AICE - Ch. 3

The Gilded Age (1870s-1920s)

• Mark Twain: Coined the term "Gilded Age".
• Overview: Period between the 1870s and 1920s.
• Capitalism: An economic and political system where a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.
  • Good Side: Wealth creation, some individuals become millionaires.
  • Bad Side: Mass urbanization, low wages, poor working conditions, terrible housing.
• Debate: The extent to which the government should regulate capitalism.
• Progressive Movement: Arose to challenge unregulated capitalism and propose societal and governmental changes.

The Progressive Era

• Key Aspects: Addressed issues such as cartels, anti-family sentiments, war, collectivism, regulation, the Federal Reserve, and income tax.

Founding Fathers and the Constitution

• Founding Fathers: Members of the convention that created the US Constitution in 1787; sometimes called framers.
• Constitution: Initially gave primary power to the states, with a limited role for the President and Congress expected to lead.
• Evolution: Strong presidents like Wilson and the Roosevelts shifted power, leading to a modern US where the president holds the most power.

Impact of the Civil War

• Economic Growth: The Civil War stimulated significant economic growth, especially in the North.
• North: Increased demand for guns, ammunition, and clothing led to economies of scale, mass production, and distribution methods.
• Wall Street: The government developed a sophisticated capital-raising system to finance the war.
• Greenbacks: The government introduced paper currency.
• Banking System: Evolved to facilitate borrowing by businesses and the government.
• Tariffs: Taxes on imported goods raised government revenue and protected US producers by increasing the cost of foreign goods.

Population Growth

• Migration: The US experienced a large migration in the late 19th century.
• Immigrants: Provided:
  • Cheap labor for factories.
  • Skilled workers and entrepreneurs for the Industrial Revolution.
  • New consumers for products and goods.
• Improved Living Conditions: Increased money, better food, and healthcare led to an increase in the average lifespan of Americans.

Availability of Land

• Fertile Land: The US had some of the most fertile land in the world.
• Large-Scale Farming: Much of the land was suitable for large-scale crop production, such as wheat.
• Mechanization: Large farms required more mechanization, increasing demand for manufactured goods.
• Food Production: More crops enabled more people to be fed, leading to new cities and factories.
• Food Exporter: The US became an exporter of food.

Transport

• Initial Development: The US initially developed on the east coast and waterways like the Mississippi River.
• Railroads: Played a crucial role in the American Industrial Revolution by transporting raw materials to factories and finished goods to the public.
• Railway Hubs: By 1900, every major city was a railway hub.
• Employment: Railroads employed 1 million workers by 1900 and required significant amounts of steel and coal.
• Competition: Competition among railroad companies pushed prices down and improved quality.

Transcontinental Railroad

• Creation: Two companies, Union Pacific and Central Pacific, worked to create the transcontinental railroad.
  • Union Pacific started in Omaha, Nebraska.
  • Central Pacific started in Sacramento, California.
  • Met in Utah after six years (1862-1868).
• Workers: Mostly immigrants, including Irish in the east and Chinese in the west.
• Travel Time: Reduced coast-to-coast travel time from six months by wagon train to a few days by train.

The Role of Government

• Laissez-faire: Policy of government non-interference in the free market.
  • Few government regulations, tariffs, and subsidies.
• Historical Context: The US had little history of government control of the economy.
• Constitution: The federal government had virtually no role in managing the economy.
  • No laws restricting hours of labor or taxes on profits.
• States: Had a larger role in regulating business.

Sherman Antitrust Act

• Concerns: Late 19th century concerns about the excessive power of some businesses.
• Sherman Antitrust Act (1890): Attempted to outlaw monopolies and trusts to promote marketplace competition.
  • Section 1: Declared illegal every contract or combination in restraint of trade.
  • Section 2: Made it unlawful to monopolize trade or commerce among the states.
• Enforcement: Initially, the Act was not actively enforced by the federal government.

