Character Blogs

Theodore Roosevelt

1. As a young one, Theodore Roosevelt was a sickly child who was often in bed. Because he had always been in bed sick, once he was older and was stronger, he would spend his time in the outdoors, and eventually grew to go to and graduate from Harvard. After his wife died, he grew to be interested in politics, where he then thought about the idea of Manifest Destiny, meaning he believed the U.S. should eventually spread throughout the world.
2. The first policy that should be known and is correlated with Theodore Roosevelt would be the Big Stick Policy which means that countries should not be afraid to use military force if countries needed to be controlled. He also added the Roosevelt Corollary to ensure that if European countries invaded in Central and South America, then they would be able to intervene. Lastly, he helped create the Progressive Party which was advocating for progressive change.
3. Roosevelt attempted to advance the nation by making their influence spread. He made the country believe and advocate for the overall imperialistic ideas of taking over the world. He advanced the nation by making them more involved in foreign affairs.

Woodrow Wilson

1. To begin with, Wilson was a man who was greatly interested in the academics and was interested in politics from an early age. He went to Princeton University and later on would become professor, then even became the University President. He came up with the idea Moral Internationalism, meaning that because the U.S. was so privileged, it had the right to be involved in all world affairs.

2. To begin with, Wilson was involved in the Treaty of Versailles, which ultimately ended World War I. After this, he created the 14 points in which all the leaders of the countries would get together to discuss global issues. In addition to this, he created the United Nations which would enforce the 14 points established.

3. He advanced the nation by making sure there was some way that the United States would be involved in foreign affairs. By creating the United Nations, the U.S. would have the power to be involved in all the world issues. This, in turn, would allow the U.S. to spread its power further into other countries.

Ida Tarbell

1. This woman came from a farming background and from a family that was humble in their surroundings. Her family had worked hard to receive what they had, and in fact established a small oil company themselves. However, later on large corporations such as the one owned by Rockefeller took their small shares for themselves. She later in life became a muckracker and became famous for exposing the Rockefeller corporation.

2. Tarbell was most famous for her exposure of the Rockefeller corporations in her series "The History of the Standard Oil Company". This then led to the investigation of the company which was then separated into 6 smaller companies. She opposed the 19th amendment and believed that women should be happily reserved in their homes.

Robert La Follette

1. Just like Tarbell, La Follette came from a humble background, and grew up in a rural area with his family. Because of this, he knew the struggle of being an average American and took that into consideration once he was elected for the House of Representatives. Even though he was a Republican, he went after any Republican or any Democrat he saw to be corrupt and created the Wisconsin Idea in which he tried to get the democracy to be fully for the people.

2. The most important act that La Follette was involved with was the Sedition Act. Although he may not of created this Act, he can be correlated with it since he fought openly against it. He believed that it was unconstitutional and fought to get Eugene Debs released from prison for speaking ill about the government.

3. Robert La Follete advanced the nation in the sense that he tried to even out the equality in the country.  He attempted to find a way where the people would receive most of the power of the government, even though he was not all that successful. He was the only one that while in government, continued to fight for the constitutional rights of the people.

John D. Rockefeller

1. Originally, John D. Rockefeller was born in a farm with a well off family. His family was not exactly rich, but was not poor either. They owned a farm, and eventually sold it to buy a larger area of land in which they prospered even more. Rockefeller continued to go on to University and became one of the people at the top of his class. In addition to this, he obtained a well paying job at early age and with a bit of investment, he created the Standard Oil Company which ultimately made him one of the most rich.

2. John Rockefeller was mostly involved in the monopoly business. He knew how to make his country advance through 

3. John Rockefeller advanced the nation through the economical scale. He took over the economic side of the United States through the oil companies and the railroad companies. This in turn, made the United States one of the most influential and most wealthy countries.

Eugene V. Debbs

1. For the most part, Debbs grew up in a household full of german culture. The family was not vastly wealthy, but they were able to carry themselves well throughout their lives. Later on Debbs grew to work in a library and that is where he grew to gain knowledge to speak out against the government and their tactic of governing.

2. The main legislature that Eugene V. Debbs was involved with was the Sedition Act. The Sedition Act states that if you speak ill about the government, then you will be incarcerated. This is exactly what Debbs was subject to. Because he spoke about the way the government was governing the people, he was sentenced to time in jail even though he wanted to run for president. At the same time, he created the American Railroad Union in which rights were given to many workers of the railroad business.

3. Debbs advanced the nation, not only by speaking about the improvement of the government, but also by advocating for the rights of the working class. He made sure that there would be regulations and processes that would ensure that they would receive good working conditions. This was a social improvement and advancement since it raised awareness for the lower class.