The Progressive Era

The End of Chapter 28: Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt

Chapter 29: Wilsonian Progressivism at

Home and Abroad

The Progressive Era• A new group of reformers appears to

battle the injustices that had come about as a result of industrialization and urbanization

• What were some of the most important problems facing American society in the late 19th Century?

• What are the most important problems facing us in the early 21st Century?

• Any comparisons with the antebellum reformers studied earlier?

T.R.’s Square Deal for Labor

• Tested in the anthracite coalmines of Pennsylvania– Striking workers caused shortages

across the U.S. in 1902– TR threatened to call out

federal troops to seize the mines from the capitalists NOT to force labor back to work

• 1903 the Department of Labor & Commerce is created

Roosevelt the Trust Buster

Roosevelt the Environmentalist &

Other Reforms• 1891: Forest Reserve Act sets

aside 46 million forest acres (start)• 1902: Newlands Reclamation Act

to irrigate the desert southwest• Believed in “multiple-use

conservation”• TR will set aside 125 million acres

for federal reserves• Sierra Club is formed in 1892• 1907: Boy Scouts formed

The Panic of 1907• Many blamed “Theodore the Meddler”• TR blamed the “malefactors of great wealth”• Regardless, new economic reforms were

begun– The Aldrich-Vreeland Act authorized national

banks to issue emergency currency– Paved the way for the Federal Reserve Act

later• Chooses not to run in 1908 and his “hand-

picked” successor, W.H. Taft, defeats William Jennings Bryan

• TR is only 51 when he leaves office

Theodore Roosevelt’s Legacy• Ushers in an age of reform• Wildly popular and energetic and not afraid to

be a “lightning rod” for government action• Steered the government on a middle road

between laissez-faire individualism and paternalistic collectivism

• Increased the power and prestige of the office• Used a “big stick” for political gains, too• His “Square Deal” could be considered the

grandfather of the “New Deal”• America takes its place on the world stage

William Howard Taft• A “mild” progressive content

with the status quo• Expand and strengthen an

American presence abroadusing the almighty dollar to supplant the big stick

• The U.S. (thanks to the MonroeDoctrine) had to put its money (and military) where its mouth was in Honduras, Haiti, the Dom. Rep. and Nicaragua (remember the Roosevelt Corollary?) to protect investments and keep foreign nations from intervening

Taft the Trust Buster• 90 suits against trusts in 4 years vs. only 44

for TR in 7 ½ years• 1911: the Standard Oil Trust is dissolved• Taft tried to go after the U.S. Steel Corp. as

well (TR was involved in U.S. Steel)• Taft supported conservationism (created the

Bureau of Mines) but also opened up public land to corporate interests (upsetting TR)

• Republicans lose badly in the Congressional elections of 1910 with a presidential election on its way

CHAPTER 29: WILSONIAN PROGRESSIVISM AT

HOME AND ABROAD

A good time to ponder…

Evaluate the effectiveness of Progressive Era reformers and the federal government in bringing about reform at the national level. In your answer be sure to analyze the successes and limitations of these efforts in the period 1900 – 1920.

The Election of 1912• Woodrow Wilson ran for the Democrats

– New Freedom (stronger anti-trust legislation, banking reform, tariff reductions)

• Theodore Roosevelt ran as a Bull Moose (Progressive Party)– New Nationalism (regulatory agencies, women’s suffrage,

minimum wage laws)– A kind of activist welfare state (FDR? New Deal?)

• William Howard Taft (G.O.P.)

The Election of 1912

The Election of 1912

Woodrow Wilson: A Minority (Idealist) President

• He only won 41% of the popular vote

• Democrats win a majority in Congress

• Son of a minister, shared Jefferson’s faith in the masses

• President of Princeton, Governor of New Jersey• Believed the executive had a dynamic role to

play over Congress• Moral righteousness ≠ Compromise

Wilson’s Legislative Agenda• Underwood Tariff (substantial reduction)• 16th Amendment = graduated income tax• Federal Reserve Act

– Created a nationwide system of 12 banks to be overseen by the Federal Reserve Board

– “Bankers’ banks” to monitor currency

• Federal Trade Commission to root out unfair trade practices, unlawful competition and false advertising

Wilson’s Legislative Agenda• Clayton Anti-Trust Act

– Further strengthened the Sherman Anti-Trust Act– Exempts labor from “restraint of trade”

prosecution– Hailed by Gompers as the Magna Carta of labor

• Workingmen’s Compensation for aid during periods of disability

• Railroad workers get an 8 hour workday thanks to the Adamson Act

• Louis Brandeis will be the first Jewish member of the Supreme Court

The Foreign Policy of Wilson• Wilson hated imperialism and was suspicious of Wall

Street• Had to dispatch marines to Haiti• Sent marines to the Dominican Republic• Purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark• Sent weapons to Mexico to unseat the hated Huerta

– “I am going to teach the South American republics to elect good men!”

– Landed the Navy at Veracruz to protect our interests• Sends Black Jack Pershing to capture Pancho Villa

But in 1914, World War I begins and the

attention of the United States moves

across the Atlantic