Progressivism & the Republican Roosevelt 1901 - 1912.

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Progressivism & the Republican Roosevelt 1901 - 1912

Transcript of Progressivism & the Republican Roosevelt 1901 - 1912.

Page 1: Progressivism & the Republican Roosevelt 1901 - 1912.

Progressivism & the Republican Roosevelt

1901 - 1912

Page 2: Progressivism & the Republican Roosevelt 1901 - 1912.

Progressive Roots

1900 – 1 in 7 was foreign born – 13 million more arrived between 1900 & 1914

Progressivism – use government as an agency of human welfare opposed to hands-off individualism / Laissez-faire– Waged war on many evils, notably monopoly,

corruption, inefficiency, and social injustice

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Late 19th Century Social Critics

1894 – Henry Demarest Lloyd – Attacked trust such as Standard Oil

– Wealth Against Commonwealth

1899 - Thorstien Veblen – Assailed the new rich & their “conspicuous

consumption” & “predatory wealth”

– The Theory of the Leisure Class

1890 – Jacob Riis – Exposed the slum conditions of NYC

– How the Other Half Lives

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Critics of Social Injustice

Used religious doctrine to demand better housing & living conditions for the urban poor

Women were committed to improve the lots of families living & working in the festering cities

Urban Pioneers– Jane Adams & Hull

House

– Lillian Wald

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Early 20th Century Muckrakers

1902 - Lincoln Steffens – Articles in McClure’s entitled

“The Shame of the Cities”– Unmasked the corrupt alliance between big business &

city government1904 – Ida M. Tarbell

– Articles in McClure’s – Exposé of Standard Oil Company

1906 – David G. Phillips– Article in Cosmopolitan – Charged that US Senate represented RR’s & trusts

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20th Century Muckrakers conti

1908 – Ray Stannard Baker– Following the Color Line

– Spotlighted that 33% of African Americans were illiterate

1906 – John Spargo– The Bitter Cry of the Children

– Abuses of child labor

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Muckrakers & Progressive Reformers

Muckrakers - believed their primary function was to make the public aware of social problems – not propose solutions

Progressive reformers were mainly middle-class people who sought to:– Curb the threats posed by trusts– Stem the threats of Socialists by improving the

common person’s conditions of life & labor Sought to cleanse capitalism not overthrow it!

– More democracy was needed to “fix” things

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Political Progressivism

Direct primary – undercut party bosses

Initiative – voters could directly propose legislation. By passing the boss-bought state legislatures

Referendum – place laws on the ballot for final approval by the people

Recall – enable voters to remove elected officials who were corrupt

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Political Progressivism conti conti

Campaign spending & contribution laws – evened the playing field & curbed political bribes

Secret ballot – cut down on political bribes

1913 - Direct Election of Senators– 17th Amendment

City-Manager System – designed to take politics out of municipal administration

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Fighting Bob

Robert M. LaFollette – Wisconsin – Became governor & took control from the crooked

corporations & returned it to the people• Regulated public utilities

– Became an example for others to followHiram W. Johnson – California

– Broke the grip of the Southern Pacific Railroad in CACharles Evans Hughes – New York

– Investigator of malpractices by gas & insurance companies & coal trust

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Battling Social Ills

Enactment of safety & sanitation codes for industries

Closed harmful trades to juvenilesWorkmen’s compensation lawsMaximum hours & minimum wage laws

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Sweatshops

1911 – Triangle Shirtwaist Company – Fire at the company in NYC incinerated 146 female

workers

Legislation was passed that regulated the hours & conditions of toil in such firetraps

Muller v. Oregon 1908– Louis Brandeis persuaded Supreme

Court to accept the constitutionality of laws protecting women workers

– Used to discriminate against women workers

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Page 14: Progressivism & the Republican Roosevelt 1901 - 1912.

Courts & Legislation

1905 – Lochner v. New York– Length of workday was increased

– Later decreased

Saloons– Alcohol was connected to prostitution

– Antiliquor campaigns began

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Prohibition Movement

Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)– Founded by Frances E. Willard

• Prayed in saloons

– 1 million women members• Largest women’s organization in the world

Dry laws passed in some states– Controlled, restricted, or abolished alcohol

18th amendment passed in 1919 making alcohol illegal

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TR’s Square Deal

3 C’s:

– Control of the corporations

– Consumer protection

– Conservation of natural resources

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TR’s Square Deal & Labor

1902 – Coal Strike in Pennsylvania – Workers demanded more pay & reduction of hours– Owners refused arbitration – TR held a meeting in the White House – TR threatened to use federal force against owners

