1
THE PROGRESSIVE
MOVEMENT
AP US History
2
The Progressive Movement
Industrialization, urbanization, and immigration brought many benefits to America, but they
also produced challenging social problems. In response, a movement called Progressivism
emerged in the late 1890s. Progressives believed that new ideas and honest, efficient
government could bring about social justice. Progressives brought lasting reforms that still
effect society today.
Objectives
3


Discuss the rise of the Progressive movement.
Evaluate the impact of initiative, referendum, and
recall, and of the 17th Amendment.
Roots of Progressivism
4
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
It was a series of reforms that changed and
transformed American society in the early 1900s is
referred to as the Progressive Era (1890-1920).
Progressives felt society needed reforms; however
they differed on how to fix the problems they
believed existed in American society.
Roots of Progressivism
5
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Progressives came from all walks of life.
They came from all political parties, social classes,
ethnic groups, and religions.
Many emerged from the middle class, whose power
and influence was expanding.
Dissatisfied industrial workers also joined the
movement.
Roots of Progressivism
6



Few wealthy Americans joined the movement, only
those who wanted to act for the good of society.
Progressives shared a common belief that
industrialization and urbanization had created
social and political problems.
Progressives wanted to correct problems and
injustices.
Roots of Progressivism
7


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They encouraged their state legislatures and the
federal government to enact laws to address the
issues faced by the poor.
Progressives wanted to use logic and reason to
make society work more efficient and orderly.
Many were motivated by religious faith, and sought
social justice.
Roots of Progressivism
8

Similar to the Populist Movement:
Both reform movements.
 Wanted to get rid of corrupt government officials.
 Make government more responsive to the people’s needs.
 Sought to eliminate abuses of big business.


Difference:
Progressives were middle-class people who believed that
highly educated leaders should use modern ideas and
scientific techniques to improve society.
 Populist consisted of mostly farmers and workers.

Roots of Progressivism
9

Problems targeted by Progressives:
 Political
reform
 Women felt the number one goal was to win the right to
vote.
 Other considered honest government to be the most
important goal.
Roots of Progressivism
10


Reforms targeted city officials who built corrupt
organizations, called political machines.
The bosses of these machines used bribery and
violence to influence voters and win elections.
 Counted
on city workers to look the other way when
they took money for themselves.
Roots of Progressivism
11

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Corrupt and ineffective government combined with
booming cities produced problems.
People in cities needed paved streets, safe drinking
water, decent housing, and adequate municipal
services—led to very poor living conditions.
Roots of Progressivism
12

Often dishonest
business owners and
politicians controlled
municipal services.
Roots of Progressivism
13
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Other Progressives focused on big business.
They thought the Sherman Antitrust Act was
inadequate and ineffective in limiting the abuses of
big business.
Still other progressive reformers, were motivated by
their religious faith, they sought to reduce the
growing gap between the wealthy and the poor.
Roots of Progressivism
14


Many attacked harsh conditions endured by miners,
factory workers, and other laborers.
They wanted
 better
conditions for poor people in the city slums.
 social welfare laws to help children.
 government regulations to aid workers and consumers.
Muckrakers
15


Socially conscious journalist and other writers whose
investigations exposed a wide range of ills
affecting Americans.
Teddy Roosevelt first used this term-(A muckrake is
a tool used to clean manure and hay out of animal’s
stables.)
Muckrakers
16
The name became a badge of
honor.
•
People were horrified by the
conditions that were revealed to
them.
•
Lincoln Steffens was the editor of
McClure’s, a magazine known for
uncovering social problems.
•
1903—published The Shame of
the Cities, a collection of articles on
political corruption.
•
Muckrakers
17
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Another influential muckrakers was Jacob Riis, he
was a photographer for the New York Evening Sun.
He started taking pictures of the crowded, unsafe,
rat infested tenement building where the urban
poor lived.
He published How the Other Half Lives, which
shocked the nation and led to reform.
Jacob Riis
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Jacob Riis
19
Jacob Riis
20
Jacob Riis
21
Jacob Riis
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Jacob Riis
23
Jacob Riis
24
Muckrakers
25

Ida Tarbell wrote the
History of Standard
Oil, she reported that
John D. Rockefeller
used ruthless methods
to ruin his competitors,
charged higher prices,
and thereby reaping
huge profits.
26
Muckrakers
27


