Chapter 28: Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt, 1901 – 1912
p. 656-677
1. Progressive Movement: b/t 1890’s – WWI; all classes, races, regions;
- Fundamental belief – need new social consciousness to cope w/ econ and soc change
- No unified movement
- Varied collection of reform communities
- Political, professional, religious
- End of political corruption
- Efficiency in gov’t
- Gov’t duty to regulate business for public interest
- Social control of immigrants – education for Americanization
- Reaction to growth of Socialism – end to private ownership
2. Muckrakers: TR’s term for investigative reporters of the time. Studied social problems and wrote exposes of them in newspapers, magazines, books
- City problems
- Gov’t problems
- Labor/business problems
- Alcohol
- Cause reform legislation at city/state/national levels
3. Progressive objectives: reformers were mainly middle class men/women, felt squeezed from above from corporations and below from increasing immigration
- Two goals: use state power to curb trusts; stem socialist threat by improving common persons conditions
- Less a minority movement and more a majority mood
- Regain power that had slipped from hands of people into those of interests
- Initiative; referendum; recall
- Direct election of senators
4. 17th Amendment: direct election of US senators; used to be chosen by state legislatures (who were thought to be under the control of big business)
5. Separate Spheres: women’s place in the home – progressive women use to defend activities as extension of traditional roles of wife and mother – become wife/mother to the country
6. Maternal issues: child labor; disease prevention; pensions for women w/ dependent children; safer food/medicine; form Women’s Trade Union League and National Consumers League;
- factory reform and temperance attract much female attention
7. Muller v. Oregon: 1908 – argued by Louis D. Brandeis (future SC member); idea that women should be protected in labor due to evidence of harmful effects of factory work on women’s weaker bodies
- Seemed discriminatory
- Closed many male jobs to women
8. Triangle Shirtwaist Company: 1911 fire kills 146 mostly young immigrant women; doors locked to prevent theft; prompts NY legislature to pass stronger laws about hours and conditions of sweatshop work; concept of employers responsibility to society replacing philosophy of unregulated business
9. WCTU: Women’s Christian Temperance Movement
- Founded by Francis Willard
- 1 million women to “make the world homelike” – largest women’s org
- connection b/t alcoholism and domestic abuse, unemployment
10. 18th Amendment: outlawed alcohol in US – 1919
- battle b/t
- rural vs. urban
- native “white” stock vs. immigrants
- protestant vs. catholic
- rich vs. poor
11. Square Deal: control of corporations; consumer protection; conservation of natural resources
- First tested by anthracite coal miners strikes of 1902
- 140,000 strikers in coal industry – pay and hours
- mine owners refuse to deal; coal supplies dwindle (main source of heat, fuel at this time) – national crisis
- TR forces arbitration after threatening to us US army to take over coal mines
- Leads to creation of Department of Commerce and Labor – 1903
12. Northern Securities decision: example of TR as trustbuster
- Was RR holding company (JP Morgan) that sought to have monopoly of RR’s in northwest
- TR vs. industrial aristocracy
- Company ordered dissolved
- TR initiates 40 anti-trust cases
- 1905 SC breaks up beef, sugar, fertilizer, harvesters, and others
- TR’s real purpose was to prove that gov’t, not big business, ruled the country
- Believed in regulating, not fragmenting – bad trusts vs. good trusts
- Taft actually breaks up more than TR
13. The Jungle: Upton Sinclair novel that focused attention on plight of workers in meat packing industry
- Instead appalls public w/ unsanitary conditions of meatpacking industry
- Led to president appointing special investigating commission whose report is just as bad as novel
- Leads to Meat Inspection Act of 1906
14. Meat Inspection Act of 1906/Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906:
- Meat shipped over state lines subject to federal inspection; gave largest packers opportunity to drive smaller competitors out of business plus get gov’ts seal of approval on products
- Prevent adulteration and mislabeling of foods and drugs (got rid of “snake oil”)
15. Carey Act of 1894: distributed federal land to states on condition they irrigated and settled it
- Similar to other conservation laws passed prior to this
- Desert Land Act of 1877 – gov’t sold arid land cheaply on condition purchaser irrigate w/in 3 yrs
- Forest Reserve Act of 1891: pres set aside public forests as national parks/reserves – 46 million acres protected
