Chpt 4 Progressive Era
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Industrialization, urbanization and
immigration had brought many benefits to the
US
But they also created many social problems
What problems would they create?
The idea of Progressivism emerged
Progressives believed that new ideas, and
honest, efficient government could bring
about social justice
Origins of Progressivism…
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Progressives came from all walks of life – wealthy,
poor, all religions, all political parties, all areas of the
nation
Many of the leaders came from the growing middle
class
They wanted change that would fix the problems
that industrialization and urbanization had caused
All levels of government were petitioned to pass
laws to help the poor and disenfranchised
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Progressivism was set up to get rid of
corruption, make gov’t more responsive to
the peoples needs, put a stop to big business
A Variety of Problems….
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Many wanted political reform
Women wanted the right to vote
Many want to stop corruption – shutting
down political machines
Many lacked paved roads, safe drinking
water, decent housing and adequate
municipal services
Bribery and shady deals were rampant
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Middle class Americans wanted Gov’t to “bust
the trusts” – big business had created locked
up markets and small businesses were not
surviving
Complained that the Sherman Anti-Trust Act
of 1890 was not strong enough to stop big
business
Many for religious reasons wanted to bridge
the gap between rich and poor – wanted
change for factory workers and miners –
wanted change for those living in city slums –
wanted to help children, workers and
consumers
Muckrakers….
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Socially conscientious journalists/writers
dramatized the need for reform in magazines
and newspapers
A muckrake is a tool used to clean manure
out of an animals hooves – name coined by
Teddy Roosevelt
What is the connection?
Lincoln Steffens…
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Editor of McClure’s Magazine –
know for uncovering social
problems
1903 Shame of the Cities was
published – articles on political
corruption
Exposed Philadelphia city
officials in their scam with the
electric company
Exposed corruption – bribery,
buying votes, threats, intimidation
Jacob Riis…
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Photographer for the NY
Evening Sun – took pictures
of the unsafe, crowded, rat
infested tenement buildings
from 1890 - 1903
Published How the Other
Half Lives – this book
shocked the nation and led
to many reforms
Ida Tarbell…
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Wrote The History of
Standard Oil - exposed
John D. Rockefeller for
using ruthless methods to
get rid of his competitors,
charging higher prices and
reaping huge profits
Muckraking Novels…
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The naturalist novel was developed –
honestly portrayed human suffering and
misery and the struggles of common people
Sister Carrie – written by Theodore Dreiser in
1900 – tells the story of a young girl from a
small town who was drawn into the brutal
world of Chicago and NYC
Upton Sinclair…
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The Jungle exposed the
despair of immigrants
working in Chicago’s
stockyards and meat
packing plants – it also
revealed the unsanitary
conditions of that
industry
http://www.powayusd.co
m/online/usonline/wordd
oc/jungle.htm
Jungle Video w/ video quiz
Social Gospel Guides Reform…
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Many felt that Christianity should be the basis
for social reform.
Walter Rauschenbusch – Baptist minister –
wanted to fix society with a blend of Christianity
and reform.
Wrote Christianity and the Social Crisis –
discussed what he called the “social gospel” –
by following the Bible (charity & justice) –
society would be the “kingdom of God”
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Many Protestant
leaders followed
Rauschenbusch
program
They pushed for the
end of child labor and
shorter workweeks
They also pushed for
the federal gov’t to
limit the power of
corporations and
trusts
Does this fit with the
Progressive’s goals?
Settlement House Workers…
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Settlement house = community center that
provided social services for the poor
Childcare classes to young mothers, English
classes to immigrant workers
Nursery schools and Kindergarten classes
were set up
Theater, art and dance classes were set up
for adults
Jane Addams…
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1889 Addams opened Hull
House in Chicago
Hull House grew to include
13 buildings within a few
years
Addams and Hull house
became an inspiration to
many college educated
middle class women
By 1911 – 400 settlement
houses in the US
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Around 1900, child labor was often used in US
factories and farms. At the turn of the century,
nearly 1 million children under the age of 15
worked in US industries. Another million worked
on farms. This led to abuses and serious safety
issues. About a decade later, people began to
protest for better child labor laws.
