Theodore Roosevelt's Message To Congress Analysis

Theodore Roosevelt was an energetic and progressive President with big goals for our nation. In his “Message to Congress” in 1901, he explained the difference between good and bad trusts, saying that good trusts were good for the public while bad ones were led by selfish executives (pg. 123). He stated that big business was created naturally, and he gave credit to the “captains of industry” who led the nation into an industrial era (pg. 123). Roosevelt warned against hastily striking at big business executives and advocated for allowing powerful corporations to continue if they were supervised and forced to be transparent about their dealings (pg. 124). He concluded by stating that states were not able to regulate big business and that the national government should pass a law allowing itself to regulate these corporations (pg. 125).
Woodrow Wilson initially tried to prevent the U.S. from entering World War I. However, in his “Declaration of War Against Germany”, he finally called for Congress to declare war on Germany to protect neutral rights during wartime, punish the Germans, and preserve democracy in the world (pg. 145). He criticized Germany’s declaration that it would strike all ships in a certain area, and he explained that it goes against traditional war practices to kill innocent, non-combatant people
Du Bois was a prominent advocate for African American rights and the editor of The Crisis, which was published by the NAACP (pg. 158). In this article, he called for the U.S. to uphold its promises for equality for all people. He stated that African Americans fought bravely in the war and returned to lynching, voter suppression, and brutality towards blacks (pg. 158). He explained each way the nation harmed African Americans, stating that it, “lynches”, “disfranchises”, “encourages ignorance”, “steals from us”, and “insults us” (pg. 158). He concluded by rallying African Americans to return from the war and continue to fight for equality (pg.