16. Newlands Act of 1902: DC to collect money from sale of public lands in western states and use funds for irrigation projects – leads to building of dozens of dams across almost every major river in west
17. Preservationists vs. Conservationists: don’t use it at all vs. use it wisely
18. TR’s contributions:
- cowboy who tamed big business, ensures capitalism long life
- enlarged power and prestige of presidency
- helped shape progressive movement and liberal reform campaigns later in century
- Square Deal was grandfather of New Deal (FDR)
- As great power, US also had responsibilities to world
19. TR’s second term characteristics:
- Called more loudly for regulating corporations, taxing incomes, protecting workers
- Partly defanged self after announcing would not seek third term
- Panic of 1907 – TR blamed for this b/c he unsettled industry w/ his tactics
- Paved way for fiscal reforms, led up to Federal Reserve Act of 1913
20. Taft vs TR:
- Taft trusted by TR to carry on “his policies”, but didn’t have personality of TR to carry them on
- Taft had attitude of passivity toward congress, poor judge of public opinion
- Taft more of mild progressive than TR
- Taft policies become more at odds w/ what TR wanted, causes rift in R party in election of 1912
21. Dollar Diplomacy: Taft’s tactic to use lever of US investments to boost US political interests abroad – dollars instead of bullets
- Encouraged Wall Street bankers to pump dollars into foreign areas of strategic concern to US
- By getting there first (instead of Europeans), would strengthen US defenses and foreign policies while bringing prosperity
- Failed to work in China (tried to get US investors to take over RR monopoly from Japan)
- Causes much trouble in Caribbean – since Monroe Doctrine wouldn’t permit foreign intervention, US must use $ to prevent economic and political instability here – US troops sent to Cuba, Honduras, Dominican Republic to restore order, protect US investment
22. New Nationalism:
- When TR returns form hunting trip to Africa, unhappy with the way things are going under Taft
- Unable to keep silent, shocks R party w/ doctrine that urged national gov’t to increase power to remedy economic and social abuses
- R internal divisions lead to D’s taking over House in elections of 1910
- Early 1911, R party splits (unofficially) w/ creation of National Progressive Republican League – led at first by Sen LaFollette, but taken over by TR
- R convention 6/1912 – R party officially splits b/t regular R’s (Taft) and Progressive R’s (Bull Moose Party – TR)
- TR supporters claim fraud at nominating convention and split, create 3rd party
- Would lead to D nominee Woodrow Wilson victory
Chapter 29: Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad, 1912 – 1916
p. 679 – 694
- D’s know if can come up with great reformist leader, can take election of 1912 due to split in R party
- Dr. Woodrow Wilson is the man – militant progressive
o Enters politics in 1910 as NJ governor
o Waged reform campaign, assailed trusts, promised to return state gov’t to people
o Drove through measures that made NJ one of more liberal states
The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912
- Wilson nominated by D’s
o D Platform: New Freedom – stronger antitrust legislation, banking reform, tariff reductions
- Progressive Republican’s (Bull Moose Party)
o TR in candidate
o Split from R party after failed to nominate TR, beliefs of fraud at R convention
- Republicans – Taft
o Split in R party almost guarantees D victory
- Overshadowing question of 1912 was which of two varieties of progressivism would win
o TR’s New Nationalism or Wilson’s New Freedom
o Both favor more active gov’t role in economic and social affairs, disagree over strategies
§ New Nationalism: continued consolidation of trusts and labor unions, growth of regulatory agencies, women’s suffrage, social welfare program (minimum wage laws, “socialistic” social insurance
§ New Freedom: favors small enterprise, entrepreneurship, free functioning of unregulated and unmonopolized markets; shuns social welfare proposals; faith in competition
· Big idea is not regulation of big business, but fragmentation of big business into smaller ones through vigorous enforcement of antitrust laws
- TR – shot in chest during campaign speech in Milwaukee – finishes speech – proven “Bull Moose”
Woodrow Wilson: A Minority President
- Wilson wins election of 1912
- 3rd party TR takes 2nd, Taft gets only 8 electoral votes
- Socialist Eugene V. Debs takes 4th
- D’s also win majority in congress
o R’s put into minority status in Congress for next 6 years, out of White House for next 8
o Taft – begins teaching law at Yale, eventually becomes Chief Justice of Supreme Court
Wilson: The Idealist in Politics
- only second D president since 1861