What are the child labor laws in your state
today? Depending on their age, are children
limited to certain kinds of jobs? Are the hours
they can work each week limited Do you think
that these laws are good? Write a clear
paragraph explaining your answer.
Protecting Children…
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Atty. Florence Kelley helped to convince the
state of Illinois to ban child labor…soon other
states followed suit
She worked to establish the National Child
Labor Committee which lobbied the federal gov’t
to set up the US Children’s Bureau in 1912 –
this group studied any issue that affected
children’s health and welfare
What modern day groups do the same?
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1916 Congress passed the Keatings-Owens
Act which banned all child labor
1918 – US Supreme Court declared the law
unconstitutional
1938 would finally see the end of child labor
for good
Education Reforms…
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Many states passed laws that required children
to attend school until a certain age
There were many heated debates about what
and how a child should learn
Some wanted only work skills taught – others
said literature and fine arts
Most believed that girls and boys should not
learn the same things
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John Dewey criticized US schools for having
children memorize facts and not to think
creatively
Dewey wanted schools to teach new subjects
like history and geography as well as skills
like cooking and carpentry
His ideas were discussed by many at that
time but were not all adopted until many
years later
Help for Industrial Workers…
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Early 1900s – US had the highest rate of
industrial accidents in the world
Long hours, poor ventilation, hazardous
fumes & unsafe machinery
Yearly – 30,000 workers died on the job and
over a half million were injured
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory…
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March 1911 – NYC – 146 employees- mostly
young Jewish women- were killed in a fire
that ravaged the building
Doors were locked from the outside by
management to prevent theft
Many jumped from windows to escape the
fire – firefighters found skeletons hunched
over sewing machines
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Progressives were outraged – called for
reforms
NYC passed laws to make workplaces safe –
other states followed suit
Many states adopted workers compensation
laws which set up funds to pay injured
workers
Some states passed laws limiting the
workday to 10 hours.
The Supreme Court however ruled that those
laws were unconstitutional
Government Reforms…
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The goals of the Progressive Party in
reforming the government were…
To get rid of political bosses/political
machines in the big cities, limit the control of
powerful business interests, give the people
more say in gov’t, make the gov’t more
efficient and more effective
Reform Election Rules…
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Traditionally party leaders picked candidates
for state and local offices
Wisconsin Gov. Robert La Follette set up the
direct primary – citizens vote to select
nominees for upcoming elections
By 1916 all but 4 states had direct primaries
Progressives pushed for four more
changes…
The Initiative…
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This gave people the power to put a
proposed new law directly on the ballot in the
next election by collecting citizens signatures
on a petition
This meant that voters themselves could
pass laws rather then waiting for elected
officials to act
The Referendum…
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Allowed citizens to approve or reject laws
passed by the legislature
The Recall…
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This gave voters the power to remove a
public official from office before their terms
ended
th
17
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Amendment…
This amendment set the direct election of
Senators by voters not state legislators
Robert La Follette…
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Governor of Wisconsin – became a leader of
the Progressive Party – “Fighting Bob”
Made many reforms in his state – Railroads
were forced to charge lower fees and to pay
higher taxes
Education was improved, factories were
made safer, and the direct primary was
adopted
Others called Wisconsin the “Laboratory of
democracy”
Other Progressive leaders…
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Hiram Johnson- Gov. of CA – shattered the
Southern Pacific Railroads stranglehold of the state
gov’t, set up the direct primary, initiative,
referendum, & recall - he also fought for the careful
use of natural resources such as water, forests and
wildlife
Theodore Roosevelt of NY worked to develop a fair
system for hiring state workers and to make some
big companies pay taxes
