Module 2: Progressive Era, Taft/Roosevelt/Wilson, and Early American Imperialism 9/8/25

Announcements

• Quiz 1 opens today in Module 2 and covers Module 2 only.
  • Format: 35 minutes, multiple choice, true/false, phone or blind.
  • Opens today; must be completed by 11:59\text{ PM} on Thursday.
  • You have today, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to complete it.
  • If you fail to take it, you get a zero.
• Extra credit: History Club event today in Room M-345 (the big lecture hall in the center of the floor).
  • Topic: "Is the Pope Black?" with visiting professor Geraldine Forbes (SUNY Oswego) and our Dr. Rick McLean.
  • Event includes refreshments. Attendance is required for extra credit.
  • Assignment: write two paragraphs
  • Paragraph 1: summarize the event (what was discussed).
  • Paragraph 2: your reaction, opinions, what you learned.
  • Submit as an email attachment to the instructor (or attach in the course portal).
  • Grading: each extra credit event can add 10 points to your lowest quiz score that is not a zero.
  • Expect more extra credit opportunities at future History Club events (and possibly other activities) throughout the semester.
• This topic is intended to be interesting and provocative. See you there if you attend.
• Any questions before we start?

Introduction to the session: Taft, Roosevelt, Wilson

• Teddy Roosevelt urged the Republican party to nominate his friend William Howard Taft as the nominee for the presidential race in 1908; Taft won and became the 27^{th} president.
• Taft is presented as the polar opposite of Roosevelt: Roosevelt loved politics and public life; Taft hated politics and had never held an elective office prior to becoming president (all earlier roles were appointed positions).
• Taft’s dream: to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; he would be appointed to that role after leaving the presidency.
• Roosevelt: energetic, robust, outdoorsman; Taft: the opposite; very large physically and personally.
• Taft weighed well over 300 pounds (the lecture notes mention he was the heaviest president). There’s a famous anecdote: when Taft moved into the White House, he couldn’t fit in the bathtub and a special oversized tub was built for him.
• Taft also described himself as extremely lazy; he reportedly fell asleep at cabinet meetings, state dinners, and public events.
• Constitutional stance: Taft was a strict constructionist, meaning he believed the federal government could act only where the Constitution explicitly authorized it; loose constructionists favor a broader interpretation of government powers.

Roosevelt vs. Taft: policy tensions and the 1912 split

• Taft rolled back several of Roosevelt’s progressive initiatives as president: tariff reductions, closer ties to big business, and reopening millions of acres of protected federal lands for development.
• Roosevelt was furious with Taft and accused him of betraying the progressive cause; Taft referred to Roosevelt and his supporters as "assistent Democrats" (from the slide’s phrasing).
• February 24, 1912: Roosevelt announced his challenge to Taft for the Republican nomination; media coverage grew ugly.
• Roosevelt attacked Taft as a "second-rate fathead"; Taft called Roosevelt an "egomaniacal demagogue" and a "dangerous threat to American liberty."
• Roosevelt’s bid split the Republican Party: Taft vs. Roosevelt; Roosevelt defeated Taft in Taft’s home state of Ohio in the primary but the party still nominated Taft after state conventions controlled by party bosses.
• Roosevelt didn’t give up: he helped form a new third party, the Progressive Party, nicknamed the Bull Moose Party.
• The Progressive Party platform (1912) was radical for its time:
  • Living wage for hourly workers;
  • An eight-hour workday;
  • Campaign finance reform;
  • A form of Social Security to protect workers against sickness, unemployment, and disability;
  • Support for women’s voting rights (Roosevelt personally didn’t push it as strongly, but the platform did).
• Conservative critics labeled Roosevelt a dangerous revolutionary socialist; defenders argued opponents used fear-mongering.

