PROGRESSIVE POLITICIANS

1900-1920

WHO WERE THE PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS?

Theodore Roosevelt: Republican, 1901-1909 William Howard Taft: Republican, 1909-1913 Woodrow Wilson: Democrat, 1913-1917

HOW DID THEODORE ROOSEVELT BECOME PRESIDENT?

William McKinley was assassinated in September of 1901 At 42, T. Roosevelt (Republican) became the nation’s youngest president Roosevelt believed the President should take a more active role in economics, society, and politics

HOW WAS T. ROOSEVELT A PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENT?

The Square Dealo Roosevelt’s 1904 campaign slogan.

“see to it that every man has a square deal, no less and no more.”

o Roosevelt believed in balancing the interests of business, consumer and labor.oSquare Deal called for:

oLimiting the power of trustsoPromoting public health and safetyo Improving working conditions

COAL STRIKE OF 1902 A coal strike threatened to leave Americans without coal to heat their homes in the winter

o T. Roosevelt called union leaders and mine owners to the White House for mediation

o When mine owners refused to attend, T. Roosevelt threatened to take over the mines with federal troopso Owners agreed to meet and

accepted term of mediation 10% wage increase Nine hour workday

TRUST-BUSTING

o T. Roosevelt was the first president to enforce the Sherman Anti-Trust Acto In 1904 the Supreme court upheld T. Roosevelt’s use of the act to break up the Northern Securities Company, a railroad monopolyo Made a distinction between “good trusts” and “bad trusts” o Bad trusts: harmed consumers by raising prices and stifling competitiono Good trusts: dominated the market through efficiency and low prices

RAILROAD REGULATION

oConvinced Congress to pass two laws that strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

o The Elkins Act (1903): strengthened the regulatory power of the ICC o The Hepburn Act (1906): allowed the ICC to fix “just and reasonable” railroad rates

CONSUMER PROTECTION

o Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle motivated Roosevelt and congress to enact two regulatory lawso Pure Food and Drug Act: prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of contaminated or mislabeled foods and drugso The Meat Inspection Act: provided federal inspection of meatpacking plants to ensure sanitation standards

CONSERVATION

o Protection of natural resourceso Set aside 150 million acres of federal land as national reserveo Newlands Reclamation Act (1902): provided money from the sale of public land for irrigation projects in western states

HOW WAS WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT A PROGRESSIVE

PRESIDENT?• Teddy Roosevelt did not run for a third term • Taft (Republican) defeated William Jennings Bryan in the election of 1908• Trust-bustingo Taft ordered the prosecution of almost twice as many antitrust cases as Roosevelt

THE MANN-ELKINS ACT (1910)

• Gave the ICC the power to suspend new railroad rates• Gave the ICC the power to oversee telephone, telegraph, and cable companies• ICC=Interstate Commerce Commission

THE 16TH AMENDMENT

oProposed in 1909 oRatified in 1913o Authorized the US government to collect an income tax

WHY WERE PROGRESSIVES IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY UNHAPPY WITH TAFT?

Payne-Aldrich Tariffo In his 1908 campaign Taft promised a lower tariff

o Taft instead signed and publicly defended a bill that raised the tariff on most imports

Pinchot-Ballinger Controversyo Progressives liked Gifford Pinchot, a conservationist and chief of the Forest Service

o Pinchot criticized Richard Ballinger, Taft’s Secretary of the Interior, for opening lands in Alaska for private development

o Taft fired Pinchot for insubordination, angering progressives

TAFT• Taft refused to support progressive efforts to reduce the power of Speaker of the House Joe Cannon, a conservative• Midterm elections of 1910o Taft openly supported Conservative candidates for office, instead of progressive candidateso Split the Republican Party into conservatives headed by Taft and a Progressive faction

HOW WERE POLITICAL PARTIES CRAZY IN THE ELECTION OF

1912?Splitting the Republican Party

o Roosevelt decided to make a comeback and challenged Taft for the Republican nomination

o Taft received the Republican nomination

o Roosevelt left the Republican Party

The Progressive Party/Bull Moose Party

o Progressives formed their own party

o Nominated Roosevelt

HOW WERE POLITICAL PARTIES CRAZY IN THE ELECTION OF

1912?Democrats: nominated Woodrow Wilson

• The Socialist Party of America

o Labor partyFavored more radical reforms than ProgressivesPublic ownership of railroads, utilities, and major industries

•Socialists nominated Eugene V. Debs for President in 1912

HOW DID WILSON AND ROOSEVELT DIFFER AS CANDIDATES?

• Taft was unpopular and Debs was too radical• The election came down to competition between Roosevelt and Wilson

• New Nationalism o The name of Roosevelt’s platform o Advocated a strong central government as a tool to protect citizens o Advocated increased government regulation of business, woman’s suffrage, and social welfare programsO Elimination of “bad trusts”

HOW DID WILSON AND ROOSEVELT DIFFER AS CANDIDATES?

•New Freedom• o Limit big business and big government• o End corruption in government• o Restore competition in business by eliminating all trusts

WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME OF THE ELECTION OF 1912?

