Question…What did the Progressives really accomplish from 1901 to the Treaty of Versailles?

Origins of Progressivism

State reform movements of the 1890s Omaha Platform of the Alliance movement

in 1892 Direct election of U.S. Senators Initiative and referendum Unlimited coinage of silver Graduated income tax Telegraph and telephone networks owned by

govt. Federal loans and warehouses for farmers Eight hour work day for industrial workers

America in 1900 Current Literature published that the

average American male:

British by ancestry - 5’ 9” tall Three living children – one deceased in

infancy Protestant and Republican Newspaper subscriber Lived in a two-story, seven room home Estate valued at $5,000 Consumed 7 gallons of liquor and 75 gallons

of beer Smoked 20 pounds of tobacco City males = $750 annually Farmers =

$550 annually Paid 3% in taxes

President McKinley 1900-1901

Defeats William Jennings Bryan again

Theodore Roosevelt is placed on the ticket

In September 1901, President McKinley takes a trip: Despite receiving threatening

letters Despite increasing Buffalo

security President McKinley is

assassinated by Leon Czolgosz

Hearst had said…”assassination can be a good thing.”

Czolgosz fails as an anarchist…

“Teddy”

“Teddy’s” Early Career

New York City Police Commissioner Walked the slums Friends with Jacob Riis and Lincoln Steffens Heavily influenced by Upton Sinclair TR came to believe in an active

government, in order to alleviate social ills He, as well as many of the “Progressives”

came from privileged upbringings Governor of New York

Taxed corporations

President Theodore Roosevelt By the time he entered the presidency

in 1901 TR had: Conquered childhood illness Succeeded as Police Commissioner Worked with the Civil Service Commission Reformed New York as governor Published books on the American West and

The War of 1812 Spent time out west as a cowboyHe had never worked met payroll nor

managed a business.

President Theodore Roosevelt McKinley had turned over prosecution of

the Northern Securities Trust to Vice President Roosevelt: E.C. Knight decision (1895) Northern Securities’ used trains for commerce Northern Securities was valued at $400 million TR instructed Attorney General to file a

Sherman Suit Prices had not risen for consumers The court sided with the government, earning

TR the nickname “Trustbuster”

President Theodore Roosevelt Started assault on Standard Oil Company

as President President Taft would finish them off

By the end of his term, TR would invoke the Sherman Anti-Trust law twenty-five times

Congressional Progressivism: Elkins Act of 1903 Expedition Act of 1903 Creation of the Department of Commerce and

Labor – Bureau of Corporations The Mann Act of 1910 under President Taft

President Theodore Roosevelt Pennsylvania Coalminer’s Strike

TR invites UMW leaders, coalminers, and owner to the White House

“I wanted to grab Baer by the seat of the breeches and chuck him out a window.”

The President issues a threat – 10,000 troops

“To Hell with the Constitution when the people want coal!”

A “Square Deal” is finally reached TR spent the months leading up to the

election mending fences

President Taft Pushed into the presidency – not what

he really wanted Defeats Bryan in the general election

of 1908 Three things to consider:

Tariff Payne-Aldrich Bill passed into law A mess in the House of Representatives

Trust-busting Standard Oil Corporation

Ballinger-Pinchot Controversy