Wilsonian Progressivism at
Home and Abroad
The Emergence Of Woodrow Wilson
• Democrats were thrilled
about Republican split.
• Dems nominate Woodrow
Wilson, a militant
progressive.
• President of Princeton,
instituted sweeping
educational reforms
• Governor of New Jersey;
ignored party bosses.
Progressive. Very Popular
The Emergence Of Woodrow Wilson
• Eloquent and somewhat of a zealot.
• Strong moral streak; unwilling to compromise
matters of principle.
• Appealed to the people over the heads of the bosses
and legislature.
• In 1912 Democrats nominated him on the 46th ballot
when Bryan swings his support to Wilson.
– “New Freedom”- stronger antitrust legislation, banking
reform, tariff reductions
The Bull Moose Campaign
• Progressive republicans
split
• Nominate Theodore
Roosevelt
• New Nationalismconsolidation of trusts and
labor unions, growth of
regulatory agencies in DC,
woman suffrage, broad
social welfare ( minimum
wage and social insurance)
Wilson’s New Freedom
• Favors small enterprise,
entrepreneurship, free
function of unregulated
unmonopolized markets,
shun social welfare.
• “Not regulation,
fragmentazation of big
industrial powers”
• TR assassination attempt in
WS, had to stop
campaigning last two
weeks
Woodrow Wilson- Minority President
• Wilson wins with 41%.
• Wilson gets fewer votes than Bryan in any of his
three defeats.
• Taft-TR combined had 1.2 Million more votes
• Progressives (Wilson and Roosevelt) together got
far more votes than Taft.
– Thus, Progressivism was the winner.
• Wilson wins because Republicans split the vote
Woodrow Wilson- Minority President
• Bull Moose Problems- one
man show, elected few
candidates o state and local
offices
• Socialists Party- more than
1,000
• Republicans minority in
Congress and out of the
White House for only the
second time since before
the Civil War.
Wilson: The Idealist In Politics
• 1st southerner since Zachary Taylor in
the white house
• Shares faith in the masses
(Jeffersonian)
• Son of a Presbyterian Minister;
fervent piety and a stark view of good
and bad that makes it hard for him to
compromise. He is rigid.
• Moving orator, but cold personally.
• Student of government; professor of
political science. Believed in strong
president.
• High sense of morals and idealism
Wilson’s Defects
• Cold and austere
• Lacked the common touch;
not good with humans
individually.
• Intellectually arrogant.
• Morally righteous. Rigid
and uncompromising
• Stubborn
• Racist
Wilson Tackles The Tariff
• Assault on triple wall
of privilege- tariff,
banks, trusts
• 1. Underwood Tariffhuge reductions
– Landmark in tax
legislation- graduated
income tax
Wilson Battles Bankers
• Problem- banking reserves were heavily
concentrated in NY and other large cities- hard
to mobilize in times of financial panic
• Republicans – favor Third Bank of the United
States with 15 branches
• Demos- decentralized bank in government
hands
Federal Reserve Act (1913)
• Federal Reserve Act: most important piece of economic
legislation between the Civil War and the New Deal.
• Federal Reserve Board-oversaw nation wide system of
twelve regional reserve districts
• Empowered to issue federal reserve notes backed by
commercial paper- amount of money in circulation could be
swiftly increased as needed or legitimate requirements of
business
The President Tames The Trusts
• Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914- president
appointed commission to inspect industries
engaged in interstate commerce- root out unfair
trade practices, unlawful competition, false ads.,
mislabeling, and bribery
• Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914
– Strengthened Sherman Anti-Trust Act by lengthening
the list of unfair trade practices
– Exempts labor and agriculture- legalizing strikes and
peaceful picketing
– Gompers- “Magna carta” of labor
WW and progressive at High Tide
• Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916- credit available to
farmers at low interest rates (populism)
• Warehouse Act of 1916- authorized loans on the security
of staple crops (populism)
• La Follette Seamen’s Act- decent and living wage for
American Merchant ships
• Workingmen’s Compensation Act of 1916- assistance to
federal civil service employees during periods of
disability
• Restriction on child labor on products in interstate
commerce
• Adamson Act of 1916- 8 hour work day for employees on
trains in interstate commerce, and overtime pay
Wilson’s Blind Spot
• Wilson’s one failure in broadening the
rights of the downtrodden was Blacks.
• He increased segregation in the Civil
Service and generally had a very blind
eye—even a hostile eye—toward
concerns of blacks regarding civil
rights.
• Proclaimed Birth of a Nation an
important insight into history.
• Election of 1912 was a fluke, needs to
get the Bull Moosers on Democratic
side
New Directions In Foreign Policy
• WW- Hated, big stick
diplomacy
• WW- hates $ diplomacyno special support to
American investments in
China and Latin America
• Jones Act- Philippines gets
territorial status and
promised independence as
soon as stable government
is formed
New Directions In Foreign Policy
• 1914-1915- Haiti in
rebellion
• Marines sent to protect
American lives and
property(19 year stay)
• 1915- Marines sent to
Dominican Republic
• 1917- Buys virgin
islands from Denmark
Moralistic Diplomacy In Mexico
• Mexico 1913Victoriano Huerta
takes presidencyresults in mass
migration to US to SW
US- fruit pickers and
highway constructorssegregated
• WRH- pumps up war
cry
Moralistic Diplomacy In Mexico
• WW- arms embargo, didn’t
recognize government
• Tampico Incident- US
troops arrested then
released in Mex, demanded
21 gun salute but didn’t get
it, Navy takes over port to
prevent guns from coming
in, ABC powers meditate
• Venustiano Carranza takes
over- hates US for military
involvement
Moralistic Diplomacy In Mexico
• Pancho Villa- rival to
Carranza- kills
Americans in Mexico
and the US in hopes of
provoking war
• US sends John (black
Jack) Pershing
• Army withdrawn in
1917 – ( threats from
Germany)
Road to WWI
• Serb patriot killed Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand, the
heir to the throne of the Austria-Hungary “empire” in
Serajevo in 1914.
• Austrians blame Serbia. Backed by Germany, send
stern ultimatum to Serbia
• Serbia backed by Russia, mobilizes, menacing
Germany on the east.
• France mobilizes on Germany’s other side.
• Germans strike at France through Belgium.
• England enters the war against Germans.
• Japan eventually comes in against Germany, as well.
• Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey
and Bulgaria
• Allies: France, Russia, Britain, Japan.
Precarious Neutrality
• US and WW favor
isolationism
• Both sides want
American help
• US mainly AntiGerman- Kaiser
Wilhelm II seen as
autocracy
Precarious Neutrality
• France and England war
needs stimulates US
economy
• JP Morgan and Co. give
roughly 2.3 billion dollars
to allies
• 1915- Germany starts
submarine warfare
• Germany says they will try
not to attack neutral ships
Precarious Neutrality
• Submarines known as U
boats
• Lusitania sunk 1915- 128
Americans dead( was also
carrying ammunition
crates)
• Two months later Arabic
sunk- two Americans dead
• Germany promised not to
attack ships without
warning
Precarious Neutrality
• 1916- pledge broken,
attacked the Sussex
• Germany again
promised not to attack
merchant vessels
without warning, but
wants the US to tell
allies to modify illegal
blockade
Wilson Wins Reelection In 1916
• Progressive re nominate
TR, but he refuses to run.
Why
• Republicans nominate
Charles Evans (evasive)
Hughes.
• Hughes is a poor candidate
who tailors his rhetoric
concerning the war
depending on his audience
• Demos- WW- slogan “He
kept us out of war”