Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt

Progressivism and the Republican RooseveltChapter 28Objective:Students will understand the historical impact the Progressive Era had on US History.

Progressive RootsGreenback Labor Party of 1870s,GrangeFarmers Alliance Populists

MuckrakersSeveral magazines led the way in reform, investigational journalism, dug deeper because they were trying to out scoop the competitionLincoln Steffens The Shame of the CitiesShowed the alliance between big business and local governmentsIda B. Tarbell published an expose on Standard OilDavid G. Phillips The Treason of the Senate charged that 75 of the 90 senators represented trusts not the peopleRay Stannard Baker Following the Color Line 1908Upton Sinclair The JungleAbuses about many other, social ills, adulterated medicine, food, political corruption, etc

The Bosses of the Senate

Political ProgressivismReformers were mainly middle class citizens- pressure from above (giant corporations) and below (immigrant hordes and labor unions)Progressives two main goals:To use state power to curb the trustsTo stem the socialist threat by generally improving the common persons conditions of life and laborProgressives pushed for direct primary elections and the referendum (placed laws on the ballot for final approval from the people)Put a limit on the amount of money that candidates could spend on elections and on the gifts that they could receive from corporationsConstitutional amendment to use popular election of the sentors-17th Amendment passed in 1913Progressives also supported the feminists

Progressivism in the Cities and StatesMany cities appointed a city manager to control civic affairs Attacked social problems-slumlords, juvenile delinquency, and prostitutionProgressivism also reached a state levelRobert M. Fighting Bob La Follette-militant progressive Republican leader-governor of Wisconsin, was able to return control to the people from corrupt corporations and perfected a scheme fro regulating public utilities

Progressive WomenKey to progressive movementSaw the task of improving life in the factories as an extension of their roles as wives and womenFocused on moral and maternal issues Womens Trade Union League and National Consumers League

Progressive WomenMuller vs. Oregon 1908 Louis D. BrandeisCalled for special protection of women at the workplaceLochner vs. New York 1905Ruled against the 10 hour day for bakersThis was overruled again in 1917Triangle Shirtwaist Company 1911 Fire; 146 workers died. Large outcry fromLed to much needed and stronger laws regulating sweatshopsWomen went after the saloons, prohibition movement which went hand in hand with anti prostitution movementWTCU Womens Temperance Christian UnionBy 1914 nearly one half of the population lived in dry territory and nearly three-fourths of the total are had outlawed saloons1919-Eighteenth Amendment-Prohibition!

TRs Square Deal for LaborTR feared that the public interest was being submerged by indifference-so he decided that everyone interests were his interestsThe Square Deal-for capital, labor and the publicThe 3 CsControl of the corporations Consumer protectionConservation of the natural resourcesCoal miners strike in 1902 in PennsylvaniaMiners were mostly illiterate immigrantsDemanded 20% increase in pay and a reduction from 10 hour days to 9 hour daysAs coal supplies decreased the nation was forced to close schools, factories and hospitalsRoosevelt restored to the stick by threatening to send in federal troops to operate the mines-they consented to arbitration and in the end everything was hunky-dory.10% rise in pay and 9 hour work daysRoosevelt created the Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903Very helpful in curbing the trusts

Caring for the ConsumersEurope banned American meat imports because it was taintedUpton SinclairThe Jungle 1906Sinclair intended to help workers but got food controlsMeat Inspection Act of 1906Meat shipped across state lines was inspected through the whole processPure Food and Drug Act of 1906Prevent adulteration and mislabeling

Roosevelts Foreign PolicyHelped America obtain the land for the Panama Canal and began building itDebts in Latin America made TR get involved using preventive intervention or the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe DoctrineUS would on behalf of Europe in Latin America, pay debts, take over customhouses, etc. to keep Europe away

The Rough Rider Thunders OutCould have easily won another election but he opted not to runkept his wordTR chose Taft as his successor a mild progressive and his secretary of warThe Democrats put up William Jennings Bryan again (3rd time)Taft won 321 to 162 7.6 to 6.4 million popular votesEugene Debs a Socialist got almost a half million votesTRs legacy Was seen as an enemy of capitalism but in fact he was in favor of most and helped the capitalists survive longerEnlarged the powers of the PresidentHelped the progressive movement and the liberal reform movements of the 20th centuryWilliam Howard TaftVery fat, popular, smartgraduated from Yale, lawyer, judge, couldnt take over after TR, TR led by force Taft couldnt do that

Taft the TrustbusterBecame famous as a trustbuster-in 4 years brought up 90 suits against the trusts1911-Supreme Court dissolved the Standard Oil Company and Taft decided to press an antitrust suit on U.S. Steel-made Roosevelt very angry

The Dollar Goes Abroad as a DiplomatDollar DiplomacyUsing American investments to boost American political interests abroadUrged wall street to invest extra money in areas that the US had active interests politicallyFar East, Panama Canal, etc.Dollar replaced the Big StickManchuriaJapan and Russia controlled most of the area and had monopolies on the RR that strangled the regionTaft tried to have American businessmen buy the RR and turn them over to China, it blew up in his faceCaribbeanMoney into Haiti and Honduras in order to keep Europeans outEventually sent troops into Cuba, Honduras, Dominican Republic to establish orderIn Nicaragua the Americans started the rebellion and sent in troops to sustain it, they stayed for 13 years

William Howard Taft

The Taft-Roosevelt RuptureTR decided to run when Taft got rid of my policiesJune of 1912-Roosevelt and Taft at the Chicago convention100 for Roosevelt vs. 250 for TaftRoosevelts ended up refusing to vote and Taft won

Wilson Tackles the TariffFought against the triple wall of privilegebanks, tariff, and trustsShowed up himself to address congress after he called a special session in 1913 to fix the tariffUnderwood Tariff 1913Reduced import feesCongress also used the 16th amendment to start an income taxRevenue from income tax quickly outdistanced tariff duties

Wilson Tames the TrustsFederal Trade Commission Act of 1914Empowered a presidential appointed commission to inspect businesses involved in interstate commerceSupposed to crush monopolies by ending unfair business practicesClayton Antitrust Act 1914Longer list of illegal activities included price discrimination and interlocking directoriesExempted labor unions and agricultural organizations from prosecution

Wilson Battles the BankersBiggest problem was that most of the currency was in large banks in the East and it couldnt be redistributed to the areas that needed it quickly enoughFederal Reserve Act 1913 (Wilson in front of Congress)Split the country into 12 districts each had its own central bankCreated a board to watch over the districtsBoard could also issue paper money, could easily increase the amount of money in circulation

Foreign PolicyWilson was a noninterventionist (isolationist)Didnt want to get involved in world affairs but eventually was drawn into WWI