Labor Unions

• Purpose: Organizations created to address work-related difficulties such as low pay, unsafe conditions, and long hours.
• Challenges: Workers often faced problems with employers over union membership.
• Government Intervention: State and federal authorities often used troops to suppress worker strikes and demands.
• Employer Discretion: Employers had wide discretion in managing the workforce.

Technological and Business Innovation

• Innovators: The 1870s and 1880s were marked by innovators and entrepreneurs who became celebrities.
• Andrew Carnegie: A Scottish immigrant who dominated the steel industry (US Steel).
  • Introduced the Bessemer Process to America.
  • Partnered with Henry Frick and amassed great wealth.

Andrew Carnegie

• Company Innovation: Carnegie's company was innovative and dominated the steel industry.
• Labor Relations: Carnegie opposed organized labor and used armed guards to suppress a strike at the Homestead Steel Plant in 1892, resulting in deaths.
• Philanthropy: Later in life, Carnegie expressed misgivings about his wealth and advocated for the rich to help the poor, giving away most of his wealth.

Thomas Edison

• Inventions: Edison was a self-educated US inventor with over 1000 patents.
  • Inventions included the light bulb, phonograph, kinetoscope (movies), and alkaline battery.
• Business Acumen: Created hundreds of companies and made money.
• Innovation: Improved upon the ideas of others.
• Research Labs: Created research labs and employed thousands of people in research.

Availability of Capital

• Stock Market: Companies raised money by issuing stock (shares) in the stock market.
• New York Stock Exchange: Shares were traded in markets like the New York Stock Exchange.
• Railroad Companies: The first US industry to require large sums of capital for expansion.
• Industrial Revolution: Other industries followed the railroads in incorporating and borrowing to finance expansion.
• Capital: The US had large amounts of capital, necessary for an Industrial Revolution.

The Rise of the Corporation

• Corporation: A legal entity separate from its owners, protecting investors from huge losses.
• Growth: The late 19th century saw a dramatic rise in powerful corporations.
• Wealth Creation: Fortunes could be made or lost, and many Americans became fabulously rich during this period.

Trusts

• State Laws: Some states prohibited companies in one state from owning property or shares in other states to prevent monopolies.
• Henry Flagler: Secretary of Standard Oil, found a way around these laws by creating trusts.
• Trust: A relationship where one person holds property for the benefit of another party.
• John Rockefeller: Controlled the oil industry through trusts, with trustees doing exactly what he wanted.

John D. Rockefeller

• Standard Oil: Founded Standard Oil.
• Robber Barons: Rockefeller, Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and Morgan were called robber barons for their ruthless business practices; they preferred the term 'Captains of Industry.'
• Wealth: Rockefeller became the first US billionaire.
• Charity: Many of these robber barons made charitable contributions later in life.

Protective Tariffs

• Tariffs: Taxes on imported goods.
• Congress: Largely dominated by business interests.
• Presidents: Highly responsive to US industry and overseas trade.
• Collaboration: Congress and presidents imposed protective tariffs to make foreign goods more expensive than domestic goods.
• Duties: Taxes could be as high as 50% on imported goods.

Protective Tariffs

• Controversy: Tariffs were controversial in the 1880s and 1890s.
  • Manufacturers liked them because they reduced foreign competition.
  • Farmers in the South and West disliked them because they increased operating costs.
• Political Stance: Republicans supported tariffs, while Democrats opposed them.
• Republican Dominance: Republicans dominated the late 19th century, so tariffs remained high.
• Ideal Conditions: Rapidly expanding population, high demand for goods, abundant natural resources, and weak unions created the perfect conditions for an industrial revolution.

Economic and Social Consequences of Rapid Industrialization

• Agriculture: Farmers struggled while businessmen prospered.
  • Debt: Many farmers borrowed money to mechanize.
  • Unreliable Markets: Unpredictable foreign markets.
  • High Costs: Unpredictable railroad and storage fees.
  • Deflation: Caused debt and made credit hard to get.
  • Cash Crops: Overdependence on a single cash crop like cotton.
  • Gold Standard: Limited money supply.

