US History Chapter 21

the first two decades of the 20th century are referred to as the…

“Progressive Era” — a major reform period

Lincoln Steffons

“The Shame of Minneapolis” — described Minneapolis political corruption,, including Alanzo Ames who turned the police department into a gang

Ida Tarbell

“The Oil War of 1872” — explained John D Rockefeller’s predatory business practices

Frank Norris

“The Octopus” — portrayed the tracks of Southern California’s railroad as tentacles greedily seizing everything of value

Upton Sinclair

“The Jungle” — describes the harsh conditions of poor immigrant families

John Spargo

“Bitter Cry of the Children” — discusses the exploitation of child labor in US coal mines

“Knowledge Experts” 

who were they?

what did they believe? 

They were crucial to the Progressive Era — many were freshly graduated new class of college-trained professionals

They believed that the scientific method could be employed to uncover the causes of social problems and find potential solutions

Progressives had to change the way people thought about government…

representing the movement’s ideological battlefront

“The Promise of American Life” by Herbert Croly

Bible of Progressive thinking.

Denied that inalienable rights were bestowed upon every person, instead, he advocated human-made laws imposed by the government to achieve collective social progress.

Herbert Croly believed that…

The country must overcome its emphasis on minimal government and decentralized authority that the Founding Fathers installed in the Constitution 

Croly called for increasing federal powers by establishing…

an independent bureaucracy staffed by knowledge experts who would bring efficiency to the government, protecting society from the tyranny of business predators

Big-Government Liberalism

Croly reshaped the government— his ideas were influential enough to form Big-Government Liberalism, or the Bureaucratic and the Administrative States

Political progressives motto

they believed that the scientific method would help achieve their reform goals

“Investigate, Educate, Legislate” 

Continues to be the function of both the Legislative and Executive branches to this day

“Regulatory Capture”

A regulated industry has the time and resources to sway a government agency to its way of thinking, and the public’s best interest is corrupted in favor of special interests

governmental agencies may become politicized as politicians shift from…

elected office to lucrative positions in lobbying forms

Like gravity’s role in nature, forming the planets, political power tends to…

consolidate and grow over time 

Many progressives sought to neutralize and rein in the excesses of

capitalism 

Progressives took a middle ground between _________ and __________, referring to reform the social ills bred by capitalism rather than __________ it. They liked capitalism’s ability to produce wealth but sought equitable redistribution by taxing the rich to gain government revenue to spend on social programs to improve societal _________.

socialism and capitalism

destroying

conditions

Progressives sought to pick the pockets of the wealthy, inaugurating the progressive, or graduated ______ ___

income tax

Income tax

During the war, a federal income tax was implemented to help pay for the war, and it was discontinued after the war. Later attempts at a federal income tax were deemed unconstitutional because they discriminated against the wealthy

Sixteenth Amendment

made the federal income tax constitutional

Amending the Constitution can be done in one of two ways…

To this day, all Amendment ratifications have been done by… (1 or 2?)

1. State conventions

2. A 2/3 majority of both houses of Congress and approval of ¾ of the states

All have been done by #2

When the 16th Amendment was first instituted, John D Rockefeller had to pay…

$2 million

Internal Revenue Service

new laws allowed this federal service to seize the books of businesses to investigate fraudulent income reporting

Progressives sought to use the government to pound big businesses into …

asserting that private ownership places its greedy interests over those of the …

smaller pieces

public

“Government Socialism” refers to…

Critics of Progressivism claim that the new restraints on big businesses/corporations made the government a constrainer of free markets

Progressives embraced the ______ over ______ theory

nurture over nature

At the urging of Progressives…

• child labor laws were adopted

• school attendance for younger children was required

• the establishment of the family court system forced delinquent fathers to pay child support

Progressives pushed reform efforts to create…

• parks and recreation

• worker’s compensation

• insurance

• welfare programs for the poor

“Municipal Socialism”

local government ownership of municipal transportation, waterworks, gasworks, and the production and distribution of electricity

Why did Progressives want to abolish alcohol? 