Woodrow Wilson of NJ also reduced the railroads
power and pushed for a direct primary law
Progressive Women…
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Women wanted to be more than wives and
mothers – wanted a bigger role in their
communities
Education helped – women’s colleges
prepared them for teaching and nursing
Some colleges trained women to become
leaders in the reform movement
Middle class white women began to fight the
problems they saw in society
Working Women…
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Most women worked outside the home long hours in
dangerous conditions – and then hand over their
paychecks to their fathers, brothers, or husbands
Mostly factory jobs or domestics in households –
immigrants, African Americans, and women from rural
areas filled these positions with little to no education
Many were cheated and bullied by their employers
Without being able to vote – women had little chance to
change their lives
Reformers Champion Women…
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Laws were passed that limited the hours
women could work – 10 hours/day
Supreme Court upheld the law saying that
women as mothers could be treated
differently than men – Progressive Reforms
hailed this as a major victory
Later this rationale would also be used as the
justification to pay women less money
NCL…
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National Consumer League – formed by
Florence Kelley – focused on lowering prices
of consumer goods so women could run their
homes more economically
The NCL gave special labels to healthy safe
foods and urged women to buy them
It backed laws called for meatpacking
inspections, make workplaces safer and
make payments to the unemployed
Change for Family Life…
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Reformers pushed for laws that helped women
keep their families healthy and safe
Temperance Movement – WCTU Women’s
Christian Temperance Union - 1870 –
promoted the idea of never drinking alcohol –
alcohol caused men to spend their money,
neglect their families and abuse their wives
Led to the passage of the 18th amendment
Carrie Nation
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Infamous WCTU member
who went in to bars with her
hatchet and smashed
wooden bars and hacked
open kegs of alcohol/beer.
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Margaret Sanger knew that women’s lives
would be healthier if they had fewer
children/pregnancies
Opened the first birth-control clinic in 1916
Sanger was arrested 8 times as a public
nuisance
Eventually the gov’t allowed doctors to
discuss family planning with their patients
1921 Sanger founded the American Birth
Control League – later became Planned
Parenthood
African American Reformers…
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Ida B. Wells – a black teacher – helped to set
up the NACW – National Association of
Colored Women – helped AA families strive
for success and helped those that were less
fortunate
With $ raised from educated black women –
day care centers were established to protect
and educate black children while their
parents worked
Suffrage…
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Suffrage – the right to vote – women argued
that voting was the only way to ensure the
health of their children, support education and a
strong family life
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
had been fighting for suffrage since the 1860s
with small victories coming in Wyoming and
Colorado
Catt Takes Charge…
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Carrie Chapman Catt – lawyer and 1st female
school superintendent - President of NAWSA
A charismatic speaker who urged women to join
the National American Woman Suffrage
Association (NAWSA)
“Winning Plan” = Lobby Congress to pass a
constitutional amendment for suffrage and use
the referendum to get suffrage laws passed in
individual states (NY, MI, OK)
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“Society Plan” – recruit wealthy well-educated
women to push for suffrage
She recruited women of all ranks and
backgrounds – all of her recruits were called
“suffragettes”
NAOWS – National Association Opposed to
Women’s Suffrage worked in opposition
because they believed that voting would take
time from families and volunteerism that was
so needed in the US at that time – eventually
this group lost ground and faded away
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Alice Paul – well educated Quaker – wanted
radical tactics to win the right to vote
Nationals Women’s Party (NWP) used public
protest marches – used picket signs outside the
White House – many arrested – many went on
hunger strikes
Many were shocked by NWP’s actions but the
group itself made other groups look tame and
helped them to be heard
NAWSA supported the US’s effort WWI – their
actions made many legislators take note and
support women’s suffrage
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The 19th amendment became official in Aug.
