Wilsonian Progressivism

Chapter 29

Essential Questions

• What actions did President Wilson pursue to expand the progressive movement?• How did the Wilson administration

handle foreign affairs?

1912 Election

• Republicans nominate President Taft• T. Roosevelt shunned by Republican Party

starts his own party, Bull Moose Party– Platform: women’s suffrage, minimum wage laws,

social security • Democrats nominate Woodrow Wilson– Platform: New Freedom (antitrust legislation,

bank reform, tariff reduction)

1912 Election

• Taft and Roosevelt divide Republican voters– Wilson = 435 EC votes– Roosevelt = 88 EC votes– Taft = 8 EC votes– Eugene Debs (Socialist party) = 0 EC votes • Wilson only won 41% of popular vote• Taft will become Chief justice of Supreme Court in

1921

1912 Election

President Woodrow Wilson Timeline

• 1913– Underwood Tariff Act– 16th Amendment– Federal Reserve Act– 17th Amendment

• 1914– Clayton Anti-Trust Act– WWI Begins– US occupation of Veracruz

• 1915– Sinking of Lusitania– US enters Haiti

• 1916– Pancho Villa Raids– Wilson Reelected

• 1917– US buys Virgin Islands– Zimmerman Note– Bolshevik Revolution– US enters WWI

• 1918– 14 Points proposed– Sedition Act– Armistice

• 1919– Treaty of Versailles– 18th Amendment– Wilson collapse

• 1920– Senate defeats Versailles– 19th Amendment– Harding elected president

Woodrow Wilson

• Born in Virginia• Inspired by Jefferson• College professor• Governor of New Jersey• Saw the world as right

and wrong, no in-between

New Freedom

• Wilson was very progressive.

• Adopted views previously held by Populist and Bull Moose Parties.

• Lived up to his promises domestically.

• Failures– Segregation: Wilson did

nothing to ease the suffering of African Americans

– Child Labor: supported law that would have ended child labor, but Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional.

Taxs, Tariffs, and Trusts, Oh MY!

• Congress passes Underwood Tariff Bill (lowers tariff)

• 16th Amendment: taxed the income of people earning most in US

• Federal Trade Commission: Created to sniff out trusts and unfair business

• Clayton Antitrust Act: much more powerful than Sherman. – easier to enforce– Exempted labor unions– Exempted agricultural

organizations– Outlawed interlocking

directorates

Federal Reserve Act

• Problems– No flexibility of $– $ all concentrated in

northeast– Difficult to transfer$– Constant cycles of deep

recessions

• Federal Reserve– 3rd BUS– Controlled by

government– Issued paper $– Allowed $ to circulate

freely– 12 regional banks

established

Federal Reserve System

Where Did Your Money Originate?

Missionary Diplomacy

• Wilson’s foreign policy

• Refused to recognize or support governments that he felt were corrupt (based on morals)

• Jones Act: Promised the Philippines independence in the future.

• Eased tensions with Japan after California passed law that didn’t allow Japanese-Americans to own land

Missionary Diplomacy (in LA)

• Used the Roosevelt Corollary when he dispatches troops to Haiti and Dominican Republic for failure to pay debts (there for 19 years!)

• Purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark

South of the Border

• In the 1910s, Mexico experienced a number a government coups

• Conflict mostly resulted between rich and poor

• Many US businesses exploited Mexican resources

• This series of Mexican Revolutions threatened American investors.

South of the Border

• 1914: US sailors wrongfully arrested, then released in Mexico– In retaliation, US seized

Veracruz– US later leaves city.– Poor relations with

Mexico continue

South of the Border

• Pancho Villa was a Mexican bandit/hero/terrorist/ opposition leader.

• Resented US treatment of Mexico– Murdered 16 American

workers in Mexico– Invades(!) US, leads raids

in New Mexico that lead to 19 deaths

South of the Border

• Congress authorizes use of force in Mexico, but does not declare war

• Wilson sends General John “Black Jack” Pershing and a regiment of soldiers into Mexico to hunt Pancho

• Search for months, never capture Pancho• Recalled when

US enters WWI

South of the BorderNever captured by the US, Pancho Villa was assassinated by an anonymous gunman in 1923.Many Mexicans still consider him a hero.

World War I

• 1914: WWI begins– Most Americans wish to

remain neutral

• Both sides (Central Powers and Allies) woo US support.

• Kaiser Wilhelm II: leader of Germany during WWI

• Many German-Americans felt sympathy toward Central Powers

• Many do become offended when Germany invades neutral Belgium

• More anti-German sentiment after a briefcase full of espionage material found in NY subway.

Allies v. Central Powers

Wartime Economy

• US businesses made $ by selling to both sides early in war

• British blockade eventually prevented Central Powers from receiving shipments from US.

• Germany developed submarines (U-boats) to sneak through blockade

• Subs attacked Allied ships, but could not always determine who was neutral (like the US)

Tragedy at Sea

• 1915: The Lusitania is sunk by U-boats, 128 dead Americans.

• German’s apologize, US accepts• Another ship containing Americans is sunk,

Germany apologizes, US accepts• This pattern is repeated several times, each

time anti-German feelings grow in US

Lusitania

1916 Election

• Democrats nominate Wilson– Slogan “He kept us out of war”

• Republicans nominate Charles Evans Hughes– Platform: higher tariff, attack Mexico and be tough

on Germany• Wilson wins a close reelection, 277 to 254

(electoral votes)

Stay Tuned!

• Will Wilson keep us out of war indefinitely?• Will evidence of German espionage, U-boat

activity, trouble with Mexico, and revolution in Russia draw the US from our neutral position in WWI?

• What will the legacy of President Wilson be; progressive reformer or commander in chief?