CH 28 Text Part 2
SHOULD THE GOVERNMENTS –LOCAL/STATE/FEDERAL – REGULATEALL ASPECTS OF SOCIETY IN THE INTERESTS OF THE MAJORITY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE…[Thomas Jefferson stated another part to this idea in his inaugural address, “and protect minorities rights.” – it is interesting he also said often “the best government is the government that governs least.” So both ends of our political spectrum today see TJeff as the founder of their political perspectives…the conservatives and the liberals…I guess we could have known this due to TJeff’s “consistent inconsistencies.” ]*****
The 20th Century brought many questions for the United States…Empire? – Giant Corporations? – Conditions of Labor? – Huge Immigration? The answers to these questions depended on the perspective of the person or group who asked the question… FEAR…of crime, poverty, and disease…due to the massive changes began during the Gilded Age persisted among many other questions and fears…How would these be resolved, by whom, how????
What role should the government play in answering these questions, if any??? Should government remain narrowly limited, like Pres. Cleveland’s quote suggested (“the people should support the government, but the government should not support the people) …OR DID THE MASSIVE CHANGES THAT HAVE ARISEN AT THIS TIME REQUIRE A MORE “POTENT”-ACTIVE GOVERNMENT THAT WOULD ACTIVELY SHAPE SOCIETY?
The Progressive Movement represented the 1st attempt to answer those questions… Reform minded Men and Women from all walks of life and from both major parties shared in the Progressive Crusade for GREATER GOVERNMENT ACTIVISM. Presidents TR, Taft, and Woodrow Wilson enlarged the capacity of the government to fight corruption-graft, “bust” business trusts, REGULATE Corporations, promote fair labor practices, support child welfare, conservation, and protect consumers.
What groups did not benefit from the reforms that were accomplished???
How is the “aberration” of Imperialism tied to the Progressives, it seems counter-intuitive????
TR’s “Square Deal” for Labor
TR was a jingoe when it came to Foreign Policy….or practiced “Realpolitik,” depending on your perspective….HOWEVER… He was on FIRE for Progressivism…HE WAS A REFORMER…that is why the NY political bosses wanted him out of the Governors job and into the VP job….to get him away… to stop his reforms…BUT as we know…McKinley put him one heartbeat away from the Presidency…and McKinley’s heart stopped…and TR becomes the leader of the Progressive Movement which CHANGED AMERICA DRAMATICALLY- TR’s “Imperial” Presidency…is littered with Progressive actions… THE BIG STICK SWUNG AT HOME AS WELL…..AND CONNECTED WITH THE ROBBER BARON’S HEAD’S
TR’S “Square Deal” was based on implementing his THREE (3) C’S:**********************
1 CONTROL OF CORPORATIONS
2 CONSUMER PROTECTIONS
3 CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Note: You need to be familiar and aware of Presidential slogans for their programs…Square Deal-TR, New Deal –FDR, and Fair Deal – Truman…some examples….
*****TR’s “Square Deal “for Labor began in 1902 when a strike in the Coal Industry of Penn. began…140,000 workers DEMANDED 20% increase in pay and a reduction of hours worked from 10 to 9 hours per day…
Mine owners that had exploited many of the immigrant workers up to this point…REFUSED TO ARBITRATE OR NEGOTIATE…enter TR
Remember in the past the US Government unquestionably supported the OWNERS, often by using US Troops to attack strikers…
As the situation worsened; factories and schools were forced to shut down and hospitals were threatened by the COLD WINTER… TR summons the representatives of BOTH the workers and mine owners to DC…The Owners attitudes upset TR…”if not for the dignity of the Presidency…he would have taken them out of the White House by his pants “and chucked them out of the window.”
The “BIG STICK” came out and TR threatened that if the owners did not negotiate in good faith he would SEIZE THE MINES AND OPERATE THEM WITH FEDERAL TROOPS---WHAT NO TROOPS TO FIRE ON WORKERS---WHAT THE HECK??? SUPPORT THE WORKERS??? WHAT THE HECK????
