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The Progressive Era was a period that showed the goals and contradictions found in American society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Theodore Roosevelt summed up the Progressive/Reform feeling in his 'Square Deal's peace - that it was all about morals, not economics. His goal was the 'moral regeneration of the business world. ' He preached that it was wrong for some people to get ahead in business and politics by tricks and schemes, while others were cheated out of the opportunity. This was the kind of talk that millions of Americans from all areas of society could understand and respond to. Roosevelt simply acted in the interests of the common working man, fixing things that they found unjust. For years, the poor and immigrants were unhappy with treatment from their big-business employers.
Their long working hours and exploitation of children were, among other things, exposed by the Muckrakers. The Muckrakers were journalists who exposed corruption in business and politics and made many of their readers angry. These new reformers took over the old Populist idea that the government should work for the public's economic well being. Reform groups near the turn of the century were interested in the moral changes of the way the government and businesses were run. They wanted the government to be more open and listen to the people. Also, they wanted the government to put more effort into protecting the well being of all citizens.
This would require government action to regulate business, improve public health and safety and make sure that every citizen had the chance to succeed and to be happy. Today there are also many reform groups. Just like the progressives of the early twentieth century, modern reformers are trying to change things for the better. One modern reformer is Ralph Nader. Nader is a leader in the consumer-protection movement. He organized investigative teams of young lawyers, consumer specialists, and students, popularly called Nader's Raiders, to conduct surveys of numerous companies, federal agencies, and the U.
S. Congress. Nader is a controversial man; his investigations have at times been criticized as biased against big business and government. Cesar Chavez was another modern reformer. The issues that he dealt with included: Women Farmworkers, Farmworker Health Issues, and Migrant Labor. Many issues that progressives of the early 1900 s dealt with are the core of many of today's issues, however there are still some reforms that are different than those of a hundred years ago.
American reform movements have generally been started as a rebellion against the control of big businesses and corrupt government. The poor conditions of schools and the entire education system at the turn of the twentieth century were a major cause for reform. That reform movement has influenced the entire education system and has made it better and more suitable for students. Civil rights for African-Americans and women was just beginning to become an issue in the late 19 th century.
Many progressivity spoke out for suffrage for women and equal rights for black people. Today, civil rights for minorities is still a big cause for reform. There are many different organizations whose goal is to reform the way society, the government and businesses treat any type of minority, including Hispanics, homosexuals and Native Americans. However civil rights is just one of the many causes of modern reform groups.
Others include reform of huge companies and monopolies, welfare programs, education systems and many, many other issues. A reform movement is a shout against people, businesses, governments or ideas that are morally corrupt. Not all reform movements are successful in making an actual change, however even if a significant change isn't made their message is still shared with the public. Reform group leaders are usually involved in the government and have a strong charisma, which helps them convey their message.
Jesse Louis Jackson is one of America's strongest political figures. Over the past three decades he has played a major role in just about every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice. Reverend Jackson has been called the 'conscience of the nation' and 'the great unifier, ' challenging America to establish just and humane priorities, and bringing people together on common ground across lines of race, class, gender, and belief. Years before they were common positions, Reverend Jackson was advocating national health care, a war on drugs, dialogue with the Soviet Union, and negotiations in the Middle East.
His strong stand against apartheid in South Africa in 1984 made it an issue on the national conscience. Jesse Jackson's two presidential campaigns broke new ground in U. S. politics. His 1984 campaign won 3. 5 million votes, registered over a million new voters, and helped the Democratic Party regain control of the Senate in 1986. A strong point of Reverend Jackson's work has been his commitment to the youth.
He has visited thousands of high schools, colleges, and universities, encouraging excellence, and challenging your people to stay in school and away from drugs. Jesse Jackson has also been a major force in the American labor movement. He has worked with unions to organize workers, mediated labor disputes and he has probably walked more picket lines and spoken at more labor rallies than any other national leader. In 1986, Jesse Jackson founded the National Rainbow Coalition of which he is President.
The Rainbow is a national social justice organization devoted to empowerment, education and mobilization. Reverend Jackson is also the author of two books: Keep Hope Alive and Straight from the Heart. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Civil rights leader, and one of the world's best-known advocates of nonviolent social change. In December 1955, after Montgomery civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to obey the city's policy over segregation on buses, black residents launched a bus boycott and elected King as president of the newly formed Montgomery Improvement Association. His house was bombed, and he and other boycott leaders were convicted on charges of conspiring to interfere with the bus company's operations.
But, in December 1956, Montgomery's buses were desegregated when the Supreme Court declared Alabama's segregation laws unconstitutional. In 1957, seeking to build upon the success in Montgomery, King and other black ministers founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As president, King emphasized the goal of black voting rights when he spoke at the Lincoln Memorial during the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom. Southern black college students started a series of sit-in protests in 1960. Although King sympathized with their movement and spoke at the founding meeting of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee SNCC in April 1960, he soon became the target of criticisms from SNCC activists.
Even King's joining a student sit-in and his arrest in October 1960 did not calm everyone down. Then King and his staff started a major campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, where white police officials were notorious for their anti-black attitudes. In 1963, clashes between unarmed black demonstrators and police with attack dogs and fire hoses generated newspaper headlines throughout the world. Mass demonstrations in many communities came together in a march on August 28, 1963, attracting more than 250, 000 protesters to Washington, D.
C. Addressing the marchers from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. In 1964 King received the Nobel Peace Prize. Despite the praise, King faced strong challenges to his leadership. In 1966, King encountered strong criticism from 'black power's pokes person Solely Carmichael.
Shortly afterward, white counter-protestors in Chicago physically assaulted King during an unsuccessful effort to transfer nonviolent protest techniques to the North. Nevertheless, King remained committed to nonviolence. After his death, King remained a controversial symbol of the civil rights struggle, revered by many for his martyrdom on behalf of nonviolence and condemned by others for his rebellious views. Jacob Riis was America's first journalist-photographer and one of the first muckrakers. He was known as the 'Emancipator of the Slums' because of his work on behalf of...
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Research essay sample on Early Twentieth Century Jesse Jackson
