Teddy Roosevelt and the Square
Deal
Square Deal
• “It is the duty of the president to act upon the
theory that he is steward of the people, and …
to assume that he has the legal right to do
whatever the needs of the people demand,
unless the Constitution or the laws explicitly
forbid him to do it.”
• Square Deal -> described the various
progressive reforms sponsored by the
Roosevelt Administration
Using Federal Power
• Thought the U.S. required strong federal gov’t
• Trusts -> legal body that would control stocks of a
particular company (Standard Oil)
– Controlled about 4/5 of U.S. industries
– Lower prices to drive out competition then raise them
after competition was gone
• Roosevelt attacks Northern Securities Company
(controlled northwestern railroads)
– Had Justice Department sue this company leading to it
dissolving.
1902 Coal Strike
• 140k + coal miners in Penn. strike for 20%
raise, 9 hr. workday, right to form union
• Roosevelt invites both parties to White House
– Got 10% raise, 9 hr. workday
– Had to give up right to form union and the ability
to strike for 3 years
• Federal gov’t now expected to intervene in
future strikes
Railroad Regulation
• Roosevelt passes the Elkins Act
– Made it illegal for railroad officials to give, and
shippers to receive, rebates for using particular
railroads
• Hepburn Act 1906
– Limited the distribution of free railroad passes
(used as bribery)
– Gave commission the right to set max. railroad
prices
Health + Environment
• Food and Drugs
– “The Jungle” leads to Meat Inspection Act
• Dictated strict cleanliness requirements and the
inspection of meat by the federal gov’t
– Pure Food and Drug Act
• Halted the sale of contaminated foods and medicines
• Called for truth in labeling (accurate labels)
• Natural Resource Conservation
– Overuse of natural resources
• Deforestation, excessive coal mines, overgrazing plains
– Measures were taken
• Kept large pieces of federal land from being sold
privately
• Mediation between conserved land and exploited land
• Funded large scale irrigation projects in the West
Roosevelt on Civil Rights
• Failed to support civil rights for AfricanAmericans
– Did appoint African-American to head of custom
house in Charleston, S.C.
• When Mississippi refused to acknowledge this,
Roosevelt shut their office down
– Dismissed African-American regiment from army
on suspicions of protecting someone in a murder
case
• Fired back by inviting Booker T. Washington to White
House
• W.E.B. Du Bois shows opposition
– Attacks Washington
• Says he accommodates segregationists
• Blames blacks for their poverty
• Urges them to accept discrimination
– Quote pg. 325
• Du Bois holds rally in Niagara Falls and forms
the NAACP (National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People)
– 6,000+ members by 1914
– Progressive ideals focused on middle class whites
Taft and Progressivism
Becoming President
• Was Roosevelt’s Secretary of War
– Picked to run against William Jennings Bryan
• Easily beat Bryan who was running for the 3rd
consecutive time
Early Stumbles
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Wanted to consolidate previous reforms
Not very popular in the beginning
Had trouble with members of his own party
Tariffs and conservation become main focus
Tariffs and Conservation
• Payne Bill (H.O.R.)
– Lowered rates on imported manufactured goods
• Aldrich Bill (Senate)
– Made fewer cuts and increased many rates
• Payne-Aldrich Tariff
– A compromise that only moderated the high rates of the Aldrich
Bill
– Believed that Taft was straying from Progressivism
– Taft calls it the “best tariff bill the Republicans had ever passed”
• Taft appoints Richard A. Ballinger as secretary of the
interior
– Removed 1 mil. Acre of forest and mining lands from the
reserved list and returned it to the public domain
Split of the Republicans
• Two types of Republicans
– Progressives who wanted change and those who
didn’t
• Joseph Cannon (Uncle Joe) -> Speaker of House
– Chairman of House Rules Committee (decides which
bills Congress will consider)
– Often ignored progressive bills
• With help from Dem. Progressive Rep. called for
the entire House to elect the Committee on Rules
and excluded the Speaker from membership in
the committee
Bull-Moose Party
• Roosevelt leaves office, goes to Africa to hunt, comes back
to people wanting him back in office
– Decides to run for 3rd term
– Taft has advantage because he is incumbent
• His supporters relocate to areas where Roosevelt had supporters
• Progressive Republicans refuse to vote and create 3rd party
(Bull Moose Party)
– Wanted direct election of senators and the adoption in all states
of the initiative, referendum, and recall
– Agreed with women’s suffrage , workmen’s compensation, 8 hr.
workday, min. wage for women, no child labor, federal
commission to regulate business
• Democrats get great chance to regain White House
– Nominate Woodrow Wilson as their candidate
1912 Election
• Wilson runs on “New Freedom” idea
– Demanded stronger antitrust legislation, banking
reform, and reduced tariffs
• Roosevelt and Taft fighting each other
– “Don’t’ interfere when your enemy is destroying
himself”
• Race between Roosevelt’s progressivism, Taft’s
conservatism, and Wilson’s “New Freedom”
• Wilson wins election and Roosevelt defeats Taft
as 3rd party candidate