Overview: Tomorrow marks a new topic for us as we study the emergence of modern America.  We turn our attention to foreign policy and the first two challenges that presented themselves to the United States: the Spanish American  War and World War I. Your challenge is to figure out why the U.S. was expanding its [...]

Homework: Tomorrow we will spend in a Hawk’s Eye on 2008 Workshop. By the end of class, you will be responsible for completing your introduction to your candidate and providing an update on your candidate’s ups and downs during the past three weeks. Check in on your candidate tonight and post at least ONE observation [...]

Overview: Historians have debated the nature of the progressive movement and the impact of progressive era reforms since the early 20th century. Like a pendulum, historical interpretations have swung back and forth between favorable analysis of this time period (great strides were made on the road to social justice and equality) and unfavorable analysis (the [...]

Overview: The progressive era has caused historians to spill quite a bit of ink over the years. They have debated whether or not progressives were motivated by a desire for social justice or social control, whether or not the movement as a whole was more liberal or more conservative, and the degree to which you [...]

“To hell with the Constitution when the people want coal.” Teddy Roosevelt  The Progressive Presidents & the Role of Government  Warm-Up: Take a look at the political cartoons in the PPT below. What’s the prevailing critique of government during this period? How did progressives try to restore the power of the people during this era? [...]

Notes from our discussion of “USDA Inspected” The playas (I’m quoting Elyria here!)—each has his own complex motivations for getting involved—rarely all good or all bad—they fall in the gray area President Teddy Roosevelt–pro reform (he’s got complicated motives though–not solely motivated by the Jungle; he’s also out for revenge for the poisoning of his [...]

After the Fact, “USDA Inspected” Seminar Discussion Goal: By the end of class, we want to be able to answer the following questions: what did you learn about the legislative process from reading this article? who were the big players in this process? what were the issues? how did various groups/individuals get a leg up [...]

Overview: Historians identify three progressive presidents: Teddy Roosevelt (Republican), William Howard Taft (Republican) and Woodrow Wilson (Democrat). TR and Wilson had the greatest impact on redefining the role of government and the powers of the presidency. Tonight, your reading will provide you with an overview of the their presidencies, introduce you to their programs (TR’s [...]

Overview: James Davidson and Mark Lytle believe that it’s just as important to learn about the process of doing history as it is to learn the history itself. Their book, After the Fact, provides you with a behind the scenes look at how historians do their work. The chapter you have just finished, “U.S.D.A. Inspected,” [...]

Progressive Reformers Round Table Discussion Link to Assignment Page Here. roundtablenotes.pdf (Download) The Participants: Margaret Sanger – watched her mom struggle to have children – saw women give themselves abortions with wires – fought for birth control, sexual education for young women o wanted to explain what healthy sex was and what dangerous sex was [...]