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Progressive Reforms (6-2 begins)
• Progressive era was met with some setbacks
• In Lochner v. New York (1905) the Supreme
Court invalidated the 10 hour workday limit
• By 1917, Progressives have influence on the high
court, and 10 hour workday is established for
factory workers
• Laws regulating workplace safety also
established after Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
(1911)
– 146 workers, mostly immigrant women perish in the
fire
VII. TR Corrals the Corporations
• Teddy Roosevelt comes to power in 1901, Republican
president taking over after President McKinley is
assassinated.
• Comes to be a maverick in his own party, is not afraid to
use the “bully pulpit” of the presidency to go after
corporations and trusts.
• Roosevelt shores up railroad regulation by getting
Congress to pass the Elkins Act (1903)
– Law with more teeth than the Interstate Commerce
Commission, Elkins Act imposed harsh fines on BOTH the
railroads that offered rebates, and the shippers that accepted
them
– Hepburn Act of 1906 expands the scope of the I.C.C. and what
it enforces.
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VIII. Caring for the Consumer
• T.R. and the public is nauseated by narrative of
Chicago meat packing industry, portrayal by
Upton Sinclair in his book, The Jungle.
• Spurs Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act
(1906)
– Quality of meat that passes state lines must be
inspected from “corral to can” by federal
government
• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) is also passed to
prevent adulteration, mis-labeling of foods and
drugs
IX. Earth Control
• Roosevelt was avid outdoorsman, naturalist,
hunter, conservationist
• Roosevelt began to set aside millions of acres,
most in the Western U.S., for conservation
– Land to be protected from lumber and mineral
interests
• Preservationists lost major battle in 1913 when
San Francisco succeeded in flooding Hetch
Hetchy Valley to use for drinking water.
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XIII. The Dollar Goes Abroad as a
Diplomat
• Roosevelt exits in 1908, hands the reins of
power to his VP, William Howard Taft, who easily
win the election with TR’s blessing.
• TR believed Taft would continue his progressive
policies, but Taft actually gravitates more
towards the conservatives of the GOP
• Taft does use dollar diplomacy:
– using American finance to manipulate foreign
countries, American economic interests, especially
in Latin America, far East
XV. Taft Splits the Republican Party
• While Taft was an even more prolific trustbuster than TR, Taft had
a knack for political missteps
• Taft goes after U.S. Steel—but U.S. steel had been an acceptable
trust to Roosevelt (he had a stake in a merger connected to U.S.
Steel)
• Taft promised to lower protective tariffs (a goal of Progressives),
but signs the weak Payne-Aldrich Bill, which only has a few goods
on the duty free list.
• Taft precipitates a GOP civil war with dismissing division of forestry
official Gifford Pinchot
– Disagreed with Secretary of Interior Richard Ballinger wanted to sell
public lands, Pinchot protested, was dismissed
• Roosevelt is infuriated at Taft, will run for president again in third
party
I. The “Bull Moose” Campaign of
1912
• 1912 Campaign was a three man race:
– Taft: Republicans
– Woodrow Wilson: Democrats
– TR: Progressive “Bull Moose” Party
• Democrats ran on Wilson’s platform of “New Freedom.” Called for:
– Stronger anti-trust legislation
– Banking reform
– Tariff restrictions
• Contrasted with Roosevelt’s brand of Progressivism, known as “New
Nationalism.” called for:
–
–
–
–
Consolidation of trusts and labor unions
More government regulation
Women’s suffrage
More social welfare programs
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Map 29-1 p663
IV. Wilson Tackles the Tariff
• As promised Wilson does go after tariffs,
House passes the Underwood tariff, which
reduces tariff rates.
• Constitutional Amendment, 16th
accompanies
– Graduated income tax.
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V. Wilson Battles the Bankers
• According to Wilson, banking system needs
reform, currency is “inelastic” cannot be
dispersed where needed in a time of crisis
• Wilson succeeds in getting Federal Reserve
Act (1913) passed
– Nation divided into banking districts with
reserves of currency
– Federal reserve board can increase/decrease
paper money supply
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VI. The President Tames the Trusts
• Wilson gets Congress to crack down further on
trusts. Other Progressive legislation passed:
– Federal Trade Commission Act (1914):
• Body entrusted with rooting out bad practices (unfair
trade practices, unlawful competition, false advertising,
bribery, etc.) linked to interstate trade
– Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914):
• Strengthened the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, including
cracking down on holding companies and interlocking
directorates (how JP Morgan controlled industries)
Figure 29-1 p666
VII. Wilsonian Progressivism at High
Tide
• Wilson pressed ahead with government
reform for laborers.
– Workingmen’s Compensation Act (1916):
assistance for federal employees in times of
disability.
– Adamson Act (1916): 8 hour workday for
interstate commerce employees, train industry
workers.
VIII. New Directions in Foreign Policy
• Wilson’s foreign policy pulls him in many directions:
• Philippines:
– Jones Act (1916)—promises eventual independence to
the Philippines
• Mexico:
– U.S. sailors arrested in Mexico,
– Wilson retaliates by using navy to stop arms shipments
to Mexican strongman Victoriano Huerta.
– Country hurdles toward war, but situation is mediated by
South American powers in situation known as the
Tampico Incident
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Map 29-2 p668
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Table 29-1 p671
XII. America Earns Blood Money
• A world-wide conflict has been sparked in
Europe.
• Conflict between the Central Powers, and Allies
rages
• U.S. remains neutral in early part of the “Great
War” WWI
• However the U.S. is drawn closer to war with
the sinking of the Lusitania a British passenger
liner sunk by a German U-boat.
• Is an incident to the U.S. as many U.S. citizens
are aboard.
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Map 29-3 p672
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Map 29-4 p675
I. War by Act of Germany
• American businessmen had been financing the
allies
• Americans also sympathetic to the allies
because of cultural ties
• America eventually drawn into the war by the
treacherous Zimmerman note:
– German telegraph intercepted to Mexico offering
to help Mexico take back the American Southwest,
if they enter the war for the Central Powers.
Note Quiz 6-2
1.
2.
3.
Explain how Lochner v. New York was a setback to the Progressive movement.
What law was passed to strengthen the Interstate Commerce Commission?
Explain how author Upton Sinclair factored into the Progressive movement—
connect to specific legislation.
4. John Muir objected to the flooding of what picturesque landscape in 1913?
5. Explain CLEARLY how President Taft manipulated foreign nations to bend to
the will of the United States.
6. Wilson reformed the nation’s banking system, and created a central bank with
the passing of what law?
7. List one law passed during Wilson’s tenure geared towards cracking down on
the trusts.
8. List one law passed during Wilson’s tenure geared towards helping workers.
9.
Explain the “Tampico Incident”
10. The U.S. will formally join the Allies in 1917, after intercepting what? What
was the content of the message they discovered?