TR urged Congress to create Dept of Commerce & Labor– Goal achieved in 1903

Bureau of Corporations – branch of Dept– Authorized to probe businesses engaged in interstate

commerce

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TR & Corporations

Interstate Commerce Commission – 1887– Inadequate because railroad barons could appeal the

commission’s decisions on rates – Later extended to include more than railroads– Power to nullify existing rates & stipulate maximum

ratesElkins Act of 1903

– Heavy fines could be imposed both on railroads that gave rebates & shippers that accepted them

Hepburn Act of 1906– Free passes were restricted

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The Trustbuster

1902 – attacked Northern Securities Company – Railroad holding company organized by James Hill &

J.P. Morgan – Monopoly of the railroads in the Northwest

1904 Courts upheld TR’s suit & ordered the company to be dissolved

Initiated over 40 proceedings against trustPurpose: TR wanted to prove that the gov’t, not

private business, ruled the country– He believed in regulating & not fragmenting

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Caring for the Consumer

1906 – Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle– Exposed the meat packing industry & its filth– He aimed for the nation’s heart, but hit its stomach

Results:– Meat Inspection Act – 1906

• Preparation of meat shipped over state lines would be subject to federal inspection

• Sing the song – p.668

– Pure Food & Drug Act – 1906• Prevent mislabeling of foods & drugs

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Earth Control

Americans overall were wastefulDesert Land Act of 1877

– Gov’t sold arid land cheaply on the condition that the purchaser irrigate the thirsty soil within 3 years

Forest Reserve Act of 1891– Set aside public forests as national parks

Carey Act of 1894– Distributed federal land to the states on the condition

that it be irrigated & settled

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Newlands Act of 1902– Gov’t would sell public lands in the western states &

use the funds for irrigation projects

1911 - Roosevelt Dam built on Arizona’s Salt River

Earmarked coal deposits & water resources useful for irrigation & power

Sierra Club & Boy Scouts

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The “Roosevelt Panic” of 1907

1904 - TR elected president – Called for:

• Regulation of corporations, taxing incomes, & protecting workers

– Announced that he would not seek a 3rd term

Panic of 1907– Run on banks, suicides, and criminal indictments

against speculators

– TR was blamed

– Aldrich-Vreeland Act – 1908• Authorized national banks to issue emergency currency

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Election of 1908

William Howard Taft – (R)– Carry out TR’s policies

– Wins easily – hand picked by TR

William Jennings Bryan – (D)Eugene V. Debs – (Socialist)

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Lasting Impact of TR

Greatly enlarged the power & prestige of the presidential office

Helped shape the progressive movement & the liberal reform campaigns that came later

Square Deal was the grandfather of FDR’s New Deal

Opened the eyes of Americans to the fact that they shared the world with other nations

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William Howard Taft

Former judge & lawyerHostile to labor unions “foot-in-the-mouth” diseaseDefinitely not the reformer that TR was

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Dollar Diplomacy

– Taft’s foreign policy

Use American investments to boost American political interests abroad– Gov’t encouraged Wall Street bankers to invest in

other countries • Especially in the Far East & around the Panama Canal

NY bankers would strengthen American defenses & foreign policies through investments

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Problems for Taft

Manchuria, China (Open Door Policy)– Wanted Americans to end Japanese & Russian

monopoly of RR by buying the RR & returning it to the Chinese

• Sec of State Philander C. Knox made the proposal

• Japan & Russia would not sell

Caribbean (Monroe Doctrine) – Americans encouraged to invest in Honduras & Haiti

to keep out foreign funds

American forces were sent Nicaragua in 1912– Stayed for 13 years

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Taft the Trustbuster

Brought 90 suits against trusts compared to TR’s 44

1911 – Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Standard Oil– Violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890– “rule of reason” – only those combinations that

“unreasonably” restrained trade were illegal1911 – Taft filed an anti-trust suit against US

Steel Corporation– Infuriated TR

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Taft Splits the Republican Party

1909 – Taft called Congress into special session to lower tariffs– Eventually signed the Payne-Aldrich Bill which did

not really lower tariffs1910 – Ballinger-Pinchot Controversy

– Sec of Interior Richard Ballinger opened up public lands in Wyoming, Montana, & Alaska to corporate development

– Criticized by Gifford Pinchot – chief of Agriculture Dept of Forestry

– Taft dismissed Pinchot for insubordination

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TR Reappears

1911 – National Progressive Republican League was formed– “Fighting Bob” was the leading candidate (La Follette)

TR lets it be known that he wants to run again1912 – Taft-Roosevelt explosion

– Republican convention – Taft was selected

– TR begins third-party crusade