I. Wilson's "New Freedom"
A. Wilson won the Election of 1912
1. Beat Wm. Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt
2. born in VA
3. wanted to expand powers of Pres. even more; wanted gov't.
to have even more control over businesses and corporations
a. was/is this a good idea?
B. Wilson regulates the economy:
1. wanted to attack "triple wall of privilege"
a. tariffs, banks, trusts
b. felt each was bad for small businesses, consumers
2. Congress lowers tariffs and raises taxes
a. tariffs - protect big Am. businesses by raising prices on
imported goods
b. Underwood Tariff Act (1913) - lowered tariffs
* Wilson felt that now consumers could buy
foreign goods if prices from Am. companies
were too high
* also created income tax - 16th Amend. gave
Congress power to do this
C. Federal Reserve Act - 1913
1. created central authority to supervise banks in U.S.
2. set up system of regional banks to hold and regulate reserves
from commercial banks
3. also regulates interest rates banks can charge
D. Wilson adds to antitrust regulation
1. Created Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
a. monitor business practices that could lead to monopoly
b. watch out for false advertising and dishonesty
c. today, regulates buying and selling on internet
2. Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)
a. strengthened earlier antitrust laws
E. Protecting Workers' Rights
1. Clayton Antitrust Act also said that labor unions could not be
attacked as trusts
a. allowed workers to organize more freely
2. Workingman's Compensation Act (1916)
a. gave wages to temporarily disabled civil service
employees
3. Adamson Act (1916)
a. limited railroad employees workdays to 8 hours
4. but, Wilson did not always support labor...
a. 1914 - sent fed. troops to Colorado to break up a coal
miners strike
F. Progressivism's Legacy
1. Did help to clean up some problems in America in early 20th
century
a. corruption; consumers being treated unfairly; workers
being treated poorly; discrimination; etc...
b. idea still exists that gov't. can step in to help fix probs.
2. But...also gave gov't. much more control over people's lives
a. gov't started making decisions usually made by private
individuals
b. how much government control is a good thing?
II. Wilson's "Moral Diplomacy"
A. Wilson brought more anti-imperialist ideas to the White House
1. appointed anti-imperialist Wm. Jennings Bryan as
Sec. of State
B. "Moral Diplomacy"
1. U.S. will "never again seek one additional foot of territory by
conquest"
2. seek understanding of other countries
3. promote "human rights, national integrity, opportunity"
C. New way to deal w/ Lat. Am.
1. understand what they want; even if it doesn't match w/what
U.S. wants
2. understanding would be key to developing friendship and
spreading "constitutional liberty"
3. but, still used military to guide Lat. Am. in "proper
direction"
a. sent marines to Haiti in 1915
b. convinced gov't of Haiti to sign agreement which gave
U.S. control of financial and foreign affairs
c. marines did not leave Haiti until 1934
d. U.S. soldiers also intervened in Dom. Rep. and Mex.
D. Revolution in Mexico
1. for many years - dictator Porfirio Diaz ruled Mexico
a. large pop. of farmers struggled
2. 1911 - Francisco Madero led revolution that brought down
Diaz
a. Madero was a weak leader
3. 1913 - General Victoriano Huerta seized power & executed
Madero
4. Wilson refused to recognize Huerta as leader
a. "gov't of butchers"
b. preferred Venustiano Carranza - a reformer who
organized forces against Huerta
E. Wilson sends troops to Mexico
1. 1914 - Mex. arrested U.S. sailors
a. Wilson sent marines to occupy Mex. port of Veracruz
b. Huerta's gov't collapsed; Carranza became pres. of
Mex.
2. Carranza's gov't. was slow to bring about reforms
a. rebels rose again - led by Francisco "Pancho" Villa
3. Villa crossed into New Mexico in 1916
a. raided town of Columbus and killed 18 Americans
b. Wilson sent Gen. John J. Pershing and 10,000 troops
into Mex. to hunt down Villa
4. Pershing chased Villa for 11 months
a. went 400 miles into Mex.
b. clashed w/ Mexican army
c. first time - U.S. ground troops were supported by
planes
d. never caught Villa because...
5. 1917 - Wilson withdrew U.S. troops from Mexico
a. World War I was raging in Europe
b. U.S. about to become involved
c. would be a big test of U.S. strength