THE PROGRESSIVE ERA

(Mid-1890's to U.S. Entry into WWI)

#1 - 1984

• A number of writers and reformers in the period 1865-1914 discussed the growing gap between wealth and poverty in the United States. Compare and contrast THREE of the following authors' explanations for this condition and their proposals for dealing with it.

A. Henry George, Progress and Poverty

B. Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward

C. Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth

D. William Graham Sumner, What Social Classes Owe to Each Other

E. Upton Sinclair, The Jungle

#2 - 1993

• Analyze the ways in which state and federal legislation and judicial decisions, including those of the Supreme Court, affected the efforts of any TWO of the following groups to improve their position in society between 1880 and 1920.

African Americans

Farmers

Workers

#3 - 1979

• "Most reform legislation since 1900 has been the work of special interests seeking to advance their own well-being, but the adoption of such legislation has required the general support of others who were not directly affected but who perceived it to be in the public interest."

Assess the validity of this statement with reference to THREE examples of reform legislation since 1900. You may draw your examples from reform at any level of government: national, state, or municipal.

#4 - 1987

• "The Progressive movement of 1901 to 1917 was a triumph of conservatism rather than a victory for liberalism." Assess the validity of this statement.

#5 - 1988

• Why did socialism fail to become a major force in American in American politics between 1900 and 1940 despite widespread dissatisfaction with the social and economic order and significant support for radical movements during that period?

#6 - 1989

• DBQ: Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois offered different strategies for dealing with the problems of poverty and discrimination faced by Black Americans at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of twentieth centuries. Assess the appropriateness of each of these strategies in the historical context in which each was developed.

#7 - 1981

• "In American politics the most significant battles have occurred within the major parties rather than between them."

Discuss this statement with reference to the periods 1850-1861 and 1900-1912.

#8 - 1983

• "Shifts in party control of the presidency during the 20th c have typically not brought major shifts in domestic policy."

  Assess the validity of this statement. Illustrate your argument by discussing the extent to which TWO of the following Presidents adopted the domestic programs of the previous presidential administrations given in parenthesis beneath their names.

 

Woodrow Wilson (Administrations of Taft and Roosevelt)

FDR (Administration of Hoover)

Eisenhower (Administrations of FDR and Truman)

Richard M. Nixon (Administrations of JFK and LBJ)

#9 - 1989

• "Vice Presidents who have succeeded to the presidency on the death of the President have been less effective in their conduct of domestic AND foreign policy than the men they replaced." Assess the validity of this statement for any TWO of the following pairs:

William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman

John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson

 

#10 - 1997 - DBQ

• To what extent did economic and political developments as well as assumptions about the nature of women affect the position of American women during the period 1890 - 1925?

• A. As 20th century dawned, the U.S. was in the midst of a reform movement.
  • 1. From Civil War to turn of the century, America was accentuated by a remarkable burst of energy and development
  • 2. Rapid development came at a tremendous cost!
• B. "Progressives" attempting to correct the abuses of the Gilded Age

  • (political, economic and social)

  • 1. Accepted industrialization and urbanization
    • (liked benefits and the higher standard of living produced)
  • 2. Sought to correct their evils
  • 3. Challenged almost every aspect/level of American society political, economic, and social!
  • 4. Made us more aware of what our government should do for us
  • 5. What are gov't's obligations
• C. What should our federal government do for us?
  • 1. Preamble - "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of Amer."
    • a. To create a better balance between state power and federal power
      • ("a more perfect Union")
    • b. To improve the court system to insure civil liberties for all ("establish justice")
    • c. To prevent outbreaks of civil disturbances ("insure domestic tranquility")
    • d. To protect the country from foreign dangers ("provide for the common defense")
    • e. To encourage national growth and social progress ("promote the general welfare")
    • f. To safeguard the freedom of citizens ("secure the blessings...")
  • 2. Goals
    • a. Economic - "economic progress" (competition, standard of living, bus. expansion, better distribution of wealth, conservation of natural resources, create jobs)
    • b. Social - "social justice" (equality of opportunity for all, equal protection/due process, better quality of life)
    • c. Political - "balance of power" (among branches, state and federal, two-party system) and "greater democracy"
• D. We saw in the last unit that laborers began to challenge the system; however, not many Americans listened to them.
• But when farmers began to protest, more people listened! Why?

