Progressivism Takes
Hold
American History
Chapter 9
Theodore Roosevelt & the Modern
Presidency Early Political Career
1880 Graduate of Harvard
1881– Elected to the N.Y. State Assembly
1884– Moved to Dakota Territory to be a Cowboy
Death of his Wife and Mother Just Hours apart
1889– Appointed to the U.S. Civil Service Commission
1895– N.Y. City Police Commissioner
1897– Assistant Secretary of the Navy
1898– Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War
1898– Elected Governor of New York
1900– Vice President of the United States
Theodore Roosevelt & the Modern
Presidency
Roosevelt and McKinley
September 14, 1901– McKinley Dies From an Assassin’s
Bullet
Theodore Roosevelt Becomes the Youngest President in
our Nation’s History (42)
Roosevelt Became the Nation’s First “Modern” President
Used His Personal Appeal to Bypass Congressional
Authority
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt & the Modern
Presidency
• Managing Natural Resources
Newlands Reclamation Act
Government Paid for Irrigation and Canal
Projects
Brought Water to Dry Areas of the West
Appointed Gifford Pinchot to Head the National
Forest Service
Stop Lumber Companies From Cutting National
Forests
Resource Management– Scientific Management
of Natural Resources
Theodore Roosevelt & the Modern
Presidency
Managing Natural Resources
Roosevelt Added 150 Million Acres to the National
Forests
Added 5 New National Parks
51 Federal Bird Reservations
4 National Game Preserves
Designated 18 Areas of National Interest Including
the Grand Canyon
Roosevelt’s Conservation Program
Roosevelt & the Modern Presidency Supervising Big Businesses
Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) – Led to the Formation of Holding Companies
1899– 6 Railroad Companies Controlled 95% of the Nations Railroads
Battling Monopolies
Northern Securities Company (J.P. Morgan) Attempt to Dominate Rail Service Between Chicago and the Pacific
1902 Company was Ruled in Violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act
Theodore Roosevelt & the Modern
Presidency
Settling Strikes
UMW– 1902 Anthracite Coal Strike
Arbitration
3rd Party Brought in to Settle the Strike
• Square Deal– Roosevelt Campaign of 1904
Protecting Consumers
Meat Inspection Act of 1906 (The Jungle)
Pure Food and Drug Act 1906
Theodore Roosevelt & the Modern Presidency
Going Beyond Roosevelt
1908– Roosevelt Chose William Howard Taft as
his Successor
Taft Lacked the Personal Flair of Roosevelt
Twice the Number of Antitrust Suits
(Standard Oil, and the American Tobacco Company)
Taft Expanded the National Forest
Established the Children’s Bureau to Protect Children
Roosevelt Grew Upset with Taft’s Lack of Initiative
Roosevelt Sought the Presidency in 1912
Roosevelt and Taft
William Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson & the New Freedom
Wilson’s Rise to Power
Quiet and Scholarly
Son of a Presbyterian Minister
Ph.D. From Johns Hopkins University (Poli.Sci.)
16 Years as a College Professor
1902 President of Princeton University
Governor of New Jersey
Wilson Was Progressive Through and Through
Came to Power Through Association With a
Political Machine– Then Destroyed the Machine
The Progressive Party
Woodrow Wilson & the New Freedom
Election of 1912 The Republicans
The Bull Moose Party
The Front-Runners
The Trust Issue
The Campaign Trail
Election of 1912
Election of 1912
Candidate & Party Vote % Elect.
Woodrow Wilson (D) 6,296,547 41.8 435
Theodore Roosevelt (P) 4,118,571 27.4 88
William H. Taft (GoP) 3,486,720 23.2 8
Eugene Debs (S) 900,672 6 0
Eugene Chaflin (Pro) 206,275 1.4 0
Aurthur Reimer (Labor) 28,750 .8 0
Woodrow Wilson & the New
Freedom
The New Freedom in Operation
Reducing Tariffs Underwood Tariff Act of 1913
Reforming Banks Federal Reserve System 1913
Regulating Trusts Clayton Anti-Trust Act 1914
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 1914
Protecting Workers Tried to end Child Labor
Workers compensation
Woodrow Wilson & the New Freedom
History of American Tariff Rates
Progressive Issues
Trusts and Big Business
Meat Packing Industry
Women’s Rights
Child Labor &
Education
Minority Conditions
Tenement Houses
Poverty
Taxation
Conservation
Religion
Consumerism
Union Movement
Political Bosses
Railroad Reform
Tariff Revisions
Giant Corporations
State & Local Government
Progressive Legislation
Date Legislation Purpose
1890 Sherman Antitrust Act Outlawed Monopolies
1902 Reclamation Act Irrigation Projects in the West
1905 U.S. Forest Service Manage Water and Timber Resources
1906 Hepburn Act I.C.C. Had to Approve RR Rate Increases
1906 Pure Food & Drug Act Labeling of Food and Drugs
1906 Meat Inspection Act Federal Inspection of Meat
1913 Dept. of Labor Cabinet Department to protect Workers
1913 16th Amendment National Income Tax
1913 17th Amendment Election of U.S. Senators
1916 National Park Service Administration of National Parks
1919 18th Amendment Prohibition
1920 Woman’s Bureau Within the Dept. of Labor to Help Women
The Wilson Administration
Limits To Progressivism
African-Americans and
Equality
Accommodating Racism
Booker T. Washington
Saw the key to equality as
education
Emphasized economic
equality over racial equality
Total equality will come in
time through hard work and
economic equality Booker T. Washington
Limits To Progressivism
Agitating for Equality
Leading opponent of
Accommodation was William
Edward Burghardt Du Bois
Du Bois was the first African
American to receive his Ph.D.
from Harvard
In 1909 he founded the NAACP
He felt that African Americans
should demand total equality at
once
He directly challenged White
domination of society W.E.B. Du Bois
African Americans
Limits To Progressivism
Immigrants and the
Melting Pot
Americanizing the
Newcomers
Assimilation /
Americanization
Nativism
Eugenics
Limits To Progressivism
Imposing Restrictions
More than 1 Million immigrants were entering each year after 1880
1911 the Dillingham Commission concluded Congress should limit immigration from eastern and southern Europe
1917– a literacy test was required for immigrants
Immigration
Limits To Progressivism
Responding to Nativism
Immigrants formed their own social organizations, mutual
assistance societies, athletic organizations, churches, and aid
societies
Limits To Progressivism
Immigrants and
Progressive Values
Conflicting values caused
problems for immigrants
Child Labor
Consumption of Alcohol by
immigrants was opposed by
Progressives who supported
Prohibition
Limits To Progressivism
Workers and Radicals
Supporting Unions
Progressives supported
capitalism
Jane Addams supported
unions desire for higher
wages and a better life
for members
She also supported
shorter hours and a safe
workplace
Limits To Progressivism
The American Federation
of Labor (AFL)
By 1904 the AFL
represented about 1.5
million workers
Leadership within the AFL
realized that they needed
government support
They also mistrusted
government for the way
strikes were crushed
Limits To Progressivism
Radical Labor Organizations
Industrial Workers of the
World (IWW)
Formed in Chicago in 1905,
they favored Socialism
The IWW urged direct
confrontation between
workers and owners
The IWW attracted unskilled
workers often ignored by the
AFL
The IWW was led by William
D. (Big Bill) Haywood William D. (Big Bill) Haywood