The American Pageant - Chapter 28 Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt PDF

# The American Pageant ## Chapter 28 Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt 1901-1912 ### I. Background to the Progressive Movement #### A. Progressivism-reform movement to clean up capitalism and eliminate corruption in the political process 1. Based in Christian teachings * Used religious d...

# The American Pageant ## Chapter 28 Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt 1901-1912 ### I. Background to the Progressive Movement #### A. Progressivism-reform movement to clean up capitalism and eliminate corruption in the political process 1. Based in Christian teachings * Used religious doctrine to demand better housing and living conditions for the urban poor ("Social Gospel") 2. European immigrants who had experience in state socialism * Brought socialist ideas to the U.S. 3. "Strengthen the state" was the battle cry of progressivism * A strengthened state would allow government to act as an agency of human welfare 4. Progressives wanted to stem the threat of socialism by generally improving the condition of the common man in a capitalist society 5. In order for the government to become stronger it had to become less corrupt 6. Unregulated capitalism and the urban boom required stronger government supervision and intervention #### B. Who were the Progressives? 1. Mostly middle-class 2. Democrats and Republicans as well as other party members called themselves "progressives" * Unlike the Populists movements, Progressives constituted a majority of Americans in both political parties 3. From all regions of the country 4. Feminists were progressives who advocated for social justice by granting women the right to vote 5. As a result of the progressives, reform dominated the first decade of the 1900s #### C. Writers Who Preceded the Progressive Era Writers and politicians created the Progressive movement by bringing the ideas of reform to the American people 1. "Muckrakers"-writers who exposed the social, political and economic ills of the country; muckrake-a pitchfork used to clean manure out of stables * Term originally used by Teddy Roosevelt who condemned those that "made their living telling scandalous falsehoods of honest men" * Did not provide remedies to the problems of society * Attempted to right the wrongs with publicity * Were not socialists * Not trying to eliminate capitalism; wanted to clean it up * Published books, most notoriety came from excerpts in magazines 2. Examples of muckrakers and their work * "How the Other Half Lives" 1890 Jacob A. Riis, Danish immigrant * Wrote about life in the tenements in NYC * "The History of Standard Oil" 1904 Ida M. Tarbell * Called Standard Oil the "Mother of Trusts" * "The Jungle" 1906 Upton Sinclair * Exposed deplorable working conditions in the meatpacking industry * "The Bitter Cry of the Children" 1906 John Spargo * Exposed the working conditions for young boys in the mines * "The Theory of the Leisure Class" 1899 Thorstein Veblen * Wrote about "predatory wealth" * "The Treason of the Senate" 1906 David G. Phillips * 75 out of 90 senators didn't represent the people, but represented the railroads and other trusts * "The Shame of the Cities" 1902 Lincoln Steffans * Showed the corruption between big business and city government ### II. Political Reform #### A. Initiative-procedure by which voters can create new legislation through a ballot #### B. Referendum-procedure by which voters can repeal old legislation through a ballot #### C. Recall-procedure by which voters can remove an undesirable official through a ballot #### D. Direct primary election-voters decide their party's candidates #### E. Australian ballot-government printed ballot of uniform size and shape to be cast in secret 1. Adopted by many states in the years up to and including 1890 as a means of reducing voting fraud associated with party-printed ballots cast in public (not in voting booths) 2. Prior to the adoption of Australian ballot * People could vote more than once called "floaters" or "repeaters" * Common phrase "Vote early and vote often." * Parties controlled the counting of votes (the numbers of votes often exceeded the number of registered voters in a district) #### F. Women's Suffrage 1. Considered part of the progressive era * In fact it had been in the process since the Seneca Falls Convention 1848 2. Women were increasingly being included in the industrial workplace * 1910 Eight million women worked outside of the home in the U.S. 3. Western states and territories were the first to give women the right to vote at the local and state level as a result of their non-traditional roles * 1869 Wyoming * 1870 Utah * 1883 Washington * 1893 Colorado * 1896 Idaho * By 1914 women had the vote in all western states (except New Mexico) #### G. Progressivism in the cities and states 1. City-manager system-city level of municipal government * Commissioners who had some expertise in a particular area of city government were given the task of running that division * Galveston, Texas became the example * City-manager systems