the american pageant chapter 29 wilsonian progressivism at home and abroad
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The American Pageant Chapter 29 Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad. The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912. Democrats choose Dr . Woodrow Wilson militant progressive had been the president of Princeton University - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
The American PageantChapter 29
Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad
The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912• Democrats choose Dr. Woodrow
Wilson militant progressive had been the president of
Princeton Universitygovernor of New Jersey (where
he didn’t permit himself to be controlled by the bosses) • attacked trusts• passed liberal measures.
The Republican
Party &
President William H.
Taft
Keepthe
Whistle
Blowing
Taft was determined to defeat TR and preserve the conservative heart of the Republican Party.
Come, Mr. President. You Can’t Have
the Stage ALL of the Time!
Republican Party PlatformHigh import tariffs.
Put limitations on female and child labor.Workman’s Compensation Laws.Against initiative, referendum, and recall.Against “bad” trusts.Creation of a Federal Trade Commission.Stay on the gold standard.Conservation of natural resources because they are finite.
The Progressive
Party &Former
President Theodore RooseveltPeople should riseabove their sectarianinterests to promote the general good.
Theodore Roosevelt atOsawatomie, KS: New Nationalism
Big business requires big government.
TheAnti-Third-Term
Principle
The “Bull
Moose”Party:The
LatestArrivalat the
Political Zoo
We stand at Armageddon,
and we battle for the Lord!
ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS!
Progressive Party PlatformWomen’s suffrage.
Graduated income tax.Inheritance tax for the rich.Lower tariffs.Limits on campaign spending.Currency reform.Minimum wage laws.Social insurance.Abolition of child labor.Workmen’s compensation.
New
Nationalism
The Socialist Party
& Eugene V. Debs
The issue is Socialism versus Capitalism. I am for Socialism because I am for humanity.
“The Working Class Candidates”
Eugene V. Debs Emil Seigel for President for Vice-President
Socialist Party PlatformGovernment ownership of railroads and utilities.Guaranteed income tax.No tariffs.8-hour work day.Better housing.Government inspection of factories.Women’s suffrage.
The Democratic Party &Governor Woodrow
Wilson (NJ)
Could he rescue the Democratic Party from “Bryanism”??
• The Democratic ticket would run under a platform called New Freedom reduction of the tariff on imported
goodsreform of the inept national
banking systemstrengthening of the Sherman Act
to combat trusts favored small enterprisedesired to break up all trusts—not
just the bad ones—and basicallyshunned social-welfare proposals.
The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912
• Progressive convention, Jane Addams put Theodore Roosevelt’s name on the nominationgot the Progressive nominationentering the campaign, TR said that
he felt “as strong as a bull moose,” • = the unofficial Progressive
symbol• Republican William Taft & TR tore into
each otherformer friends now ripped every
aspect of each other’s platforms & personalities.
The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912
New Nationalism• Theodore Roosevelt's
progressive platform in the election of 1912; building on his presidential "square deal" stated that the government
should control the bad trusts, leaving the good trusts alone & free to operate
• TR also campaigned for female suffrage a broad program of social
welfare, such as minimum-wage laws & “socialistic” social insurance.
• Campaigning stopped when Roosevelt was shot in the chest in Milwaukeebut he delivered his speech
anywaywas rushed to the hospitalrecovered in two weeks.
The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912
Woodrow Wilson: A Minority President
• Republicans split Woodrow Wilson easily won with 435
Electoral votes TR had 88 Taft only had 8
• Democrats did not receive the majority of the popular vote (only 41%)!
• Socialist Eugene V. Debs earned 900,000+ popular votes
• combined popular totals of TR & Taft exceeded Wilson.
• TR’s participation had cost the Republicans the election
• William Taft would later become the only U.S. president to be appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, when he was nominated in 1921.
An Actual 1912 Ballot
Election Results
By 1912, 100,000 fewer people had voted for Wilson than had voted for Bryan in 1908.The 1912 election marked the apogee of the Socialist movement in America.
