PROGRESSIVE ERATheodore Roosevelt

SQUARE DEAL

"When I say I believe in a square deal I do not mean . . . to give every man the best hand. If the cards do not come to any man, or if they do come, and he has not got the power to play them, that is his affair. All I mean is that there shall be no crookedness in the dealing." (1905)

How does this philosophy align with or counter the prevailing sentiments of the Gilded Age? Think business, politics, etc.

SQUARE DEAL SPECIFICS

Three Cs Corporations Consumers Conservation

CORPORATIONS: ANTI-TRUST Roosevelt believed big business was essential to the nation’s

growth but also believed companies should behave responsibly; serve the public interest.

In 1901, when three tycoons joined their railroad companies together to eliminate competition, their company, the Northern Securities Company, dominated rail shipping from Chicago to the Northwest.

The following year, Roosevelt directed the U.S. attorney general to sue the company for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Court ruled that the monopoly did, in fact, violate the act and must be dissolved.

After this ruling, the Roosevelt administration launched a vigorous trust-busting campaign. Size didn’t matter; the administration went after bad trusts that sold inferior products, competed unfairly, or corrupted public officials.

CORPORATIONS: REGULATION

Elkins Act (1903) Prohibited railroads

from accepting rebates

Ensured that all customers paid the same rates for shipping their products

Hepburn Act (1906) Strengthened the

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), giving it the power to set maximum railroad rates

Gave the ICC power to regulate other companies engaged in interstate commerce

CONSUMER PROTECTION (1906)

The Meat Inspection Act required federal government inspection of meat shipped across state lines.

The Pure Food and Drug Act outlawed food and drugs containing harmful ingredients, and required that containers carry honest ingredient labels.

"Optimism is a good characteristic, but if carried to an excess, it becomes foolishness. We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible; this is not so."

Theodore RooseveltSeventh Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1907

CONSERVATION: THE COMMON GOOD

Resources are limited, so conservation is imperative

Named a professional conservationist to head US Forest Service (Gifford Pinchot)

Roosevelt disagreed with John Muir, a staunch preservationist Muir believed all land should be protected Roosevelt believed some should be protected,

while other should be developed for the common good Things like dams, canals, irrigation, mining, etc.

CONSERVATION

150 National Forests. 51 Federal Bird Reservations. 4 National Game Reserves. 5 National Parks. 18 National Monuments. (1906 Antiquities

Act) 24 Reclamation Projects. 7 Conservation Conferences and

Commissions.