Others proclaimed the
need to improve
schools, and warned
of the breakdown of
family life.
John Spargo focused
on the dangerous and
difficult lives of child
workers.
Muckrakers
28


In The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
related to despair of immigrants
working in Chicago’s Stockyards
and revealed unsanitary
conditions in the industry.
“I aimed at their hearts and hit
them in the stomach”-Upton
Sinclair
The Jungle
29
The Jungle
30
Video
31
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5727/
The Jungle
Reforming Government
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
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Progressive reformers realized that they needed to
reform the political process in order to reform
society.
They knew that they would have to free government
from the control of political bosses and powerful
business interests.
They wanted to give people more control over their
government and make government more effective
and efficient.
Reforming Government
33

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Efficiency progressives believed business had
become more efficient by applying scientific
management.
They took these ideas and wanted to apply them to
government-cities should be run by experts not by
politicians.
They wanted either a commission or councilmanager system of government.
Reforming Government
34

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Under these plans, city government would be
divided into several departments, which would be
under the control of an expert.
1900—a massive hurricane left the city of
Galveston, Texas, in ruins.
The hurricane killed 8000.
As an emergency measure, they replaced their
mayor and board of aldermen with a 5-person
commission.
Reforming Government
35
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The commission form of government proved to be
very efficient as the city carried out its rebuilding
effort.
Galveston decided to permanently adopt the
commission form of government.
Many other cities decided to take-up a commission
plan of government.
By 1918, nearly 500 cities had adopted some form
of the Galveston Plan.
Reforming Government
36
Reforming Government
37

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Many modified it by adding a city manager to
head the commission.
This curbed the power of party bosses and their
political machines.
Many reform governments purchased public utilities
so that residents were not charged unfairly.
Reforming Government
38

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Progressives also pushed for election reform taking
up some Populist ideas.
Traditionally, party leaders picked candidates for
state and local offices.
In Wisconsin, a reform governor established a direct
primary, an election in which citizens themselves
vote to select nominees for elections.
1916—all states by 4 had direct primaries.
Reforming Government
39
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Progressives wanted to make sure that elected officials
would follow the citizen’s wishes.
To achieve this goal, they worked for 3 political
reforms:
1—initative: gave people the power to put a proposed law
directly on the ballot in the next election by collecting
citizen’s signatures on a petition.
 2—Referendum: allows citizens to approve or reject laws
passed by the legislature.
 3—Recall: gives voters the power to remove public officials
from office before their term ends.

Reforming Government
40


Progressives also adopt the Populist call for the
direct election of Senators by voters, not state
legislatures.
This reform becomes law in 1913, with the 17th
Amendment to the Constitution.
Reforming Government
41

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
Robert La Follette of Wisconsin—known as “Fighting
Bob” was elected governor in 1900; he won the
passage of many reform laws.
Under him, Wisconsin government forced railroads
to charge lower fees and pay higher taxes.
He improved education, made factories safer, and
adopted a direct primary.
Wisconsin became known as the “laboratory of
democracy.”
Women Make Progress
42

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1900—a growing number of women wanted to do
more than fulfill their roles as wives and mothers.
Education helped them achieve their goals.
However, for most women working outside the home
meant difficult jobs, with long hours and dangerous
conditions.
Women Make Progress
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
Without being able to vote, women had little
influence on the politicians who could expand their
rights and look after their interests.
One of the goals was to limit the number of work
hours.
 Argue
that this harmed working women and families.
 The courts did rule that there could be laws to limit their
hours. (Muller v. Oregon 1908)
Women Make Progress
44
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
Florence Kelly believed women were hurt by unfair
prices of goods they had to buy to run the home.
She helps to found the National Consumer League
Still active today.
Women Make Progress
45
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This gives special labels to “goods produced under
fair, safe, and healthy working conditions.”
Women were urged to avoid products that did not
have these labels.
She also helped to found the Women's Trade Union
League; they also worked to improve conditions for
female factory workers.
Women Make Progress
46
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A main goal of Progressive women was to improve
family life.
Pushed for laws to help mothers keep families
healthy and safe.
Another focus was the temperance movement led by
the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.
This group promoted temperance, the practice of
never drinking alcohol.
Women Make Progress
47


