The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Lesson

Student Exercise One:  Define the Progressive Era

1. Have students research the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the twentieth century.  Have them read secondary accounts of the era in order to develop a context for the Roosevelt presidency.
   
   
2. The students may have difficulty agreeing on a single definition of progressivism; they may need to develop several definitions.

The following sites and textbook accounts will provide the information needed:

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/hyper_titles.cfm
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/subtitles.cfm?TitleID=31

Student Exercise Two:  Research the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt with a focus on his domestic reforms and his foreign policy. 

1. Have the class brainstorm the kinds of information that they should gather in order to understand Theodore Roosevelt, the progressive reformer and Theodore Roosevelt, the imperialist.
   
   
2. Identify the style and substance of Roosevelt's domestic and foreign policies.
   
   
3. Identify significant domestic and foreign policy issues during T.R.'s terms of office.

The following sites are useful for this exercise: 

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=170
http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/
http://www.nps.gov/history/logcabin/html/tr.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/tr26.html

Student Exercise Three:  Discover the public image of Theodore Roosevelt.

1. Divide class into small groups.  Assign each group two issues: one domestic (such as trusts) and one foreign policy (such as the canal) from the list generated in the previous exercise.  Have each group look at the cartoons and select four (two about T.R.'s domestic policy and two about T.R.'s foreign policy) that exemplify assigned issues.
   
   
2. Prepare to present cartoon choices with explanations to the class.

There is a wealth of political cartoons about Theodore Roosevelt, both as a public servant in New York and as President of the United States in the following sites:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl= http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/opper1.jpg&imgrefurl= http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trcartoonsprompt.html &h=503&w=447&sz=39&tbnid= 78CvV0rdzV8J::&tbnh=130&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3D theodore%2Broosevelt%2Bcartoons&sa=X&oi=image_result &resnum=1&ct=image&cd=1

Extension Activities

Political Campaign:

1.  Divide class into small groups.  Have the students design a 1904 presidential campaign for Theodore Roosevelt
   
   
2. Each campaign should include the following:
   a.   A platform statement based on T.R.'s quotations and his first term (1901- 1904).
   b.   Three campaign posters--these should be creative and attract attention and support.
   c.   One ad or speech exposing the weakness of the Democratic Party and candidate.
   
   
3. Each group should present their T.R. campaign.

The following sites are useful sources for TR quotations:

http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/quotes.htm
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/theodore_roosevelt.html

Essay:

To what extent did Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy sustain or detract from his image as a progressive/reformer?