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Theodore Roosevelt was never intended to
become President by his own party
They felt he was too hard to control
He becomes president after McKinley is
assassinated
As President he did not hesitate to stand up for
the common people and make sure they
received a “Square Deal”
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Roosevelt had always been in favor of a more
powerful Federal Government
Where do you stand on this issue? Think-pair-share
Throughout the late 1800’s and early 1900’s
Trusts (legal bodies created to hold stock in
companies) controlled almost all industries
Ida Tarbell and other muckrakers began to
draw more attention to their corrupt business
practices
Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was intended to
stop this but had been very difficult to enforce
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President Roosevelt singled out trusts that he
thought were harmful
Roosevelt administration filled over 44
antitrust lawsuits, winning many and breaking
up many trusts
1902 Roosevelt ordered the Justice Department
to sue Northern Securities Company, this
started his rep. as a “Trust Buster”
1904 Supreme Court dissolved the Company
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140,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania went on
strike (9 hour work day, union, pay raise 20%)
After 5 months coal reserves run so law, the
president has to step in.
Roosevelt threatened to take over the mine,
finally both sides agreed to bring in a
commission to mediate the dispute
Strike was settled workers received a 10% raise,
9 hour work day BUT couldn’t force all
workers to join the Union and were not
allowed to strike again for 3 years
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Roosevelt saw a problem with the railroad industry
1887 Commerce Act was passed to prohibited price
fixing but was ineffective
Roosevelt urged congress to the Elkins Act of 1903,
Railroads could not give rebates (discounts) for using a
paticular railroad
Railroads also couldn’t jack up prices without notifying
the public first
The Hepburn Act of 1906 limited railroad passes
(bribes) and gave the government power to set
maximum railroad rates
These acts greatly increased the governments power
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After reading Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle he set up
a committee to investigate the meat packing
industry, then urged congress to pass the Meat
Inspection Act of 1906
Under the Roosevelt administration the Pure Food
and Drug Act was passed as well
Stop the sale of contaminated foods and medicines
(many children’s medicines contained opium,
cocaine, or alcohol)
Also called for truth in labeling (venders would
openly sell products that claimed to cure cancer or
cure balding).
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Until Roosevelt the Federal Government had
not taking any action to preserve the
environment
Issues going on included; Pioneer farmers
destroying forests for farmland, cattle
overgrazing the Great Plains, coal refuse from
mines, lumber companies causing flooding and
not planting new trees, cities dumping raw
sewage and industrial wastes into rivers/lakes
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Roosevelt condemned the way the environment
was being treated
He set aside 148 million acres of forest reserves, 1.5
million acres of water-powers sites and another 80
millions acres to be explored for mineral and water
resources
Roosevelt also established more than 50 wildlife
sanctuaries and several national parks
National Reclamation Act of 1902, used money
from the sale of land in the West to fund irrigation
projects, such as Roosevelt Dam in AZ
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Roosevelt did appoint several African
Americans to important federal positions
However, many feel that he could have done
more to help the African American civil rights
movement