Chapter 23FROM ROOSEVELT TO
WILSON IN THE AGE OF PROGRESSIVISM
America Past and PresentEighth Edition
The Spirit of Progressivism
Progressivism touched all aspects of society Characteristics that gave it definition
• Concern about effects of industrialization
• Optimistic about human nature & potential for progress
• Willing to intervene in others lives, either private charity or govt
• Sense of evangelical Protestant duty & faith in the benefits of science
• Commitment to improve all aspects of American life
p.654-655
The Rise of the Professions
Professions bulwarks of Progressivism• Law
• Medicine
• Business
• Education
• Social work
Source of much of the leadership for the progressive movement*
p.655-657
The Social-Justice Movement
Ministers, intellectuals, social workers, & lawyers focused national attention on tenement house laws, more stringent child labor legislation, & better working conditions for women• More interested in social cures than individual
charity
Applied scientific methods to social reform Social work became a profession
p.656-657
The Purity Crusade
Reformers were stricken by the degree alcohol affected lives• Wages squandered, violence
1911~ Membership in Women's Christian Temperance Union hit 250k
1916 ~ 19 states prohibit alcohol 1920 ~ 18th Amend prohibits alcohol
p.657-658
Woman Suffrage, Woman's Rights
Women filled Progressive ranks• National Conference of Social Work
• General Federation of Women's Clubs
1890 ~ National American Woman Suffrage Association formed
1920 ~ 19th Amendment passed Suffrage seen as empowering women to
benefit the disadvantaged & purify govt
p.658-660
A Ferment of Ideas:Challenging the Status Quo
Progressives & pragmatists valued truth & the “conduct it dictates” ~ Wm James
Reject social Darwinism John Dewey: Education should stress
personal growth, free inquiry, creativity• And, learning by doing ~ Most influential
Judge Lindsey, Louis Brandies and “Sociological Jurisprudence” ~ Later
p.660-662
A Ferment of Ideas:Challenging the Status Quo (2)
1901 ~ Socialist party formed uniting intellectuals, factory workers, tenant farmers, miners, lumberjacks
By 1911, 32 cities have Socialist mayors Promises Progressive reform rather than
overthrow of capitalism 1912 ~ Socialist presidential candidate
Eugene Debs polls over 900k votes
p.660-662
Reform in the Cities & States
Progressives wanted govt to follow the public will
Reform govt• Reorganize for efficiency, effectiveness
• New agencies address particular social ills
• Posts staffed with experts*
Govt power extended at all levels
p.662
Interest Groups & the Decline of Popular Politics
Decline in voter participation• 77% from 1876–1900
• 65% from 1900–1916
• 52% in the 1920s
• Remained near 52% thru 20th century
Interest groups got favorable legislation thru lobbying
p.662-663
Reform in the Cities
Urban reform leagues worked to increase efficiency & get results
Reformers created regulatory commissions which hired engineers to oversee utilities, physicians to improve municipal health, & city planners to oversee park & road development• City manager idea spread
Reform mayors • Tom Johnson of Cleveland
• "Golden Rule" Jones of Toledo
p.663-664
Action in the States
State regulatory commissions created to investigate business conduct
Initiative, referendum, & recall created All but 3 states used primary elections
by 1916 1913 ~ Seventeenth Amendment
provided for direct election of US Senators
p.664-665
Action in the States:Reform Governors
Robert La Follette of Wisconsin• “Wisconsin Idea” tapped experts in higher
education for help in sweeping reforms
• Most famous reform governor
Other Progressive governors• Hiram Johnson of California
• Charles Evans Hughes of New York
• Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey
p.664-665
The Republican Roosevelt
Following assassination of Wm McKinley, took office at age 42
In contrast to McKinley, he was open, aggressive & high-spirited
Regularly met with a multitude of visitors to the White House ~ BT Wash
Surrounded himself with able associates Often “stood on booth side of the fence”
p.665-666
Busting the Trusts
1902: Wave of trust-busting led by suit against Northern Securities Company ~ Sherman Anti-Trust violation
1904: Northern Securities dissolved Roosevelt reputed a "trust-buster" Comparatively few antitrust cases under
Roosevelt, Taft did almost twice as many in half the time
p.666-667
"Square Deal" in the Coalfields
1902: United Mine Workers strike for better working conditions in PA • Threatened US economy ~ TR “brokered”
UMW & owners invited to White House Roosevelt won company concessions by
threatening military seizure of mines• Leaked the information
TR saw fed govt as a broker between powerful elements in society
p.667
Roosevelt Progressivism at Its Height
