Progressivism & the Republican Roosevelt 1901 - 1912.
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Transcript of Progressivism & the Republican Roosevelt 1901 - 1912.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Battling Social Ills
Enactment of safety & sanitation codes for industries
Closed harmful trades to juvenilesWorkmen’s compensation lawsMaximum hours & minimum wage laws
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
Courts & Legislation
1905 – Lochner v. New York– Length of workday was increased
– Later decreased
Saloons– Alcohol was connected to prostitution
– Antiliquor campaigns began
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
TR’s Square Deal
3 C’s:
– Control of the corporations
– Consumer protection
– Conservation of natural resources
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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)
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
William Howard Taft
Former judge & lawyerHostile to labor unions “foot-in-the-mouth” diseaseDefinitely not the reformer that TR was
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
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
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
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
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