Chapter 30
Wilsonian Progressivism at
Home and Abroad,
1912 - 1916
The "Bull Moose" Campaign of
1912
• Election of 1912
– The Democrats chose
Woodrow Wilson as their
presidential candidate
• The Democrats called for
stronger antitrust laws,
banking reform, and tariff
reductions
– Theodore Roosevelt ran as
a 3rd party candidate
• Roosevelt favored a more
active government role in
economic and social affairs
– Roosevelt's New
Nationalism
• Campaigned for stronger
control of trusts, woman
suffrage, and programs of
social welfare
– Wilson's New Freedom
• Favored small enterprise,
entrepreneurship, and the
free functioning of
unregulated and unmonopolized markets
Woodrow Wilson: A Minority
President
• Taft and Roosevelt split
the Republican votes –
Woodrow Wilson wins
the presidency
Wilson Tackles the Tariff
• President Wilson called for
an all-out war on "the triple
wall of privilege“
– The tariff
– The banks
– The trusts
• 1913 – the Underwood Tariff
Bill
– The 16th Amendment
Wilson Battles the Bankers
• 1913 – President Wilson reforms the banking
system
– Federal Reserve Act
• Federal Reserve Board
• Oversaw a nationwide system of 12 regional Federal
Reserve banks
• The board was empowered to issue paper money
The President Tames the
Trusts
• 1914 – Congress passed the Federal Trade
Commission Act
– Presidentially-appointed commission to oversee
industries engaged in interstate commerce
• 1914 – the Clayton Antitrust Act
– Sought to exempt labor and agricultural
organizations from antitrust prosecution, while
legalizing strikes and peaceful picketing
Wilsonian Progressivism at
High Tide
– 1916 – the Federal Farm Loan Act
• Low interest loans for farmers
– 1916 – the Warehouse Act
• Authorized loans on the security of staple crops
– 1915 – the La Follette Seamen's Act
• Required decent treatment and a living wage on American
ships
– 1916 – the Workingmen's Compensation Act
• Assistance to federal civil-service employees during periods
of disability
New Directions in Foreign
Policy
• President Wilson – the anti-imperialist
– 1914 – Congress repealed the Panama Canal Tolls
Act of 1912
– 1916 – the Jones Act
• Granted the Philippines territorial status and promised
independence
• 1915 – Wilson dispatched marines to Haiti
– 1916 – signed a treaty with Haiti providing for U.S.
supervision of finances and the police
Moralistic Diplomacy in Mexico
– 1913 – General Victoriano Huerta takes over the
government
• Millions of Mexican immigrants came to America
– President Wilson refused to intervene in Mexico
• Wilson ordered the navy to seize Vera Cruz
– Venustiano Carranza becomes president of Mexico
• Francisco Villa raids Columbus, New Mexico
• Wilson ordered General John J. Pershing to find Villa
Thunder Across the Sea
• 1914 – World War I begins with the murder of
the Austria-Hungarian heir
• Alliance System
– Central Powers
• Consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire,
and Bulgaria
– The Allies
• Consisted of France, Britain, Russia, Japan, and Italy
A Precarious Neutrality
• 1914 – President Wilson
issued the neutrality
proclamation
– Most Americans were
anti-Germany from the
outset of the war
– Majority of Americans
were against war
America Earns Blood Money
• American industry prospered off trade with the
Allies
• Germany was free to trade with the U.S.
– British blockade of Germany
• 1915 – a Germany submarine sunk the Lusitania
– Killing 128 Americans
Wilson Wins the Reelection in
1916
• Election of 1916
– The Progressive Party
nominated Theodore
Roosevelt for president
– The Republicans chose
Supreme Court justice
Charles Evans Hughes
– The Democrats chose
Wilson and ran an anti-war
campaign