******************THE 1ST TIME EVER IN AMERICAN HISTORY THAT A PRESIDENT OR THE US GOVERNMENT USED A THREAT OF VIOLENT ACTION IN SUPPORT OF THE WORKERS…
A compromise is reached… the mine workers agree to a 10% raise in pay and a working day of 9 hours…BUT THEIR UNION WAS NOT RECOGNIZED TO BARGAIN COLLECTIVELY FOR THE WORKERS….certainly not a complete victory for the mine workers BUT WOW… AMAZING A STRONG PROGRESSIVE BEGINNING FOR TR….FOR SURE.
TR urged Congress in the aftermath of the continuing conflict between capital and labor… to create the NEW DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR IN 1903…AND THE BUREAU OF CORPORATIONS WITHIN THIS NEW EXECUTIVE BRANCH REGULATORY AGENCY…this new Bureau was authorized to probe businesses engaged in interstate commerce AND TO BREAK THE STRANGLEHOLD OF MONOPOLY AND BEGIN TO “BUST” TRUSTS [The US government acting in the interests of the majority of the American People]****************
TR Corrals the Corporations- 1st of the three (3) C’s….his actions above qualify to be mentioned here as well ****
TR next goes after the RR Trusts – 2 acts of Congress are significant…******
The Interstate Commerce Commission, created in 1887 by the Interstate Commerce Act, was not effective and up to this point …The commission was controlled by people in the pay of the RR’s and the Federal Courts were no help….
The ELKINS ACT, 1903 – was intended to end REBATES used by RR’s as preferential FINES COULD NOW BE IMPOSED ON RR’S WHO USED REBATES TO BENEFIT SOME BUT NOT OTHERS…
More Effective was The Hepburn Act, 1906 –Free Passes were severely restricted… the Interstate Commerce Commission was expanded…to include regulating express companies, sleeping car companies, and pipelines… THE GOVERNMENT COULD NULLIFY EXISTING SHIPPING RATES AND STIPULATE MAXIMUM RATES.
TR’S PERSPECTIVE ON TRUSTS*********GOOD TRUSTS AND BAD TRUSTS********
******TR believed that Bigness was not necessarily badness… and that these big companies were here to stay…he concluded that there were “good” trusts and ‘bad” trusts …. The Good had a public conscience and the Bad lusted greedily for power.
TR “busts” his 1st trust – Northern Securities Corp.
A railroad holding company organized by JP Morgan and James J. Hill….they attempted together to create complete control of all RR’s in the Northwest… TR went after some powerful opponents..
The Supreme Court agreed with TR…and they ordered the TRUST BUSTED.
This decision jolted Big Businesses and Wall St… BUT GREATLY ENHANCED TR’S REPUTATION AS A TRUE PROGRESSIVE REFORMER…
TR INITIATED OVER 40 ATTEMPTS TO “BUST” TRUSTS… AND IN 1905 THE SUPREME COURT AGREED WITH TR AND RULED THAT TRUSTS WERE ILLEGAL…AND THE SUGAR, HARVESTER, FERTILIZER , AND OTHER TRUSTS FELL TO TR’S BIG “TRUST BUSTING” STICK….********************************
*************TR’S GOAL WAS NOT TO BUST ALL TRUSTS…BUT to prove conclusively that the US government NOT PRIVATE BUSINESS, ruled the Country.********************
The “threat”of busting made Big Business more friendly-amenable to FEDERAL REGULATION OF BUSINESS IN THE INTERESTS OF A MAJORITY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE – WHICH IT DID
*****WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT –THE NEXT PRESIDENT- ACTUALLY BUSTS MORE TRUSTS THAN TR- US STEEL FOR EXAMPLE IN 1911…BUT TR WAS THE 1ST PRESIDENT IN US HISTORY TO DO SO…THUS COMES HIS REPUTATION AS “TRUST BUSTER EXTRAORDINAIRRE.”
TR CARES FOR THE CONSUMER – TR’S 2ND “C” *****
****Upton Sinclair’s book, “The Jungle,” published in 1906 stirred a hornet’s nest in TR’s Brain….
We remember the difficulties the soldiers had with “embalmed beef” making them sick during the Spanish-American war….
At this time there was no regulation**** by anyone….OF THE MEATPACKING INDUSTRY OR FOOD INDUSTRY.
