Progressive Characters

Theodore Roosevelt

A. Biographical ideas behind the character

        Theodore Roosevelt was born and raised in New York City. However, during his adolescent years he was sick, which caused him to find a passion in reading. He enjoyed reading much of history and the natural sciences and decided later on in his grown years he would dedicate his life to be full of risks since he could not enjoy much at such a young age.

B. Major Legislation related to character

        During Roosevelt's time, there were a few legilation's that Theodore became known for. In example, the Big Stick Policy, the Roosevelt Corollary, and the Bull Moose Movement. The Big Stick Policy stated that violence could be used when it was needed towards other countries, which led to the addition of the Roosevelt Corollary that stated that the U.S had every right to intervene if the Europeans chose to disobey the Monroe Doctrine. Later on, Theodore Roosevelt began the Progressive Party and that also became known as the "Bull Moose Movement" because he came off as soft.

C. Explain how he attempted to progress the nation.

        Since a young age, Theodore Roosevelt knew that he always had to give back to the poor because that was what he was taught. The square deal that he created was used to help the poor and the needy and he also create the FDA, which led to most products becoming more sanitary. He was on the workers side as well during the coal strikes and threatened the corporations if they injured or hurt any of the workers in their job.

Woodrow Wilson

A. Biographical ideas behind the character

     Woodrow Wilson was classified as a person who read a lot in his younger days before he became president. He also graduated from the University of Princeton and gained a Ph.D and also managed to become the president of the university. However, before he got the chance to become the university president, he was a teacher at the university for quite some time. He also created the idea of Moral Internationalism while he developed his ideas.

B. Major Legislation related to character

      Wilson's idea of Moral Internationalism was that the United States owed it to the other countries and themselves to be involve in foreign affairs due to their power and wealth; it was also believed that freedom and democracy should be brought to other places as well. He also created the 14 Points, which were 14 ideas that kept a progressive pace plan; these were also known as ideas which would better the country and lead into a greater social change.  One more thing Wilson attempted to do was try to pass the Treaty of Versailles, which was a peace settlement to end World War I.

C. How they attempted to progress the nation.

     Wilson  tried to bring about the progressive change to the U.S. through Moral Internationalism and through the League of Nations. The idea of Moral Internationalism was to help the nation become more involved in the foreign affairs of the world. However, they would expose them to other aspects other than their own. The League of Nations was one of the 14 Points that he created. It was known for  a council of leaders from all over the globe and discussions of how to solve worldly problems would follow.

 Ida Tarbel

A. Biographical ideas behind the character

Ida Tarbel was born in Pennsylvania in yje year 1857 to a family of teachers and farmers. She grew up in a tough environment in which led to the success of her and her father's wildcat oil wells. Tarbel attended high school only after John D. Rockefeller had taken her father's business and graduated from Allegheny College. She was also the first women to attend and graduate from the college. She earned a degree in chemistry and taught high school science in Ohio, eventually leaving the job for a more competing life.

B. Major Legislation related to character

      Tarbel became a writer; more specifically, she began to write investigative journalism pieces. She also wrote a biography of Madame Roland (important figure in the French Revolution) which exposed her writing style to McCLure's magazine; she right away took a job at the magazine, becoming head writer and editor after writing a 10 part series on the life of Abraham Lincoln. She also wrote a 19 part series on the life and business of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller in order to expose the corrupt business deals that had cost her father and other farmers their land.

C. How they attempted to progress the nation.

      Tarbel was a muckraker, meaning she wrote facts which in turn exposed the truth; this was how she had exposed the corruption of the oil company. Her writing led to an investigation of the Standard Oil Company and its disbandment into six different companies, effectively ending Rockefeller's reign.

Robert La Follette

A. Biographical ideas behind the character

      Robert La Follette was born in Wisconsin in 1855; he was raised on a farm and used this to help his own fight for the poor. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin and was the first on his family to. He then became the District Attorney and was eventually elected to the House of Representatives where he began going after corrupt politicians from both Democrats and Republicans.

B. Major Legislation related to character

      He created the ideas of initiative, which was the ability of citizens to make and pass a law without help of legislature, and referendum, which was the ability to end an elected official's time in office before the next election. He also began The Wisconsin Idea to try to give the government back to the people and give America more of a direct democracy in order to take away power from the corrupt elite (corporations and parties). La Follette also ran and was elected Senator of the state of Wisconsin; he was one of the few that went against Wilson's declaration of war, openly speaking against it in public speeches.

C. How they attempted to progress the nation.

      La Follette was open to speaking his opinions whether or not they were deemed necessary or even wanted; he was especially prone to making speeches which gained him many enemies; these speeches made him susceptible to being accused of treason. He also felt that both natural born and immigrants alike had a duty to keep on the values that drove the American spirit during the country's revolution days. Everyone had a right to speak their mind.

John D. Rockefeller

A. Biographical ideas behind the character

B. Major Legislation related to character

C. How they attempted to progress the nation.

  John D. Rockefeller was the second oldest of a group of six children to a farming family in upstate New York City; he attended school and after high school went to the Folsom Mercantile College and finished a bookkeeping course. He began to work as an assistant bookkeeper at the Hewitt and Tuttle Firm. After many promotions, Rockefeller formed his own business with a partner, later turning it into an oil refinery business, renaming it Standard Oil.

    Rockefeller was a master at monopoly, meaning he was in control of all the oil in the Ohio region with no competition. He also learned how to control the means of production, completely dominating the oil business and every part of production. Predatory pricing was also a useful method of his; he would lower his prices to less than his competitors, and when he bought them out, the prices skyrocketed with no other place to buy his product as he was the only producer.
     Rockefeller's business endeavors soon came to an after interference with muckracker Ida Tarbel and her infamous 19 part series of his life and corrupt business. His company was forced to break up into six different companies, effectively ending his reign. He became a philanthropist, and gave his money away to may organizations until his death in 1937.

A. Biographical ideas behind the character

  Eugene V. Debs was born in a German family in Terre Haute, Indiana; life as an immigrant was difficult, yet their knowledge was as vast as the family library.  His family opened a general store and later became trusted members of the community; after finishing high school, Debs went to work at the Union Pacific Railway, but left the dangerous job to do union work and became a union activist.

B. Major Legislation related to character

    After creating the American Railway Union, he ventured far and wide to gain rights for workers, even opening a publishing company to get the voices of the workers and their situation heard. He and the ARU stood behind the Pullman Strike and gave the workers their support, although Debs was jailed for having been involved. The Great Railway Strike was one of his proudest moments, giving all he had into helping the workers earn their rights.

C. How they attempted to progress the nation.

    Debs was a progressive reformer at heart, from his creation of the ARU to his endorsement of the Women's Suffragist Movement. He even continued his talks and motivation while he was in jail, uplifting the jailers and prisoners alike. He died in his home in Terre Haute after having met President Harding on an invitation to the White House.