Revis 1

Brittany Revis
Hist 153
Lark
12/11/2016
Reflection
Over the years there have been a lot of things that has influenced individuals in the 20 th
century America to act responsibly and contribute towards society. Not only have there been
different events but different people has helped fuel that fire. The economy and business aspect
has changed the world in the past that has helped mold the future. Economy is an important part
of our lives and our world. If the economy is at a low then our society response differently than
when our economy is on top and thriving. Even different businesses helped put our 20 th century
society in a better mind set. Reflecting on our history helped us get where we are in our present.
We look to the past to understand the present, and so did they, we construct appeals
Regarding how things should be based on how they have been. Such historical constructs
are often selective, quite creative, in not paying due attention to the full inaccessible
complexity that is our past.. . . (Hodges 2012). Three people that helped influence the past and
present with the economy and business world would be Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and
Lyndon B. Johnson.
Teddy Roosevelt was the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909 by
default. Before becoming President Roosevelt was purposely put in the Vice-President position
because they felt he could do less harm as vice-President than as governor of New York. After
McKinley was shot and killed Roosevelt quickly assumed the President position and started
helping the economy. Teddy helped the economy by making big business comprise and focus

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more on the workers and their needs, because a happy worker means a good economy. For
example Pennsylvania coal miners went on strike 1902 because of labor rights and after a while
started rioting. The workers wanted better wages, shorter hours, and recognition of the union.
Roosevelt was the first to negotiate a strike settlement. He and J.P. Morgan convinced Baer (Led
the miners) to end the strike. In October the strike ended and that next March the miners were
awarded a 10 percent pay increase, and the workday was reduced to eight or nine hours. Before
his first term expired, Roosevelt signed legislation aimed at fixing banks and the stock market.
He approved plans to aid the unemployed and the nations farmers. Overall Teddy Roosevelt
helped mold the economy in the past that is helping our present.
History provides a cultural literacy: the cultural capital to develop a lens through which
to understand historical names, dates, events, and concepts. Apart from this, and perhaps more
importantly, history gives us meaning.. . .( Postma 2016). Harry Truman did just that, he gave
the economy meaning. When soldiers started to return home from World War II they were
returning to no jobs and no money. Truman helped turn everything around when he put in the
place the GI Bill of Rights. The GI bill granted the government rights to give loans to those
veterans that wanted to start business or buy a home. It also gave veterans money to attend
college. Truman helped relieved the unemployment rate and make a more educated workforce,
which set the economy in a better place. Who would have known that Truman passing the GI bill
would not only helped those veterans in the past but would continue to assist veterans in the 20 th
century. The Bill alone gave the veterans a sense of self-worth; they were not only soldiers but
men in out society.
After JFK assaination Lyndon B. Johnson was elected President and he wanted to make a
name for himself by reforming the economy to make society greater. Johnson put forth so many

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acts and programs to make sure everyone got a great opportunity to successed in the becoming
economy. He finished passing the Civil Rights Bill after the JFK was gone. The Civil Rights Bill
act banned discrimination based on race and gender in employment and ending segregation in all
public facilities. Johnson also signed the omnibus Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The law
created the Office of Economic Opportunity aimed at attacking the roots of American poverty. A
Job Corps was established to provide valuable vocational training. Head Start, a preschool
program designed to help disadvantaged students arrive at kindergarten ready to learn was put
into place. The Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) was set up as a domestic Peace Corps.
Schools in impoverished American regions would now receive volunteer teaching attention.
Federal funds were sent to struggling communities to attack unemployment and illiteracy.
Johnson did everything he could think of to help make this society a better place and to get the
economy back on. Knowing that all these things has helped mold our economy for us to live the
way we do puts a whole new prospective on how our society should act.
History is in place to help us learn where the world has been and how it has evolved. It
helps us realize that our world is bigger than what we are doing in the present but what people
have done in the past to put stuff in place to get us where we are now. This value of historical
knowledge obviously justifies teaching and learning about what happened in recent times, for the
way things are descends from the way they were yesterday and the day before that. But in fact,
institutions that govern a great deal of our everyday behavior took shape hundreds or even
thousands of years ago. Having been preserved and altered across the generations to our own
time, they are sure to continue into the future.. . .( McNeill 1985). Many people have helped our
economy form in so many different ways and without them where would this world be? How
would we have survived then and now? We can only be thankful for those figures that thought

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more for helping the people then hurting them. Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Lyndon B.
Johnson will always be those people that helped mold the 20tg century society and economy to
what it is today.

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Bibliography
Hodges, Blair Dee. "On the Rhetorical Use of History to Understand the Present."
Academia. N.p., 07 May 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.
<[Link]
Understand_the_Present>.
McNeil, William H. "Why Study History?" American Historical Association (1985): n.
pag. Web. <[Link]
archives/archives/why-study-history-(1985)>.
Postma, Michael. "What Can History Teach Us Today?" ASCD (2011): n. pag. Web.
<[Link]