American Consumers wanted safe food and Sinclair’s book began a national debate…Sinclair, “aimed for the nation’s heart but hit its stomach.” The Jungle described the unsanitary conditions {filth, disease, and putrefaction} found in Chicago’s slaughterhouses…many readers were so sickened they gave up eating meat…The President appointed a special commission to investigate…. And whose report was worse than Sinclair’s novel…. [poisoned rats, splinters, and trash was scooped up and put in cans of beef and made into hot dogs-sausage, etc…
“Mary had a little lamb,
and when she saw it sicken,
She shipped it off to Packingtown,
And now its labeled chicken”
In response Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act in 1906*****From now on the Federal Government would inspect the process from Corral to the can or sausage or dog…
In response to Harvey W. Wiley’s poison squad’s testing of “Patent Medicines,” and The Jungle…
Congress also passesthe Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906..************This bill was designed to prevent the adulteration and mislabeling of foods and pharmaceuticals.
Conservation –TR’s 3rd “C” ---Conservation: Earth Control****
****NOTE: THIS WAS TR’S MOST ENDURING TANGIBLE LEGACY TO AMERICA.
TR was an “outdoorsman,” he was a hunter, naturalist, rancher and lover of the great outdoors…
TR understood that our natural resources were not inexhaustible and that greed was accelerating the destructive processes so much that the environmental consequences of their actions were not considered, $$$ was all that mattered….
Americans were wasteful…ranchers, miners, timberman, industrialists all wanted profits $$$
TR is one of a few CONSERVATIONISTS…that understood that this destruction would have to be minimalized or even stopped or there would be nothing left but a wasteland…
TR was not the 1st President to act to preserve our resources;The Desert Land Act in 1877 sold land that was arid cheaply as long as it was irrigated within 3 years, The Forest Reserve Act, 1891, was more effective, authorizing the President to set aside public forests as NATIONAL PARKS and other reserves. The Carey Act of 1894 distributed some Federal lands to States on the condition that they be irrigated and settled.
Under the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 46 million acres were rescued from being cut and preserved forever…
HOWEVER, TR was, up to this time, along with his friend, Gifford Pinchot, head of the Division of Forestry, THE 1ST PRESIDENT TO LEAD AND USE ALL OF HIS POWERFUL INFLUENCE, AND ENERGIES TO COMMIT THIS COUNTRY TO THE IDEA OF CONSERVATION.
“We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible; this is not so…wastefulness in dealing [with our natural wealth] means that our descendants will feel the exhaustion.”
TR to Congress, 1907
Under TR, Congress passes the NEWLANDS ACT, 1902 – it authorized the federal government to take profits from the sale of public land to create irrigation projects in the arid West – The Giant Roosevelt dam on the Salt River in Arizona is an example….DOZENS OF DAMS WERE CONSTRUCTED IN THE ENSUING DECADES USING THIS LEGISLATION…providing electrical power and thousands of acres of irrigated farm land to the WEST.
Under TR, he set aside in federal reserves over 125 million acres of forest lands…3x the acreage of all previous presidents…he set aside millions of acres of coal deposits and water resources…and he banned Christmas Trees in the White House in 1902 to set an example.
Conservation, may have been, TR’s most enduring tangible achievement.*********
The Boy Scouts of America, the nations largest youth organization, grew incredibly during this period…The Sierra Club, founded in 1902 to preserve the nations wilderness grew as well…
A major battle of philosophies emerged during this time – Conservation v. Preservation.
Conservationists were supported by TR and Gifford Pinchot- and the theory of Rational Use ormultiple use resource Management…”The test of utility…implies that no lands will be permanently reserves which can serve the people better in another way.” -- their goal was to MANAGE THE RESOURCES FOR THE PEOPLES BENEFIT
Preservationists were supported by the Sierra Club and famed naturalist John Muir.They believed that the wilderness should be PRESERVED for the wild creatures….and devoid of human interference….”unspoiled.”
******One spectacular example of this conflict occurs in California’s HETCHY-HETCY VALLEY in Yosemite National Park…in 1913 (Wilson is President now) The Preservationists and Sierra Club LOST a tough fight to preserve the valley in Yosemite National Park….the city of San Francisco won the right to build a dam for its city water resource and flooded the spectacular high walled valley…this “temple,” according to preservationists perspective was destroyed…to Rational Use theorists it was a resource to benefit people…people won.