Agriculture

• Grange Movement (1868): An alliance of farmers dedicated to fighting banks, railroads, and monopolies.
• Greenback Movement (1868): Campaign by farmers to increase paper money in circulation (opposed the gold standard).
• Farmer’s Alliance (1873): Created to fight the crop lien system (sharecropping).
• Populist Party (1891): Created to represent farmers.

Interstate Commerce Act

• Regulation: Created in 1887 to regulate the railroad industry; the first federal law to regulate an industry.
• Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC): Railroads were regulated by a five-member commission on subjects such as rates, rebates, and preferences.

Growth and Recession

• Economic Growth: US economic growth soared between 1860 and 1900, surpassing all European powers by 1900.
• Cigarette Industry: No US cigarette industry in 1870.
  • James Duke: Spotted a new machine in 1884 that could roll 120,000 cigarettes a day.
  • Monopoly: Duke bought the machine, reduced prices, improved quality, reduced taxes, used aggressive sales campaigns, made deals with railways and growers, and eventually controlled the supply chain, buying out rivals and creating the American Tobacco Company monopoly.

Growth and Recession

• Oil Industry: US produced 2,000 barrels of oil in 1860; by 1900, it produced 60 million.
• Oil Wells: Oil came from wells in Pennsylvania.
• Rockefeller and Flagler: Realized oil was profitable and aimed to dominate the industry by controlling refining and distribution.
• Control: Controlled 80% of the industry by 1880.
• Methods: Ruthless practices like buying out rivals, undercutting prices until they went bankrupt, and using rail monopoly to stop rivals from distributing oil.

Monopolies: Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages:

• Efficiency: Monopolies can produce goods and services efficiently.
• Price: Monopolies can keep prices low.

Disadvantages:

• Lack of Competition: Monopolies can force others out of business.
• Lack of Variety: Limited product variety.
• Customer Satisfaction: Poor customer satisfaction.
• Wealth Distribution: Unequal distribution of wealth.

Horizontal and Vertical Integration

• Horizontal Integration: Buying rival businesses to gain control of an industry.
  • Example: Rockefeller bought rival oil refining businesses in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.
• Vertical Integration: Investing in industries related to oil production to control the entire supply chain.
  • Example: Rockefeller invested in pipelines, tank cars, oil barrels, railroads, and marketing companies.

Economic Disasters: Panic of 1873

• Significance: First significant depression in US history, lasting four years, contributed to the end of Reconstruction.
• Greenbacks: Lincoln allowed paper money (Greenbacks) to be printed during the Civil War, used to finance railroads during Reconstruction.
• European Investment: Many Europeans invested in US railroads and bought bonds.
• Economic Conditions in Europe: Poor economic conditions caused Europeans to sell their bonds, flooding the market.
• Railroad Bankruptcies: Railroad companies struggled to raise money and went bankrupt.
• Jay Cooke Company: A prominent bank that funded railroad projects went bankrupt in 1873.
• Consequences: The NYSE closed for 10 days, unemployment reached 14%, and 18,000 businesses declared bankruptcy.
• No Central Banking System: There was no central banking system to stop the panic.

Economic Disasters: Panic of 1893

• Another Depression: Started with bankruptcies in the railroad industry, leading to bank collapses, a shortage of cash, and low agricultural prices.
• Unemployment: Increased from 3.7 million in 1892 to 12.3 million in 1894.
• Integrated Economy: The panic demonstrated how integrated the US economy had become.
• Progressive Response: Progressives wanted to fix the banking system and provide welfare for people affected by the economic downturn.

Economic Disasters: Panic of 1907

• Financial Crisis: A financial crisis set off by bad banking decisions and distrust in the banking system.
• J.P. Morgan: J.P. Morgan and other Wall Street bankers lent their own money to save the country from a severe economic crisis.
• Federal Reserve System: The panic led to the creation of the Federal Reserve system.

Immigration: 1860 to 1900

• Immigrant Numbers: 14 million immigrants came to the US.
  • Most came from eastern and southern Europe.
• Urban Migration: Most immigrants moved to cities as cheap labor for the industrial revolution.
• Housing Conditions: Many immigrants lived in overcrowded cities with appalling conditions.
• Northwestern Europeans: Many moved west and assimilated more easily due to fewer cultural and religious differences.