They believed it was the cause of many social problems 

Carrie Nation

• Believed it was her God given mission to wipe out the sin of alcohol

• Was arrested 30 times for breaking liquor bottles in saloons

• Got out of jail by selling hatchets with “Death to Rum” engravings

• Part of the WCTU

WTCU — Women’s Christian Temperance Union

• Aimed to create a “sober and pure world”

• Led by Francis Willard

• Became the nation’s largest women’s organization

Anti-Saloon League

• Led by Wayne Wheeler and William Johnson

• Organized Protestant churches to join the crusade

• Lobbied all levels of government to demonize liquor products

Eighteenth Amendment

Prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol in the US (Prohibition)

• Achieved because of the efforts of the WCTU and Anti-Saloon League

Progressivism was the moment that reform shifted from churches to the…

Secular State (government)

How did Progressive politicians weaken the municipal political machines? 

They eliminated the practice of electing urban officials by wards (neighborhoods) and proposed electing a small number of “at-large) officials who represented the entire city

City Manager Plan

• another effort to dethrone the local political machine

• At-large officials hired a professional manager in place of the machine to run the city like a business

• Claimed this would bring efficiency and effectiveness to urban operations

Robert (“Fighting Bob”) La Follette

• First Progressive to gain a state governorship

• His approach to reform was known as the “Wisconsin Idea”

“Laboratories of Democracy” — refers to…

Progressives looked upon the states as test tubes to try out social and economic ideas (ex: testing social benefits and costs of legalizing marijuana in Colorado)

“Direct Primary”—refers to …

La Follette’s most significant political reform, to get around entrenched politicians

“Direct Democracy”

citizens directly vote on policy initiatives, laws, and other matters

When did Progressives call for Direct Democracy? and why?

Called for Direct Democracy when selecting each state’s two US senators

• Originally in the Constitution, voters did not directly elect them; they were appointed by state legislatures

• Reformed claimed this had led to corruption in the US Senate

Seventeenth Amendment

Providing for voters to directly elect their two senators

What was Progressives’ stance on women’s suffrage?

Both male and female Progressives declared it was time for women to leave the home and participate in public affairs, where they would exercise their moral authority in health care and education.

Progressives believed women’s suffrage would help reformers achieve their goals

NAWSA  (National American Women’s Suffrage Association)

• Founded by Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Carrie Chapman, and Lucy Stone

• Wore white during rallies as a symbol of bringing civility to politics while cleansing the system of corruption

Alice Paul

• Led the militant National Women’s Party

• Began 18 months of picketing the White House

• Gained public sympathy that eventually helped to achieve the passage and ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment

Nineteenth Amendment

Granted women the right to vote on a nationwide basis

What is considered the most significant political reform and democratic achievement of the Progressive Era?

Nineteenth Amendment — granted women the right to vote

Progressiveness sought to expand the power of the federal government through the…

The executive branch, headed by the President

Progressives yearned for an _________ and ________ president

energetic and forceful

Which Progressive Era president led the charge up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War?

Theodore Roosevelt

How did Theodore Roosevelt come to his first term as President?

• Was Vice-President to McKinley

• McKinley was assassinated during his second term

• Roosevelt took office

Roosevelt aimed the power of the presidency directly at trusts, becoming known as the …

Trustbuster

Sherman Antitrust Act

Roosevelt Administration brought 45 antitrust suits against giant corporations 

What was the most notable antitrust suit by the Roosevelt Administration?

When the Supreme Court broke up John D Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust into 34 different companies (Standard Oil Case)

Roosevelt was a ______ _________ who beleived that big businesses were necessary for building the US economic might in the survival of the fittest competition withother great powers; he distinguished between good and bad trusts

Social Darwinist

Elkins Act (Roosevelt Admin)

Authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to impose fines on railroads that gave rebates and the shippers who accepted them

Roosevelt was the first president to…

• Threaten government seizure of a major industry

• To bring the opposing sides of a labor dispute to the White House to settle it (“square deal”)

After Roosevelt’s “square deal” — the federal government…

took on the role of referee

Hepburn Act

Strengthened the power of the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission), allowing it to establish maximum railroad rates and extend its authority over other transportation-related facilities

Meat Inspection Act (Roosevelt Admin)

The meat industry was subjected to federal inspection

The Pure Food and Drug Act (Roosevelt Admin)

Prevented fake foods and drugs from being sold

What were the first consumer protection laws that led to the creation of the Food and Drug Adminstration?

• Meat Inspection Act

• Pure Food and Drug Act

Why do historians consider conservation Roosevelt’s most enduring legacy?

