Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt

Progressivism

• 1900- 76 million people, 1 in 7 foreign born

• Progs- wage war against monopolies, corruption, inefficiency, and social justice

• Progs= large and diverse• Battle cry = “Strengthen

the state”

Progressive Roots

• Populism • The heart of progressive movement:

– Belief that government should be strengthened so that it could act aggressively to tackle social ills.

– Government could be an instrument of positive good

• Basic prescription: use government as an agency of human welfare.

• At heart, a rejection of Laissez Faire

Progressive Roots

• Pressure came from a number of different groups:– Socialists from Europe—start to gain strength in US– Christians preaching Social Gospel—focused on the needs

of the poor and the workers at the mercy of corporations.– Feminists—suffrage movement included social justice in

their call for reform because women were often those who suffered the most.

– Urban pioneers exposing corruption of cities and working conditions of children and women – Jacob Riis- “How the Other Half Lives”

Muckrakers• Magazines and Newspapers

began to compete with each other to expose evil and corruption (money incentive)

• Lincoln Steffens—Shame in the Cities

• Ida Tarbell—expose of Standard Oil

• David Phillips—The Treason of the Senate

Muckraking Targets• tariff lobbies• beef trust• money trust• railroad barons• Slums• High rate of industrial

accidents• Child labor (John Spargo-

The Bitter Cry of Children )• Plight of blacks in the south

( Ray Baker- Following the Color Line)

• Adulterated Patent Medicine

Muckraking Goals

• Was out-pouring of national criticism and exposure of ways in which the system was broken.

• Articles had a profound impact on the nation• Like progressives in general, these articles were

long on complaint but short on solutions. • They sought not to overthrow capitalism, but to

cleanse it to cure the ills of American democracy.

Political Progressivism

• 1.Direct primary elections • 2. Initiative- voters can directly propose legislation

themselves• 3.Referendum-place laws on the ballot for final

approval by the people • 4.Recall-allow voters to remove faithless elected

officials • 5. Australian secret ballot- political bosses less likely to

bribe if they don’t know who you are voting for • 6. Direct election of senators – 17th amendment • 7. Women’s suffrage- 19th amendment

Progressivism In The Cities And States

• Most impressive gains in the cities

• Galveston TX- city manager system (efficiency)

• Urban reforms attack “slum-lords”

• Wisconsin a test lab for progressive proposals. – regulation of public utilities – Gov. Robert La Follette

• Oregon not far behind Wisconsin – Hiram W Johnson

• NYC Governor- Charles Evans- malpractices by gas and insurance co.

Progressivism In The Cities And States

Progressive Women

• Settlement houses – Jane Addams

• Literary clubs• Separate spheres?-

women say progressivism is an extension of traditional female roles

Progressive Women

• Muller v. Oregon- protection of women laborers, special protection for women

• Lochner v. NY- set back for progressives- cannot limit banker’s work hours

Triangle Shirt Waist Fire

• Company located in NYC.• Fire breaks out.• Emergency Exit doors are

locked trapping workers inside.

• 146 dead.• Impact- NY starts to pass

stronger laws regulating hours and sweetshop labor

Progressives attack Saloons

• Woman’s Christian temperance Union-

• Promote dry laws• Big cities stay wet-

why?• 1914- half the

population lives in dry territory

TR’s Square Deal For Labor

• Demanded a “Square Deal” for capital, labor and the public.

• Believed the government should uphold the public interest.

• He pushed control of three Cs:

– corporations,

– consumer protection

– conservation of natural resources.

TR’s Square Deal For Labor

• Anthracite Coal Mine Strike 1902- 150,000 miners walk off until shorter work days and better wages are given.

• Teddy sides with the workers rather than the owners.

• Nations sees him as a hero.• 1st president to stand up for workers.• Also ensure that the US will have a steady coal

supply.

TR’s Square Deal For Labor

• Department of Commerce and Labor 1903.

– Bureau of Corporations

– Probe business involved in interstate commerce

TR Corrals Corporations

• RR monster still largely untouched.

• Interstate Commerce Commission was largely ineffective, until

• Elkins Act of 1903- punishes givers and receivers of rebates

TR Corrals Corporations

• Hepburn Act of 1906 • Interstate Commerce

Commission given new teeth. – jurisdiction expanded;

allowed to set maximum rates and nullify existing rates.

Who ya gonna call? Trust Busters

• Northern Securities Co. case

• Under TR the Justice Department initiated over 40 anti-trust suits.

• Roosevelt’s exaggerated rep as a trust-buster

• In reality- doing to show big business that the government runs the country, not business

Caring For The Consumer

• TR backed legislation protecting against adulterated and mislabeled food.

• 1906 Upton Sinclair The Jungle

• Meat Inspection Act of 1906

• Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906

Mary had a little lamb,

And when she saw it sicken,

She shipped it off to packing town

And now its labeled chicken

Roosevelt and Conservation

• Americans using up natural resources

• Corporations hungry to exploit resources.

• Desert Land Act of 1877- person can buy arid land for cheap if they promise to irrigate it for three years

Roosevelt and Conservation

• Forest Reserve Act of 1891- president set aside public forests as national parks and other reserves

• TR makes environmentalism an issue • Newlands Act of 1902- collect money from

public sale of lands in western states, use that money to start irrigation

• Roosevelt set aside vast tracts of forests to prevent logging on it.

Roosevelt Panic Of 1907• Public loves TR,

republicans worrisome about him

• But during 2nd term, said he will not run for a 3rd, this hurts his support

• Conservatives blame TR and his regulation for panic of 1907

• Aldrich-Vreeland Act- national banks can issue emergency currency back by various forms of collateral

The Rough Rider Thunders Out

• TR handpicks good friend Taft for election of 1908

• Democrats- again select William Jennings Bryan

• TR’s legacy– 1. Power and prestige of

president increased

– 2. Square deal- paves way for new deal

– 3. Make America aware of we share the world

William Taft-Suffers from Van-Buren syndrome

• Qualified but passive, not a man of action

• “Peaceful Bill”• At first very popular • Poor judge of public

opinion

Dollar Diplomacy

• Encourage American investments abroad, especially in areas of political interest

• Taft tries to buy Manchurian Railway Co.- to eventually sell back to China- Russia and Japan laugh at it

• Yankee Lake- Taft tries to get bankers to invest in Honduras and Haiti

Taft the Trustbuster

• TR- 44 trusts in 7.5 years• Taft- 90 suits against trust in 4 years• Sup. Ct. decision in Standard Oil case,

– Rule of Reason – Only “unreasonable” restraints of trade were

illegal. – Created a huge hole in fed’s anti-trust net.

• Taft also went after US Steel, – Angered TR.

Taft Splits the Republican Party

• Lower tariff one of the primary progressive aims; viewed as the mother of all Trusts.

• Payne-Aldrich Bill. – Taft: the “best bill ever

passed by the party.”

• Senate attach 100’s of provisions

Taft Splits the Republican Party

• Ballinger-Pinchot quarrel

• Ballinger opens up lands in in WY, Montana, Alaska for corporate development

• Pinchot gets pissed, Taft fires him for insubordination

The Taft-Roosevelt Rupture

• National Progressive Republican League; LaFollette at the head.

• TR lets it be known that he will accept a third term if nominated by Republicans.

• TR- about 100 delegates short of winning republican nomination

• TR- will enter as a third party