Cover Slide
The American
Pageant
Chapter 28
Progressivism and
the Republican
Roosevelt, 1901-1912
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PROGRESSIVISM
vs.
POPULISM
How are they different?
- historical setting
- aims
- membership
- success
ROOTS AND CHARACTERISTICS
OF PROGRESSIVISM
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Populism
“Strengthen the State”
Rise of Welfare State as concept
Threat of socialism
Problems with urbanization/industrialization
Muckrakers
Alliance b/w business and politics
Shoe line--Bowery men with gift from Tim Sullivan, February, 1910
Shoe line--Bowery men with gift from Tim Sullivan, February, 1910
"Big Tim" Sullivan, a New York City ward boss, rewarded "repeat voters" with a new pair of
shoes. Sullivan once explained, "When you've voted ‘em with their whiskers on, you take ‘em
to a barber and scrape off the chin fringe. Then you vote ‘em again…Then to a barber again,
off comes the sides and you vote ‘em a third time with the mustache…[Then] clean off the
mustache and vote ‘em plain face. That makes every one of ‘em for four votes." (Library of
Congress)
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Breaker Boys and Headline
Breaker Boys and Headline
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The coal mines of Pennsylvania employed more than ten thousand boys under the
age of 16. Known as "breaker boys," they sorted coal. Such work was dangerous and
sometimes fatal, as attested by this 1911 headline. (Library of Congress)
Textile worker
Textile worker
Young children like this one were often used in the textile mills because their small
fingers could tie together broken threads more easily than those of adults. (Library of
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Congress)
Poor neighborhood, Philadelphia, 1915
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Poor neighborhood, Philadelphia, 1915
Scenes like this in the immigrant wards of America's great cities stirred middle-class
reformers to action at the turn of the century. (Philadelphia City Archives)
Library of Congress
Family in an attic home with drying laundry].
CREATED/PUBLISHED [between 1900 and 1910]
NOTES title devised by cataloger.
Photograph of a photographic print.
Possibly immigrants.
Detroit Publishing Co. no. P 512.
Gift; State Historical Society of Colorado; 1949
The Tenement Question--Inside and Out!
The Tenement Question--Inside and
Out!
Many city dwellers, especially
immigrants, typically lived in tenements
that were crowded and unsanitary.
(Library of Congress)
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PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
•
•
•
•
•
•
“initiative”
“referendum”
“recall”
Primary elections
Secret ballots
Seventeenth Amendment (1913) –direct
election of Senators
• Women’s suffrage
• Public control of utilities/city management
La Follette's autobiography; a personal narrative of political experiences, by
Robert M. La Follette ...
How has it been possible that both the people of Wisconsin and the
investors in public utilities have been so greatly benefited by this
regulation? Simply because the regulation is scientific . The
Railroad Commission has found out through its engineers,
accountants, and statisticians what it actually costs to build and
operate the road and utilities. Watered stock and balloon bonds
get no consideration. On the other hand, since the commission
knows the costs, it knows exactly the point below which rates
cannot be reduced. It even raises rates when they are below the
cost, including reasonable profit.
The people are benefited because they are not now paying profits on
inflated capital. The investors are benefited because the
commission has all the facts needed to prevent a reduction of
rates below a fair profit on their true value. So honestly, capably,
and scientifically has the work of our commission been done that
the railroads and other utility corporations have accepted their
reductions without any contest at all. . . .
Suffrage parade
Suffrage parade
Suffrage leaders built support for the cause by using modern advertising and
publicity techniques, including automobiles festooned with flags, bunting, banners,
posters, and--in this case--smiling little girls. (Library of Congress)
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The Awakening
The Awakening
This cartoon, entitled "The Awakening," shows a western woman, draped in a golden robe,
bringing the torch of woman suffrage from the western states that had adopted suffrage to
enlighten the darkness of the eastern states that had not done so. In the dark eastern states,
women eagerly reach toward the light from the west. Yellow had become closely associated
with the suffrage movement, and western suffrage advocates often depicted suffrage as a
woman in a golden robe. (Library of Congress)
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PROGRESSIVE SOCIAL
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Eighteenth Amendment (1919)
= Prohibition of Alcohol
• Women’s Christian Temperance
Movement, Frances E. Willard
• “Blue” and “dry” laws
Photograph from The White Slave Hell
Photograph from The White Slave
Hell
In addition to crusading against
drunkenness, moral reformers stirred up
emotions over accusations that evil men
were seducing innocent young women
into prostitution--or white slavery, as it
was called. In this posed photograph
printed in a 1910 antivice publication,
The White Slave Hell: or, With Christ at
Midnight in the Slums of Chicago, the
man supposedly has gotten the woman
drunk and is about to lure her into a life
of sin. (Collection of Perry R. Duis, from
The Saloon)
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PROGRESSIVE SOCIAL
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Workmen’s
Compensation
• Maximum hours
• Minimum wage
• Muller v. Oregon
(1908) – protection for
women in workplace
• Shirtwaist Fire (1911)
– catalyst for reform
Socialists parade
Socialists parade
Though their objectives sometimes differed from those of middle-class Progressive
reformers, socialists also became a more active force in the early twentieth century.
Socialist parades on May Day, such as this one in 1910, were meant to express the
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solidarity of all working people. (Library of Congress)
The Masses cover, 1912
The Masses cover, 1912
This socialist publication,
edited in New York's
Greenwich Village,
denounced the abuses of
capitalism, including child
labor. (Library of Congress)
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Yard of tenement at Park Place
Yard of tenement at Park
Place
(Library of Congress)
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CONTEXT
When did Roosevelt become President?