• A. Farmers' Problems (by 1880s, an Agricultural Depression)
  • 1. The usual problems - soil erosion, drought, flood, isolation and loneliness, but by late 1800s, many more!
  • 2. Declining income - for example, wheat: in 1865, a bushel sold for $1.50; in 1880, .76, by 1894, for .49 (deflation)
    • a. Foreign competition
    • b. Overproduction
    • c. Affected by supply and demand
    • d. More farmers (as West opened, acreage doubled to 900m!)
    • e. Improved technology and "scientific farming" with irrigation, crop rotation, pesticides, hybrid crops, etc.
  • 3. Increasing costs
    • a. Debts (credit, mortgages - sometimes as much as 25%)
    • b. Taxes (states raised property taxes to pay expenses)
    • c. High charges by "middlemen"; high cost of manufactured goods
    • d. Inadequate currency
    • 1) Deflation ($25 per capita)
    • 2) Double amount of corn to buy a dollar!
    • 3) Is money:
    • -medium of coin?
    • -medium of exchange? (what it will buy)
    • 4) Farmers wanted "cheap money" (prices would rise;
    • debts would be "reduced")
  • 4. Public attitudes went from viewing farmers as the "basis of society" to "rubes", "yokels", "hayseeds" (Aggie Jokes)
  • 5. The farmers had no "voice" in gov't to represent them!
  • What had American workers done to better their position?
• B. Organization (wanted a greater share of the wealth!)
  • 1. Patrons of Husbandry (Grange) - Oliver H. Kelley
    • (1867, by 1875, over 800,000 members)
    • a. Began as a social organization
    • b. Cooperatives ("pools" to buy machinery)
    • c. Politics (Granger laws)
      • 1) Munn v. Illinois (1877) - states could set rates
      • ("public's interest")
      • 2) Wabash v. Illinois (1886) - reversed Munn
      • 3) Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
        • -stopped "long haul" vs. "short haul"
        • -power to investigate complaints of excessive rates
        • -no power to establish rates!
  • 2. Alliances (mid-1880s)
    • a. Two: Northwest Alliance and Southern Alliance
    • (began in Texas in 1877)
    • b. More radical (militant) and more political
    • (to secure rr legislation, currency inflation, others)
    • c. Colorful leaders
    • 1) "Pitchfork" Ben Tilman
    • 2) "Sockless" Jerry Simpson
    • 3) Mary Elizabeth Lease
    • d. Significant gains in 1890 mid-term elections
    • (several progressmen to Washington); saw promise for '92
    • e. Began a third party, the Populist Party
  • 3. The Populist Party (combined with other reformers)
    • a. Parallels to rise of Christianity
      • (grew out of "conspiracy" against God)
      • (farmers and others felt like they were victims of conspiracy!)
    • b. Believed "apocalypse" was at hand! Doing duty to "purify" America
    • c. Omaha Platform (July 4, 1892)
      • 1) several political reforms (secret ballot, direct election of senators, one-term presidency)
      • 2) government ownership of "natural monopolies" (rr, telephones)
      • 3) income tax
      • 4) inflate currency (to $50 per capita) by coining silver
      • 5) labor reforms (8-hour day, immigration restriction)
    • d. Many regarded this just short of communism!
    • e. 1892 Election
      • 1) Dem - Grover Cleveland (5m, 277)
      • 2) Rep - Benjamin Harrison (5m, 145)
      • 3) Pop - James B. Weaver (1m, 22)
    • f. Southern Populists refused to bolt the Dem. Party!