*** You need to copy and paste this whole piece and save it for review**Makers of America: The Environmentalists******** a small but often tested part of American History
Humans have longed to be the masters of nature…
Native Americans burned forests and grasslands to improve hunting grounds and did what they could to shape the environment to serve their purposes…
The Earliest European colonists used AX and Plow in their attempt to shape the wilderness, as well as bringing many seeds accidentally and crops intentionally that were not native to the soil…
As technology improved in the 19th century it was put to use to shape the environment to meet the needs of a vastly changing industrial society—RR’s, Water Powered mills, Steam Powered drills and dredges to Mine and shape rivers, …as this occurred a noise of protest emerged THE VOICE OF ENVRIONMENTALISM.
The battle began to pit the city dwellers and moneyed folk who longed for the wilderness either from fantasy or memory v. the people who lived in the wilderness who opposed restrictions because they made their living in it…farmers, loggers, miners for example
By the 20th century and the “closing of the frontier” many urban Americans romanticized their pioneer ancestors. They reinvent hunting and fishing as “sport” not to put food on the table to survive… this fuels the growth of groups like the Sierra Club and made naturalist John Muir famous due to his mythical telling of an “unspoiled natural wilderness.” TR promoted “Conservation” or “Multiple Use Resource Management,” a utilitarian concept that would conserve and use wilderness for the benefit of people, Gifford Pinchot, his Director of Forestry is notable for his contributions to the Conservation Philosophy- his idea mentioned above, the Rational Use Theory, guides the US Government’s environmental policies through the 20th century…and bloomed during the Great Depression projects such as the Great Dam building-electrical power producing Tennessee River Valley Authority, the Soil Conservation Service, and the Shelterbelt Tree Planting Project. The enormity of the New Deal Projects brought many Americans for the first time into contact with the idea that nature had to be preserved and helped to stimulate the ENVIRONMENTAL GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT OF THE POST-WWII ERA.
Ecological Science after WWII fundamentally changes the debate about the relation of nature to civilization… Ecologists charges that “rationality” ignored the intricacies of complex biological systems…the interrelationships that linked together all organisms…and the perils that could arise if these complex systems were permanently changed…. RACHEL CARSON IN HER BOOK, SILENT SPRING, 1962, exposed the far-reaching effects of pesticides (DDT) on birds, plants, and animals-including humans…
Hordes of Baby Boomers in the 1960’s began to flock to the outdoors and membership in the groups like the Sierra Club and Audubon Society “boomed.” The resulting Environmental Movement was one of the many “movements” of this period… and as a result we celebrate the 1st EARTH DAY, in 1970. This modern Environmental Movement combined Scientific analysis with Preservation… and led to the Federal Government creating the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY IN 1970…SOON FOLLOWED BY THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT AND CLEAN AIR AND WATER ACTS… A DRASTIC CHANGE FOR AMERICA BEGAN TO TAKE SHAPE…
Today we hear about issues such as Global Warming…and it serves notice that the planet earth does not recognize natural boundaries…. And we as citizens of a rapidly changing world have to be cognizant of the dangers in not “RESPECTING MOTHER NATURE.”
The Roosevelt Panic of 1907
TR easily wins the Election of 1904 and begins his last term in office…his first “elected” term… However, his 2nd term would not be so smooth….the “teddy bear” was considered dangerous and unpredictable by the conservative “old guard” republicans and when he calls for even more reform; more “busting,” a personal income tax, and protecting workers…he also announced that he would not run for a third term in office (did not want to break the 2-term tradition started by GW….although legally there was no law against a president serving more than two terms until the 1950’s) this announcement combined with his proposed reforms was a tactical mistake and led to the “old guard” conservative republicans began to attack him…especially after in 1907 the economy began to fail…
The 1907 financial panic, conservative claimed, was caused by the rush of Progressive Reforms and TR’s unpredictability… but this panic led to more reform…this time financial…Congress in 1908 passed the Aldrich-Vreeland act- which authorized national banks (created during the civil war again) to issue emergency currency (the problem was the lack of “elasticity” of the currency)….and led to the MOMENTUS ---FEDERAL RESERVE ACT OF 1913 –WHICH MANGAGES OUR CURRENCY TODAY…