1920 when Tennessee ratified the
amendment by one vote
The right to vote “shall not be denied or
abridged on account of sex”
The first election that all women were
officially able to vote in was the Nov. 2, 1920
election of President Warren G. Harding
Progressive Contradictions…
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While it supported women and white laborers
– it did not fight as hard for immigrants and
blacks
Most Progressives were white AngloSaxon Protestants who were hostile towards
minorities
They wanted everyone in the US to follow the
white middle-class way of life
Reform or Control?
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Americanization efforts were made in
settlement houses – how to speak English,
how to dress, what to eat, how to celebrate
holidays – more like WASPS – more likely to
be loyal and moral citizens
Alcohol was a point of contention – alcohol
with meals was customary in many European
countries – drinking was immoral – support
for the temperance movement grew because
of prejudice against immigrants
Racism & Progressivism…
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Many Americans shared this prejudice
against non-whites
Believed scientific theories of the time that
non-whites were less intelligent and could not
be in leadership positions
This theory was also used in the South to
keep non-whites from voting
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Plessy v. Ferguson set the stage for
segregation across the US
By 1914 – Gov’t offices in DC were
segregated as per policy approved by Pres.
Woodrow Wilson – a Progressive
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Booker T. Washington told AA’s to take small
steps towards racial equality
Work hard and be patient….
Through persistence….they would eventually
win the fight to exercise their right to vote and
enjoy their citizens rights
WEB DuBois & William Monroe Trotter
disagreed – both very well educated men –
they believed AA’s should demand their
constitutional rights NOW
Niagara Movement…
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Because no hotel would give them rooms in
NY – AA leadership met in Niagara Fall on
the Canadian side in 1905
The Niagara Movement wanted action
now….More AA men needed to be educated
– taught higher math and science – literature
and philosophy
The movement was about bold ideas but it
never took hold and only had a few hundred
followers
Springfield, Illinois…
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1908 Springfield, Il – a white mob attempted
to lynch 2 AA prisoners in the city jail –
officials moved the AAs for their own safety
Rioters turned to punish the city’s black
residents – burning 40 homes and killing 2
blacks and 5 whites - $200,000 in damages
Niagara Movement leaders were shocked
that this could happen in Abe Lincolns
birthplace
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Something had to be done…AA’s needed
protection, the right to vote and to secure
their civil rights
White reformers joined with the Niagara
Movement and formed the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP)
Their aim was to help AA’s “be physically free
from “peonage”, mentally free from
ignorance, politically free from
disenfranchisement, and socially free from
insult.”
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Members of NAACP were black and white
Progressives who had worked in other areas
of reform
Included Ida B Wells, Jane Addams, Ray
Stannard Baker, & Florence Kelley
Wells was the owner of a Tennessee
Newspaper – she used her publication to
show the horrors of lynching
She and others planned to use the courts to
challenge unfair laws
They also focused on gaining access to
decent housing and professional careers like
teaching
Urban League…
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Migration from rural to urban areas
Local black clubs & churches set up
employment agencies and relief efforts to get
AA’s settled and find work
The groups joined together in 1911 and
formed the Urban League
The NAACP helped middle class blacks with
political and social justice – the Urban
League focused on the poorer workers
Helped families buy clothes & books – helped
to send children to school
Helped factory workers and maids find jobs
Anti-Defamation League…
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Jews in NYC formed a group called B’nai
B’rith in 1843 to provide religious education
and to assist Jewish families
When the Anti-Defamation League was
formed in 1913 – their goal became to defend
Jews and others against verbal attacks and
false statements and “to secure justice and
fair treatment for all citizens…”
Mexican Americans…
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Partido Liberal Mexicano (PLM) was set up to
run similarly to the Urban League to help
Mexican Americans in Arizona
Mutualistas were formed – set up to make
loans and give legal assistance – insurance
programs were available if members were too
sick to work
Many MA’s were forced to sign unfair labor
contracts with their employers – the Supreme
