Schoolcraft College

M14 Assignment: Digital Portfolio Reflection

Timothy Malane

History 153 – Contemporary American - U.S. History

Dr. Alec Thomson

June 24, 2018

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As I reflect on what I have learned studying the 20th century of the United States,

I realized that I can learn from my ancestors and the generations that came before me. I

can take what I have learned while studying the 20th-century history of the United States

and apply the lessons of our ancestors responsibly to my own role in bettering our

society. The most influential theme in shaping the 20th century of the United States was

the creation of laws and new ethical ideas. Our laws and ethics are the reason why

America has remained the most influential nation in the world. The law and order in

America are what allows us to remain a free and independent nation.

The first example to explain why law and ethics was the most influential theme

that shaped the United States in the 20th century is the Progressive Era. Beginning in

1890 and through the 1920’s, big changes were happening in America. The Progressive

era was actually more of a movement than a political agenda. The era symbolized the

feeling that Americans were tired of the social injustice felt by nearly all social

classes. This was the most influential time in the 20th century for shaping America as we

know it. Many of the reforms that came about because of the Progressive movement are

law today. One area that was reformed was the food and drug industry. The food and

drug industry was affected in 1906 by the passing of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the

Meat Inspection Act. Before the Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act, there

were little, if any regulation in the food industry. After 1906 and the passing of the food
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acts, the food industry was obligated by law to act ethically. Another issue that was

targeted during the Progressive movement was the dire working conditions many

immigrants faced. Upton Sinclair believed it caused by capitalist greed. Sinclair

documented the plight of the immigrant workers in the Chicago meatpacking

district. What Sinclair ended up exposing were the deplorable and filthy plant conditions

that food was being processed in. Sinclair, when speaking about the purpose of The

Jungle, is quoted as saying “I aimed at the public’s heart and by accident, I hit it in the

stomach”. (Arthur, Anthony, Radical Innocent Upton Sinclair, page 83). Prior to Sinclair

exposing the meat packing industries ethical wrongdoings, there was no Food and Drug

Act and Meat Packing Act. The only concern that the food companies had was

maximizing profits. Sinclair’s book The Jungle forced the government to step in and

address the issues. The Jungle helped in the creation of the Food and Drug Act and the

Meat Inspection Act. To this day the two laws govern the industries handling food and

drugs.

The second example to explain why law and ethics were the most influential

theme that shaped the United States in the 20th century is the efforts of the

“muckrakers”. The muckrakers were a collection of brave investigative journalists that

took to a variety of publications to expose the ethical wrongdoings pertaining to a variety

of social and political issues that the nation faced during the turn of the century. The type

of investigative reporting that the muckrakers published laid the groundwork for the type

of investigative reports we see today. It is commonplace in modern day to see published

reports of corruption, greed, legal violations, civil right violations, and other types of

ethical concerns. At the turn of the century, whistleblowing journalists were

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nonexistent. Muckrakers were the first of their kind to expose business, political and

social issues. Without the muckrakers being the early whistleblowers, we as Americans

would not be the benefactors of the many reforms that came about due to their published

works. The motivation of the muckrakers came from the progressive mindset of America

during the Progressive Era. Many Americans were pushing for a wide variety of social

reforms and they needed solid and accurate forms of

communications. (communicationtechnology.web.unc.edu/2014/09/17/muckraking-in-

the-progressive-era/) Prior to the muckrakers, the ethical violations faced by many facets

of society went ignored and were easy to cover up. After the work of the muckrakers,

ethical and societal issues could no longer be ignored. The attention that was brought to

the issues led to a lot of the Progressive Era reforms. Muckrakers forever changed how

the public was alerted to ethically wrong situations.