• A. Panic of '93 (one of negative effects of industrialization was "periodic eco. downturns")
  • 1. Causes - overextension of the railroad, high tariffs, gold drain
    • (Am. and Eur. exchanging bank notes for gold; silver pouring into Treasury; if silver became only standard, money would be "cheap"; big business and bankers did not want this)
  • 2. Effects - 15,000 businesses failed, 500 banks, 20% of labor force lost jobs
    • (Coxey's Army - wanted govt to provide jobs; arrested for trespassing!), 750,000 workers struck, some were very violent (including the Homestead Strike)
  • 3. Remedy - Cleveland believed it was caused by monetary uncertainty
    • a. Got Congress to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act
      • 1) People began turning in silver certificates in for gold; the result a "gold drain"
      • 2) Cleveland got J.P. Morgan to buy gold to save the country (hoped to urge people to use their gold to buy gov't bonds); he did, at a $7m profit for himself! Were big business and gov't in "bed together"?
    • b. Gov't began selling bonds (Morgan bought at a low rate, sold high!)
• B. In addition to the depression
  • 1. SC ruled that an income tax on the wealthy was unconstitutional
  • 2. In US v. Knight ruled that monopolies were not necessarily bad!
  • 3. Upheld conviction of Eugene V. Debs
  • 4. Was the gov't and business working together to suppress the common people?
  • 5. By '96, the country's mood was tense!
• C. The Election of 1896
  • 1. Issues - "Battle of the Standards" (gold v. silver)
    • a. Silver became a symbol of the common man
    • ("free silver" would inflate currency)
      • 1) American Bimetallic League (Leading spokesman was WJB)
      • 2) William Harvey - Coin's Financial School (1894)
      • 3) Frank Baum - The Land of Oz (1900)
    • b. Background
      • 1) 1792 - Mint Act (bimetallic system, at 15:1)
      • 2) 1834 - Changed to 16:1
      • 3) 1873 Congress dropped silver ("Crime of '73")
      • 4) Bland-Allison Act (1878) and Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890) obligated gov't to buy silver for purpose of "coinage" (but not enough for many!)
      • 5) 1893 - Sherman Silver Purchase Act repealed; split the Dem. Party into two factions, "gold bugs" and "silverites"
      • (the silver issue would dominate pol. for the next few yrs)
  • 2. Candidates
    • a. Rep - William McKinley (pro-gold), ran a "front-porch" campaign supported by "Old Guard", spent $7 million!
    • b. Dem - William Jennings Bryan ("cross of gold" speech; traveled 18,000 miles by train, made 600 speeches to over 5 million Americans, spent only $300,000
    • c. Pop - Bryan also (but, Dems chose Arthur Sewell, a banker, as VP; Populists chose Tom Watson)
  • 3. Results
    • a. Bryan - 6.5m, 176 elect.
    • b. McKinley - 7.1m, 271 elect. (big business and banks put pressure on employees and debtors to vote Rep!)
  • 4. Significance
    • a. Demise of the Populists, but birth of Progressive Movement
    • b. "Coming of Age" for "Modern America"
  • 5. The silver issue became moot when new methods of mining gold
  • (cyanide) and new discoveries (Alaska) found; in 1900, Congress passed the Gold Standard Act
  • 6. Farmer prosperity returned (good harvests, droughts in other parts of the world)

