Representation of My Biography: Albert Jeremiah Beveridge
My name is Albert Jeremiah Beveridge. I was born on October 6th, 1862 in Highland County, Ohio. During my early life, I was a poor farmer who plowed fields, cut lumber and worked on railroads. My first opportunity for education was at age 16 when I attended high school. My drive and desire for learning drove me to enroll at Asbury College in 1881. I won many awards, including the Interstate Oratorical Honors award to help pay for my college tuition. I graduated in 1885 and pursued a law career. I practiced law for 12 years and suffered painfully after my wife Katherine’s death in 1900. However, I happily married Catherine Eddy in 1907. Throughout my years practicing law, I earned the status as a well known political orator. In 1899, I was elected to the U.S. Senate at age 36 as a compromise candidate. I was reelected in 1905, but was never reelected again due to my beliefs towards the Progressive Party and our Republican Party Schism. As my political career was coming to an end, I became a proponent of child labor, American annexation of territories after the Spanish-American War, and other issues my party went against or for. In 1912, I was nominated as the Progressive Party candidate for Indiana but lost due to the fall of the Progressive Party. In 1916, along with Roosevelt, I rejoined the Republican Party. The final chapter of my political career ended with a final attempt to become a U.S. Senator, nevertheless, I lost to Harry S. New. After my political career concluded, I emerged into a well known historical writer. I wrote many biographies and other historical novels and am most well recognized for The Life of John Marshall. I continued to compose additional novels for the remainder of my life, including the biography of Abraham Lincoln, however, I never finished this book due to my death on April 27, 1927.
Throughout my life and career, I was a Republican. I was a firm believed in Teddy Roosevelt and supported and followed him and his ideals throughout my political career. I supported many of our parties’ beliefs including equal industrial opportunities, a strong navy, prevention of trust abuses, and extension of nominating primaries. I came up with the meat inspection law, which improved meat sanity and helped fight against the practice of child labor. I played a big role in forms of speeches to help with this controversy of this topic and help create an amendment about it. I also favored a tariff commission that would take tariffs out of politics, sparing the country from business uncertainty. When the Payne-Aldrich Tariff was issued, I and other members of the Republican Party spilt up and created the Progressive Party because we felt this Act betrayed out party. As a nationalist, I favored America’s annexation of newly required territories following the victory of the Spanish-American War and played a huge role in this debate. I created a speech that convinced many Americans to agree with the annexation of these territories because it benefited our country and the countries we were about to rule.
As a fellow Republican and an Ohio native, I support the election of Republican candidate William McKinley. Under McKinley, our party would focus on acceptance of illiterate immigrants, equal pay for equal work, the expansion of the navy, the protection of businesses (America First), and the creation of a national board to help settle labor disputes. Many of McKinely’s beliefs and policies are similar to Roosevelt, whom I previously supported and shared similar ideas when he was President of the United States.
As a Progressive, I would endorse the Clayton Anti-Trust Act which was introduced in order to decrease corporate greed through antitrust laws. This act also provided solutions for labor issues with the newly appointed U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations related to the investigation of labor conditions and the implementation of federal laws to protect workers’ rights and the organization and engagement in collective bargaining. In addition, as a Roosevelt advocate, I believe in equal industrial opportunity and prevention of trust abuses and company monopolies, which this act helped prevent.
As an avid supporter of American policy, an expansionist, and a proud American, I feel like we should’ve annexed territories won during the Spanish and American War. Under our control and assistance, America could reform and rebuild these countries. Under our watch, we can suppress the Filipino rebellion and at the same time spread our beloved freedom and democracy to these countries. Finally, with these countries under our control, we can build harbors and bases overseas to strengthen our incredible country.
Works Cites
- “Albert J. Beveridge” In Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica. (accessed January 12, 2020)
- ‘Albert Jeremiah Beveridge.’ In Dictionary of American Biography. New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1936. Gale In Context: U.S. History (accessed January 9, 2020).
- “Beveridge, Albert J.’ An American Empire.’ In World War I and the Jazz Age. American Journey. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 1999. Gale In Context: U.S History (accessed January 13, 2020).
- ‘Clayton Anti-Trust Act.’ In Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1999. Gale In Context: U.S. History (accessed January 12, 2020).
- ‘Progressivism and Social Reform.’ In Gale U.S. History Online Collection. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2019. Gale In Context: U.S. History (accessed January 12, 2020).
- Edwards, Rebecca, Eric Hinderaker, Robert O. Self, and James A. Henretta. America’s History. Concise edition. ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2018.
- ‘The William McKinley Administrations.’ In Presidential Administration Profiles for Students, edited by Kelle S. Sisung and Gerda-Ann Raffaelle. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2002. Gale In Context: U.S. History (accessed January 13, 2020).