allowed for many targeted progressive reforms * Reforms targeted * Residential "slumlords" * Juvenile delinquency * End to prostitution * Proved much more effective than the municipal governments run by mayors, other city officials and law enforcement who were frequently controlled by political machines 2. Wisconsin idea-state level * Governor Robert M. "Fighting Bob" La Follette (R-WI) * Formed an academic alliance to improve government * La Follette called on academics to help him draft legislative reform * To ensure that his reform measures would get passed, he had the voting roll call read publicly in the districts of legislators who opposed reform * Earned his nickname by fighting to clean up government and producing social reform * 1901-1906 La Follette got rid of many party bosses, brought a direct primary, civil service reform, regulation of public utilities * Many other states soon followed the Wisconsin idea ### III. Progressive Women #### A. Settlement House movement led to exposure to social work for middle class women #### B. Women's club movement allowed women to focus on specific areas and eventually translate club specific interests into social movements #### C. Maternal issues such as child labor, health/air conditions, tenements, food quality, food supply and female working conditions became women's issues during the Progressive Era #### D. Feminist issues now became divisions within the federal Department of Labor * A. Children's Bureau 1912 * B. Women's Bureau 1920 #### E. Florence Kelley-a one time resident of a settlement house herself * A. Became the first chief factory inspector for the state of Illinois * B. 1899 Took control of the newly founded National Consumers League #### F. Muller v. Oregon 1908-protective paternalism * Louis D. Brandeis persuaded the Supreme Court to accept the constitutionality of laws protecting female workers * The American welfare state that emerged from female activism focused more on protecting women and children than on granting benefits to everyone ### IV. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire March 25, 1911 New York City #### A. Company occupied the upper floors of a ten story building making tailored women's blouses * 500 immigrant women (mostly young Jewish and Italian girls) worked #### B. When fire broke out it spread quickly as the fabric fed the fire #### C. Doors of the factory floors were locked (from the outside) to keep workers in * One open stairway to the roof enabled a few women to escape * Many women piled onto the one rusty fire escape which gave way and the women crashed to their deaths * Other women jumped from the windows to avoid the flames #### D. Ladders on the fire trucks at the time were too short #### E. Many women jumped to firemen's nets which were not made for jumps from such a high building; nets gave way and the women crashed to the pavement #### F. Many women died from smoke inhalation and were found hunched over their sewing machines #### G. A total of 146 workers died #### H. Women's groups pressured the city government of NY which eventually * 1. Appointed fire commissioners * 2. Made fire drills mandatory * 3. Made unlocked fire proof exists mandatory * 4. Required sprinklers in buildings that were more than seven stories high #### After the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, state reformers worked to curb workplace hazards ### V. Prohibition #### A. Saloons and alcohol became the target of progressives #### B. Drinking was associated with * 1. Prostitution and the "drunken voter" * 2. Problems of the cities to the new immigrants #### C. Prohibition groups saw links between saloons, immigrants, and political machines #### D. Immigrant men used saloons as social clubs as they had in the "old country" #### E. Temperance Movement--organized campaign to eliminate alcohol consumption * Three groups dominated the movement * 1. Prohibition Party formed in 1869 * 2. Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) founded in 1874 * 3. Anti-Saloon League formed in 1893 #### F. "Dry" laws-some counties and states * Restricted alcohol use on certain days or altogether in certain areas #### G. "Wet" cities generally remained "wet" meaning that there was * No restriction on alcohol consumption #### H. Prohibition started off as a women's issue #### I. Three main goals of prohibition * 1. Eliminate drunkenness and resulting abuse of family members and others * 2. Get rid of saloons where prostitution, gambling, other forms of vice thrived * 3. Prevent absenteeism and on the job accidents stemming from drunkenness * Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1919 ### VI. Theodore Roosevelt's Square Deal #### A. Roosevelt viewed the presidency as a "bully pulpit"-an ideal platform from which to guide the American public to support moral, worthy causes * 1. Credited with creating a major expansion in federal authority in which the chief executive is a strong political force * 2. Demanded a "Square Deal" for capital, labor, and the public at large in tandem with government #### B. Square Deal comprised of the 3Cs * 1. Control of the