The 1912 election and Woodrow Wilson

• The Republican split opened the door for the Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson (then the Governor of New Jersey; former President of Princeton University; the first U.S. president with a PhD from Johns Hopkins University in Political Science).
• Wilson’s character and campaign: he was ambitious, idealistic, and, in hindsight, often described as having a strong sense of intellectual elitism (a “god complex” about his own leadership role).
• The 1912 race featured four candidates: Taft (R), Roosevelt (Progressive), Wilson (D), and Eugene Debs (Socialist Party).
• Wilson won in a landslide, but with only 41\% of the popular vote, the lowest since Lincoln in those terms.
• Wilson ran on a program called "New Freedom":
  • Advocate for smaller government and states’ rights;
  • Government intervention was to be a last resort;
  • His aim: restore economic competition by eliminating trusts and monopolies (not just a few, but all). He argued reforms favored human rights over property rights and called for greater government transparency.

Wilson’s domestic reforms and their significance

• Tariff reform: Wilson summoned Congress into a special session; resulted in the Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act of 1913, which lowered tariff duties on more than 1{,}000 imported goods.
• Revenue reform: The same act created the first income tax under the newly ratified 16^{ ext{th}} Amendment (ratified in 1913).
  • Initial income tax: 1 ext{%} on every dollar earned over 3{,}000; at the time, the average per-capita income was about 428 per year, so very few Americans paid income tax.
• Banking reform: The Federal Reserve Act, passed on 12/23/1913, established a national banking system with 12 regional districts (Federal Reserve Banks). National banks had to be members of the Fed system. The goal was to manage the money supply more effectively and stabilize the banking system.
• Antitrust and competition: The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 strengthened antitrust laws by prohibiting price discrimination across different buyers and exempting labor unions from antitrust suits; it also created the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
  • The FTC was empowered to define "unfair trade practices" and issue cease-and-desist orders.
  • Wilson framed these steps as measures to destroy monopolies and to promote competition as the engine of economic liberty.
• Achievements delivered rapidly: In the first two years, Wilson implemented his major campaign promises (a notable feat in U.S. presidential history): tariff reform, a national banking system, and strengthened antitrust laws.
• But Wilson’s progressive agenda on social issues stalled:
  • Progressive critics argued Wilson was out of touch with the realities of poor and minority Americans; his progressivism on social issues was seen as insufficient.

Racial and gender politics under Wilson

• Wilson and his circle were strongly criticized for racism and for failing to advance civil rights:
  • Many key advisors and cabinet members had white supremacist views or Klan connections; Wilson himself dismissed African Americans and supported segregation.
  • Carter Glass (Virginia) publicly endorsed racial discrimination and aimed to remove Black voters from rolls; Josephus Daniels (Secretary of the Navy, NC) opposed Black voting rights and supported segregation.
  • Wilson resegregated Washington, DC, and excluded African Americans from federal jobs.
  • When Black leaders confronted Wilson at the White House, he argued that segregation benefited both races by reducing racial conflict; one Black leader, William Monroe Trotter, accused Wilson of creating “a new freedom for white Americans and a new slavery for Black women.”
  • Wilson dismissed the Black delegation after this exchange.
• Women’s suffrage movement:
  • Activists like Alice Paul argued for federal action on women’s voting rights, organizing large-scale protests.
  • In 1916, Alice Paul led a 5,000-person protest at Wilson’s inauguration; in 1917-1918, the National Women’s Party organized daily White House protests for six months; Paul was arrested and went on a hunger strike, later force-fed.
  • Wilson eventually pardoned Paul and the other women leaders, pressured by ongoing protest and the broader suffrage movement.
• Overall, Wilson’s record on social justice is described as regressive on race and gender, despite his domestic reforms in other areas.

The Progressive Era: assessment and legacy

• The Progressive Era transformed American governance by establishing a recognized duty of government to protect citizens from abuses by powerful corporations and corrupt politicians.
• Critics note important gaps and limitations, especially on racial and gender equality; the era’s momentum waned with the onset of World War I.
• The module closes with a note that the progressive movement would face a sudden and permanent end due to the Great War, which would be covered in the next module.

