Ch 13, Sec 2: Roosevelt in Office
Jan 06, 2016
Ch 13, Sec 2: Roosevelt in Office
Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt• believed in competition with other countries• Progressive Ideas-believed gov’t should help
balance competition within the U.S.• Created the Square Deal Program– Make America efficient to compete
• Wanted to destroy the trusts that hurt American society
Northern Securities Company
• 3 railroad tycoons merged companies– E.H. Harriman, James J. Jill, and J.P. Morgan
• Pres. Roosevelt thought this trust was unconstitutional and took them to court
• 1904: Northern Securities v. the U.S. said Roosevelt was correct and the trust violated the Sherman Antitrust Act
• Roosevelt became known as a “trustbuster”
Coal Strike of 1902• United Mine Workers of coal went on strike in Pennsylvania• Roosevelt feared factories closing, no jobs, and a
rise in the homeless population if no coal was mined
• President suggested arbitration talks b/t the groups– Workers agreed, but the owners did not– President threatened the use of the army to run the
mines forcing the owners into arbitration• Federal gov’t became a tool for resolving conflicts
Dept. of Commerce and Labor
• Created by Congress in 1903• Had a division, Bureau of Corporations, who
investigated businesses and their activities– Worried Big Business men like Carnegie and
Rockefeller• Trusts made deals with Roosevelt that if they
were breaking the law, they would fix the problem if it was not make public
Hepburn Act
• Gave the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) the authority to regulate RR prices
• Promoted fair competition• Old RR companies used it
to limit new competition• Raised profits for RR over
time
Problem with medicine• Were not regulated by anyone• Medicines could be fake– Nothing but alcohol and sugar water
• Many were full of caffeine, cocaine, opium, and other drugs
• Very addictive and dangerous
Problems with food were exposed!
• Meat was not safe to eat-full of preservatives• Dr. Wiley (Dept. of Ag) called it “embalmed
meat”• Upton Sinclair wrote “The Jungle” exposing
the slaughter houses of Chicago
Results of “The Jungle”• Meat Inspection Act required meat to be
inspected before being sold• Factories had cleaning standards• Pure Food and Drug Act said only food with
correct labels could be sold
Land Conservation• Roosevelt started making national parks• Limited lumber companies to how many trees
could be cut down for a profit• Newlands Reclamation Act-gave money to
Western farmers to build irrigation ditches