• A. Never a unified movement (many wanted many things, many roads to Progressivism), many who wanted to make America work better!
• B. Antecedents
  • 1. Populists (Populists were rural, poor, uneducated, radical; Progressives were urban, middle class, willing to work within
  • the system)
  • 2. Reform Darwinism
  • 3. Social Gospel
  • 4. Pragmatism
  • 5. Mugwumps and Goo-Goos
• C. Progressives came from a variety of backgrounds
  • ("progressive profile")
  • 1. Farmers, laborers, urban middle class, college-educated
  • 2. Writers ("muckrakers", who were stronger on diagnosis than remedy, but who popularized the "exposed" to wake up the middle class to take action)
  • 3. Politicians of both parties, Populists, etc.
• D. Overview
  • 1. Believed that material progress achieved at too high a cost (but they believed that "progress" was basically good, but wanted "orderly progress" toward a better America)
  • 2. Did not want "revolution"; willing to work within the system to bring about change (grew out of desire to counter socialist doctrine) for the "betterment of society"
  • 3. Believed in "activism" (knew that social ills would not cure themselves)
  • 4. Were enthusiastic ("crusaders"), their goals were both idealistic and realistic (wanted to save America from itself)
  • 5. ESSAY - The political, economic, social goals/achievements of the Progressive
  • Movement
• E. Features of Progressivism - What did the Progressives want? (economic, social, political)
  • 1. Economic Progress
    • a. Abandon laissez faire
      • 1) Big business choking free competition
      • 2) People had little protection against exploitation
    • b. Regulated capitalism (some advocated socialism)
    • c. Better redistribute the wealth
      • (1893 - 9% had 71% of all the national wealth)
    • d. Control "special interests" (like protective tariffs)
  • 2. Social Justice - "to promote the general welfare"
    • (assisted by reformers and muckrakers)
    • a. labor reform (children, hours, safety, workers compensation)
    • b. urban reform (settlement house movement)
    • c. prohibition (temperance movement, 18th Am. - 1919)
    • d. women's rights
      • 1) In the labor force (better pay, more opportun.)
      • 2) To end "second class citizenship"
        • (to be able to do the things in public that men could)
      • 3) Control of their bodies
        • -birth control
        • -Margaret Sanger (busted for sending obscene lit. through the mails...info about birth control)
      • 4) Suffrage (began with Susan B. Anthony's American Suffrage Association in 1869)
        • -Jane Addams - "Humanize" politics or "ruin it"?
        • -1917 - women picketed the White House (WWI)
        • -1920 - 19th Amendment
    • e. black rights (conflict between Booker T. Washington, who wanted "gradualism" and W.E.B. DuBois, who wanted "immediacy", to agitate for what was rightfully theirs)
      • 1) 1905 - Niagara Movement
      • 2) 1910 - N.A.A.C.P. (use courts to reverse "separate but equal")
      • 3) 1911 - Urban League (better conditions in the city)
    • f. Go over the "Reformers and Muckrakers" chart
  • 3. Greater Democracy (political power too concentrated, too much corruption, biggest threat to American life arose from the corrupt alliance between big business and "pol. machines"); the "cure", more democracy (Lincoln's definition?)
    • a. direct primary (get around "machines" and "bosses"
    • b. initiative, referendum, recall (through petition)
    • c. voter registration
    • d. Australian ballot
    • e. direct election of senators (17th Am. - 1913)
  • 4. Efficient/Responsible Government (more than just honesty/representation in gov't, progressives wanted "structural changes" in all levels of gov't)
    • a. reorganization to prevent overlapping, budgets, fixing responsibility, fight the "political machines"
    • b. municipal government
      • 1) commission system (Galveston, TX - 1901) - state put five "experts" in charge of a particular area (police, sanitation, public works, etc.) to "fix" responsibility and "get things done" (after crisis, kept the system); by WWI,
      • over 400 cities adopted it
      • 2) city manager plan (Stauton, VA - 1908) - hired a non-political manager to run city affairs; by WWI, some 250!
    • c. state government
      • 1) Oregon System (William U'Ren) - brought most dem.
      • reforms to the state level
      • 2) Wisconsin Idea (Robert LaFollette) added the idea of
      • using "experts" in evaluating legislation and making government decisions (a whole "reform package")
    • d. national government
  • 5. Active Government ("activism") - several progressive mayors, governors, and presidents who emphasized the public-service functions of government (schools, roads, public health, etc.)
    • a. Only has the "leverage" to bring about needed changes
    • b. What are the responsibilities of gov't? (Preamble)
    • c. Gov't went to little involvement (laissez faire) to involvement in most aspects of American life (good or bad?)
    • d. Progressive ideals must be incorporated at the very top levels of government (needed a "progressive president")
    • e. In 1901, the Progressives got one!

A. Progressives - sought to solve the problems of the industrial age

• 1. most were middle class - sought advancement not radical change a new white collar middle class had exploded on the scene between 1870 - 1910
• 2. urban not rural
• 3. intellectuals - writers and other educated professionals college-educated
• 4. muckrakers - named by T.R. - writers who wrote exposes revealing corruption and dishonesty
  • a. made the public aware of the need for change
  • b. S.S. McClure
    • 1. 1902 - McClure's Magazine began publishing muckraker articles dealing with all kinds of different issues
    • 2. provided impetus for the movement
    • 3. paid muckrakers to research and uncover corruption
• 5. focused on business practices that affected their life directly
  • a. monopolies - destroyed small middle class businesses
  • b. tariffs - raised middle class prices
  • c. quality of products purchased by middle class customers
• 6. represented true American democracy at work
• 7. American moralism, work ethic, and honesty stressed believed that the individual could
• make a difference - believed in experimentation
• Social Gospel/Urban Revivalism - apply Christian morals to social problems - Methodist
• 8. they were efficient administrators whose ability kept them in power
• 9. they made basic structural changes in the way government and business operate in the US
• 10. Progressives adopted ideas of Populists
• 11. gained support from farmers and factory workers

B. Goals - Different theories focus on different goals as the most important

• 1. pol - democracy - government controlled by the people not special interest groups
• 2. econ - efficiency - correct abuses in the system by industry and government
• 3. econ - regulation - restore opportunity to business
• 4. social justice - prevent unrest which could disrupt middle class lives
• 5. active government - necessary to protect middle class interests