Corporations, 2. Consumer protection, 3. Conservation of natural resources #### C. Anthracite Coal Mine Strike 1902 United Mine Workers in PA * 1. Miners wanted * a. 20% pay increase * b. Reduction in hours to a 9 hour work day * 2. Strike threatened to cut off critically needed coal nationwide * 3. TR had representatives from both sides meet at the White House to negotiate * a. He threatened to use federal troops to seize and operate the mines to help ensure the nation's coal supply * b. TR's threat was significant because it was the first time that federal force was threatened against capital instead of against labor * 4. Owners agreed to arbitration * 5. First time a president intervened on behalf of labor * 6. Workers ended up with a 10% pay increase and a 9 hour work day * 7. Roosevelt called this a "square deal" for both sides in the strike and the phrase became a slogan for his presidency #### D. Department of Commerce and Labor 1903 created at TR's suggestion * Bureau of Corporations was created as a division of the department to investigate interstate commerce * Creation of the Bureau of Corporations was significant because it allowed the federal government to investigate business and engage in "trust-busting" ### VII. Teddy Roosevelt as "Trustbuster" #### A. Roosevelt believed that there were * 1. Good trusts that took into consideration the public welfare and * 2. Those that existed only for profit #### B. Roosevelt takes on the railroad companies * 1. Elkins Act 1903-set fines for RRs and shippers who participated in rebates * 2. Hepburn Act 1906-authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce the limitation of preferential rates given out by RR companies to their best customers * As a result of the Hepburn Act, the ICC became the first regulatory agency of the federal government. * 3. Northern Securities Case 1904 * Using the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Roosevelt filed a lawsuit against * James J. Hill's and J.P. Morgan's Northern Securities Railroad Company in 1902 * Supreme Court upheld Roosevelt's suit in the Northern Securities decision, which forced the giant railroad company to disband #### C. Roosevelt filed similar suits against dozens of other trusts, including the beef trust, the sugar trust, and the harvester trust * 1. 1905 Supreme Court declared the beef trust illegal * 2. 42 antitrust suits were filed during the Roosevelt administration * 3. T.R. wanted to eliminate trusts that harmed the public * 4. Wanted to prove that the government, not private business ruled the country #### VIII. Roosevelt protected the Consumer * A. European markets were threatening to stop importing American beef due to safety concerns * B. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle * C. Meat Inspection Act 1906-required federal inspection of meat processing to insure sanitary conditions * D. Pure Food and Drug Act 1906-prevented misleading or false labeling of food and drugs ### IX. Roosevelt as a Conservationist Fearful that industrialization and mining was going to result in the depletion of the nation's resources, T.R. and other progressives pushed for environmental reform #### A. Desert Land Act 1877-government sold arid land if the buyer would agree to irrigate the land within three years #### B. Forest Reserve Act 1891-authorized the President to set aside public forests as national parks and other reserves (reserved 46 million acres) #### C. Carey Act 1894--distributed federal land to the states if were irrigated and settled #### D. Newlands Act 1902-authorized the federal government to sell public lands in western states in order to build irrigation systems * Roosevelt Dam 1911 completed * Ushers in a new era of creating dams throughout the western rivers #### E. Conservation movement was inspired by literary pieces such as * Jack London's Call of the Wild #### F. Sierra Club 1892 founded ### X. "Roosevelt Panic" of 1907 #### A. Financial panic caused runs on banks, suicides and criminal indictments against speculators #### B. Financiers blamed Roosevelt's policies for the financial downturn * "Theodore the Meddler" the "Roosevelt Panic" #### C. T.R. blamed the trusts for arranging the panic to try to stop "trust busting" #### D. Eventually the panic led to financial reform * Aldrich-Vreeland Act 1908 * 1. Allowed national banks to issue notes to put more money into circulation. * 2. Its aim was to give elasticity to the currency by permitting national banks to issue additional currency on bonds of states, cities, towns, and counties, as well as commercial paper. * 3. Created the National Monetary Commission to investigate monetary systems and banking abroad and to advise Congress on reforms of the American banking system. ### XI. Election of 1908 #### In 1904 after winning election, T.R. announced that he would not seek a third term in 1908 #### A. William Howard Taft T.R.'s Vice president and close friend #### B. William Jennings Bryan nominated by the Democrats #### C. Both candidates campaigned on a progressive platform #### D. Taft easily defeated Bryan by more than a million popular votes #### E. T.R. left for an African safari ### XII. William Howard Taft #### A. Dollar Diplomacy-Taft believed that he could convince smaller, developing nations to support the U.S. by investing American dollars in their economies This economic/foreign policy made both allies and profits for the U.S. and American investors * 1. Manchuria * a. Taft attempted to put his Dollar Diplomacy to the test when he offered to purchase and develop the Manchurian Railway to prevent Russia and Japan from seizing control of it and colonizing the region * b. Both powers refused to hand the railway over to the U.S.; the deal fell through * 2. Latin America * a. U.S. had invested millions of dollars into unstable Latin American countries * Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba and the Dominican Republic but eventually had to send occupation troops to protect their investments * b. 1912 Nicaragua 2,500 troops needed to be sent to maintain peace in * Troops stayed until 1925 * 3. Taft's "Dollar Diplomacy" ultimately failed #### B. Taft as "Trust buster" * 1. Taft brought 90 anti-trust suits against monopolies in his four year administration * 2. Standard Oil Case 1911 * a. Supreme Court ruled that it was in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 * b. Used the "rule of reason" -only those combinations that "unreasonably" restrained trade were illegal * c. Result was the break-up of the oil giant * d. Ruling slowed down the government's prosecution of antitrust suits * 3. 1911-Taft filed an anti-trust suit against U.S. Steel * This infuriated T.R. who had been involved in the original merger to lawfully create U.S. Steel #### C. Payne-Aldrich Tariff 1909 * 1. Taft had campaigned on a platform of reducing the protective tariff * 2. Ultimately Taft did not have the political power to prevent conservatives within the Republican party from repeatedly amending a bill for a lower tariff * 3. By the time the Payne-Aldrich Tariff reached the president, conservatives had made so many amendments to keep tariffs high on certain products that the overall tariff rate had remained practically unchanged * 4. 1909-Taft signed the bill anyway and they hailed it as the best bill Republicans had ever passed * 5. Outraged progressives denounced the tariff and called Taft a traitor #### D. Ballinger-Pinchot Affair 1910 * 1. Gifford Pinchot-head of the Forestry Division in the Department of Agriculture * a. Appointed by Roosevelt * b. Angered Taft by opposing * Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger's decision to sell public wilderness lands in Alaska and Rocky Mountains to corporate developers * c. 1910-Taft fired Pinchot for insubordination * 2. Taft refused to reinstate Pinchot even after T.R. and other progressive Republicans begged Taft to do so * 3. Results * a. Tarnished Taft's public image as a conservationist and a progressive * b. Created an even greater rift between Roosevelt and Taft * c. Taft was accused of being dominated by the "Old guard" (non-progressive) wing of the Republican Party #### E. Election of 1912-Taft and Roosevelt go their separate ways * 1. National Progressive Republican League 1911 was formed * 2. Senator Robert La Follette of Wisconsin became the leading Republican nominee * 3. 1912 Theodore Roosevelt went on a writing campaign to seven Republican governors presenting himself as a willing Republican nominee for the election * a. T.R. famously stated "My hat is in the ring." * b. In a nasty primary campaign season, T.R. claimed to be the true progressive and pushed La Follette aside * 4. Republican Convention in Chicago Illinois August, 1912 * a. Progressive wing of the Republican party nominated * Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette, attempting to unseat Taft * "Old Guard" supported Taft * b. Roosevelt and his supporters left the convention and formed a third-party Progressive Party more commonly referred to as the Bull Moose Party * 5. Taft supporters stayed true to him. He received the Republican nomination * 6. Teddy Roosevelt's platform New Nationalism * a. Stricter regulation of large corporations * b. Creation of a tariff commission * c. Women's suffrage * d. Minimum wages and benefits * e. Direct election of senators * f. Initiative, referendum, recall * g. Presidential primaries * h. Prohibition of child labor * 7. Democratic convention in Baltimore, Maryland * a. Great dissent within the party * b. Dr. Woodrow Wilson New Jersey Governor vs. William Jennings Bryan * c. Wilson nominated on 46th ballot after Bryan eventually gave his support * New Freedom Wilson's platform * 1. Support of small business and entrepreneurship * 2. Free, unregulated markets * 3. Against social welfare programs * 4. Fragmentation, not regulation, of big industry by enforcing anti-trust laws * 8. Eugene V. Debs-Socialist Candidate * a. Debs promoted public ownership of the nation's natural resources and those industries "vital" to the nation's health * b. Debs received almost one million votes in the election * With the Republican Party split Democrat Wilson won the presidency, winning 42% of the vote-a minority president.