Court finally struck down the law that
enforced these contracts
Native Americans…
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Dawes Act of 1887 had divided reservation land into
plots for individual NA to farm
But the Act also states that land not used by NA could
be sold to the general public
By 1887 – nearly 2/3 of reservation land held by tribes
was owned by whites
Carlos Montezuma – a NA doctor – set up the Society
of American Indians in 1911 to protest the land policy
He urged NA to preserve their culture, build their
lives and avoid being dependent on the US Gov’t
Asian Americans…
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1913 law said that only American citizens
could own land
Japanese immigrants were not citizens – the
law forced them to sell their land
Loop hole – Japanese families put their land
in their children's names because they were
legally born in the US
Takao Ozawa fought the law that kept
immigrants from becoming citizens in the
Supreme Court – however his fight was
soundly defeated in 1922
Theodore Roosevelt…
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TR became President in 1901- Republican/Progressive
He was an asthmatic child born to wealthy parents –
hard physical exercise built him into a muscular stocky
energetic man
Graduate of Harvard University – NY Congressman –
NY Police Commissioner – Assistant Secretary of the
Navy – Gov. of NY
Lead the Rough Riders in the Spanish American War –
became a national hero
VP to McKinley – President (after his assassination) at
the age of 42
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Children begged for a “Teddy Bear” named
after him
TR used the power of Presidency to make
changes – called the Square Deal – keep the
wealthy and powerful from taking advantage
of small business owners and the poor
He did not fell that everyone should be rich or
that the gov’t should take care of the lazy –
gov’t should give fair, even opportunities for
citizens to make their own choices
Trustbusting and Regulation…
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Mine workers in Pa went on strike asking for
higher wages and a shorter work day
TR sympathized – went to the mine owners
to negotiate – owners refused – TR
threatened federal takeover of the mines –
Owners gave in with a small raise and a 9
hour work day
1st time the federal gov’t had helped in a labor
dispute – and it would not be the last time
that TR took control from big business
Department of Commerce and Labor was set
up to monitor business and keep them from
abusing their power
TR & the Railroads…
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Since the 1870s RR controlled the cost of shipping
freight – could charge any price
Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) set up to
oversee RR charges that passed through more than
one state
ICC was supposed to see that everyone was charged
the same rate
The SC stripped away most of the ICCs power
TR pushed the Congress to pass the Elkins Act of 1903
that imposed fines of RR if they gave special rates to
privileged customers
Hepburn Act of 1906 – gave the ICC back its powers –
to set and limit shipping costs – also set max prices for
ferries, bridge tolls and oil pipelines
Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890…
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TR enforced the laws of the Sherman
Antitrust Act
Northern Security Company – RR – illegal
trust – broke into smaller companies
Also broke trusts in the beef and agriculture
industries
TR did not believe that all big business was
bad – he knew that big businesses could be
more efficient than small
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“Big business was bad only if it bullied small
business or cheated customers”
He supported big business as long as it ran
fairly
He was referred to by some as a “trust-tamer”
but wealthy Progressives hated his
trustbusting tactics
Meat Inspection Act…
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Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle revolted the
public and infuriated TR
At TRs urging Congress passed the Meat
Inspection Act of 1906 – providing for the
inspection of all meat processing plants
Pure Food and Drug Act…
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Placed the same controls on other foods and
medicines
Also banned interstate shipping of impure
foods and the mislabeling of foods & drugs
FDA – Food and Drug Administration – today
enforces this law and others
Gov’t & the Environment…
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TR loved nature – wrote many books on
hunting and the West
Yellowstone was established as a national
park in 1872 – Yosemite National Park –
1890 – pleased TR
Congress & TR set aside 100 million acres as
federal forests – TR however believed that
these forests held valuable resources
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Gifford Pinchot – Director of Forestry – had a
different view on our forests - they should be
preserved for public use – trees should be allowed to