Urban reformers

• a. Jane Addams (1860-1935)
  • 1. Accomplishment - Hull House 1889 - Chicago settlement house
  • 2. addressed problems of the slums
  • 3. day care, kindergarten, public parks, boy's clubs, child labor, sweatshops, garbage, public health, housing, education, services to the poor
  • 4. Noble Peace Prize - 1931
  • 5. Social Gospel
• b. Florence Kelly (1859-1932)
  • 1. worked with Jane Addams
  • 2. focused on labor conditions in the cities
  • 3. state labor law enforcer
  • 4. Accomplishments - 8 hr. work day - women
  • Child Labor laws
  • housing code
• c. Jacob Riis (1849-1914)
  • 1. How the Other Half Lives - 1900
  • 2. used photography of slums in NYC to show terrible living conditions
  • 3. influenced TR - called 1st muckraker
  • 4. theory - poverty is a major cause of crime
  • 5. water purification, parks, playgrounds, boys clubs

Temperance Movement

• a. Francis Willard - Women's Christian Temperance Union - 1873
• b. Carrie Nation - Anti-Saloon League - 1893
  • c. excessive drinking caused many social problems
  • 1. breakup of family
  • 2. unemployment
  • 3. poverty
• d. 18th amendment - 1919 - Prohibition
• e. Volstead Act - enforced prohibition on a national level
• f. Discuss Victorian Morality

Black Civil Rights

• a. Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)
  • 1. Founded Tuskegee Institute
  • 2. Stressed vocational education for blacks (especially agriculture)
  • 3. Stressed earning respect - patience
  • 4. Stressed ignoring segregation - changes would come when earned
• b. Ray Stannard Baker - muckraker
  • 1. Following the Color Line
  • 2. focused on making whites aware of the problems blacks faced living in a segregated America
  • 3. Accomplishment - built white support for ending segregation through NAACP
• c. W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963)
  • 1. The Soul of Black Folks
  • 2. 1st black to graduate from Harvard (phD)
  • 3. opposed Washington's approach as too passive
  • 4. argued for a black college educated elite to fight segregation through the system
  • 5. stressed black pride
  • 6. Accomplishment - founded NAACP (1909) - 1st ct. victory - 1915
• d. 1911 - National Urban League founded to address economic issues for blacks because the NAACP tended to ignore this issue. Tried to help blacks find homes, jobs, and job training.

Women's Rights

• a. Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906)
  • 1. helped led the movement to gain women the right to vote for 40 years along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton
  • 2. Seneca Falls Declaration - 1848
  • 3. Founded National Woman Suffrage Association - 1869
  • 4. women could vote in 4 western states by the time she stepped down
  • 5. Accomplishment - 19th Amendment - 1920
• b. Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947)
  • 1. 1900 - became leader of National American Women's Suffrage Association replacing Anthony
  • 2. Was successful in completing Anthony's goal of obtaining the 19th Amendment
  • 3. Founded League of Women Voters to make sure that women voted intelligently
• c. Alice Paul (1885-1977)
  • 1. 1913 - created Women's Party
  • 2. criticism of Wilson actually slowed the 19th amendment
  • 3. continued to fight for women's rights after passage of 19th amendment
  • 4. 1923 - proposed an Equal Rights Amendment
  • 5. still around for the revival of the women's movement in the 1960s

Business Reform

• a. Upton Sinclair (1878-1968)
  • 1. The Jungle - 1906
  • 2. most famous muckraker
  • 3. description of Chicago meatpacking industry
  • 4. Accomplishment - Pure Food and Drug Acts - 1906 Meat Inspection Act - 1906
• b. John Spargo
  • 1. The Bitter Cry of the Children
  • 2. exposed horrible conditions of child labor
  • 3. accomplishment - Keating-Owen Child Labor Laws
• c. Ida Tarbell (1857-1944)
  • 1. The History of Standard Oil Company - 1902-1904
  • 2. exposed business practices of John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil
  • 3. Accomplishments
    • Clayton Anti-Trust Act
    • Federal Trade Commission