They felt that alcohol led men to spend their
earnings for liquor, neglecting their families and
abusing their wives.
Helped to get passage of the 18th Amendment
which outlawed the production and sale of alcohol.
Women Make Progress
48
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Nurse Margaret Sanger believed that women’s
health and family life could be improved if mother’s
had fewer children.
1916, she opened the first birth-control clinic.
She was jailed several times as a “public nuisance.”
She founds the American Birth Control League to
make this information available to more women.
Women Make Progress
49
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
Ida B. Wells, an African American teacher, helps to
form the National Association of Colored Women.
This organization aimed to help families strive to
success and assist those less fortunate.
Women Make Progress
50
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Boldest goal of Progressive women was suffrage—
the right to vote.
Argued that this was the only way to make sure that
the government would protect children, foster
education, and support family life.
Early reformers like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth
Cady Stanton worked for women to have a voice in
politics.
Women Make Progress
51

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
They failed at the federal level, but by the end of
the 1890s women in western states, won the right to
vote.
1890s, the national suffragist movement was
reenergized by Carrie Chapman Catt.
Urged women to join the National American Women
Suffrage Association.
Women Make Progress
52

As president she had a 2 pronged attack:
 1.
Lobbied Congress to pass a Constitutional
Amendment giving women the right to vote.
 2. Use new referendum process to pass state laws (New
York, Michigan, and Oklahoma).
Women Make Progress
53



Introduced a “society plan” to recruit wealthy, welleducated women.
Signed on women from all levels of society,
including African American, Mexican Americans, and
Jewish immigrants.
These women were called “suffragettes.”
Women Make Progress
54

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Some women opposed suffrage—The National
Association Opposed to Women Suffrage.
Felt the effort put into getting the right to vote took
women’s attention away from family.
Some women, known as social activists grew more
daring in their strategies.
Women Make Progress
55
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Alice Paul believed that drastic steps were needed
to win the vote.
1917—formed the National Women’s Party and
used public protest marches.
First group to march with picket signs outside the
White House.
Hundreds of women were arrested in these protests.
Women Make Progress
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Women Make Progress
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Women Make Progress
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Some went on hunger strikes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwd2sLEuw30
These methods angered many people.
When the US entered WWI in 1917, Carrie Catt
and Florence Kelley led the NAWSA to support the
war effort.
This convinced a growing number of legislations to
support the suffrage movement.
Women Make Progress
59

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Congress approved the 19th Amendment, it stated
that the right to vote “shall not be denied or
abridged on account of sex.”
August 18, 1920—Tennessee State House of
Representatives passed the amendment by 1 vote.
With Tennessee’s ratification enough states had
passed the amendment that it became official.
Women Make Progress
60
November 2,
1920—
millions of
American
women voted
for the first
time.
Social Progressives
61

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Many other Progressives focused on social issues
such as crime, illiteracy, alcohol abuse, child labor,
and health and safety of Americans.
They pushed for new laws to fix social problems.
They believed careful social planning would make
American life better.
Some reformers, like Walter Rauschenbusch, thought
Christianity should be the basis of social reform.
Social Progressives
62

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In his book Christianity and the Social Crisis he
outlined what he called the Social Gospel.
By following the Bible’s teachings about charity and
justice, he said, people could make society “the
kingdom of God.”
Many Protestant leaders followed this and began to
push for an end to child labor and shorter work
week.
Social Progressives
63
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Also pushed for the federal government to limit the
power of corporations and trusts.
A goal for Progressives was to improve the lives of
poor people in cities.
The Settlement House movement was one approach;
these were community centers that provided social
services.
Social Progressives
64

Services included:
 Child
care classes
 Taught English
 Nursery schools and Kindergartens
 Provided theater, art and dance programs.


Jane Addams was the most prominent leader of this
movement.
Founded Hull House which grew to 13 buildings,
and inspired women to become social workers.
Social Progressives
65
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Progressives tried to help children.
Florence Kelley led the effort.
She convinced the State of Illinois to ban child
labor, and other states followed.
1902– US Children’s Bureau was formed. (still
active today)
They examined any issue that affected the health
and welfare of children.
Social Progressives
66
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1906—Keating-Owen Act was passed, which
banned child labor; 2 years later was ruled
unconstitutional.
1938—Congress finally ended child labor for
good.
Many Progressives wanted to improve children’s
lives by education.
Many states passed laws requiring children attend
school until a certain age.
Social Progressives
67

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Debate came in what children should learn and how
they should learn.
Some wanted them taught work skills.
Others thought they should learn to appreciate
literature and music.
Most agreed that girls should learn different things
from boys.
John Dewey criticized schools for teaching
memorization and not teaching to think creatively.
Social Progressives
68