Nativism

• Definition: Policy of promoting the interests of native inhabitants over immigrants.
• Native American Party (1850s): Also known as the No Nothing Party, gained popularity due to the influx of mainly Catholic Irish and Germans. The organization was secretive.

Anti-Semitic Pogroms

• Anti-Semitism: Hostility or prejudice against Jews.
• Pogroms: Violent state-condoned mob attacks on Jews and their property.
• Russia and Eastern Europe: Many pogroms happened in the late 19th century, leading to Jewish immigration to the US.

Immigration

• Assimilation: Most immigrants assimilated well into US society.
• Business interests: Liked immigration because immigrants were cheap, did not unionize, and did not complain about working conditions.
• Liberals: People who wanted change; immigrants were an obstacle because they didn’t complain.
• Older immigrants: Became hostile to new immigrants (nativism) because they kept wages low, acted as strikebreakers, had different religions and customs.

Immigration – Racism?

• American Protective Association (1887): Lobbied the government to reduce immigration.
  • Claimed new immigrants threatened the US Anglo-Saxon, Protestant traditions.
• Dilution: Argument that Eastern and Southern Europeans were diluting US culture.
• Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: The first significant law restricting immigration to the US.
• Gentlemen's Agreement: Informal agreement between the US and Japan on Japanese immigration. Was nullified by the Immigration Act of 1924, which legally banned all Asians from migrating to the United States.

Urbanization

• Definition: The process by which more people leave the countryside to live in cities.
• Growth: Increased from 15 US cities with over 50,000 people in 1860 to 109 in 1900.
• Chicago: Became the fifth-largest city in the world.

Realities of Urbanization

• Major problems from urbanization:
  1. Spread of slums
  2. Corrupt and inefficient systems to manage new cities
  • Need for clean water, sanitation, policing, schools, utilities, housing, streets, a transportation system, and good government.
• Factory priority: First thing built in new cities was usually a factory.
• Slums: Sprung up with no regulation or utilities, were overcrowded and polluted.

Realities of Urbanization

• Tenements: Overcrowded, run-down apartment buildings were common.
• Diseases: Tuberculosis and cholera spread from poor housing, malnutrition, and bad sanitation, leading to many deaths.
• New government: Most immigrants had little experience with democracy and involvement in government.
• Corruption: Without established government, the way was open for the corrupt and unscrupulous to take advantage.

'Boss' System

• Definition: Name given to political leaders (often mayors) who controlled cities or towns.
• Lack of Social Services: Rapid expansion of cities led to a lack of police, fire, sanitation, and welfare services.
• Political Machines: Bosses and their political machines stepped in and provided some services but were corrupt.
• Patronage: City workers often owed their jobs to the Boss and the machines preyed on recent immigrants, giving them jobs and benefits in return for their vote.
• Progressive Solution: Progressives wanted to eliminate the Boss system and solve the problems of urbanization.

Boss Tweed

• William 'Boss' Tweed: Leader of the corrupt Tammany Hall political organization in New York City in the 1860s and early 1870s.
• Theft: Estimated Tweed's political machine stole between $30$ to $200$ million (about $1$ billion today).
• Methods: Faked leases, padded bills, made false vouchers, and had the government overpay his cronies for goods and services.
• Control: Tweed controlled elections, appointed government officials, and even had a law firm but was not an attorney.

Boss Tweed

• Exposure: Tweed was exposed by the New York Times and the cartoons of Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly.
• Arrest: Tweed was arrested, escaped to Spain, captured, and died in prison.
• Comment: Tweed complained, "I don't care a straw for your newspaper articles, my constituents don't know how to read, but they can't help seeing them damned pictures."

What led to the rise of the Progressive Movement (1890s – 1910s)?

