Lane Goar
Progressive Essay

Chapter twenty-four - Wilson Progressivism at Home and Abroad, 1912- - 1916, in “The American Spirit”, by Kennedy and Bailey, deals with the presidential election of Woodrow Wilson and the changing perspective of government involvement in the US economy and society. Wilson dealt with diplomatic crises around the world and with our neighbor – Mexico. In chapter thirty - The War to End War, 1917 – 1918, in the Kennedy/Bailey book, the US tried to stay neutral as war broke out in Europe. But, our actions spoke louder than our word. We were pro Allies and anti-central powers, which was Germany and Austria-Hungry. We walked a careful path because we did not know which side our immigrant population would land. In this paper I will show you: What elements of conservatism can be found in Roosevelt’s and Wilson’s “progressive” philosophies and in what ways the proposals foreshadowed later US political developments? In order for one to understand the relation, one must first understand the ideas of Progressivism and Conservatism. Progressivism is a term that encompasses a wide spectrum of social movements that include environmentalism, labor, agrarianism, anti-poverty, peace, anti-racism, civil rights, women’s rights, animal rights, social justice and political ideologies such as anarchism, communism, socialism, social democracy, and liberalism. Conservatism as a political and social philosophy promotes the retaining of traditional social institutions in the context of the culture of Western Civilization. So basically, in this situation, Progressivism is a wide array of social movements and we want to know which of the progressive movements relate to the idea of Conservatism. Many elements of Conservatism can be found in Roosevelt’s and Wilson’s “progressive” philosophies. Some of them being: honor, self-determination, race, equality,