He wanted new
subjects like history,
geography, as well as
practical skills like
cooking and carpentry.
Social Progressives
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Social Progressives
70
Social Progressives
71
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1900s the US had the highest rate of industrial
accidents in the world.
Long hours, poor ventilation, fumes, and unsafe
machinery threatened safety and also lives.
Each year 30,000 workers died on the job and
500,000 were injured.
March 1911, a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory in New York forced attention to the need to
protect workers.
Social Progressives
72

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Workers had little chance to escape the raging fire
because mangers had locked most of the exits.
146 workers, mostly young women died.
Many jumped from the windows in desperation.
Inside, firefighters found many more victims,
“skeleton’s bending over sewing machines.”
Social Progressives
73


This outraged
Progressives.
Many states passed
laws to make the
workplace safer.
Social Progressives
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Social Progressives
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Social Progressives
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Social Progressives
77
Progressives Take on Big Business
78

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Felt that wealth was concentrated in the hands of
too few people.
Concerned that giant corporations were dominated
many industries.
Disagreed on how to regulate big business.
Many wanted to break-up big companies; other
wanted an agency to prevent them from abusing
their power.
Progressives Take on Big Business
79


Some advocated socialism—Eugene Debs ran as a
candidate for the American Socialist Party.
However, most Progressives believed in the
superiority of the American system of freeenterprise.
80
Roosevelt in Office
Section 2
Roosevelt
81


Describe various efforts to regulate concentrated
corporate power.
Discuss Theodore Roosevelt’s interest in
environmental conservation.
82
Section 2: Roosevelt in Office
In the late 1800s, the United States had several weak and ineffective Presidents. The
arrival of Theodore Roosevelt, a charismatic figure who embraced Progressive ideals,
ushered in a new era. Roosevelt passed Progressive reforms and expanded the powers
of the presidency. He changed the way Americans viewed the roles of the President
and the government.
Roosevelt
83

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Theodore Roosevelt, better known as “Teddy,” took
office at age 42-the youngest person ever to serve
as President.
Had the reputation for being smart, energetic,
competitive, and opinionated.
Sickly child of wealthy parents.
Graduated with honors from Harvard University
and started studying law at Columbia University
before being elected to the New York Assembly.
Roosevelt
84
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After 3 years of service and the deaths of his
mother and wife, Alice, he retired to a ranch in the
West.
There he developed a great love for the outdoors
and the wilderness.
1889, he returned to politics.
Became president of the New York City Board of
Police Commissioners, he fought corruption.
Roosevelt
85

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McKinley named him Assistant Secretary of the
Navy.
When the Spanish-American War broke out in
1898, he resigned his post and formed the Rough
Riders, a volunteer cavalry unit.
After the war he was elected governor of New
York, where he pushed for Progressive reforms.
Roosevelt
86
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He annoyed many Republican leaders in the state,
and they convinced McKinley to choose Roosevelt as
his running mate so he would leave New York.
When McKinley was assassinated he became
President.
He started to dominate public attention.
Children begged for teddy bear, a new stuffed
animal named for him.
Roosevelt
87

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Internationally, he was a Social Darwinist.
He believed the US was in competition with other
nations in the world, and that only the fittest would
survive.
Domestically, Roosevelt was a Progressive, and
believed that government should actively balance
the needs of competing groups in society.
Roosevelt
88

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He will greatly expand the power of the President.
He will use his office and its powers to convince
Americans of the need for change and to push
through his reform proposals.
His program was called the Square Deal, and its
goal was to keep the wealthy and powerful from
taking advantage of small business owners and the
poor.
Roosevelt
89


His idea of fair government did not mean that
everyone would get rich or that the government
should take care of the lazy.
Compared his Square Deal to a hand of cards.
 “When
I say I believe in a square deal, I do not mean
to give every man the best hand. If good cards do not
come to any man, or if they do come and he has not
got the power to play then, that is his affair. All I mean
is that there shall be no crookedness in the dealing.”
 Theodore Roosevelt, “The New Nationalism, 1910”
Roosevelt
90

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He believed that the US needed to adopt
Progressive reforms in order to maintain an efficient
society that could compete successfully against other
nations.
Although he admired competition, he was concerned
with efficiency.
Believed that trusts and other large business
organizations were very efficient and part of the
reason for American prosperity.
Roosevelt
91