• Progressive Movement: Began in 1890s - was a loose group of many individuals and organizations with different aims and leaders.
• Reasons for the movement:
  • Economy: The ups and downs of capitalism, trying to deal with unemployment and panics.
  • No welfare system in the US: No unemployment payment, no sick pay, and no compensation for accidents.
  • Poor living and working conditions: Overcrowding, lack of clean water and sewage, dangerous factories, long working hours (often 6 days, 72 hours per week).

What led to the Rise of the Progressive Movement (1890s – 1910s)?

• Decline in Agriculture: Serious decline in agriculture in some areas due to expansion into the North and West affecting small farmers in the Northeast. Wheat prices dropped from $1.19$ to $0.28$ per bushel. Sharecroppers fell deeper in debt and drought happened in 1890.
• Failings of Political Process: Neither party seemed too interested in the poor. Democrats were concerned with repressing African-Americans. Republicans were concerned about banks and business.
• Hostility to Business: People’s hostility to business, trusts, and monopolies. Many people disliked the power of Wall Street and figures like Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Morgan. There was a growing demand for regulation of big business. Many feared the Sherman Antitrust Act was being ignored. Trade Unions were weak and often broken up through force.

What led to the Rise of the Progressive Movement (1890s – 1910s)?

• Desire for Women’s Rights: Some women wanted the right to vote and change society.
• Demands for Change: Economists and social scientists challenged the laissez-faire policy, pointing to governments like Germany that regulated the economy and provided welfare benefits.

Muckrakers

• Definition: People who wrote about or did something about the evils present in the US.
  • Cheap paper and a high literacy rate helped them have a major impact.
• Examples:
  • Lincoln Steffens: Wrote The Shame of the Cities, a book on political corruption.
  • Ida Tarbell: Wrote History of Standard Oil, a book that exposed Rockefeller’s ruthless business tactics.
  • Jacob Riis: Used photos to show poverty in New York.

Other Muckrakers

• Upton Sinclair: Wrote The Jungle to show poor working conditions of meat packers in Chicago. Instead, people were outraged at the unclean working facilities.
• Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie discussed factory conditions for working women.
• Frank Norris: The Octopus centered on the tensions between farmers and the railroads.
• Jane Addams: Led the settlement house movement, providing social services for immigrants and the poor (Hull House).
• Christian Reformers: Social Gospel movement demanded a shorter workday and the end of child labor.

Political Aims of Progressives

• Constitutional Amendments: Progressives made political changes by amending (changing) the Constitution.
• Key Amendments: Progressives were instrumental in passing the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Amendments.

Other Political Aims

• Stop Monopolies: Have the federal government enforce the Sherman Antitrust Act.
• Reform Cities and States: Stop political machines. They wanted more democratic government and government jobs chosen by merit.
• Reform Political Parties: Force parties to choose candidates through primaries and reduce the power of the bosses.

Economic Aims of Progressives

• Worker Protection: Progressives wanted to protect and help workers by supporting:
  • Restrictions on child labor
  • Better working conditions and higher pay
  • Unions ability to exist
  • Clean water, sanitation, and safety
  • Welfare for the sick, old, and injured
  • A safer banking system
  • Elimination of the gold standard

Events that influenced Progressives: Pullman Strike (1894)

• Boycott: Led by Eugene Debs (a socialist).
• Union Action: Unions refused to run trains containing Pullman cars.
• Impact: Shut down the nation's railroad traffic.
• Government Intervention: President Grover Cleveland got the army involved and broke the strike.
• Aftermath: Debs was jailed, and 30 workers were killed.

Events that influenced Progressives: Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (1911)

• Garment Factory Fire: A fire at a garment factory in New York.
• Workers: Most of the workers were young immigrant women.
• Working Conditions: They worked 12 hours a day.
• Safety Issues: Only 1 elevator worked, the fire hose was rotten, and there was no sprinkler system.
• Casualties: 49 workers burned to death, and 58 jumped to their deaths; there were photos of the women who jumped.
• Impact: Demonstrated that the government had to do more to protect workers and led to more regulations.
• Legal Outcome: The owners were accused of manslaughter but acquitted. A civil suit recovered $75$ for each life lost.

