Chapter 10, Sec 5: Things to Know
What political party was Woodrow Wilson a part of?
What did Wilson want to impose strict government controls on?
What did President Wilson attack?
Who did Wilson try to protect by lowering tariffs on goods
imported from foreign countries?
Why did the US banking system need to be reformed in the
early 1900s?
In 1914, what did Congress form to monitor business practices
that might lead to monopolies?
What legislation strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act by
spelling out the specific activities in which businesses could not
engage?
Why did Wilson push for the passage of the Adamson Act?
What was a result of the 1913 coal miners’ strike in Ludlow,
CO?
The Progressive Era: 1890-1920
Section 5: Wilson’s New Freedom
Woodrow
Wilson
Why It Matters
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.
Wilson and the Democrats Prevail
In 1912, the Republican Party split over the
issue of reform.
– Those who wanted a more active government
formed the Progressive Party and chose
Theodore Roosevelt as their candidate for
President.
– Loyal Republicans chose President William
Howard Taft.
Wilson and the Democrats Prevail
What political party was Woodrow Wilson a part of?
– The Democratic Party.
The Democrats, given this opportunity created from the
splitting of the Republican Party, chose Woodrow
Wilson as their candidate.
– Wilson’s ideas had caught the attention of William Jennings
Bryan, who helped Wilson win the Democratic nomination.
– As a student and later as a professor, Wilson had thought a great
deal about good government.
– His doctoral thesis, Congressional Government, had
launched him on a career teaching in college before he
became the reforming governor of New Jersey.
Wilson and the Democrats Prevail
Wilson shaped his ideas into a program called
the New Freedom.
– This plan looked like Roosevelt’s New Nationalism
– What did Wilson want to impose strict government
controls on?
Corporations, much like Roosevelt’s New Nationalism.
– Wilson outlined his aim to provide opportunities –
more freedom – for small businesses.
– Although he did not win the majority of the popular
vote, Wilson received more than four times the
number of Electoral votes than went to Roosevelt or
to Taft.
– Wilson became the first President to come from the
South in almost 60 years.
Wilson Regulates the Economy
What did President Wilson attack?
– Wilson would attack what he called the “triple
wall of privilege.”
– The “triple wall” was composed of tariffs,
banks, and trusts that blocked businesses
from being free.
– Early in his first term, he pushed for new laws
that would bring down those three walls and
give the government more control over the
economy.
Wilson Regulates the Economy
Wilson first aimed to prevent big
manufacturers from unfairly charging high
prices to their customers.
– Who did Wilson try to protect by lowering tariffs
on goods imported from foreign countries?
Workers.
– Wilson tried to protect workers. To do this, they
would lower the tariffs on goods imported from
foreign countries so, if American companies’
prices were too high, consumers could buy
foreign goods.
– This was called the Underwood Tariff Bill of 1913.
Wilson Regulates the Economy
The Underwood Tariff Act of 1913 included a
provision to create a graduated income tax,
which the recently passed Sixteenth
Amendment gave Congress the power to do.
– A graduated income tax means that wealthy
people pay a higher percentage of their income
than to poor people.
– 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
Next, Wilson tried to reform the banking system
in the early 1900s.
– Why did the US banking system need to be reformed
in the early 1900s?
The country had no central authority to supervise
banks.
– As a result, interest rates for loans could fluctuate
wildly, and a few wealthy bankers had a great deal of
control over the national, state, and local banks,
reserve funds.
– This meant that a bank might not have full access to
its reserves when customers needed to withdraw or
borrow money.
Wilson Regulates the Economy
In order to supervise the banks, Wilson created
the Federal Reserve Act in 1913.
– This law placed national banks under the control of
a Federal Reserve Board, which set up regional
banks to hold the reserve funds from commercial
banks.
This system is still enforced today. It helps protect the
American economy from having too much money end up in
the hands of one person, bank, or region.
– The Federal Reserve Board also sets the interest
rate that banks pay to borrow money from other
banks, and it supervises banks to make sure they
are well run.
Wilson Regulates the Economy
Wilson then strengthens antitrust regulation. He
agrees with Roosevelt that big businesses aren’t
bad as long as they did not engage in unfair
practices.
– In 1914, what did Congress form to monitor business
practices that might lead to monopolies?
In 1914, Congress created the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC).
– What legislation strengthened the Sherman Antitrust
Act by spelling out the specific activities in which
businesses could not engage?
It also passed the Clayton Antitrust Act in 1914, which
strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act by spelling out
the specific activities in which businesses could not
Wilson Regulates the Economy
The Clayton Antitrust Act also ushered in a
new era for workers by protecting labor
unions from being attacked as trusts.
– It was considered by Samuel Gompers of the
American Federation of Labor as the “Magna
Carta” of labor.
– The Workingman’s Compensation Act (1916)
was also created as a protection for workers.
It gave wages to temporarily disabled civil service
employees.
Wilson Regulates the Economy
A railroad strike was in the near future which
would stop all movement of coal and food,
leaving millions cold and hungry. Wilson needed
to do something to prevent this.
– The railroad union leaders insisted on the eight-hour
day, but railroad managers would not accept it.
– Wilson called in the heads of many railroad
companies to the White House, pleading with them to
change their minds and avert a strike.
– When those efforts failed, he worked with Congress to
pass the Adamson Act, which limited railroad
employees’ workdays to eight hours.
– Why did Wilson push for the passage of the Adamson
Act?
To prevent a nationwide railroad strike.
Wilson Regulates the Economy
However, Wilson did not always support organized labor,
as a tragic incident known as the Ludlow Massacre
showed.
– In the fall of 1913, coal miners in Ludlow, CO, demanded
safer working conditions, higher pay, and the right to form
a union. When the coal company refused, they walked off
the job. Evicted from company housing, the miners and
their families set up a tent city near the mines. The Strike
continued through the winter.
– What was a result of the 1913 coal miners’ strike in
Ludlow, CO?
As a result, on April 20, 1914, the Colorado National Guard
opened fire on the tent city and set fire to the tents, killing 26
men, women, and children.
– Wilson ended up sending troops to restore order and
break up the strike. The miners’ attempt to set up a union
had failed.
Progressivism Leaves a Lasting
Legacy
In the end, the Progressive Era was a positive era
for the US. We had several changes that bettered
Americans’ lives.
The only thing that was a drawback for America
was that the government was now controlling
more aspects of public life than it had ever
controlled before.
However, the Progressive reformers passed on
the idea that government can take action to help
people fix problems in schools, cities, the
environment, and public health.