1904—A four-way election• Republican—Theodore Roosevelt
• Democrat—Alton B. Parker
• Socialist—Eugene V. Debs
• Prohibition—Silas C. Swallow
Roosevelt won 57% of popular vote, 336 electoral votes
p.667
Regulating the Railroads 1903: Elkins Act prohibited railroad rebates,
strengthened Interstate Commerce Commission Widespread popular demand for further railroad
regulation after Roosevelt’s reelection 1906: Hepburn Act further strengthened
Interstate Commerce Commission • Membership from five to seven
• May fix reasonable maximum rates
• Jurisdiction broadened to include oil pipeline, express, sleeping car companies
p.667-668
Cleaning Up Food and Drugs Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906) prompted
fed investigation of meatpacking industry 1906: Meat Inspection Act
• Sets rules for sanitary meatpacking
• Requires govt inspection of meat products Samuel Hopkins Adams exposed dangers of
patent medicines 1906: Pure Food & Drug Act
• Required manufacturers to list certain ingredients
• Banned manufacture & sale of adulterated drugs
p.668-669
Conserving the Land
Estab’d Natl Commission on the Conservation of Natural Resources• TR worked with Gifford Pinchot, Chief of Forest
Service
• Policy defined “conservation” as wise use of natural resources
Quadrupled acreage under fed protection
p.669-670
The Ordeal of William Howard Taft
Taft: Able administrator, poor president• He had a long list of successful administrative
positions behind him• Ohio judge, solicitor general of US, fed circuit judge,
governor general of Philippines, Sec of War
• Weighing close to 300 lbs, he was not nearly as active as TR
• He preferred the solitude of a judge Republicans spt’d a return to a conservative
stance
p.670-671
The Ballinger-Pinchot Affair
Gifford Pinchot leading conservationist, Roosevelt appointee
Pinchot accused Interior Secretary of Interior Richard Ballinger of selling public lands to friends
Taft fired Pinchot Pinchot had been right which antagonized
the Progressives against Taft
p.672
Taft Alienates the Progressives
1910: Taft successfully pushed Mann-Elkins Act to strengthen ICC
• Empowers ICC to fix railroad rates• An anit-progressive move
• Progressives became anti-Taft 1910: Taft opposed Progressive Republicans
in mid-term elections, Demos gained Congress
p.672
Taft Alienates the Progressives
Successfully backed laws to regulate mine & railroad safety
Sixteenth Amendment created income tax Taft a greater trustbuster than Roosevelt Taft & TR attack one another publicly 1912: Taft renominated by Republicans, little
chance for victory
p.673
Differing Philosophies in the Election of 1912
Roosevelt: Progressive ~ "Bull Moose" • “New Nationalism”
• Fed regulation of economy
• Wasteful competition replaced by efficiency
Woodrow Wilson: D-Gov of NJ• Promised "New Freedom" for the individual
• Restrain big business, govt
Democrats won White House & Congress
p.673-675
Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom
Woodrow Wilson: Former president of Princeton & Governor of New Jersey
Progressive, intellectual, inspiring orator His was rapid & he came to office w/ limited
experience in national issues, but he learned fast• Very little political baggage
One of America's most effective presidents
p.675
The New Freedom in Action
1913: Underwood Tariff• Lowered tariffs 15% & removed completely from
some consumer goods
1913: Federal Reserve Act ~ Most important domestic law of Wilson admin
1914: Clayton Antitrust Act outlawed unfair trade practices, protected unions
1914: Federal Trade Commission• Oversee business practices
p.675-676
New Freedom in Action: Retreating from Reform
1914 ~ Wilson announces "New Freedom" has been achieved• Tariff, banking & antitrust promise a brighter future
Many progressives stunned that he thought society’s ills were so easily cured, the New Republic wrote, his statements “cast suspicion either upon his own sincerity or upon his grasp of the reality of modern social & industrial life.”
p.675-676
Wilson Moves Toward the New Nationalism
Distracted by the outbreak of war in Europe in Aug 1914 ~ Beginnings of WWI• Recession struck the economy
• Some blamed Wilson’s tariff changes
Refused to spt a minimum wage for women bill & another on child labor
Failed to block attempts to segregate fed workers
p.676-680
Wilson Moves Toward the New Nationalism
1916 ~ Presidential election was close, but Wilson won on issues of peace (stay out of WWI) & progressivism
By end of 1912 ~ He had enacted most of the important parts of TR’s progressive party platform of 1912• It was a blend of two competing doctrines
(Demo & Rep) of progressivism
p.676-680
The Fruits of the Progressivism
Reform of government at all levels Intelligent planning of reform World War I ends Progressive optimism
p.680-681