Wilson & Progressivism Chapter 29
Wilson & Progressivism
Chapter 29
Election of 1912 - Candidates
! Republican Party " Nominates Prez. William Howard Taft
! Progressive Republican Party
" Bull Moose Party " Nominates Teddy Roosevelt
Teddy Roosevelt & New Nationalism
! TR came back with a new progressive agenda - New Nationalism " Trusts and unions needed to work together " Women’s suffrage " Minimum wage " More govt. regulation
Election of 1912 - Candidates
! Democrats nominate Woodrow Wilson " President of Princeton, an academic " “New Freedom”
! Less govt. regulation ! Strongly anti-trust ! Banking reform ! Lower tariffs
" Looking good while GOP fighting amongst itself
Election of 1912- Results
Wilson the Idealist
! Was very intellectual " First Ph.D. President (History)
! Had faith in the masses ! Believed the President should be like a Prime
Minister ! Arrogant and morally self-righteous ! Would attack the “Triple Wall of Privilege”
" Tariffs, Banks, Trusts
Wilson & the Tariff
! Summoned Congress into special session " Gave a speech in front of Congress (rare)
! Underwood Tariff " A substantial reduction in tariffs " Wilson helped it pass by telling the people
to hold their reps in Congress accountable ! Also helped pass the 16th Amendment
" First legal income tax (made up for lost $)
Wilson & Banks ! The banking system and currency was old (last
changed during the Civil War) ! A Third bank of the United States was suggested ! Wilson appeared before Congress again and asked
for banking reform ! Federal Reserve Act of 1913
" 12 regional reserves districts (each w/ a central bank)
" Were “banker’s banks” owned by member institutions
" Overseen by the Federal reserve Board " Issue Federal Reserve Notes
Federal Reserve Note
“Federal reserve Note”
Federal Reserve Districts
Springfield is in the Federal Reserve
District of Chicago
Wilson & Trusts
! Went after them early ! 1914- Federal Trade Commission Act
" Pres appoints a commission to be a watchdog for business that did interstate commerce
! Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914) " Built off of the Sherman anti-Trust Act
! Made interlocking directorates illegal " Exempted labor unions and agricultural
organizations from anti-trust prosecution
Wilson Progressivism
! Federal Farm Loan Act (1916) ! Warehouse Act (1916) ! LaFollete Seamen’s Act (1915) ! Workingmen’s Compensation Act
(1916) ! Appointed Louis Brandeis
as the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice
Wilson & Foreign Policy ! Not a “Dollar Diplomat”
" No special treatment given to investors in foreign areas
! Jones Act (1916) " Filipinos got territorial status and were
promised independence when they had a stable government
! Haiti (1914-1915) " Rebels killed the Prez of Haiti and Wilson sent
in U.S. troops to protect Americans there ! Also sent troops to Dominican Republic
Wilson & Mexico ! Mexico was being exploited by U.S. investors
for decades (oil, RR, mines) ! Mexicans revolted in 1913
" Revolutionary leader killed and replaced by Gen. Victoriano Huerta
" Was a massive emigration to the U.S.
! Many called for U.S. intervention to protect investments " Wilson said no, but helped
Huerta’s enemies
Wilson & Mexico
! U.S. nearly became actively involved " Over the arrest of a group of American
sailors ! Huerta’s govt. eventually collapsed
because of pressure from Argentina, Brazil , and Chile " Was replaced by Venustaino Carranza
! One of the two Huerta rivals the U.S. helped ! Very resistant to U.S. intervention
Pancho Villa
! Emerged as the chief rival of Carranza " Attacked Americans on at least two
occasions in hopes of starting a war between Wilson & Carranza (once in New Mexico)
Villa v. Pershing
! Gen. John J. Pershing was ordered to stop him " Rode into Mexico and routed Villa’s forces
but never caught Pancho Villa himself " Was withdrawn in 1917
“Blackjack” Pershing
World War I - Causes
! Background causes: " Naval arms race, rise of militaries, media/
propaganda, entangling alliances ! Set off by the assassination of the
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria " Alliances set in motion " Central Powers - Germany/Austria-
Hungary " Allies - France, G.B., Russia (Italy & Japan)
World War I & the U.S.
! Wilson issued a neutrality proclamation " Both sides courted the U.S. " British had the advantage
! Controlled information flow ! G.B. & F war orders were great for our
economy (didn’t violate our neutrality??) ! British Navy prevented us from trading with
Germany " Most in the U.S. were anti-German, but
wanted to avoid war
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
! Germany began using submarines to patrol around Britain (U-Boats)
! Mistakes occurred and neutral ships were attacked (including U.S. ships)
! Wilson warned Germany to stop these attacks and be more careful
Sinking of the Lusitania
! May 7, 1915 - the passenger ship Lusitania was sunk " Known to be carrying
weapons & ammunition
" 1,199 dead ! (128 Americans)
" Led to calls for war
U-Boats & the U.S.
! After the sinking of the Lusitania, Teddy Roosevelt really began pushing to get involved
! Two more ships, including the Arabic, were sunk, American lives lost " Germany agreed to warn unarmed
passenger ships after this (tough for them) ! Another ship, the Sussex, was sunk
without warning
U-Boats & the U.S.
! Wilson then stated that unless the German govt. stopped immediately diplomatic relations would be cut off " The first step towards war
! Led to the Sussex Pledge " Germany agreed, on the condition the U.S.
get Britain to loosen its blockade " Wilson agreed - except for the last part
Election of 1916
! TR refused to run again ! Republicans nominated Charles Evans
Hughes " a Supreme Court Justice and former Gov.
of NY ! Wilson ends up winning
" Big slogan was “He kept us out of war!”