When one is given a taste for power, they naturally crave more and more of it. Indeed, this was the case for progressive big government, who after a strong showing against big businesses continued to use their heightened powers, to both beneficial and adverse effects for the people. The first of these actions taken by the progressive big government was the Meat Inspection of 1906. When President Roosevelt was having breakfast, he was reading a book written by Upton Sinclair called The Jungle. The stories within about the meat packing industry horrified him, and suddenly his plate of sausages became significantly less appetizing. “There was never the least attention paid to what was cut up for sausage…thousands of rats would race about on it.”
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President Teddy wanted to improve the strength of the US Navy, but the United States is surrounded by two oceans, and in order to travel from one coast around to the other ships would have to travel 10,000 miles. However, if the US were able to somehow cut through Panama, this distance could be reduced by a staggering 8,000 miles. Now, the reason for why this was an overstep by progressive big government is that Teddy neglected to seek Congress’ approval: “…if I had followed the traditional or conservative method I should have submitted an admirable state paper to Congress… and the beginning of work on the canal would be fifty years in the future.” The result of Teddy consciously electing to bypass Congress resulted in him organizing a revolution inside Panama with a Frenchman, and in 1904 when the new rulers took power, they simply gave Teddy the authorization to build the canal for free. Though the American people may have benefited from this, other peoples were oppressed, again demonstrating how progressive big government can be both good and …show more content…
Herbert Hoover, president at the beginning of the Depression, had done little good to combat the recession, and so Franklin Roosevelt won the election by a landslide. He sent in his First Inaugural Address an iconic message: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” And this was true, for FDR came to office with a plan. Earlier the previous year at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, he talked of a ‘new deal’: “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.” The New Deal, which was FDR’s plan to solve the Great Depression, consisted of a series of programs such as the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), the CWA (Civil Works Administration), the SSA (Social Security Act), and the most prominent of all, the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). Read the Banking Act of 1933, “There is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $2,000,000, which shall be available for expenditure…” The Emergency Banking Act restored people’s trust into the banks, because previously if a bank closed, your money would be gone with it. However, with the new government funding (hence the $2,000,000), the FDIC guaranteed that if your money was lost, it would be replaced up to $2,500, which roughly equates to $45,000 today. Knowing that their money was safe in the banks, people once again stored their money there, which allowed for banks to lend
President Teddy wanted to improve the strength of the US Navy, but the United States is surrounded by two oceans, and in order to travel from one coast around to the other ships would have to travel 10,000 miles. However, if the US were able to somehow cut through Panama, this distance could be reduced by a staggering 8,000 miles. Now, the reason for why this was an overstep by progressive big government is that Teddy neglected to seek Congress’ approval: “…if I had followed the traditional or conservative method I should have submitted an admirable state paper to Congress… and the beginning of work on the canal would be fifty years in the future.” The result of Teddy consciously electing to bypass Congress resulted in him organizing a revolution inside Panama with a Frenchman, and in 1904 when the new rulers took power, they simply gave Teddy the authorization to build the canal for free. Though the American people may have benefited from this, other peoples were oppressed, again demonstrating how progressive big government can be both good and …show more content…
Herbert Hoover, president at the beginning of the Depression, had done little good to combat the recession, and so Franklin Roosevelt won the election by a landslide. He sent in his First Inaugural Address an iconic message: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” And this was true, for FDR came to office with a plan. Earlier the previous year at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, he talked of a ‘new deal’: “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.” The New Deal, which was FDR’s plan to solve the Great Depression, consisted of a series of programs such as the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), the CWA (Civil Works Administration), the SSA (Social Security Act), and the most prominent of all, the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). Read the Banking Act of 1933, “There is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $2,000,000, which shall be available for expenditure…” The Emergency Banking Act restored people’s trust into the banks, because previously if a bank closed, your money would be gone with it. However, with the new government funding (hence the $2,000,000), the FDIC guaranteed that if your money was lost, it would be replaced up to $2,500, which roughly equates to $45,000 today. Knowing that their money was safe in the banks, people once again stored their money there, which allowed for banks to lend