However, he remained concerned with the pursuit of
their private interests.
Wanted to find a way to supervise big business
without destroying its economic efficiency.
Trustbusting and Regulating Industries
92



Roosevelt often stepped in with the power and
authority of the federal government.
He considered himself head manager and felt it
was his job to keep society operating efficiently by
preventing conflict between the nation’s different
groups and their interests.
1902—Pennsylvania coal miners went on strike.
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
93



They wanted a pay raise and shorter work week.
He sympathized with miners, but knew that a steady
stream of coal was needed to keep factories
working and homes heated.
He felt this was an example of groups pursuing their
private interests at the expense of the nation.
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
94



He urged the union and owners to accept
arbitration—the union agreed but the owners did
not.
He threatened to send federal troops to take over
control of the mines and run them with federal
employees.
This forced the owners to give in and give the
miners a small pay increase and a 9-hour workday.
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
95

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
This was the first time, the federal government
stepped in to help workers in a labor dispute.
This was the first step toward establishing the
federal government as honest brokers between
powerful groups in society.
Roosevelt then convinced Congress to establish the
Department of Commerce and Labor to monitor
businesses engaged in interstate commerce and
keep capitalist from abusing their power.
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
96



Within this department would be a division called
the Bureau of Corporations, with the authority to
investigate corporations and issue reports on their
activities.
They investigated US Steel.
The company worried about an antitrust lawsuit, the
company’s leaders met privately with Roosevelt and
offered a deal.
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
97



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They would let the Bureau into their account books
and in exchange if they found anything wrong they
could correct the problem without having to go to
court.
“Gentlemen’s Agreement”
The cost of shipping freight on the railroads had
been an issue since the 1870s.
Railroad companied were charging whatever they
wanted.
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
98


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This was especially troublesome for western
farmers.
They had no other way to move their products to
eastern markets.
1887—Congress created the Interstate Commerce
Commission to oversee rail charges on shipments
that passed through more than one state.
1900 the Supreme Court stripped away most of the
ICC’s power.
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
99

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Roosevelt pashed for the passage of the Elkins Act,
this would impose fines on railroads that gave
special rates to favored shippers.
1906—Congress passes the Hepburn Act, this gave
the ICC strong enforcement powers.
Gave the government the authority to set and limit
shipping costs.
Also set maximum prices for ferries, bridge tolls,
and oil pipelines.
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
100

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
Eventually, the railroads realized that they could
work with the ICC to set rates and regulations that
limited competition and prevented new competitors
from entering the industry.
1920—it was setting rates at levels intended to
ensure the industries profit.
It did not take long for the President and his
administration to earn the reputation as a
“trustbuster.”
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
101
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
102


In response, to an antitrust lawsuit filed by
Roosevelt's attorney general, the Supreme Court
ruled that Northern Securities Company—a big
railroad company—was an illegal trust.
Northern Securities was a holding company created
by the Union Pacific, Great Northern, and Northern
Pacific Railroads to control the Burlington Railroad.
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
103

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The Court ruled it violated the Sherman Antitrust
Act.
The next year, the Court found that a beef trust and
several agricultural companies broke antitrust laws.
Roosevelt was not interested in bringing down all
large companies.
Thought there was a difference between “good
trusts” and “bad trusts.”
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
104
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
105




Believed that big business was more efficient than
small ones.
He thought big business was bad only if it bullied
smaller outfits and cheated consumers.
Supported powerful trusts that did business fairly.
Also was called the “trust-tamer.”
Trustbusting and Regulating Industry
106
Social Welfare Action
107



1905—Comsumer protection became a national
issue.
A series of articles were published in Collier’s
Magazine describing the patent medicine business.
Many companies were patenting and marketing
potions that claimed would cure a variety of ills.
Social Welfare Action
108
Vitameatavegamin


Many were just alcohol,
colored water, sugar, and
some contained caffeine,
opium, cocaine, and other
dangerous compounds.
Consumers had no way of
knowing what they were
taking, nor any assurance
the medicine would work
as claimed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
VMaKTGaKLBE
Social Welfare Action
109



Many American were equally concerned about the
food they ate.
1906—Upton Sinclair published The Jungle; this was
based on his close observation of the slaughter
houses in Chicago.
His description of the filthy, unhealthy conditions
revolted the public and the President.
Social Welfare Action
110
Social Welfare Action
111