Wilson: The Idealist in Politics
• Woodrow Wilson = a sympathizer w/ the Southfine oratora sincere and morally appealing
politiciana very intelligent man.cold personality-wise, austere,
intolerant of stupidityvery idealistic.
Wilson Tackles the Tariff• Wilson stepped into the presidency
ready to tackle the “triple wall of privilege”: the tariff, the banks, & the trusts.
• Tackling the tariff:Wilson successfully helped in the
passing of the Underwood Tariff of 1913• substantially reduced import fees
• Wilson worked to enact a graduated income tax (under the approval of the recent 16th Amendment).
• Background:nation’s financial structure, as
created under the Civil War National Banking Act had proven to be glaringly ineffective, as shown by the Panic of 1907• Wilson had Congress authorize
an investigation to fix this
Wilson Battles the Bankers
• June 1913: Wilson appeared before a special joint session of pleaded for a sweeping reform of the
banking systemResult=the 1913 Federal Reserve
Act• Created the new Federal Reserve
Board– oversaw a nationwide system of
12 regional reserve districts, each with its own central bank
» had the power to issue paper money (“Federal Reserve Notes”)
Wilson Battles the Bankers
The President Tames the Trusts• 1914, Congress passed the
Federal Trade Commission Actempowered a president-
appointed position to investigate the activitiesof trusts• Could stop unfair trade
practices such as: –unlawful competition–false advertising–Mislabeling–Adulteration–bribery
• 1914 Clayton Anti-Trust Act lengthened the Sherman Anti-
Trust Act’s list of practices that were objectionable
exempted labor unions from being called trusts (as they had been called by the Supreme Court under the Sherman Act)
legalized strikes & peaceful picketing by labor union members.
The President Tames the Trusts
Wilsonian Progressivism at High Tide• The 1916 Adamson Act
established an eight-hour workday with overtime pay
New Directions in Foreign Policy• didn’t pursue an aggressive
foreign policy:stopped “dollar diplomacy,” persuaded Congress to repeal
the Panama Canal Tolls Act of 1912 (which let American shippers not pay tolls for using the canal)
even led to American bankers’ pulling out of a 6-nation, Taft-engineered loan to China.
New Directions in Foreign Policy• Wilson signed the Jones Act in
1916, granted full territorial status to
the Philippines promised independence as soon
as a stable government could be established
Filipinos finally got their independence on July 4, 1946.
New Directions in Foreign Policy• California banned Japanese
ownership of landWilson sent Secretary of State
William Jennings Bryan to plead with legislators, & tensions cooled.
• Disorder broke out in Haiti in 1915, Wilson sent American Marines
• in 1916, he sent Marines to quell violence in the Dominican Republic.
• In 1917, Wilson bought the Virgin Islands from Denmark.
Moralistic Diplomacy in Mexico• Background:
Mexico had been exploited for decades by U.S. investors in• oil
railroads• Mines
Mexican people = tremendously poor and in 1913, they revolted• installed full-blooded Indian General
Victoriano Huerta to the presidency.• led to a massive immigration of
Mexicans to America– mostly to the Southwest.
Moralistic Diplomacy in Mexico• rebels = very violent & threatened
Americans living in Mexico• Woodrow Wilson
would not intervene to protect American lives
would not recognize Huerta’s regime • other countries did
let American munitions flow to Huerta’s rivals, Venustiano Carranza and Francisco “Pancho” Villa.
Moralistic Diplomacy in Mexico• small party of American sailors were
arrested in Tampico, Mexico, in 1914, Wilson threatened to use force
• Ordered navy to take over Vera Cruz
• Huerta/Carranza protest• Finally, the ABC powers
Argentina, Brazil, and Chile—mediated the situation
• Huerta fell from power • Carranza now in power
– resented Wilson’s acts.
