Kokott 1

Connor Kokott
Jessy Feveryear
History-1700-006
E-portfolio assignment
11/30/2014
Most influential US history
In US history this semester I have found that many of the topics taught are beneficial to my life
and understanding of the world. The topic that proves to be the most influential to me is the progressive
era; the era of US history between 1890 and 1920. This thought holds true to me because it has
influenced my outlook on reform, and has shown me a way of ethics that will follow into the future.
Roaring out of the depression of 1893, Americans were heavy hearted to bring about some
changes. These changes consisted of improvement to the existing American system and took the idea of
Darwins theory of change into account when looking for a direction. The movements affected all social
classes; however, some were directly affected as where others took an adverse effect. The ideas that
pushed for direct change include women, people living in poverty, immigrants, African Americans,
industrial workers, and politicians. The main presidents involved with adapting to this movement were
Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. Social workers of the time also took
an approach that consisted of having clients fix their own problems and by studying each individual case
instead of generalizing everything.
All of these changes might be viewed as separate and individualized but when you put them
together youll find that people are finally just getting the treatment in the world that they deserve
while they are on this planet. Before learning about how un-educated, under-lived, and under-careered
women and African Americans were, I would have said that there is no need for reform. Now I see that
equality and a life lived is a lot more important for the greater well-being of everyone. I also now

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understand that things in world are easier changed than they are created, and that the world is not set
in stone by any means. Pretty much this era demonstrates the true meaning of democracy and a
republic. Also, too often in today people do not participate during the times that politic our lives, like
elections.
The main idea of the progressive era gives me a good direction for future issues. In the future, it
would be a great idea to keep in mind the changes that took place during the late 19th century and early
20th century. These people created a better world and made the important people of the time care for
the people they are closely affecting. I now see that for future changes that take place in this country,
ethics and morality need to be taken into consideration. Luckily we have many laws set up such as the
food and drug act that was created in 1906 to never allow a faulty piece of meat or medicine into
consumption again. But there are new ideas that arise every day and this is just something I think we as
Americans need to remind each other with.
To cap things off here, the progressive era was a time of getting out of a horrible past, creating a
new beginning and modeling for the future of reform. It is also the most influential part of history in my
life thus far because it has changed the way I look at reform and has reminded me what I want my
future to look like. Hearing about the stories of people banding together to better their own lives and
others teaches me that we can still do that today and should be. I also see now that when we make
changes we need to keep them along the same lines of evolution, relevance, and ethics. I am thankful
for having learned this information and am ready for the future of history.