Progressivism & the Republican Roosevelt

1901-1912 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.

Theodore Roosevelt, 1905

The Progressives

1900-1914- 13 million more immigrants came to the US (1 in 7 foreign born)

1914Population= 89 MILLION 1900-1920 Progressives will produce the change that Populists

could not. Mostly middle-class & educated; all states & parties (“all class

war”) Waged war on evils- monopoly, corruption, social reform “Strengthen the State”- “use government as an agency of

human welfare”. Felt squeezed between the robber barons & socialists

Goals & Objectives* Achieved- Are they similar to the Populists?

Goals1. Use state power to curb the trusts2. Improve common person’s life (cities & labor)Objectives1. Direct Primary Elections- aimed at power of

political machines. 2. Initiative- citizens may propose legislation3. Referendum- place items on ballot for voters to

approve.4. Recall- enable voters to remove an elected official

Objectives of the Progressives

5. Limit campaign contributions-

6. Restrict gifts from big corporations

7. Secret “Australian” ballot

8. Direct Election of Senators- (later added 17th Amendment (1917)

Progressive Era Amendments

16th- made income tax constitutional (1913)

17th- Direct Election of US Senators (1913)

18th- Prohibition (1919)

19th- Women’s Suffrage (1920)

Roots of the Progressive Movement

New Reformist Movement dates back to 1870’s Greenback Labor Party & Populist of 1890’s.

Unrest due to the power of industrialists & concentrated power

BEFORE 1900- politicians & writers began to target the “trusts” & corruption.

1894 Henry Lloyd Demarest- wrote about Standard Oil (Wealth Against Commonwealth)

1899- Thorstein Veblen –assailed the rich in The Theory of the Leisure Class

Pre-1900 Progressive Writers & Activists

*Jacob Riis (1890) How the Other Half Lives- wrote & photographed city slum life.

Ida B. Wells – wrote about lynching

Socialists- many immigrants were socialists; began to vote.

Social Gospel-used Christian teachings to promote better housing & conditions for the poor.

Feminists- demanding suffrage Lillian Wald (NY) & Jane Addams (Chicago)

Pictures taken by Jacob Riis-

The Muckrakers Emerge

1902- American publishers start making big money exposing societal evils.

Attacked politics, patent medicines, city life etc. Purpose- not overthrow capitalism-to cleanse it Popularity of 5 & 10 cent magazines (McClure's,

Cosmopolitan, Collier’s and Everybody’s) Encouraged tough, investigative writing 1906- TR called these journalists “muckrakers”

Notable Muckrakers

1902- Lincoln Steffens- “Shame of the Cities”; uncovered the connection between big business & municipal governments.

1904-Ida Tarbell- “mother of trusts” wrote articles about the unsavory business practices of Standard Oil.

David G. Phillips- series of articles in Cosmopolitan “The Treason of the Senate” (1906)

75 of 90 Senators were “owned” by the RR & trusts John Spargo (1906) The Bitter Cry of the Children Magazines went to great expense to check facts of a story &

research (this is NOT YELLOW JOURNALISM)

City & State Governments became Progressive

Galveston Idea- City Commission & City Manager forms of government emerged- run by professionals instead of elected mayors.

The Wisconsin Idea- 1901 Wis. Gov. Robert La Follette (Progressive); fought & regulated public utility trusts.

Hiram Johnson- Republican Gov. of Oregon; prosecuted grafters & Southern Pacific RR

Charles Evan Hughes- Republican Gov. NY; investigator of malpractices by gas, insurance co.

Women and the Progressive Movement

Crucial focus of women’s activism- Settlement House Movement (Jane Addams-Chicago)

Offered a door to public life Exposed Middle Class women to problems in cities Women’s Literary Clubs- became a center for social change Women-new roles were an extension of traditional role of wife

& mother Women's Trade Union League National Consumer’s League-safeguard women & children at

work Department of Labor (Children's Bureau & Women’s Bureau) Targeted sweatshops & unsafe factories Florence Kelly (1st factory inspector in Ill)

Supreme Court & the workplace

*Muller v. Oregon (1908)- Louis Brandeis; got the court to recognize laws protecting women in the workplace (odd- based argument on the weakness of women).

Brandeis- future Supreme Court Justice (1st Jewish person on SC)

Lochner v. New York (1905)- cancelled a NY law est. a 10 hour workday for workers.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

1911- fire killed 146 workers; owner locked door from inside (violated fire codes).

Result- NY passed tougher laws tougher laws restricting work hours & conditions.

1917- 30 states had worker compensation laws.