Events that influenced Progressives: Movement to get US off the Gold Standard

• Gold Standard (1890): US currency was tied to gold.
• Bimetallism: Many Americans and in particular farmers wanted US currency to be based on silver and gold (called bimetallism).
• More Money: A bimetal standard would create more money in circulation.
• Opposition: Many businessmen opposed the bimetal standard as it would cause inflation.
• William Jennings Bryan: Ran as a Democrat three times, opposed the gold standard, and made the Cross of Gold Speech at the Democratic Convention.

Social Aims of the Progressives

• Emancipation of Women: Two major women’s groups campaigned for women’s suffrage (right to vote). Many supporters of women’s suffrage supported other Progressive policies.
• Welfare Reforms: Germany and France had adopted state-funded welfare programs. There was pressure to provide Americans with a safety net. The muckrakers had exposed poverty and squalid conditions in some cities. Some felt capitalism had failed.

Social Aims of the Progressives

• Child Labor: There was a push to eliminate child labor.
• Abolition of Alcohol: The Anti–Saloon League was founded in 1893, aiming to close places where alcohol was sold and eliminate the damage alcohol did to society.

Populist Party

• Formation: Formed in the 1890s, primarily by farmers in the South and West.
• Goals: They wanted:
  • Regulation of railways (high freight prices), monopolies, banks, and farm prices
  • A graduated income tax (rich pay more) and elimination of tariffs
  • Direct election of Senators
• Success: In 1892, the party got 1 million votes.
• Dissolution: The party ceased to exist when many of their ideas were adopted by the main parties.

The Progressive Movement – Success or Failure?

Success:

• Amended Constitution: The Constitution was amended four times.
• End of Laissez-faire: Laissez-faire government ended; monopolies ended, farmers helped.
• Laws Passed: Laws were passed to end child labor, improve working conditions, and end corruption.
• Protected Voting Rights: Women got to vote, and elections became more democratic.

Failure:

• Continued Bank Failures: Banks still failed.
• Persistent Poverty: Poverty still existed.
• Farmer Struggles: Farmers still struggled.
• Limited Aid to African-Americans: African-Americans got little help, and nativism and groups like the KKK still existed.
• Delayed Welfare and Civil Rights: Modern welfare and civil rights did not occur until the 1960s.
• 18th Amendment Failure: Like many of you.

The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt

• Theodore Roosevelt (TR): Born wealthy, had many public service jobs (assistant secretary of navy, police commissioner, governor, Spanish-American War hero).
• Reformer: Worked to end corruption in NY.
• Civil Service System: Favored a civil service system (jobs based on merit) because it reduced the power of political bosses.
• Vice President: In 1900, Pres. McKinley chose the popular TR as his vice president.
• Republican Concerns: Many Republicans thought TR was a nuisance.

Assassination of President McKinley

• Assassination: Six months after getting elected, McKinley was shot and killed by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY.
• Succession: Under Article II of the Constitution, the Vice-President becomes President upon the death of the President.
• TR Takes Over: TR took over the remaining 3 ½ years of McKinley’s presidency.

Theodore Roosevelt

• Government Role: TR believed the federal government had a major role to play in the economy.
• Political Views: Liberals thought he was too cautious. Many Republicans thought he was too radical.
• Presidency Style: Roosevelt believed the President should use his influence, authority, and publicity to highlight important issues such as tariff reform.
• Bully pulpit: Term coined by Roosevelt which means the president has a terrific platform from which to advocate an agenda.

Theodore Roosevelt

• State of the Union Address: US president’s message to the country at the beginning of each new session of Congress.
• Progressive Reforms: In TR’s first address, he called for progressive reforms.

Northern Securities Company

• Railroad Monopoly: Northern Securities was a railroad monopoly.
• Lawsuit: TR sued them for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.
• Court Ruling: The courts declared the company illegal and ordered its dissolution.
• Trustbuster: TR went after 44 more corporations, including Standard Oil, and became known as a trustbuster.

