Woodrow Wilson Essays (1311 words) - Freemen Of The City Of London

Woodrow Wilson The turn of century was an important time for pre-WWI America. National and international affairs were in full swing, just as ever. America was trying hard to remain with its Isolationism, yet could in no way thoroughly do so. Yet with this isolationistic stance, that was deteriorating daily, much emphasis was put onto national affairs of the United States by the government. Woodrow Wilson, the third president of this new century, also had great concern with the national affairs of the U.S. Elected in 1912, Wilson strongly believed in a government ?more concerned about human rights than property rights? (Comptons). Through these strong idealistic views, Wilson was in fact the ?president of the common people.? He proved this through his efforts for farmers and other laborers. This also seen through his ?New Freedom? basis of government, as opposed to President Roosevelt's ?New Nationalist? form of government. On top of this, Wilson's flood of social welfare legislation proved that he was definitely ?president of the common people.? One thing must be known about Wilson before anything else. That is the fact that he was a strong idealist. He had great visions of how to make the U.S. a better nation for all. This is illustrated trough his many Acts that he sent through congress. He put in place many systems that help benefit all the common people. Though he did not always follow all the way through with his plans (he more or less put them in place and left them), his strong devotion to the common people being treated equally cannot be overseen. The fact is that Wilson truly cared about the farmer and the working man. For example, it is known that he ?promised to return state government to the people? (Bailey 703). He believed in the struggles of people as a whole, rather than individually. One act that he put into place was the Federal Farm Loan Act. Here, Wilson made credit very easily accessible to those farmers in need. This law divided the country into twelve regions and opened a Federal Land Bank inn each one of these regions (McDuffie 139) Wilson also made the rate of interest towards these farmers very low and affordable. Wilson realized the importance of the farmer upon American society, a fact that many other politicians of the time easily ignored. So with his idealistic visions, Wilson brought a little ease upon the farmers of America. In 1916, Wilson helped get the Warehouse Act into effect. This act ?authorized loans on the security of staple crops? (Bailey 709). Both of these acts were in essence Populist ideas that the Populists wanted into effect for some number of years. And it was only President Wilson who brought these issues to light and made a difference for these common people. It is obvious that Wilson was concerned of the farmers and he therefore acted upon the concerns and made life that much easier for them. Wilson was also very concerned with the average workers of the U.S. His flood of social welfare programs was clearly send and felt by hard working American citizens all around the country. The combination of new acts being put in place targeting business in general, along with those targeted specifically for the betterment of the welfare of working Americans. In 1916, Wilson imposed the Workingman's Compensation Act. Under this Act, assistance was given to federal civil service employees in the time of disability. Also, Wilson put into place the Child Labor Act in the same year. Though this law was declared unconstitutional in 1918, it was a definite step in the right direction. For it did not allow the shipment of products that had been made by those under the age of fourteen or the age of sixteen (the age limit was different for different products). Also in that same year, the Adamson Act was put into effect. This law required a maximum of no higher than an eight hour work day. This law was mainly meant for railway workers. This law was considered ?a major victory for railroad unions, a averted a railroad strike in September 1916. Wilson's whole form of government during his first term was based on his ?New Freedom.? In this New Freedom, Wilson put in effect ?a program to liberate American economic energies by drastic tariff reduction, strengthening the antitrust laws, and reorganizing of the banking and the credit system? (Cink). This was in opposition to Teddy Roosevelt's ?New Nationalism? which looked ?toward sweeping