The year 1912 brought one of the most important presidential elections in United States history. Four nominees confronted one another during this election: Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson, Progressive leader Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, Republican William Howard Taft, and Socialist Eugene Debs. This election also proved to be crucial as it brought forth new considerable and “substantive” discussions concerning the Union and its future. These issues included, whether government should expand democracy, apply more control over businesses, and how solve the labor conflict, among others. Each of the four major presidential candidates took a position on these issues, either choosing to support or oppose such changes. The presidential election of 1912 involved aggressive and “violent” politics. In fact, these candidates offered choices which would be “unimagined in today’s political world.”
As a voter in 1912, the most important issue by far to me would have been the “labor question.” This issue concerned what to do with the problems of America’s industrial workers. At this time in America, conditions for the individual worker were horrific. Many employees had little or no protection and were often taken advantage of by their employers. However, working conditions were not the only thing the laborers sought to fix. They also sought for higher/better wages, shortened working hours and regulation of women and child labor. In the fight to obtain their worker’s rights, many employees often joined labor unions. However, the involvement of unions often brought violence into the industry. The strikes also caused many workers to lose their jobs. Employers would easily fire their workers because of misconduct or injury as factory jobs ...
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...ion.” Online at http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/labor_problem/default.cfm.
“Parties and Direct Democracy.” Online at http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/direct_democracy/PartiesDirectDemcracy.cfm
“Progressive Party.” Online at http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/1912documents/progress.cfm.
“Progressives.” Online at http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/labor_problem/progress.cfm.
“Republicans.” Online at http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/labor_problem/RepublicansLabor.cfm.
“Socialist Party Platform.” Online at http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/1912documents/socialis.cfm
“Socialists.” Online at http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/labor_problem/socialis.cfm.
“Theodore Roosevelt.” Online at http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/candidates/RooseveltBio.cfm.
“Unions.” Online at http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/labor_problem/unions.cfm.
Eugene V. Debs, the United State’s most influential union leader and avid socialist gives light to many issues including presidency, systems of society, and most importantly the unemployed in his speech “The Issue”. Debs was imprisoned in the 1890s for illegally encouraging a railroad strike, he also was sentenced to 10 years for his discouragement to the United States’ involvement in World War I. Debs has been a remarkable figure in the socialist party and had influenced so many. In Eugene Debs’ speech, Debs’ uses rhetorical appeal to relate to and convince his audience of the “issues” in the United
...He insists that the laboring classes of New York City have been betrayed by self-seeking politicians. Evans tells his fellow workers that they are equally entitled to a just and satisfying life and to use all lawful means to attain it. Many other issues disturbed workers: lack of (or charges for) children’s education, poll taxes, and the wealthy’s escape from militia service. Labor parties faded quickly, and after that workers usually joined the Jacksonian Democrats.
Using Leon Czolgosz as a platform from which to examine the ills of 1900’s society, Rauchway expounds upon their implications for America’s immediate future, and how they, in combination with McKinley’s murder, helped set the stage for Theodore Roosevelt and his administration. Why would a man like Leon Czolgosz have assassinated the president? How did this reflect and affect public sentiment, and how did the tier of American society that Czolgosz represented– the unhappy, alienated and downtrodden working class– provide Roosevelt with the opportunities he needed to make drastic change? Rauchway offers answers to each of these questions, while illustrating along the way that Czolgosz was neither insane nor truly an anarchist, Roosevelt was not quite the spontaneous, apolitical figure he pretended to be, and McKinley’s murder, tragic though it was, was in some ways a necessary evil.
Tom Gatenby To what extent did the Conservatives lose the election rather than the Liberals win the election? “The election of 1906 was a significant watershed in the political history of Britain” Kenneth Owen Fox The election of 1906 was a landside victory for the Liberal Party. This is due to many factors, it could been influenced by the manifesto of the Liberal Party, or perhaps even more strongly the failure of the Conservative Party to unify on such reforms as the Tariff Reform. The lack of a strong unified Conservative government clearly had a large effect upon the outcome of the 1906 election, to what extent this is true will be explained in the essay.
The election of 1912 signified a turning point in American history. Friends, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, competed against each other for the presidency. Though both progressive, they disagreed on how the country needed to run. Roosevelts ever increasing progressivism caused their stances on many important issues to be much different. Although, they did have some points on which they agreed.
This was the only opportunity for work at the time for most. Politically, today's issues are handled differently and there is less support and teamwork within our society. In the 1930’s, the majority, including the candidates and congress, were supportive and willing to work together as one, and were not afraid to make mistakes to see what needed to be eliminated and what was a success that could be kept.
This book definitely gave an insight into American history which was I did not possess before reading it. I always had the idea in my head that the Socialist movement of the early 20th century was not very radical. This book radically changed my views on this point. After reading it I now see exactly how revolutionary the ideas were that Debs was promoting at this time. This book also conveyed to me the extreme importance of the unions and Labor movement in politics during this time period. Unions definitely played a primary role and I learned how politicians must court the labor unions very carefully in order to gain their massive amount of very crucial votes. Salvatore did an excellent job at conveying exactly how important unions were at this time in American history. Given Debs important role in unions at the time in this book his role in American History is emphasized and clearly conveyed. Until reading this I had not realized exactly how important Debs was as a figure in American history both as a Socialist leader and Labor leader.