Taft (23%) and Roosevelt (27%) split the Republican Party

• Debs and the Socialists received 900,000 votes (6%) but no electoral votes

• Wilson won the election with 45% of the popular vote and a majority of the electoral vote (435)

• Wilson was the second Democrat elected President since the Civil War

HOW WAS WOODROW WILSON A PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENT?

• The Underwood Tariff of 1913o Drastically lowered tariffs on imported goodso Wilson lowered the tariff to lower consumer priceso Made up for lost revenue by raising the income tax (had the most impact on the wealthy)

HOW WAS WOODROW WILSON A PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENT?

Banking reform

o Wilson believed the gold standard was too inflexible and that banks served the wealthy

o Wilson rejected the Republican proposal for a private national bank

o Wilson proposed a national banking system

12 district banks

Each banked supervised by the federal reserve board

Began the use of federal reserve notes (dollar bills) issued by the federal reserve bank

BUSINESS REGULATION

• The Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)• Strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act• Exempted labor unions from being prosecuted as trusts• o The Federal Trade Commission (1914)• Regulatory agency with the power to investigate and take action against “unfair trade practice” in every industry except banking and transportation

BUSINESS REGULATION

Federal Farm Loan Act (1916)

12 regional farm loan banks were established to make low interest loans to farmers

o Child Labor Act (1916)

Prohibited the interstate shipment of products manufactured by children under 14

Ruled unconstitutional in Hammer vs. Dagenhart

WHY DID AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADERS WORK OUTSIDE THE PROGRESSIVE

MOVEMENT?• Progressive governments at the federal, state, and local levels ignored the problems facing African Americans

o Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) The Supreme Court’s separate but equal decision

established legal segregation based on race

o Lynching: thousands of African Americans were hanged by mobs of racists

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

o Most influential black leader at the turn of the century

o Southern who had been born a slave

o Argued that black needs for education and economic progress were more important than equality and civil rights

o His Tuskegee Institute taught industrial skills and trades to help African Americans increase wages

o Believed economic power would lead to eventual political and social equality

W.E.B. DUBOISCollege educated northernero In the Souls of Black Folk (1903) Du Bois criticized Washington’s approacho Du Bois demanded immediate equal rights for African Americanso Argued that economic equality would never be achieved without political and social equality

WHAT TYPES OF CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS FORMED DURING THE

EARLY 20TH CENTURY?

• Niagara Movement (1905)o Du Bois and other black intellectuals met in Niagara Falls, Canada

o Discussed a program of protest and action to achieve equal rights

The National Urban Leagueo Formed in 1911

o Aimed to help blacks who migrated to northern cities

o Advocated self-reliance and economic advancement

WHAT TYPES OF CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS FORMED DURING THE

EARLY 20TH CENTURY?National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

o Organized on Lincoln’s birthday in 1908

o Organized by members of the Niagara Movement and a group of white progressives

o Their mission was to abolish all forms of segregation and increase educational opportunity for African American children

o The largest civil rights organization by 1920 with 100,000 members

HOW WERE WOMEN’S RIGHTS INVOLVED IN THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT?

• Susan B. Anthony: Activist for women’s suffrage. • She was a teacher for 15 years and

then joined the Temperance Movement. • President of the National American Women Suffrage Association.• She spoke at conventions world wide. • She was active between the years

1851-1902.

HOW WERE WOMEN’S RIGHTS INVOLVED IN THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT?

• Ida B. Wells: African American Journalist and women’s suffragist.• She established several

notable women’s organizations.• She was a skilled public

speaker and traveled internationally. • Co-founder of the

NAACP

HOW WERE WOMEN’S RIGHTS INVOLVED IN THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT?

• Jane Addams: A leader in women’s suffrage and world peace.• One of the most

prominent reformers of the Progressive Era. • She was the first woman awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

HOW WERE WOMEN’S RIGHTS INVOLVED IN THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT?

• Frances Willard: Temperance reformer and women’s suffragist. • Her influence was instrumental in the passage of the 18th and 19th Amendments.• Her vision progressed to include

federal aid to education, free school lunches, and 8 hour work days.

HOW WERE WOMEN’S RIGHTS INVOLVED IN THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT?

• The 19th Amendment (1920)• o Guaranteed women’s right to vote in elections at all levels of

government

• o Due largely to the efforts of women on the home front during WWI

• o Carrie Chapman Catt organized the League of Women’s Voters

QUIZ: ANSWER ON A SHEET OF NOTEBOOK PAPER

1. This called for Limiting the power of trusts, promoting public health and safety improving working conditions. __________________________________

2. Who was the first president to enforce the Sherman Anti-Trust Act?

3. Name one of the acts that came into being because of Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle?

4. What amendment, that was proposed in 1909, came into being during Taft’s presidency?

5. What was Woodrow Wilson’s main platform called? It favored ending corruption in government. _______________________

6. Name one African American leader in the Progressive Movement.

7. Name one Women’s Suffragist.