The third example to explain why law and ethics were the most influential theme

that shaped the United States in the 20th century is FDR’s New Deal. The New Deal was

a pivotal element to get America out of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was

caused by the wave of bank runs that swept the nation after the stock market crash of

1929. The first thing that Roosevelt did to address the Great Depression was to build

America's trust in the banking system again. Roosevelt signed the Glass-Steagall

Banking Reform Act. This law created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. FDR

guaranteed that a depositor’s money was safe by federally insuring their deposits. The

FDIC is still observed in the American banking system today. FDR also addressed the

plight of the American farmers that were struggling due to the Great

Depression. Roosevelt signed the Agriculture Adjustment Act. The AAA identified 7
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core farm products in America. Farmers were paid by the government to reduce the

amount of land they farmed or the amount of livestock they kept. The AAA controlled

supply and demand which regulated prices so the farmers could gain profits again. The

AAA is still a law today. The most influential piece of legislation to come out of the

New Deal was the Social Security Act. The SSA was designed to cure the problem of

retirement inflicting a burden on the families of retirees. Most Americans lived pay

check to pay check when the SSA was signed in 1935. The SSA allowed for the working

person to put aside money from each paycheck that the person could access upon

retirement. Social Security Act is still widely relied on today for retirement

income. Today without the SSA many Americans would go the way their ancestors did

prior to 1935. The Social Security benefit faces some challenges for future

generations. According to an article by Kat Stromquist, as politicians today discuss the

Social Security benefit, they worry about the continuation of the benefit beyond

2040. Changes in demographics, the retirement of the baby boomer generation and

longer life expectancies are all contributing factors. (pocketsense.com/long-term-

significance-social-security-act-8389.html)

What I have learned about America through the study of 20th-century history can be

applied to my life. I now can understand what sacrifice was made for my rights. The

successes and failures that I read are relevant today. Much of the historical information I

learned about America was from a time of naivety. America was still trying to establish

itself during the 20th century. Now that we are in the 21st century we can carry on the

successful bits of our history. We can also learn from our failures and misery. For
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instance, the social issues facing America prior to women’s suffrage or civil rights are

something I think about when trying to see things from an opposing point of

view. History is a lesson of intentions, experiments, movements, and human production.

(Postma, Michael) According to an article “How History Can Help Us Predict the Next

Pope” David M. Perry challenges the current procedure of how the Cardinals elect the

Pope. Perry says that history has shown us that when the voting rules are inconvenient

they are changed to be more accommodating. Perry relates that to the modern day rules

and procedures becoming inconvenient. When that day comes, Perry says that a change

to the procedure will follow. (Perry, David M.) Just because something happened in

history does not mean that it is the way it should always be. Blair Hodges writes “The

past is a foreign country. That may be the case, but more often the past is used as the

foundation country, the land from which we emerged.” (Hodges, Blair) To me, the study

of history is how we got to where we are. The future should be better because of the

lessons our ancestors learned. In the beginning of this course I read an article titled

“Why Study History? (1985)”. In the article the author claims that the ignorance of

history deprives us from the best available guide to public action. (McNeill, William H.).

I couldn’t agree more. Without learning history, one would not know effective ways to

protest, how to perform civil duties, or even defend themselves from dangerous entities.

Knowing what our civilization had to learn the hard way paved an easier road for us to

travel down.
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Works Cited

Anthony, Arthur, Radical Innocent Upton Sinclair, Random House Publishing, 2007, Page 83,

Accessed 24 June 2018.

communicationtechnology.web.unc.edu, Muckraking in the Progressive Era,

http://communicationtechnology.web.unc.edu/2014/09/17/muckraking-in-the-

progressive-era/, Accessed 24 June 2018.

pocketsense.com/long-term-significance-social-security-act-8389.html, Long Term Significance

of the Social Security Act, https://pocketsense.com/long-term-significance-social-

security-act-8389.html, Accessed 24 June 2018.

Postma, Michael, What Can History Teach U Today, Accessed 24 June 2018.

Perry, David, M. How History Can Help Us Predict The Next Pope, Accessed 24 June 2018.

Hodges, Blair, Dee, On the Rhetorical Use of History to Understand the Present, 24 June 2018

McNeill, William H., Why Study History (1985), Accessed 24 June 2018