The Pullman Strike of 1894 was the first national strike in American history and it came about during a period of unrest with labor unions and controversy regarding the role of government in business.5 The strike officially started when employees organized and went to their supervisors to ask for a lowered rent and were refused.5 The strike had many different causes. For example, workers wanted higher wages and fewer working hours, but the companies would not give it to them; and the workers wanted better, more affordable living quarters, but the companies would not offer that to them either. These different causes created an interesting and controversial end to the Pullman strike. Because of this, questions were raised about the strike that are still important today. Was striking a proper means of getting what the workers wanted? Were there better means of petitioning their grievances? Was government intervention constitutional? All these questions were raised by the Pullman Strike.
The "Roaring Twenties" were a turbulent time in American history. The United States had just returned from the carnage of World War I and was ready to revolutionize their ideas, morals, and most importantly, their presidents. The presidential election of 1920 was a particularly integral election due to the introduction of the right of women to vote and America's social & political unrest. Warren G. Harding, a Republican, defeated Democrat James M. Cox, on a platform that urged Americans to "return to normalcy". Normalcy was a play on words of normality by Harding, which meant to conform to the norm. But the question that stood on many historians was: Why did Americans actually vote to "return to normalcy"? The simple answer was that the nation was ready to recover from their wartime anxiety and wanted a country without financial or political stress and Harding was the president that promised that to them.
The presidential elections of 1860 was one of the nation’s most memorable one. The north and the south sections of country had a completely different vision of how they envision their home land. What made this worst was that their view was completely opposite of each other. The north, mostly republican supporters, want America to be free; free of slaves and free from bondages. While on the other hand, the south supporters, mostly democratic states, wanted slavery in the country, because this is what they earned their daily living and profit from.
Our government has gone through many changes in the years since the first president and with that modernization, the presidential election of 1912 has made a significant effect on how our county is run today. Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson debated a political situation that still effects government and industry in our nation to this day.
When George Henry Evans cited the unalienable rights of the Declaration of Independence and that, “’to secure these rights’ against the undue influence of other classes of society, prudence… dictates the necessity of the organization of a party, who shall…prevent dangerous combinations to subvert these indefeasible and fundamental privileges”, he called for a party to become the sentinel of the original American democracy. And for many, the Jacksonian Democratic Party filled that role. The Democrats, who pursued a democracy that entailed economic and social independence for the common citizen, faced harsh opposition from the Whig Party in the Second American Party System. But apart from the political tensions of the era, the mid-1800’s were host to numerous movements and events that embodied, and didn’t embody, the Democratic ideals. Thus, it would be foolish to claim that the Democratic period merely represented a raising of the American democratic banner and even more foolish to ascribe any other black-and-white evaluation to this period. Rather, during a time of national and individual transformation, of economic missions, and of social revision, the Jacksonian Democrats succeeded in expanding their reality of individual liberty, in creating the circumstances for further change, and in falling short of some of their grandiose ideals for the “common citizen”.
The strike affected much of the country, and it had great influence on public opinion on the rights of workers. It showed how the roles of management and the roles of government handled this situation. The Pullman Strike of 1894 and its aftermath had a huge effect on the course of the labor movement in the United States. The use of federal troops and the labor injunction sent a message to U.S. workers that would not change until the new deal of the 1930s. George Pullman was no longer look at as the great enlightened employer who took care of his workers, but a greedy intolerant man. After the strike he was worried that people would rob him so when he was buried he had it lined in concrete so no one could. The Pullman strike ultimately was unsuccessful at the time. Workers were sent to jail and many couldn’t find any jobs after. Although, it was successful in several ways. The federal government was involved for the first time in history because of a strike, and because they all took a stand for their human rights it impacted the future and how workers are treated
During the late 19th and early 20th century both the Populist Party and Progressive movement wanted to preserve some things, while also addressing the need for reform. Although many of the ideas and goals of these “Third parties” were initially not legislated and considered far-fetched, many of these ideas later became fundamental laws throughout American history. The Populists and Progressives were both grass roots movements, and addressed the needs of the poor and powerless, for the Populists it was farmers and for the Progressives it was urban lower and middle class workers. These two movements attempted to bring the powerless peoples issues to national politics. The Populists and Progressives wanted to preserve some American ideals of the past, such as a sense of community and the ability for farmers and workers to live happily without economic strains. Populists were more oriented to the plight of the farmer while the Progressives included women's rights, and protection of the consumer and labor.
The New Deal period has generally - but not unanimously - been seen as a turning point in American politics, with the states relinquishing much of their autonomy, the President acquiring new authority and importance, and the role of government in citizens' lives increasing. The extent to which this was planned by the architect of the New Deal, Franklin D. Roosevelt, has been greatly contested, however. Yet, while it is instructive to note the limitations of Roosevelt's leadership, there is not much sense in the claims that the New Deal was haphazard, a jumble of expedient and populist schemes, or as W. Williams has put it, "undirected". FDR had a clear overarching vision of what he wanted to do to America, and was prepared to drive through the structural changes required to achieve this vision.