- first from one of seceded southern states to win presidency since Z Taylor 64 years earlier
- Growing up in S had impact on Wilson
o Sympathized w/ Confederacy’s attempt to win independence
§ Sentiment that inspires ideal of self-determination for people of other countries
§ Shared Jefferson’s faith in the masses, as long as they were properly educated
o was preacher’s son, becomes very moralistic
§ has big impact on foreign policy beliefs
§ was excellent speaker
o believed that president should play dynamic role
§ convinced Congress could not function properly unless president provided leadership
§ success as president by appealing to the people over the heads of the legislators
o suffered serious personality defects
§ cold, standoffish in public
§ incapable of unbending and acting the showman
§ loved humanity in the mass rather than the individual in person
§ most at home with fellow scholars
§ burning idealism, desire to reform wickedness drives forward at home and in foreign policy
§ sense of moral righteousness makes compromise difficult
Wilson Attacks the Tariff
- comes into White House with clear program of what to achieve
- Assault “The Triple Wall of Privilege”: tariff, banks, trusts
- Tariff first
o Calls special session of Congress in early 1913
o Presents appeal in person
o House quickly passes Underwood Tariff Bill
§ Large reduction in tariff rates
§ Lobbyists attack Senate against this, but WW convinces public to keep elected reps in lline
§ Force of public opinion gets bill approval in 1913
- Underwood tariff reduced import fees, but recently ratified 16th Amendment helps fix shortfall
o 16th Amend – graduated income tax on incomes over $3k
o by 1917, revenue from income tax shoots ahead of tariff revenue
Wilson Battles the Bankers
- attacks banks second
- antiquated and inadequate banking and currency system
- most serious problem was inelasticity of currency
o banking reserves concentrated in NY and some other big cities
o couldn’t be mobilized in times of financial stress into areas that were hurt
- 1908 Congress investigates problem
o 3 yrs special commission recommends gigantic bank w/ numerous branches (effectively a 3rd Bank of the US)
o D banking reformers put belief in system
- June 1913 – WW makes second appearance before both houses
o Endorses D proposals for decentralized bank in gov’t hands
- Federal Reserve Act of 1913
o Most important piece of economic legislation b/t Civil War and New Deal
o Federal Reserve Board
§ Oversees nationwide system of 12 regional reserve districts, each with own central bank
§ Regional banks are bankers banks, owned by member financial institutions
§ Final authority of Federal Reserve Board guarantees substantial governmental control
§ Also empowered to issue paper money – “Federal Reserve Notes”
§ Amount of $ in circulation could be quickly increased as needed
The President Tames the Trusts
- last part of “triple wall”
- early 1914 goes before Congress again
- 9 mos later, Congress responds w/ Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914
o empowered presidentially appointed commission to investigate businesses engaged in interstate commerce
o commissioners expected to crush monopolies at their source by rooting out unfair trade practices, including unlawful competition, false advertising, mislabeling, adulteration, bribery
- also pass Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914
o lengthened Sherman Acts list of business practices that were illegal including price discrimination and interlocking directorates
o most important: labor benefits
§ act also exempts labor and agricultural organizations from antitrust prosecution
§ explicitly legalizes strikes and peaceful picketing
§ hailed as Magna Carta of Labor
Wilsonian Progressivism at High Tide
- besides triple wall, also presses ahead w/ further reforms, including:
o Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916 – low interest credit to farmers
o Warehouse Act of 1916 – loans to farmers on basis of staple crops as collateral
o Highway construction
o LaFollette Seamen’s Act of 1915 – decent treatment and living wage on US merchant ships (freight rates go up as a result)
o Workingmen’s Compensation Act of 1916 – assistance to federal civil-service employees when become disabled
o Adamson Act of 1916 – 8 hr day for all employees on trains in interstate commerce, extra pay for OT
o Nominates reformer Louis D. Brandeis to Supreme Court in 1916 – first Jewish SC justice
- progressivism for Wilson did not include better treatment for African Americans
o segregation in federal bureaucracy accelerated during presidency
New Directions in Foreign Policy
- recoiled from aggressive foreign policy – contrast TR and Taft
o didn’t like “big stickism” and hated dollar diplomacy