Results of the Fire

Tragedy of the fire

Progressives & Booze

Progressives turned ire against saloons Alcohol connected with Prostitution & other social ills “Booze” interests dominated cities 1900- NY & San Francisco-A saloon for every 200 people Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)-Francis

Willard- ’praying prohibitionist” Largest org. of women in the world-1 million Anti-Saloon League States & counties passed “dry” laws Big cities remained “wet” 1914-1/2 of pop. Lived “dry”; ¾ of area outlawed saloons 1918= 18TH Amendment = “bootlegging” & organized crime

Theodore Roosevelt & Labor

TR- the public interest was being submerged by indifference

“Square Deal”- for capital, labor, & public The Three C’s: control corporations, consumer

protection, conservation of natural resources. Ex) 1902 Anthracite Coal Strike- 140,000 Penn. MINERS

WALKED OFF THE JOB; wanted 20 % pay increase & reduced workday

TR threatened to use troops (1st time) & take over the mines

Miner got 10% pay boost & nine hour day-no recognition of labor union!

1st time government worked in interest of workers

Department of Commerce & Labor

Created 1903-urged by TR 1913- SPLIT IN TWO Power to investigate businesses

engaged in interstate commerce Useful- break monopolies- “trust busting”

TR controls Corporations

Elkins Act (1903)- RR pay fines for rebates Hepburn Act (1906)- “free passes” (too much like

bribery) on RR were restricted Both acts strengthened the ICC’s power to regulate

RR’s ICC was expanded- could nullify RR rates & set max.

rates

TR & “Good Trusts” /“Bad Trusts”

TR believed there were good & bad trusts Progressives attacked most trusts 1902- Northern Securities (RR holding

company) owned by JP Morgan & James J. Hill= tried to monopolize NW RR companies.

TR tried to bust it 1904-Supreme Court ordered Northern

Securities busted up TR enhanced his Progressive status

TR the Trust-Buster

TR initiated 44 lawsuits against monopolies 1905- Supreme Court declared beef trust

illegal & sugar , fertilizer, harvester trusts limited.

TR mentality- “Big is not necessarily bad’ Did not think trust-busting sound policy

always Wanted to prove that government-not big

business ran the country

Theodore Roosevelt “Trust-Buster”

TR & Consumer Protection

1. Foreign Governments were threatening to ban US products (meat=tainted)

2. Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”- Reaction by TR & Congress1. Meat Inspection Act (1906)- meat shipped

across state lines= may be inspected from corral to cannery.

2. Pure Food & Drug Act (1906)- prevent mislabeling & adulteration. (patent meds)

TR & Conservation

By 1900, 25% of original timber lands remained

*TR’s most lasting tangible legacy- 125 million acres preserved (3 times his predecessors)

Before TR:

1. Desert Land Act (1877)- arid land sold if it would be irrigated.

TR & Conservation

2. Forest Reserve Act (1891)- allowed Pres. To set aside public lands as national parks

TR:

3. Newlands Reclamation Act (1902)- collect $ from sale of public lands to fund dam & irrigation

• Boy Scouts of America-• Sierra Club- Preservationists (John Muir)

Conservation v. Preservation

Preservationist’s (John Muir)- nature should be left untouched by humanity

Resource Management (TR & Gifford Pinchot)- “rational use” or multiple-use resource

Nature should not be wasted nor preserved “Rational Use” policy is US policy until 1950’s

Roosevelt Panic of 1907

Announces 1904- he will not run for a third term

1907- Wall St. Panic= mini depression Bankers/Big Business blamed TR’s trust-

busting Aldridge-Vreeland Act (1908)- allowed

national banks to issue emergency currency (sets foundation for future “Fed”)

Currency = elastic

Election of 1908

TR & Republicans handpicks friend William H. Taft Dem. Candidate= William J. Bryan Socialist= Eugene V. Debs Taft wins (Bryan will loose for a 3rd time) TR goes lion huntingLegacy of TR Began to tame corporations Protected consumers Conservation Showed citizens we share world with other nations (foreign

policy) Expanded role of president

Taft as President

*“Dollar Diplomacy”- encourage investment abroad to boost US interests (Globalization).

Manchuria (fails), Central America Busted 90 trusts (more than TR)- Standard Oil & US

Steel Payne-Aldridge Tariff- lowered tariff on canary

seed, hides (angers Progressives) Created Bureau of Mines Ballenger-Pinchot Controversy- fired Pinchot

(TR’S boy)= TR angered

TR Returns

TR upset with Taft, Progressives upset with Taft

Taft supported by ‘Old Guard” Republicans TR supported by Progressive wing Taft wins Republican nomination over TR;

Progressives walk out & start their own third party (The Progressive Party or Bull Moose Party”)

Republicans Split