In response, Congress passed the Meat Inspection
Act—provided federal agents to inspect any meat
sold across state lines and required federal
inspection of meat-processing plants.
If there are any serious problems, inspectors can
force meat-packers to pull the product off the
shelves.
This is one of the lasting results of Progressives', the
fact that government now takes responsibility for
food safety though the Agricultural Department.
Social Welfare Action
112




The Pure Food and Drug Act placed the same
controls on other foods and on medicines.
It bans the interstate shipment of impure foods and
mislabeling of food and drugs.
FDA monitors companies to make sure people are
not hurt by dangerous substances and dishonest
labels.
Ex—before a drug can be sold, it must be tested
and approved by the FDA.
Social Welfare Action
113
The Government Manages the
Environment
114



Roosevelt’s deep reverence for nature also shapes
his politics.
He published books on hunting and the rugged west
that reflected his fascination with the competition
between humans and the wilderness.
Federal government established the Yellowstone
National Park in 1872 to protect wildlife.
The Government Manages the
Environment
115
The Government Manages the
Environment
116




He will clearly put his stamp on the presidency in
the area of conservation.
He felt that natural resources were being used at
an alarming rate.
1891—Congress gave the President the power to
protect timberlands by setting aside land as federal
forests.
He closed off more than 100 million acres of
forestland.
The Government Manages the
Environment
117



He thought that if some wild lands held valuable
resources, they were not meant to be used.
He called for experts to draw up plans for both
conservation and using the forests.
He drew on “rational use” ideas of Gifford Pinchot,
who led the Division of Forestry in the US
Department of Agriculture.
The Government Manages the
Environment
118




He recommended forests be preserved for public
use.
This meant that forests should be protected so that
tress could have time to mature into good lumber.
Then, the protected areas should be logged for
wood to build house and new areas placed under
protection.
These ideas will come to dominate American
policies toward natural resources.
The Government Manages the
Environment
119



A highly controversial natural resource issue was
water.
Over centuries, Native Americas had used various
methods to bring water to the arid Southwest.
In the late 1900s, when prospectors began mining
and farming the area, this required a great deal of
water.
The Government Manages the
Environment
120



Private irrigation companies came to the area,
staked claims to sections of riverbeds and
redirected water so farmers could revive or
“reclaim” dried up fields.
However, bitter fights broke out over who should
own water rights and how they should be shared.
Roosevelt listened to those who wanted the federal
government to help western states by building huge
reservoirs to hold and conserve water.
The Government Manages the
Environment
121


1902—National Reclamation Act, gave the federal
government the power to decide where and how
water would be distributed.
The government would build and manage dams that
would create reservoirs, generate power, and direct
water flow.
The Government Manages the
Environment
122

The effects of this project will be felt over the next
few decades:

Built huge reservoirs and lakes where there had been
dry canyons.
 Salt
Valley Project—Arizona
 Roosevelt and Hoover Dam—on the Colorado River.
The Government Manages the
Environment
123
Legacy
124



President Roosevelt changed the role of the federal
government and the nature of the presidency.
Americans began to look to the federal government
to solve the nation’s social and economic problems.
The executive branch greatly increased its power.
125
The Taft Administration
Section 3
Objectives
126


Explain how Theodore Roosevelt helped Taft get
elected.
Discuss why progressives were disappointed with
Taft as president.
127
Section 3: Taft Administration
Roosevelt left the presidency after two terms in office, saying he wished to enjoy private life. He was still a powerful force in
the Republican Party, however, and he used that power to help Secretary of War William Howard Taft win the presidency in
1908. Roosevelt expected Taft to continue his programs of managing business and natural resources. Political cartoonists made
caricatures of Roosevelt handing over what he called “my policies” to Taft, who seemed to have no ideas of his own.
Taft
128
Taft
129




Roosevelt hand-picked William Howard Taft to
continue his policies.
He had been Roosevelt’s friend and most trusted
lieutenant.
He had been a judge, governor of the Philippines,
and Roosevelt's Secretary of the Navy.
Due to Roosevelt's efforts he easily won the party
nomination.
Taft
130





His victory in the general election was a foregone
conclusion.
He defeated, twice defeated Williams Jennings
Bryan.
Taft, however, was a very different person than
Roosevelt.
He was a skillful administrator and judge.
He disliked political maneuvering and wanted to
avoid conflict.
Taft
131