Political Reform

• a. Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926) - Socialism
  • 1. proposed eliminating capitalism and replacing it with socialism government ownership of some of the major businesses in America
  • 2. 5 time socialist candidate for President
  • 3. Led Pullman Strike
  • 4. Many of his ideas were used by more mainstream candidates
• b. Robert LaFollette - State government
  • 1. elected governor - Wisconsin - 1900
  • Wisconsin Idea - university professors used as experts to help run the government
  • Brain Trust
  • 3. Also used initiative, referendum, and recall (by 1918 - 20 states)
    • initiative - legislation initiated by petition and voted on by the voters rather than the legislative branch
    • referendum - action taken by the legislature requiring approval by the voters
    • recall - power to petition the removal of officials who do not represent the wishes of the voters
  • 4. Used Direct Primary, limited campaign spending (Every state by 1915)
  • 5. fought to regulate rr, public utilities, corporations
  • 6. State income tax passed
  • 7. Workmen's Comp and factory safety standards passed also
• c. David Graham Phillips (1867-1911) - national government
  • 1. The Treason of the Senate - 1906
  • 2. Senate depicted as a millionaire's club representing banks and corporations
  • instead of the people
  • 3. Accomplishment - 17th amendment - Direct Election of Senators - 1913
• d. Lincoln Steffens - local government
  • The Shame of the Cities - 1904
  • focused on corruption, bribery, and theft in local govt.by political machines and bosses
  • Accomplishments
    • Commission System - 1900 - Galveston (400 by 1920)
      • non-partisan elections
      • each chosen based on expertise and put in charge of a particular department
      • hurricane had destroyed 1/6 population 1/3 property
      • Steffens spread the use of this system to middle size cities it did not work well in large ones
    • City Manager System - 1908 - Staunton, Va. (45 by 1920)
      • 1. Board or (elected) City Council hired a professional
      • 2. Managers job was to solve the city's problems rather than the mayor
    • City ownership of utilities - Tom Johnson - Cleveland - increased vigilance over corporate - political connections

• 1. 1900 Election (McKinley vs. Bryan); McKinley chose TR as Vice President (Old Guard "kicked" him upstairs to the then deadened job of VP)
• 2. Leon Czolgosz assassinated McKinley
• 3. Roosevelt's Background
  • a. At 42, youngest ever to serve as President
  • b. From a wealthy family (but despised their "conspicuous consumption")
  • c. Educated at Harvard, Columbia law school
  • d. After his wife died (his mother died on the same day), he went to the West, a ranch in the Dakota Territory
  • e. War hero (Spanish-American War)
  • f. Author (Winning of the West, about Daniel Boone and the West)
  • g. Served as state leg. and gov. of NY (worked with muckrakers)
  • h. As President, stood for "Square Deal"
    • 1) A "character"
    • 2) Mark Twain called him the "Tom Sawyer of Politics"
• 4. Views
  • a. Pres. should be a strong, active leader; do anything not prohibited by the Constitution (politics could be made honest only by strong, responsible leadership)
  • b. Warned Wall Street to yield to popular demand or be dragged down by revolution!
  • c. A "cautious" progressive ("lunatic fringe"), but he changed with the times; by 1908, he was turning "left" (supported an income tax, inheritance tax, lots of gov't regulation); the "Old Guard" viewed him as dangerous!
  • d. Most of the progressive measures enacted during his admin. had "loopholes", big on "gentlemen's agreements (but usually happy with what he got)

1. "Square Deal"

a. Business Regulation

• NORTHERN SECURITIES CASE
  • 1) Developed a reputation as a "trust buster" (won 25 of 44 cases)
  • 2) Asked Congress for stronger laws; Congress refused; TR looked for a "test case"
  • 3) 1902 - Northern Securities Case (a holding company formed by J.P. Morgan/Edward Harriman, Union Pacific by John D. Rockefeller/James J. Hill, Great Northern after a bidding war over control of a connecting line nearly collapsed the Stock Market). In 1904, the SC ordered it to dissolve!
    • -Some of the nation's most powerful held accountable!
    • -However, no major players ever really hurt!
  • 4) 1903 - Department of Commerce and Labor (with a Bureau of Corporations that could investigate bus. practices)
  • 5) 1905 - Swift vs. US ("stream of commerce") - corporations must be held accountable
  • 6) Railroads (TR wanted to put "teeth" into rr legislation, especially help the farmers who were at the mercy of the rr "middlemen")
    • -1903 - Elkins Act - made rebates illegal
      • -1906 - Hepburn Act - gave ICC power to inspect books, fix max. rates, disallowed free passes to legislators, put burden of proof of business instead of ICC
  • 7) At end of admin., viewed trusts as neither good nor bad, depended on what they did; there were "good trusts" and "bad trusts"
  • 8) Supreme Court - "rule of reason" - "bust" bad trusts, leave good ones alone

