The Role of Government in the Twentieth Century - Essay Example

 How has the role of government--and citizens’ attitudes toward it-- changed in the U.S. over the twentieth century? The American society and lifestyle in the 19th century was not very much satisfactory. The labor class was exploited by the rich people. Women were also suffering a lot of dependency for their requirements from the society like education, jobs and other such needs. United States was now entering into the new era of social equality and interdependency. All classes of society were protesting to own their rights for their benefit. These reasons made the government to look for the welfare of whole society and all classes. Their was a desire for change in the culture of society. There were a lot of reforms and changes occurred in each phase of society and in all sections. The change was not only in the lifestyle of the people but also in the business and service sector. Their working method and environment was also changing according to their business. Some of the reforms and movements were Progressivism, new deal era, first and the second world war. These reforms changed the whole scenario of the 20th century. A detailed knowledge about these reforms will define the role of government and the response of people over these reforms. Progressive movement was started in 1889 but its importance was highlighted in the starting of 20th century. The progressive movement was based on the concepts of social justice, greater efficiency in government and social control. This movement was basically consisting of the middle class people and urban professionals. The people thought that the government should become more active regarding democratic reforms and in protecting laborers. Woodrow Wilson was the governor of New Jersey and became the president of United States in 1912. He started the Federal Reserve Act in 1913. This act provided the control of government over banking. He also introduced Federal Trade Commission Act that regulated the trade by taking commission from these trade corporations. He appointed commissioner to regulate these trades affairs. The appointment of these commissioners was not liked by progressives. The progressivism was exploited mostly by the white men. Women were the victims of progressivism. This resulted in the launch of National Women Party which fought against women suffrage. Black were also the sufferers of progressivism. Rich people were exploiting poor and hampering cultural ethics by making wrong use of progressivism. But above all its drawbacks progressive reform developed the culture, lifestyle, new trade methods and much more advancements. The government became more responsible towards the economic and social welfare. Middle class people became more conscious towards their right in the society. The banking procedure was changed and got under the control of government. Progressivism preserved the capitalist system. Progressivism introduced many democratic ideas from different parts of the society. This was the end of nineteenth century and progressivism was the major reform of this century Cities were the main attraction of progressive movement. The urban population wanted to develop the cities and make a place to live safer and healthier. Different parts of the society were now becoming active towards their common problem. These changes have to be done to civilize the cities without attracting America’s economy. This was the main aim of progressive movement. Another class of the society that was affected by the progressive movement was the working class. The working class women and the middle were brought together under one organization to solve social problems in legislative way. The progressive movement was started from the local government and then moved to the upper level government. The work efficiency was also boosted up during this era. A young expert named Fredrick W Taylor introduced new ideas of efficiency at working place which improved the productivity by speeding up the labor activity. In this progressive era, a young man with great political experience became the president of United States named Theodore Roosevelt. At the age of forty he became the youngest president of United States. The main cause that made him popular was his policies that reflected his personality as an activist and moralist. His main concern was railroad regulation which ended up with a compromise between the two positions. His greatest achievement was to conserve America’s natural resource. He won a noble peace prize for negotiating an end to Russo-Japanese war and preserving open door policy in China. Another such event was the New deal reform. This deal was about giving hope to the Americans that they are not strangers in any other state. This movement created a wave that defeated the depression from the world war. This reform forwarded the government to a very positive direction. Franklin D Roosevelt was the president at the time. He was ranked as one of the three greatest presidents of America. His campaigning was on the issue of great depression in united States of America. He made a new deal to the people of America. This deal was made in accordance with democratic party and this deal made democratic party as the majority party during the fifth party system. When the first time he occupied the office the United States was under great depression of world war. United States economy was falling down. His presidency period was called as relief, recovery and reform. Relief to the unemployed people, recovery from the falling economy to its normal form and reform means to find the cause for this falling of economy. To recover from this depression he passed some bills and reset the confidence of his party members through some dramatic gestures. His new deal included the reforms that provided employment to several rural people. The farmers were paid high to cut their crops from the field and high prices for the commodities. The new deal gave a new hope to the American people of better future. This reform included the people from various groups of society. They were from different religions, of both sex and from major political parties. He made certain measures to banking reforms by declaring holidays and temporary closing of banks. His enthusiasm in the conservation can be observed by providing outdoor jobs for the young people. Administration act that provided the facility of hiking the crop price. He also provided electricity to farmers. Workers had provided secured position by giving NRA codes to the industries. Workers were given right to unionize. Reference: 1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal 2) http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/history/cap/con_index.htm?24 3) http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/chrono.htm#20 . 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