mature not for a wildlife refuge but to be logged for
the future building of homes for a growing America
This policy would shape future environmental policy
for years to come
Water Policy…
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Mining machinery and farming in the west used a lot of
water – NA, MA, miners, farmers, and business owners
fought over the use of existing waterbeds
Private irrigation companies came west and redirected
the water flow for farmers
Fights developed over rights to water
National Reclamation Act of 1902 – gave the gov’t the
power to say how and where the water should be
distributed – build and manage dams, creating
reservoirs, generating power, and directing water flow
EX// Roosevelt and Hoover Dams on the Colorado
Rivers
Wm. Howard Taft…
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TR left office after 2 terms – helping Sec. of
War Taft to win the Presidency in 1908
TR expected Taft to following his footsteps
supporting the same polices with big
business and the environment
Taft had his own ideas…
Payne-Aldrich Act of 1909 – did not lower
tariffs as much as TR had hoped
Mann-Elkins Act of 1910 – Gov’t control over
telephone and telegraph lines
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Taft encouraged Congress to propose an income tax
He also saw no difference between good trusts and
bad – twice as many lawsuits were brought against bug
businesses as in TR’s terms in office
Standard Oil Company – 1911 – the Supreme Court
“busted” its monopoly
US Steel was then forced to sell a coal company purchase that TR had approved
Taft fired Gifford Pinchot for criticizing Sec. of the
Interior Robert Ballinger – Pinchot charged the
Ballinger had worked to sell coal deposits in Alaska to
private businesses
Roosevelt Strikes Back…
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TR began traveling around the US speaking
about New Nationalism – a program set up to
restore the gov’ts trustbusting power
Declaring himself “as strong as a bull moose”
vowed to tackle the trust in his third term as
US President
The Taft-Roosevelt battle split the Republican
party – Progressives left the R party and
formed their own- Jane Addams nominated
TR as their candidate for the election of 1912
Election of 1912…
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Because the R party was split – the Democrats
and Woodrow Wilson had an easy win over Taft
and TR
Wilson was a college professor and then the
Governor of New Jersey
New Freedom – very similar to New Nationalism
– placing strict gov’t controls on big business
Wanted more freedom/opportunities to small
business
Though he did not win the election with popular
vote - he did win with 4x the electoral votes as
the other two candidates
Tariffs and Taxes…
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He attacked the “triple wall of privilege” – the
tariffs, banks and trusts – saying that they
blocked businesses from operating freely
Underwood Tariff Bill – cut tariffs on foreign
goods so that there was competition for US
businesses
16th amendment – Gave Congress the power
to collect income taxes – a graduated income
tax was set up – wealthy pay a higher % than
the poor
Federal Reserve Act…
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No central authority to supervise and control
the banking industry – interest rate fluctuated
wildly and a few really rich bankers had
power of the local, state, and federal banks
reserve funds – might not have access to $
when someone wanted to withdraw big $
Federal Reserve Act of 1913 – national
banks were under the control of the Federal
Reserve Board – set up regional banks to
hold funds from commercial banks – sets the
interest rates – this system is still in place
today
Antitrust Regulations…
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Wilson agreed with TR – not all trusts were
bad
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – set up to
monitor business practices that might lead to
monopolies – also watched out for false
advertising or misleading labels
Clayton Antitrust Act…
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1914 – strengthened the earlier Sherman
antitrust laws by specifically stating what
types of activities companies could not
engage in
Workers Rights Protected…
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Labor Unions were able to organize more
freely after “Clayton” was passed – Unions
were previously considered trusts
Workingman’s Compensation Act of 1916 –
gave $ to temporarily disabled civil service
employees
Adamson Act of 1916 – Limited RR
employees workdays to 8 hours
Ludlow Massacre…
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1913 – Coal miners demanded safer
conditions, higher pay and the right to form a
union – Coal co. refused – workers walked
Workers and families were evicted from
company housing – set up tent cities
April 20, 1914 – Colorado Nat’l Guard
opened fire on the tent city & set the tents on
fire – killing 26 men, women, and children
Wilson sent federal troops in to restore order
– the miners were not able to form a union