b. Labor Relations

• 1) 1902 Coal Strike
  • -UMW (John Mitchell) led 140,000 out on strike for 20% pay raise, 8-hr. day, recognition
  • -Owners refused! (George Baer - spokesman)
  • -TR called both sides, he would "arbitrate" (workers agreed, owners did not); threatened to take over the mines!
  • -Settled in March 1903 (9-hr. day, 10% raise, no union recognition)
  • -However, coal companies were encouraged to raise prices to offset costs of raises!
  •  
• 2) First time federal gov't did not intervene on the side of management; treated both as "equals"!
• c. Public Health - work done by Dr. Harvey Wiley, the Dept. of Agriculture's chief chemist alerted many to the adulterants and additives put in food and drugs ("poison squad"), others exposed conditions in the food and drug industry (Edward Bok, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle)
  • 1) 1906 - Meat Inspection Act - gov't got power to inspect meat packing plants (at gov't cost)
  • 2) 1906 - Pure Food and Drug Act - banned harmful substances in foods and drugs (many narcotics...and worse!) (in 1927 the Food and Drug Admin. was created), required labeling of contents
  • 3) Significance - govt's responsibility to protect the public's health and safety!
• d. Conservation (TR believed this his greatest achievement)
  • 1) Having lived in the West, TR knew results of exploitation
  • 2) Withdrew over 150 million acres from the "public domain" (into nat'l parks, wildlife sanctuaries, etc.)
  • 3) Refused to allow big business to exploit oil reserves
  • 4) 1902 - National Reclamation Act - Money from sale of public land used to pay for irrigation projects
  • ($80m by WWI)
  • 5) 1908 - called first ever governor's conference (to get states in on the solution) to discuss a national problem: conservation (only 3, one in 30s on the Depression, on in '89 on education)
  • 6) Created a Conservation Commission to study our dwindling resources (most states did likewise)
  •  
• e. Decided not to run in 1908 (had won in 1904 against Alton Parker, 7.6m to 5m, 336 to 140); was becoming very "radical" in his progressive views
• f. Legacy?
• 1) Enlarged the role of the President
• 2) Champion of the idea that the public must be protected from abuses by "special interests"
• 3) Established a progressive trend for future presidents

• 1. 1908 Election (vs. William Jennings Bryan)
• 2. Background
  • a. Educated at Yale
  • b. Served as a judge (would later be Chief Justice)
  • c. Governor of the Philippines
  • d. Only elective office ever
  • e. Not dedicated enough to the progressive cause (ran for his wife; then she fell seriously ill after inauguration)
  • f. Caught between the Progressives and the Old Guard
  • g. "Overshadowed" by Roosevelt (what would TR have done?)
• 3. Continuing Progressivism
  • a. 90 antitrust suits (TR, only 44)
  • b. Added lands to national forests (w/d more land than TR)
  • c. Mann-Elkins Act (1910) - brought telegraph, telephone, the wireless, and cable under ICC
  • d. Labor reform - 8-hr. day for workers contracting with federal government
  • e. Publicity Act - parties must make public sources and amounts spent on elections
  • f. 16th Amendment (he strongly favored it) - 1913; as was the 17th Amendment

4. Upsetting the Progressives

• a. Conservation
  • 1) Ballinger (Sec of Interior) - Pinchot (Chief Forester, Forest Service created in 1905 by TR) Affair
  • 2) Ballinger was selling land to private companies for development purposes! Pinchot went to Taft to get him to stop
  • 3) Taft fired Pinchot, who went public on what Ballinger was doing (turning over coal reserves and water power sites to private interests)
  • 4) Pinchot went to Europe to tell TR
• b. Tariff Reform
  • 1) Had promised to revise it downward
  • 2) Payne (House, low) - Aldrich Tariff (Senate, high) of 1909, it actually raised duties on most common items (Taft signed it, called it the best tariff ever); overall, tariff still at about 40%!
  • 3) Taft did not want to challenge the "Conservatives", the "Old Guard" in Congress
• c. House Revolt
  • 1) Speaker Joseph Cannon, who ran the House with an iron fist (appointed committees, made rules, established calendar)
  • 2) "Insurgent" Revolt
  • 3) Taft indicated he supported Cannon ("cottoning" to the Old Guard conservatives)
  • 4) The "insurgents" won, but not with Taft's support!
  • 5. 1912 Election (first to use presidential primaries) -the highwater mark for progressivism!
    • a. Rep - Taft
    • b. Progressive ("Bull Moose") - TR ("New Nationalism" - fed gov't would be the leader of reform, more regulation of business, more democracy)
    • c. Dem - Woodrow Wilson ("New Freedom" - equality for all, bring back competition; fed. gov't would be "umpire")
    • d. Results
      • 1) Taft - 8
      • 2) TR - 88
      • 3) Wilson - 435
      • 4) Socialist - Eugene Debs got nearly 1m votes (but no electoral votes)
    • e. So, what did the public think about Progressivism?

