Progressives in Power Semest. 2 Unit 1

Teddy Roosevelt-

TR and Progres.:

How Teddy won the support of Progressives

  1. TR used the Sherman Antitrust Act against the Northern Security Company (which was controlled by JP Morgan (morganization-take control of business)), instituting proceedings against them (first trust busted by Sherman AnTr Act)

  2. TR called the “titans of finance” the “malefactors of great wealth” (malefactor meaning villian)

Because of this TR was nicknamed the “trustbuster”

TR and Reps.:

How Teddy won the support of conservative Repubs.

  1. TR came into office right after the assassination of pres. McKinley, he won the conserv. reps. by allowing most of McK. cabinet to keep their jobs.

    (this policy helped TR defeat Mark Hanna for 1904 election (Hanna was driven by money)

TR and Unions

  1. TR supported many unions leaders but hated the leaders who advocated for socialism

    socialism- tax people to pay others with

  2. John Mitchell who was a union leader and head of UMW had “bread and butter” (simple) union where he wanted only shorter workdays and higher wages, he was against socialism unions and these two things made it easier to work with Roosevelt

TR and Conserv.

  1. TR became deeply involved in the Origin of Conservation movement which was the efforts to preserve and protect American natural resources

  2. TR was one of the main leaders of Conservation

TR and Progres. Pt. 2:

  1. after Robert La Follete collapses, Roosevelt is asked to be the Progres. nominee in the election of 1912

    Roosevelt agrees and the progressive party is formed and joins the election with their symbol as the bull moose

  2. Because many Repubs. were torn between Roosevelt w/ Pr. and Taft w/ Rp. (who TR chose to be his successor in the RP. party), most votes went to Woodrow Wilson w/ the Dm. allowing him to win the election of 1912

TR and his Accompl.

  • TR was known for shutting down multiple big businesses earning the nickname “Trust Buster” by newspapers (even though he filed 44 trust suits and won 25, Howard Taft filed more than 90 in less years)

  • The biggest and first trust bust being against JP Morgan’s Northern Security Company winning the most of the Prog. party over

  • The Great Coal Strike-miners and their employers in Pennsylvania have a dispute that went into the winter times that eventually go into the winter time where coal is needed the most so Roosevelt summons them to work an agreement but mine owners refused; this angers TR and he threatens to nationalize the mines (have the government control them) if they dont work something out; mine owners agree to send the dispute to an arbitration to have it settled

    -Arbiters: people who hear both sides of dispute and make decisions that will be accepted by both employers and employees

  • Elkins Act- this act forbade shippers to accept rebates from RRs adding power to Interstate Commerce Act which forbade RRs to pay rebates

    Elkins Act also allowed the ICC to prosecute companies and officers and schemes to eliminate competition

  • Hepburn Act-this act banned the RRs practice of giving government officials and their families free passes instead of paying off their stuff

    they were also authorized ICC to set maximum rates RRs could charge

  • Pure Food and Drug Acts-stamped out the unsanitary practices of commercial food processing

    gave federal inspectors the right to enter and observe procedures in all slaughterhouses

    outlawed adulterants (dangerous additives) in foods

    regulated the use of narcotics in patent medicines and required manufacturers to list contents of products on a label

    -Adulterants: dangerous additives (alcohol, opium, and heroin)

    -Patent Medicines: easily available nonprescription potions advertised as cure-alls

  • New Nationalism-the progressive program that TR announced for US to regulate business and promote social welfare and woman suffrage

Conservation Movement

Two of the most important leaders of Conservation: Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir

John Muir: founded the Sierra Club, Father of the National Park System including the Grand Canyon and Yosemite (preservationists)

Gifford Pinchot: the first American forester, he transferred the authority over National Forests from Dpt. of Interior to the Dpt. of Agriculture, close friend of TR and then later got fired by Taft for sending reports to TR abt how bad a president Taft was (reservationists)

Newlands Reclamation Act (1902) allowed money raised by sale of federal lands in arid areas to pay for development of irrigation projects, allowed payment for reclamation of land that was damaged in unrestricted exploitations in the past

preservationist: people who wanted to protect the wilderness and natural wonders because they believed without it, society would lose its “vitality” and spiritual values

reservationist: people who wanted to conserve natural resources that were valuable to economy for the future

forest reserves: woodlands owned by government, loggers were banned from these

nonrenewable resources: items, resources, only used once, not replaceable

sustained yield: tree farming

John Wesley Powell: geologist who led first expedition in the Grand Canyon where the CO River ran

William Taft

-Taft signs Payne-Aldrich Tariff saying he supports the amendment that allows graduated income tax which would allow the government to tax the rich more than the poor

-Taft also supports Joseph Cannon (speaker of the house) for control over House of Rep.

-Because of both the Tariff and supporting Cannon, progressive rps. oppose him (called insurgents and consist of mugwumps and half-breeds)

Insurgents: Rebel Rep. Proges. who aligned themselves with House Democrats (hated Cannon)

Taft: Reactionary

reactionary: someone who wants to reverse progress

Progressive accused Taft of being reactionary and tool of big business despite Taft believing in a necessary reform and filing more antitrust suits than Roosevelt

Taft: Mann-Elkins

-this act allowed the ICC authority to regulate telephone, telegraph, cable and wireless (radio) companies

Taft and other Accompl.

  • Taft was also referred to as the Father of Federal Budget (where the governm. has a budget each year)

  • Drafted the constitutional amendment for the direct election of US senators (17th amendment)

  • Created the Children’s Bureau to look out for children’s welfare

  • Tried to lower Dingley Tariff (57 percent of value of imports)

Election of 1912 and Wilson

Election of 1912

  • Progressive party formed with Roosevelt as their candidate

  • Republican party’s candidate is Taft who Roosevelt chose to be his Rp. successor

  • Democratic party candidate= Woodrow Wilson

Republicans split their votes between Taft (Rpb.) and Roosevelt (Prg.) because they are conflicted on who to vote for (Roosevelt former Rpb. candidate), this allows Wilson to win election (making Wilson the first democratic pres. since Cleveland (after CW)

Wilson

New Freedom: Wilson’s program for American reform, weakened businesses to ensure competition

-in efforts to unify his party, Wilson included a represent. of each of the party’s factions in his cabinet

Underwood Tariff: lowered import duties from 40 percent to less than 30 percent

Major Reforms-Wilson

  1. Federal Reserve Act:

    establishes 12 district banks that are controlled by a federal reserve board which oversees the amount of money in circulation (impacts inflation and deflation)

  2. Clayton Antitrust Act:

    defined unfair business practices for which a corporation could be punished, designed to limit trusts

  3. Smith-Lever Act:

    provided federal funding for poor rural schools

  4. Federal Farm Loan Act:

    provided government loans for struggling farmers

  5. Keating-Owen Act:

    limited interstate sales by companies that used those under 16 yrs. old in factories or mines

Everything Else

holding company: firm that holds controlling interest in other firms (ex. Northern Security Company)

Federal Trade Commission (FTC): An agency that regulates a variety of business practices and curbs false advertising, misleading pricing, and deceptive packaging and labeling

Sierra Club: American environmental organization. Helped promote the protection of the environment and nature, founded by John Muir

16th amendment: allowed graduated income tax

difference between aldrich and payne:

Aldrich=higher tariffs

Payne=lower tariffs

reactionary: someone who wants to reserve progress

Labor Department: what did Taft create so that workers are always represented