After Reconstruction

After Reconstruction, there came a time when America entered what was called "The Gilded Age." Everything looked good from the outside, but looking into it, conditions were horrible. Many Americans were poor, women lacked rights, and factory conditions were miserable. The Progressives sought to clean up. Although the Progressives were no doubt a success, there was a limit to it. After 1909 and the election of Taft, everything went downhill. Taft lacked political structure, although he wanted reform. Wilson although wanting to improve conditions, wasn't for social rights.

During Theodore Roosevelt's administration, Roosevelt has begun to act and accomplish things that the previous presidents didn't do. Roosevelt began to break trusts that he believes and view will harm the society and the economy. He attacks and destroys the bad trusts and restrains the good trusts. (Doc A) The good trusts weren't a fundamental threat to the society. The reformers can tell the difference between the good and bad trusts by telling the fairness of the prices of a product. Roosevelt wanted the role of the federal government is to police cooperation. To secure the public goods, the government should have more power or must be more powerful than the private cooperation owned by the rich.

The government also should govern the industries and their conditions. That was a mistake that the government partakes in and believes that the owner of the company would take care of it. Examples such as reported documented about the horrible conditions in meat-packing. (Doc B) Workers in industries were sick and got diseases such as tuberculosis. With the factories condition, it shows that the workers were ignorance of relationship between disease and cleanliness. The government wasn't attentive to the building design of the factories, causing it to have less safely exit, working conditions were poor and less regulations and inspection in the meat-packing industries. Thousands of children work in factories at a young age. The educators believe that the work that the children do will not harm them. (Doc C). It shows that there was a lack in child labor laws and the children spent a little time in school. Education should be something that is a need not something that should be ignore and just let the children work in factories and know nothing else than just working.

Monopoly in company arise a big issue to Theodore Roosevelt. He believes that monopoly is bad trusts and should be ended. When there is no competition, the company can set any prices that they want it to