1. Background

• a. Father a Presbyterian minister (morality)
• b. Educated and taught at Princeton (and served as its President)
• c. Taught history and political science
• d. Governor of New Jersey
• e. Views
  • 1) Like TR, believed Pres. should be a strong leader
  • 2) Cautious as a progressive (did not endorse black or womens' rights), but some of most permanent laws enacted during his presidency
  • 3) Called for a "New Freedom" (equality, bring back competition, strong bus. regulation)

2. Progressive Reforms

• a. Conservation - National Park Service Act, created the National Park Service to oversee/operate the 25m acres of national parks in the U.S.
• b. Tariff
  • 1) Called special session of Congress, personally addressed Congress
  • 2) Underwood Act (1913) - lowered tariff to 30%
  • 3) Lost revenue would be made up from the income tax (16th Amendment - 1% over $3000; 6% over 1/2m, 7% highest)
• c. Antitrust Legislation (Wilson campaigned to break the nation's trusts)
  • 1) Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) passed to plug the "loop-holes" in the Sherman Antitrust Act (clearly defined unfair practices, etc.)
    • a) Added holding companies and interlocking directorates to Sherman Act; prohibited price discrimination
    • b) Exempted labor
    • c) Curtailed use of injunction in labor disputes
  • 2) Federal Trade Commission Act (1914) - set up a Federal Trade Commission to:
    • a) Investigate corrupt practices (interstate corps.)
    • b) Issue "cease and desist" orders in using unfair practices (misleading advertising, eliminating competition, etc.) (in 1921, SC ruled that only courts could do this!)
    • c) FTC could define "unfair practices"
• d. Banking
  • 1) Depressions are the "downside" of capitalism (supply and demand hard to regulate)
  • 2) A Depression in 1907 had led to the creation of the Aldrich Commission to study the nation's banking; it reported that it needed overhauling because there was no "central money supply" to fight depressions
  • 3) Needed to get money moving (from region to region), make it easier to get credit during downturns ("fluidity")
  • 4) Pujo Commission - money is a "trust" (concentration of wealth)
  • 5) Progressives wanted gov't to control banks, conservatives wanted private ownership
  • 6) Federal Reserve Act of 1913 (a compromise) - created a true national banking system (three-level)
    • a) Created a Federal Reserve System, a "banker's bank"; the "Fed"
    • b) 12 regional banks
    • c) Member state banks - 6% of their capital
    • d) Issued federal reserve notes (40% gold- backing, rest in commercial paper) led to "inflated currency", the volume of currency no longer at the mercy of the supply of gold!
    • e) Federal Reserve Board - in charge of controlling the money supply by raising or lowering interest rates to expand or shrink the amount of money in circulation ("flexibility")
    • f) It really didn't destroy trusts, but it did give greater flexibility to banking
• e. Other
  • 1) Farmers
    • a) Smith Lever Act (1914) - aid to rural schools to help them maintain high educational levels
    • b) Federal Farm Loan Act (1916) - workers compensation
  • 2) Labor
    • a) Adamson Act (1916) - time and one-half (began for rr workers engaged in interstate commerce)
    • b) Kern-McGillicuddy Act (1916) - workers compensation
    • c) Keating-Owen Act (1916) - prohibited interstate transportation of goods made by children (keep kids under 14 out of the labor force)

• A. U.S. Entry into World War I
• B. What were the Progressives' goals?
• C. What did the Progressives achieve? Many positive accomplishments.
  • 1. Political? (Many Democratic reforms)
  • 2. Economic? (Forced Big Business to be cautious)
  • 3. Social? (More provision for the "general welfare")
• D. Specifics
  • 1. Responsible government and forceful leadership
  • 2. Gov't has a responsibility for all of its citizens (promote the general welfare)
  • 3. Precedent for later reforms

ESSAY

• Goals/Achievements
  • Political
    • -greater democracy
    • -active gov't
    • -efficient gov't
    • -abandon laissez-faire
    • -responsible gov't (Preamble)
    • -structural changes
  • Economic
    • -curb abusive business practices (monopolies)
    • -distribution of wealth
    • -better circulation of money (banking)
    • -lower tariff
    • -labor reform
  • Social
    • -equality of opportunity (women, blacks, immigrants)
    • -public health
    • -conservation
    • -better quality of life (prohibition, urban)

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