Moralistic Diplomacy in Mexico• Meanwhile:
“Pancho” Villa, (combination bandit/freedom fighter)• murdered 16 Americans in January
of 1916 in Mexico• Then killed 19 more a month later in
New Mexico.• Wilson sent General John J. Pershing
to capture Villa– He penetrated deep into Mexico, – clashed w/Carranza’s & Villa’s
different forces– didn’t take Villa
Thunder Across the Sea• In 1914
Serbian nationalist killed the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne (Archduke Franz Ferdinand)• domino-effect began
– Austria declared war on Serbia– Serbia had been supported by Russia– Russia had declared war on Austria-
Hungary – Germany, which declared war on Russia
and France» invaded neutral Belgium» pulled Britain into the war & igniting
WWI• Americans were thankful that the Atlantic Ocean
separated the warring Europeans from the U.S.
A Precarious Neutrality• Wilson
wife recently diedissued a neutrality proclamationwas wooed by both the Allies &
the German & Austro-Hungarian powers.
• Germans & Austro-Hungarians counted on their relatives in America for support
• U.S. = mostly anti-German from the outsetKaiser Wilhem II made for a
perfect autocrat to hate.
A Precarious Neutrality• German & Austro-Hungarian agents
in America further tarnished theCentral Powers’ image they resorted to violence in
Americanfactories & ports
when one agent left his briefcase in aNew York elevator• the contents of which were
found to contain plans for sabotage
America Earns Blood Money
• Background: Just as WWI began, America was in a
business recessionAmerican trade was fiercely protested by the
Central Powers• technically Central Powers were free to
trade with the U.S.,• but were prohibited from doing
so by the British navy – controlled the sea lanes. The
Allies & Wall Street’s financing of the war by J.P. Morgan et al, pulled the U.S. out of the recession
Conflict on the High Seas
• British imposed a naval blockade:So? prevented neutral nations, including the
U.S., from trading with Germany & its Allies And? created a trade imbalance bringing the
U.S. to closer economic ties with the Allies• Trade imbalance
Trade w/ GB and FR grew from $824 million in 1914 to $3.2 billion in 1916
By 1917, American banks had lent the Allies $2.5 billion
Germany trade and loans totaled only $29 million and $27 million respectively
• Therefore our trade interests were bringing us to the Allied side
America Earns Blood Money
• UNRESTRICTED SUBMARINE WARFARE:Germany announced its use of
submarine warfare around theBritish Isles• warning the U.S. that it would try
not to attack neutral ships• Said that mistakes would
probably occur• Wilson thus warned that Germany
would be held to “strict accountability” for any attacks on American ships.
America Earns Blood Money
• Sinking of the LusitaniaGerman subs, or U-boats, sank
many shipsSank the Lusitania a British
passenger liner that was carrying arms & munitions as well
attack killed 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans.
Germans had issued fliers prior to the Lusitania setting sail that warned Americans the ship might be torpedoed.
America Earns Blood Money• Many Americans wanted to go to war
after the LusitaniaWilson kept the U.S. out of it by use of
a series of strong notes to the German warlords
William Jennings Bryan (Sec. of State), resigned rather than go to war.
• Germans sank the Arabic in August 1915 killing 2 Americans and numerous
other passengersGermany finally agreed not to sink
unarmed ships without warning.
America Earns Blood Money• “Sussex pledge,”
Germany agreed not to sink passenger ships or merchant vessels without warning, so long as the U.S. could get the British to stop their blockade
• Wilson couldn’t do this, so his victory was a precarious one.
Wilson Wins Reelection in 1916• Election of 1916
Republicans chose Charles Evans Hughes• made different pledges and said
different things depending on where he was, leading tohis being nicknamed “Charles Evasive Hughes.”
• Democratic = Wilson went under the slogan “He kept us out
of war,” warned that electing Hughes would be
leading America into World War I• Ironically, Wilson would lead America into
war in 1917.