Spanning from 1890 to 1920, the Progressive Era was a period of notable transformation for the United States. Throughout this period, it not only expands its role on the world stage, but also goes through a transition towards a modernist society, a society of consumption and mass production; a business-based society, symbolized by assembly lines and the use of "scientific management", and represented by the transition from rural to urban life. With such rapid development over a relatively short period, progressive individuals sought to "alleviate the dysfunction, or corruption, or economic injustice, or human suffering that had accompanied the explosion of industrial growth, urbanization and new lifestyles in America. » “The Natural Wonder of the Grand Canyon” is a partial embodiment of the Progressive Era in the United States, as described by the ideologies of President Theodore Roosevelt and his Square Deal. One of the most influential proponents of the Progressive Era was undoubtedly Theodore Roosevelt. “Roosevelt always seriously studied nature, both physical and human, the foundations of the Western philosophical tradition and the economic, psychological and political dimensions of human societies.” As president, he urged people to live better lives, believing that it was "individual character that determined the course of history, not economic systems." It has been said that "Roosevelt made the Progressive Era possible" and that his "virtue politics" were in many ways "a challenge to be better, to be more, to be just." These qualities mixed with unparalleled intelligence gave him the ability not only to seek reforms but also to lead the way at a time when the country was confused...... middle of paper ...... Theodore Roosevelt: preacher of righteousness. New Haven: Yale University Press, p. No. xxiHawley. Theodore Roosevelt: preacher of justice. p. No. xviiHawley, Theodore Roosevelt: preacher of justice. p. n° xxiDover Thrift Editions, Great speeches of the twentieth century, page nr. 1Dover Thrift Editions, Great Speeches of the Twentieth Century, page nr. 2Ibid.Dover Thrift Editions, Great Discourses of the Twentieth Century, page nr. 1Ibid. Campbell, Robert. 2002. Newlands, Old Lands: Native American Labor, Agrarian Ideology, and the Progressive State in the Development of the New Lands Reclamation Project, 1902-1926. Pacific Historical Review 71, no. 2: 203-238, http://search.proquest.com/docview/212439944?accountid=26397.IbidDover Thrift Editions, Great Discourses of the Twentieth Century, page no. 2Ibid.Ibid.