He was slower about approaching issues.
So Taft’s personality and approach to politics will
quickly bring him into conflict with Progressives.
Taft felt that high tariffs limited competition, hurt
consumers, and protected trusts.
Roosevelt had warned him to stay away from this
issue fearing it would divide the Republican Party.
Taft
132




Charting his own course he called Congress into
special session to work on a new tariff.
However, he needed the help of the Speaker of the
House Joseph Cannon—he was very powerful and
almost total control over debate.
Progressives wanted to unseat him.
Taft pressured Progressives into stopping this, and
his tariff bill was quickly pushed through the House.
Taft
133





His angered Progressives.
The Payne-Aldrich Tariff, cut tariffs hardly any and
actually raised it on some goods, but Taft accepted
the bill.
Progressives felt betrayed and outraged.
He also pushed the Mann-Elkins Act which gave the
government control over telephone and telegraph
rates.
He also encouraged Congress to impose an income
tax.
Taft
134



Most importantly, he dropped Roosevelt’s distinction
between good trusts and bad trusts.
Taft’s Justice Department brought lawsuits against
twice as many corporation as Roosevelt's had done.
1911—the Supreme Court “busted” the trust built
by Standard Oil Company.
Taft
135



Taft also supported what the Court called its “rule
of reason” which relaxed the hard-line set by the
Sherman Antitrust Act.
The “rule of reason” allowed big monopolies so
long as they did not “unreasonably” squeeze out
smaller companies.
Roosevelt publically criticized these decisions.
Taft
136



Then Taft’s attorney general sued to force US Steel
to sell a coal company it had bought.
Roosevelt, who had approved this purchase of the
company, fumed.
Taft further infuriated Roosevelt and other
Progressives when he fired Gifford Pinchot for
publically criticizing Secretary of the Interior
Richard Ballinger.
Taft
137



Pinchot charged Ballinger, who opposed Roosevelt’s
conservation policies, had worked with business
interest to sell federal land that was rich in coal
deposits in Alaska.
Taft was however a conservationist.
Many felt he had sold the “Square Deal down the
river.”
138
The Wilson Years
Section 4
Objectives
139


Describe Wilson’s economic and social reforms.
Evaluate the legacy of the Progressive movement.
140
Section 4: The Wilson Years
Republicans Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft introduced the country to forceful Progressive Presidents.
Democrat Woodrow Wilson used the expanded power of the presidency to promote a far-reaching reform agenda.
Some of Wilson’s economic and antitrust measures are still important in American life today.
Election of 1912
141



This campaign will feature a current President, a
former President, and an academic who had just
recently entered politics.
Believing Taft had failed to live up to Progressives
ideals, Roosevelt announced he was willing to
accept the Republican nomination.
However, at the convention the Republicans split,
and Roosevelt will decide to leave the party and
declare himself independent.
Election of 1912
142



Roosevelt declared himself as “strong as a bull
moose,” and vowed to tackle trusts.
The Taft-Roosevelt split of the party resulted in the
Progressives setting up the Progressive Party.
Because Taft had alienated so many groups, the
election came down to a contest between 2
Progressives’ the Bull Moose Roosevelt and the
Democrat Wilson.
Election of 1912
143




The split created an opportunity for the Democrats
and Woodrow Wilson to win the election.
Wilson’s ideas had caught the attention of Williams
Jennings Bryan.
As a student and professor he had thought a good
bit about good government.
His doctoral thesis, “Congressional Government,”
had launched him on a career teaching college
before he became the reforming governor of New
Jersey.
Election of 1912
144

Roosevelt’s program for reform was called New
Nationalism:
 Wanted
more powerful federal government to regulate
trusts.
 Favored legislation to protect women and children.
 Supported worker’s compensation
 Wanted a federal trade commission to regulate
industry
Election of 1912
145

Wilson’s program of reforms was called New
Freedoms:
 Also
wanted strict controls on corporations
 Supported “regulated monopoly”
 Wanted to restore competition.