He was the first president to consider the long-term need for protecting the nation’s natural resources

• He prodded Congress to set aside more land for national parks and nature preserves

Roosevelt established the US Forest Service to manage…

Government forestlands

Big Stick Diplomacy

• Roosevelt’s approach to foreign policy

• Using or threatening military force to influence the behavior of foreign countries

Panama Canal

• Prime example of Big Stick Diplomacy

• Inspired by Alfred Mahan

• Wanted to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, connecting the country’s two separate oceans and expanding American national trade

• When Colombia rejected Roosevelt’s proposal, he sent American battleships to the Colombian coast to quell the Panamanian uprising

Monroe Doctrine

Diplomatically informed European countries not to increase their influence or recolonize any part of the Western Hemisphere

Roosevelt added a Corollary aimed at Latin American countries because…

He wanted to exclude European influence in Latin America

The Roosevelt Corollary made America the…

The region’s policeman

• Whenever it felt a Latin American country engaged in a “chronic wrongdoing against US interests

Why did William Taft not fit the Progressive image of an aggressive reformer?

He preferred to calmly review all sides of an issue before deciding

“Enthusiasm for a cause sometimes warps judgement”

William Taft believed that the president should stay within…

Should stay within the bounds prescribed by the Constitution, allowing the legislative process to move forward with reform

• He felt that courts should settle severe economic and social issues based on existing law

Why was Taft called a “Progressive Conservative?”

• His insistence that the trusts must obey the law made him progressive

• His equal insistence that public officials must not go beyond the bounds of the Constitution made him conservative 

Tax signed the first…

Tax on corporate income

• He also supported the federal income tax

“Dollar Diplomacy”

• William Taft’s economic approach to foreign policy

• He worked to replace European loans in Latin America with American loans to reduce the financial influence of Europe in the region

• He encouraged investments in South/Central America, the Caribbean, and the Far East

Ballinger-Pinchot Controversy

• Early reflection of today’s ongoing friction between conservationalists and preservationists 

• Ballinger wanted to conserve the nation’s natural beauty while exploiting natural resources

• Pinchot (preservationist) insisted on prohibiting any development or commercialization of national parks, forests, and monuments

Why were Progressive Republicans angry at Taft?

For not acting on lowering tariffs

When Roosevelt returned from Africa, he ran against Taft for the Republican nomination for president in the 1912 election.

Roosevelt lost to Taft, so he…

So Roosevelt and other Progressives founded the Progressive Party

In the 1912 presidential election, the Democrats nominated…

The Socialist Party nominated…

and Republican/Progressive conservatives nominated…

• Democrats nominated Woodward Wilson

• Socialists nominated Eugene Debs

• Progressive Conservatives nominated Taft

What did Roosevelt say about Taft’s approach in the 1912 presidential campaign?

He claimed that Taft’s approach represented the same old do-nothing Gilded Age way of doing things

“New Nationalism”

Roosevelt ran under this agenda, which involved the subordination of the individual state and region to the nation. Roosevelt wanted to extend federal power into virtually all aspects of American life

In the 1912 election, Roosevelt was inspired by Herbert Croley, New Nationalism would…

concentrate power int he hands of the federal government and the president

During the 1912 election, Wilson positioned himself between Taft’s conservatism and Roosevelt’s radical progressivism. he announced he was against…

He was against all forms of privileged power and would institute a “New Freedom” by breaking down what he called the “Triple Wall of Privilege”

What was Wilson referring to: “Triple Wall of Privilege”

trusts, banks, and the protective tariff

Who won the 1912 election?

Woodward Wilson

Why was the presidential election of 1912 pivotal?

The Republican Party turned conservative as the Progressives of the party departed. The Democratic party became liberal

Wilson was raised in the Reconstruction South and was a “segregationist”—

who considered African Americans inferior to whites

Wilson praised the Confederacy and the KKK. He brought Jim Crow to…

He brought Jim Crow to the White House, overseeing the separation of whites and blacks in the federal government

Clayton Antitrust Act (Wilson Admin)

sought to balance the scales between capital and labor, laid stricter anti-trust provisions on businesses, and was pro-labor by legalizing strikes and other union tactics

The Federal Trade Commission (Wilson Admin)

designed to prevent and punish unfair or deceptive business practices

Underwood Tariff Act (Wilson Admin)

lowered protective tariffs

Wilson followed a “moral diplomacy” course in foreign policy to…

“put good people in power”

He wanted to teach South African republics to elect good men, hoping to bring peace and democracy to the region

Wilson purchased the…

Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million