Jake Cooper
U.S. History 2710
Exam Essay 1
In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century there were many
reform movements that set out to change many areas of life in America. The primary
reason for the reform movements at the time was that there was many social and
technological changes that threatened the culture and foundational myths that
Americans held so close to them. This could be anything from a change in the social
aspects of life to corporate control over life. These reforms often caused a clash and
made a bigger problem than originally was there. However many people at this time
were resistant to the problematic changes that threatened the foundational myths at the
time and were willing to do anything which was the main cause of the reform
movements.
As stated before whenever a need for a reform movement came around it was
because some Americans believed that a problem had arisen that had challenged the
foundational myths. A great example of this is how in the early 20 th century the
corporations gained control over all aspects of life and threatened the foundational
myths of freedom and economic opportunity through unfit working conditions and
government control. They challenged the role of economic opportunity where a man is
allowed to choose his own destiny because people were barely paid and they couldn’t
argue for better wages because they depended on the job, and so the myth that if a
man works hard enough he will be successful was greatly challenged. The corporations
also took control of the government through the politicians which challenged the
freedom Americans had come to assume with their country and their culture because
they now had a force outside their control in power over everything (Lecture/Class
notes).
People became fed up with the problems above and they decided it was time to
reform their country to gain economic success and put the country back in the hands of
the people. They had decided to reform and change the working life for the better by
forming different groups and unions. They believed that through these unions and
reform groups they could make a better life for themselves the one they had come to
accept through the foundational myths. However the corporations fought back by firing
everyone who joined a union. However Americans did fight back for their strong beliefs
in this country by striking. They tried to reform the working system through these strikes
and they at first were not very successful, however when the strikes began to turn
violent and put the country almost upon a revolution the government decided it was time
for them to help reform the system(Lecture/Class notes).
Government intervention began with Theodore Roosevelt and his administration
in order to quell the unrest stirring in the country. The government saw that the root of
the problem was huge corporations and trusts that were controlling all of the economy
and making life miserable for the average Americans and so in order to reform the
created legislation to destroy monopolies and trusts. Also Theodore Roosevelt didn’t
stop there he saw issues that were affecting Americans foundational myths and so he
set out to reform other things. He created many organizations such as the EPA and set
out to reform working conditions in order to make sure Americans could have the life
that was set forth by the foundational myths(Lecture/Class notes).
Taking a new direction reforms did not just occur because of big business they
also occurred whenever the social spectrum began a change that Americans believed
went against proper culture. When the culture of women began to change to being more
open where they could freely express themselves through different forms of leisure and
go against the normal way of things reformers came in order to change things back to
the normal culture. They thought the way women were expressing themselves in forms
of leisure especially in dance was too risqué and they tried to reform the way women
behaved. Their efforts to reform the young women began with them teaching the
women that they could proper manners and taught them about how they should only act
in a respectable way. Ultimately what these reformers were trying to was to preserve
what they believed to be the ideal American culture and even though they wanted to
make changes to the direction that the culture was heading in for young people they
were not very successful (Peiss, 1986).
However many reforms were not to just to preserve the culture but to pursue
social justices in order to fit what others believed the culture stood for. A perfect
example for this is when the women of America fought for equal rights and liberties so
they could have what they believed to be the rights of all Americans. As women began
to gain more freedom in other aspects of life through social changes they also wanted
more freedom in the choices of the government, so they began to try to reform the
system so that all women could have the right to vote. These reforms began very early
in which women would gather in conventions and try to raise support by state after state
in order to be able to reform the system so that women could be able to achieve the
American dream that was laid out by the American foundational myths and by the
cultural beliefs. The women although it took a lot longer than they would’ve wanted were
able to reform the system so that the dream could be achievable by all that wanted to
be able to(Lecture/ Class notes).
The reforms of Americans continued into the 1930’s when the worst time in all of
American history threatened the lives and values of Americans, the great depression
challenged Americans faith in the government and in the foundational myths. For years
Americans had to suffer and try to get by because of an event that was out of their
control and once again as in the early 20th century the belief that Americans could
achieve their dreams if they worked hard enough was once again threatened. So in
order to keep the myths and beliefs of America alive the American people once again
needed to reform themselves in order to put the country back on track and prevent the
events that caused the depression in the first place(Lecture/ Class notes). This is most
apparent in the dust bowl region in which farmers had to completely change everything
they had done that caused the dust bowl and had made the depression a lot worse.
Americans in this region and in others were able to reform (as much as they could) and
pull themselves out of despair so that they could try to regain what was left of the
culture and of their foundational myths (Worster,1979) .
Once again though they were not able to do this solely by themselves they
needed government intervention. FDR’s new deal was one of the greatest reform
movements of this time that set out to fix everything that had almost destroyed the
country during the great depression. It set out to change the economic system and fix
the banks so that the people could once again have faith in the system, in their country,
and in the American culture. He also reformed the system to create a backbone that
people could fall on so that without a job they could still survive and this was created in
the form of unemployment benefits and social security. The new deal was a very
successful reform program because it did what it set out to do which was to reform the
system to get the country back on its feet and put American faith back into the system;
and it was so successful we still use a lot of programs today that were created through
the New Deal.
So in conclusion the cause of the reform movements was the America
foundational myths and the American culture in that all of the people behind these
movements were driven by the pursuit or preservation of the American foundational
myths and by the culture. All of these examples show how much of a driving force for
reforms the myths are whether it be for equal rights or to restore faith in the American
economic system. The reforms may take a long time and they might be very violent but
they will always be driven by the people who are fighting for what it is that America’s
culture is about. The evidence shows this and also shows how other reforms are driven
by achieving or preserving the American foundational myths especially those about the
freedom we all share and the economic prosperity that all Americans are always trying
to achieve which is the American lifestyle that is embedded in our culture.
Sources
-Lecture and Class notes for U.S. history 2710
-Dust Bowl the Southern Plains in the 1930’s by Donald Worster (1979)
-Cheap Amusements By Kathy Peiss (1986)