Although he did not win the majority of the popular
vote, he received 4 times more electoral votes then
went to Roosevelt or Taft.
Election of 1912
146


First man born in the
south to win the
presidency in almost
60 years.
First Democrat since
Grover Cleveland
(1892) to be
president.
Election of 1912
147
Election of 1912
148
Wilson Regulates the Economy
149




He attacked what he called the “tripe-wall of
privilege”—the tariffs, banks, and trusts.
Felt they blocked from being free.
Early on he pushed for new laws to bring down
those three walls and gave the government more
control over the economy.
First, Wilson aimed to protect workers.
Wilson Regulates the Economy
150



Wanted to prevent big manufactures from charging
unfairly high prices to their customers.
One way to do this was to lower the tariffs on
goods imported from foreign countries.
This would mean if American companies’ prices
were too high, consumers could buy foreign goods.
Wilson Regulates the Economy
151



Congress passed the Underwood Tariff, which cut
tariffs.
It also included a provision to create an income tax,
which the recently passed Sixteenth Amendment
allowed them to do.
The revenue from the income tax more than made
up for the money the government lost by lowering
tariffs on imports.
Wilson Regulates the Economy
152



Next, he tried to reform the banking system.
The country at this time had no central authority to
supervise banks.
As a result, interest rates would fluctuate wildly and
few wealthy bankers had control over national,
state, and local bank’s reserve funds.
Wilson Regulates the Economy
153


This meant that a bank might not have full access to
its reserves when customers needed to withdraw or
borrow money.
Federal Reserve Act—placed national banks under
control of a Federal Reserve Board, which set up
regional banks to hold reserve funds from
commercial banks.
Wilson Regulates the Economy
154


The system is still in place today, helps to protect the
American economy from having too much money
that ends up in the hands of one person, bank, or
region.
The Federal Reserve Board also sets interest rates
that banks pay to borrow money from other banks,
and it supervises banks to make sure they are well
run.
Wilson Regulates the Economy
155


This will increase the public confidence in the
banking system.
This is considered one of the most important pieces
of economic legislation before the 1930s.
Wilson Focuses on Trusts
156



Agreed with Roosevelt that trusts were not
dangerous as long as they did not engage in unfair
practices.
1914—Federal Trade Commission (FTC) members
of the group were named by the President to
monitor business practices that could lead to a
monopoly.
Also watched for false advertising or dishonest
labeling.
Wilson Focuses on Trusts
157



Clayton Antitrust Act— strengthened earlier
antitrust laws by spelling out those activities in which
businesses could not engage.
Still in practice today, protecting both businesses
and consumers from abusive business activities.
Prosecuted companies that traded stocks dishonestly
and fined companies that published false ads.
Wilson Focuses on Trusts
158





Today regulates buying on the Internet.
Still in practice today, protecting labor unions from
being attacked as a trust.
Now they were more free to organize.
Called the “Magna Carta” of labor.
Workingmen’s Compensation Act—gave wages to
temporarily disabled civil service employees.
Wilson Focuses on Trusts
159



Adamson Act—limited railroad employee’s
workdays to eight hours.
This was to prevent a nation-wide strike that could
have paralyzed the entire country.
He did not always support organized labor.
 Ludlow
Massacre
Wilson Focuses on Trusts
160




By 1914, he felt that his New Freedom was
complete, so he turned from activism.
However, his compliancy was short-lived after the
Democrats suffered losses in the election.
So he began to support further reforms.
Keating-Owen Child Labor Act—first federal child
labor law, however the Supreme Court declared it
unconstitutional.
Legacy of Progressivism
161


Wilson built upon Roosevelt’s foundation, and
expanded the role of the federal government and
of the president.
Political reforms made important changes in the
American political system:
referendum, recall, and the 19th Amendment
expanded voters’ influence.
 Federal government grew to offer more protection to
American’s private lives, but also gained more control
over people’s lives.
 Initiative,
Legacy of Progressivism
162

Economically:
 Antitrust
laws
 Federal Reserve Board
 Other agencies to closely watch over the economy.
 Consumer protection
Legacy of Progressivism
163

Natural Resources:
 Expanded
the role in managing natural resources.
 In the West—dams, reservoirs, national parks, and
conservation.


Many problems identified by Progressives still
affect us today.
There are still dishonest sellers, unfair employment
practices, and problems in schools, cities, the
environment, and public health.
Legacy of Progressivism
164


They passed on ideas that the government can take
action to help people fix those problems.
As the country entered WWI, however, Americans
soon turned from reforming their own society to a
crusade to “make the world safe for democracy.”
Legacy of Progressivism
165




Progressives did fail to address African American
issues.
1905—at Niagara Falls, DuBois and 28 other
African American leaders met to demand full
political rights and responsibilities.
Known as the Niagara Movement.
Led to the founding of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)