Chapter 15: The Progressive Movement

US History ll Honors

Describe the Square Deal

1. Control Large Corporations

2. Conserve Natural Resources

3. Protect the Consumer

Teddy Roosevelt’s View on Trusts

Roosevelt thought that trusts and other large business organizations were efficient and part of the reason for the prosperity of the United States. Yet he also felt that the monopoly power of some trusts hurt the public interest. He wanted to ensure that trusts did not abuse their power.

Teddy Roosevelt’s View on Government Responsibility

Roosevelt believed that the government should balance the needs of competing groups in American society on behalf of the public interest. His reform programs soon became known as the Square Deal.

Gentlemen’s Agreement

An informal and legally non-binding agreement between two or more parties.

Laissez-faire Economics

An unregulated market

What happened in the 1902 Coal Strike?

Miners struck for higher wages, shorter workdays, and the recognition of their union. The strike threatened to shut down the winter fuel supply to major American cities.

What is arbitration?

A procedure in which a dispute is submitted, by agreement of the parties, to one or more arbitrators who make a binding decision on the dispute.

16th Amendment

It grants Congress the authority to issue an income tax without having to determine it based on population.

Roll of the Government in the Progressive Era

Most agreed that the government should take a more active role in solving society’s problems. At the same time, they doubted that the government in its present form could fix those problems. They concluded that the government had to be fixed before it could be used to fix other problems.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Tragedy changed what?

On March 25, 1911, a tragedy occurred in New York City that led to new reforms. A fire on the top floors of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company caused nearly 150 of the factory’s 500 workers to lose their lives, mainly because the doors were locked from the outside. In response, New York created a Factory Investigating Commission and soon passed new laws that reformed the labor code.

The Jungle

Upton Sinclair exposed the horrible conditions of the meat packing industry in his book The Jungle. Which led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act.

Taft

• He split the republican party into two groups

  • Conservatives and progressives

• Secretary of War before he became president

• He founded the Children’s Breau

• He was viewed as a trusted Buster

• Busted around 90 trusts

• He was a republican

Woodrow Wilson

• Democrat

• Also, implement progressive reforms but attack the TRIPLE WALL OF PRIVILEGE

• Wilson changed the nation's economic policies and led the United States into World War I in 1917.

Pure Food and Drug Act

• Creation of the FDA

• Responsible for testing all food and drugs

• Requires a prescription from a licensed physician

Meat Inspection Act

• Cleanliness requirements

• Carcass inspection

Federal Reserve

• Strengthen management of banks and money supply

• The banking system under federal control

Federal Trade Commission

• Investigate possible violations

• Watchdog agency of business

Muckraker

A group of journalists who investigated social conditions and political corruption. Uncovered corruption in many areas (government, unfair business practices, social problems).

Recall

Allows voters to demand a special-called election to remove an elected official from office before his/her term ends.

17 Amendment

17th Amendment (1912) provides for the direct election of U.S. senators.

• In the past U.S. Senators were chosen by the state legislatures (corruption).

19th Amendment

Guarantees women the right to vote.

Industrialization and Urbanization created what problems?

Rapid, unregulated, urbanization meant overcrowding, substandard housing for working people, inadequate infrastructure (including water and sewage systems), and the spread of epidemic diseases like tuberculosis.

Wilson’s accomplishments

1. Clayton Antitrust Act 1914

   • Strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act

   • Prohibited corporations to acquire stock of another to form a monopoly

   • Labor and farm unions are not subject

2. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

   • Investigate possible violations

   • Watchdog agency of business

3. Lower Tariffs

   • Underwood Act: substantial reduction in tariffs

   • Set a precedent for delivering the State of the Union in person

   • Wilson appeals to the people - denounced lobbyists