion, elimination of the death penalty, support for same-sex marriage, gun control, and labor unions.
They keep pluralism because society includes many interests seeking to protect and advance themselves. Liberal Democracy has three strengths. It guides vision and ideals in which enable Americans to achieve a greater measure of civilized life, healthy growth, and create fulfillment than its possible and enjoy freedom, equality and prosperity. The first example of the strength of liberal democracy is being remarkably adaptive to changing circumstances and it shows a willingness to change and evolve. Through having a successful suffrage movement we have freed the slaves, and gotten rid of the abuse of economic and political power.
Other local leaders encouraged Americans to register to vote, fight political corruption, and let the voting public decide how issues should best be addressed (the initiative, the referendum, and the recall). On a national level, progressivism gained a strong voice in the White House when Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901. TR believed that strong corporations were good for America, but he also believed that corporate behaviour must be watched to ensure that corporate greed did not get out of hand (trust-busting and federal regulation of business). Progressivism ended with World War I when the horrors of war exposed people's cruelty and many Americans associated President Woodrow Wilson's use of progressive language ("the war to make the world safe for democracy") with the