Prelude to Module 3: U.S. foreign policy and the imperial turn

• Pre-20th-century foreign policy: Prior to the 20th century, the United States largely avoided entangling alliances and European conflicts, focused on continental expansion and the idea of manifest destiny.
• Monroe Doctrine: The U.S. would stay out of European affairs and European powers would stay out of the Western Hemisphere; by the late 19th century, the U.S. began to take on greater global responsibilities and imperial ambitions.
• Expansionism and imperialism (late 19th century): As the U.S. industrialized, leaders argued for overseas territories to secure raw materials and new markets for manufactured goods; this was justified by a modernized form of manifest destiny that encompassed overseas territories rather than just continental expansion.
• Racial and religious undertones: Supporters of expansion argued for white racial superiority and the spread of Christian values; religious and racial motivations were used to justify overseas expansion.
• Key leaders and ideas driving expansion:
  • Senators Albert Beveridge and Henry Cabot Lodge were proponents of overseas expansion.
  • Admiral Alfred Mahan argued that national greatness depended on sea power; he emphasized a strong navy and bases overseas as essential to a rising American empire.
  • Mahan’s book, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History (1890), advocated for a powerful navy, naval bases, and control of strategic routes and territories.
• Imperial turn and milestones: By the 1890s, the United States pursued a broader imperial project, including the acquisition of territories in the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Asia (culminating in events around the Spanish-American War in 1898).
• Naval expansion and status: By 1896, the United States had built 11 new battleships, making the U.S. navy the third most powerful in the world behind Great Britain and Germany.
• The overseas project included aims such as building the canal across Central America, acquiring Hawaii and the Philippines, and spreading American investments abroad; there was also a religious motive to spread Christianity.
• The session ends here with plans to continue in module 3.

Key terms and concepts to review

• Strict constructionist: a view of constitutional interpretation that government powers are limited to those explicitly stated in the Constitution.
• Loose constructionist: a broader interpretation of what the government can do under the Constitution.
• New Freedom (Wilson): Wilson’s program advocating smaller government and greater competition; targeted the dissolution of monopolies.
• New Nationalism (Roosevelt) vs. New Freedom (Wilson): different progressive frameworks; Roosevelt favored more regulation and reform within a national framework; Wilson pushed deeper anti-monopoly reforms through federal institutions.
• Bull Moose Party: Theodore Roosevelt’s 1912 Progressive Party after splitting from the Republicans.
• Underwood Tariff Act (1913): Tariff reductions and the introduction of an income tax via the 16th Amendment.
• 16th Amendment: Constitutional amendment allowing the federal government to levy an income tax.
• Federal Reserve Act (1913): Created a central banking system with 12 regional districts to stabilize the money supply.
• Clayton Antitrust Act (1914): Strengthened antitrust enforcement and created the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Federal agency empowered to define unfair trade practices and issue cease-and-desist orders.
• Underlying themes of imperialism: manifest destiny extended overseas, access to raw materials and new markets, navy-powered projection of power, and white Christian civilizational aims.

Mathematical and numerical notes (for quick reference)

• Year references: 1908, 1909-1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1898, 1896, 1890, 1880s-1890s
• Presidential numbers and percentages:
  • Taft: 27^{th} president; weight > 300 pounds.
  • Wilson: won in 1912 with 41\% of the popular vote.
• Legislative milestones and dates:
  • Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act: 1913;
  • 16th Amendment (income tax): ratified in 1913;
  • Federal Reserve Act: 12/23/1913;
  • Clayton Antitrust Act: 1914.
• Naval expansion milestone: by 1896, the U.S. had built 11 modern battleships.

Connections to the broader course

• The material connects the decline of pre-reform politics to the rise of a structured progressive reform movement that redefined the role of government in economic regulation and social justice.
• It sets up the transition from domestic reform to foreign policy and imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, leading into module 3.