Unions

• TR's View: TR thought unions had a right to exist.
• Coal Miners' Strike (1902): Coal miners went on strike, and mine owners refused to compromise, causing a nationwide coal shortage.
• Government Intervention: Roosevelt threatened to send in federal troops and run the mines. He was the first president to take a neutral stance in such a dispute and called owners and the unions to the White House for arbitration. All of his predecessors sided with the employers.

Legislation passed during Roosevelt’s Presidency

• Expediting Act (1903): An act to speed up prosecutions of unlawful restraints and monopolies.
• Elkins Act (1903): Prohibited railroads from giving rebates to high-volume customers.
• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906): Inspired by Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle, it regulated the food and drug industries.
• Department of Commerce and Labor: Created to foster, promote, and develop foreign and domestic trade.
• National Parks: TR often called the conservation president. Added 5 new national parks. Signed the Antiquities Act (1906), which protected monuments, structures, and landmarks.

Legislation passed during Roosevelt’s Presidency

• Pressure on the Rich: TR continued to pressure the plutocracy (rich) during his presidency.
• Square Deal: He demanded a Square Deal: control of corporations, concern for the environment, and consumer protection.
• TR Supported: TR supported factory inspections, child labor laws, workers' compensation, and a limited workday.

Progressive Era after TR - 1908 - 1912: William Howard Taft

• Successor: Hand-picked successor of TR.
• Background: Was a lawyer, governor of the Philippines, and Secretary of War.
• Trust Busting: Busted more trusts than TR.
• Disappointment: Upset many Progressives by signing the Payne-Aldrich tariff (did not significantly reduce tariffs).

Progressive Era after TR - 1908 - 1912: William Howard Taft

• Angered TR: Angered TR by working against unions and firing Gifford Pinchot.
• Supreme Court: Would later become the first President to ever become a Supreme Court Justice.

1912 Presidential Election

• Candidates: Had four candidates:
  • Incumbent Republican - Taft
  • Former Republican - Bull Moose Party - TR
  • Democrat - Woodrow Wilson
  • Socialist - Eugene Debs

Woodrow Wilson

• Election Victory: Wilson won the presidential election because Taft and TR split the Republican vote.
• Background: Wilson was former president of Princeton and Governor of NJ.
• Progressive Governor: Became governor because the bosses thought he was weak but turned against them by becoming a very Progressive governor.
• High Point: His presidency is a high point of the Progressive Movement.

Woodrow Wilson

• Personal Life: Wilson’s first wife died in 1914.
• Remarriage: Wilson met Edith Bolling six months later, dated, and got secretly engaged.
• Marriage: The couple married in December 1915.
• Edith Wilson: She became a confidante and personal assistant.
• Post-Stroke: After Wilson suffered a stroke, she practically ran the US government.

Woodrow Wilson

• World War I: Was President of the US during WWI.
• Neutrality Promise: He promised to stay out of war but got the US into war in 1917 to save democracy.
• Turning the Tide: The US tipped the balance of war towards the Allies.
• Peace Efforts: Wilson went to Paris to create an enduring peace (14 Points).
• Treaty of Versailles: Much to Wilson’s dismay, the US never signed the Versailles Treaty nor joined the League of Nations.

Wilson’s Domestic Policy

• Federal Reserve Act of 1913: Established 12 regional banks controlled by the Federal Reserve Board (FED).
• FED's Role: The FED could adjust the money supply and set interest rates.
• Purpose: To stop panics.
• Current Status: Still exists today.

Wilson’s Domestic Policy

• Clayton Antitrust Act: Prohibited monopolies, price fixing, and unethical business practices.
  • Gave unions more rights.
• Underwood Tariff: Reduced tariffs.
  • Tariffs benefited big business and hurt farmers and small businesses.
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Prevented unfair methods of competition, busted trusts, and protected consumers.
  • Still exists.

Other domestic changes under Wilson

• Child Labor: First federal law on child labor (Supreme Court would rule unconstitutional).
• Secretary of Labor: Appointed first Secretary of Labor.
• Department of Agriculture: Reorganized Department