What was going on in the US at the time?
What was going on in the world at the time?
Are there any parallels today?
ROOSEVELT THE MAN
What was Roosevelt’s background?
Education?
Personality?
Experience prior to becoming President?
ROOSEVELT AT HOME
What was Roosevelt’s position re: Progressivism?
• “Square Deal”
• Arbitrates the 1902 Coal Strike
• Threatened to assume control of mines
– HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Govt. did not automatically back big business
• Dept. of Commerce and Labor (1903)
• “trust-busting”
Pullman Strike
Anthracite Coal Strike
of 1902
Theodore Roosevelt cartoon "A nauseating job, but it must be done"
Theodore Roosevelt cartoon "A nauseating job, but it must be done"
Upton Sinclair's novel, The Jungle, published in 1906, prompted President Theodore
Roosevelt to order an investigation of Sinclair's allegations about unsanitary
practices. Roosevelt then used the results of that investigation to pressure Congress
into approving new federal legislation to inspect meatpacking. (Utica Saturday
Globe)
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Stamp--"US Inspected and Condemned"
Stamp--"US Inspected and Condemned"
Upton Sinclair's novel, The Jungle, published in 1906, prompted President Theodore
Roosevelt to order an investigation of Sinclair's allegations about unsanitary
practices. Roosevelt then used the results of that investigation to pressure Congress
into approving new federal legislation to inspect meatpacking, including a stamp
such as the one shown here for condemned meat. (Chicago Historical Society)
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Report of the National conservation commission. February, 1909. Special message from the
President of the United States transmitting a report of the National Conservation
commission, with accompanying papers ... Ed. under the direction of the Ex
SPECIAL MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT TRANSMITTING THE REPORT OF THE
NATIONAL CONSERVATION COMMISSION
The underlying principle of conservation has been described
as the application of common sense to common problems
for the common good. If the description is correct, then
conservation is the great fundamental basis for national
efficiency. In this stage of the world's history, to be fearless,
to be just, and to be efficient are the three great
requirements of national life. National efficiency is the
result of natural resources well handled, of freedom of
opportunity for every man, and of the inherent capacity,
trained ability, knowledge, and will, collectively and
individually, to use that opportunity.
ROOSEVELT THE REFORMER
• “Good” vs. “Bad” Trusts
- ex. Railroad and Beef trusts were “bad”
• Sinclair’s The Jungle –catalyst for reform
• Meat Inspection Act of 1906
• Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906
• Newlands Act of 1902
• Environmental Conservationism
Did Roosevelt show more restraint than reform?
Patent medicine
Patent medicine
Makers of unregulated patent medicines advertised exorbitant results from using
their products. This ad, while warning against "fraudulent claims," asserts that a wide
belt can cure a variety of ailments. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 did not ban
such products but tried to prevent manufacturers from making such unsubstantiated
statements. (Picture Research Consultants & Archives)
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Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot
Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford
Pinchot
The two friends and allies in the
conservation cause aboard the steamboat
Mississippi on a 1907 tour with the
Inland Waterways Commission. (Library
of Congress)
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Theodore Roosevelt with John Muir at Yosemite, 1903
Theodore Roosevelt with John Muir at
Yosemite, 1903
In 1903, at Yosemite National Park,
Theodore Roosevelt met with John Muir,
a leading advocate for the preservation
of wilderness. While Roosevelt made
important contributions to the
preservation of parks and wildlife
refuges, he was more interested in the
careful management of national
resources, including federal lands.
(Yosemite Museum)
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Roosevelt and Imperialism
What were Roosevelt’s major acts of foreign policy?
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•
•
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Panama “revolution” from Colombia Nov. 1903
US Navy supports the “revolution”
Panama Canal built (1904-1914, $400 million)
US granted Canal Zone (10 mile strip)
“Big Stick” Diplomacy or “Cowboy diplomacy?”
Roosevelt’s Second Term
• Roosevelt re-elected in 1904
• Looses support from w/in party b/c of
“progressive” rhetoric
• Lame-duck = decline in power
• Blamed for Panic of 1907
HOW DOES HISTORY
JUDGE TR’s PRESIDENCY?
Postcard with Taft cartoon
Postcard with Taft cartoon
This postcard depicts how President Theodore Roosevelt, in command of the
Republican Party, persuaded his friend William Howard Taft to run for president in
1908. Taft was not eager for that office, but Roosevelt succeeded in convincing him
to seek it. With Roosevelt's strong support, Taft was elected, but he proved a
disappointment to Roosevelt. (Collection of Janice L. and David J. Frent)
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Election of 1908
• TR anoints Taft as successor
• Taft (Republican) v. Bryan (Democrat)
• Voters endorse status quo: Taft wins 321 to 162
http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/elections/maps/1908.gif
President Taft (1908)
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/assets/jb/reform/jb_reform_taft_1_e.jpg
Pres. Taft (1908-1912)
SCORECARD:
• Not as popular as TR
• Fails to unite wings of Republican party-splits it!
• “dollar diplomacy”
• Interventions in Cuba, Honduras, Dominican
Republic and Nicaragua (13 years in Nicaragua!)
• Over 90 anti-trust actions, including against
Standard Oil and US Steel
• Payne-Aldrich Tariff Bill controversy