CHAPTER 21
Progressivism at High Tide
“. . . making the world safe for democracy.”
President Woodrow Wilson
1909 - 1914
Colonial Possessions, 1900
United States Presence in Latin America, 1895-1934
Panama Canal
Zone,
1914
Europe on the eve of World War I
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“We must love one another or die.” Poet W. H. Auden [September 1,
1939]
"And in the general hardening of outlook that set in . . . practices which
had been long abandoned - imprisonment without trial, the use of war
prisoners as slaves, public executions, torture to extract confessions . . .
and the deportation of whole populations - not only became common
again, but were tolerated and even defended by people who considered
themselves enlightened and progressive." George Orwell, Nineteen
Eighty-Four [Also author of Animal Farm]
"Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands
it." Albert Einstein
"It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth to justice
and to expose lies." Noam Chomsky
". . . refuse to settle for simple explanations for complex problems. . . .
Honest history answers our questions only by asking something of
us in return." Text author Edward L. Ayers
Bibliography
 David Kennedy, Over Here [1980]
 Walter LaFeber, The American Age [1989]
 Arthur S. Link, Woodrow Wilson: War, Revolution, and
Peace [1979] and Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive
Era [1954]
 William Appleman Williams, The Tragedy of American
Foreign Policy [1988]
 Movie: Reds [about John Reed]
Chapter Review
 Distinguish between the progressive programs of
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Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow
Wilson. [Worth 104% – no assistance from professor]
Explain three progressive programs that gained
prominence between 1910 and 1920.
Briefly describe the provisions of Woodrow Wilson’s New
Freedom.
Describe major social and cultural changes that
occurred during the Wilson presidency.
Briefly describe the Wilsonian approach to foreign affairs.
Concepts
 Woman Suffrage
 Theodore Roosevelt’s 1912 “New Nationalism”
National government as “seward of the public welfare”
Henry Ford’s $5 a day wage
Prohibition
Dollar Diplomacy
Jack Johnson, 1908 1st African-American heavyweight champ
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
1912 IWW “bread and roses” Lawrence, MA strike
1910-1911, Boy Scouts of America [Lord Baden-Powell]
Louis D. Brandeis
1913 16th Amendment, 17th Amendment
Federal Reserve System, monetary v. fiscal policy
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 Vaudeville stage
 Motion pictures
 1911, Porfiro Diaz replaced by Francisco Madero
 Madero replaced by General Victoriano Huerta
 Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata
 1914, Franz Ferdinand
 Triple Alliance
 Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary
I.
Taft’s Presidency
 Taft takes passive role as president
 Payne-Aldrich Tariff illustrates continuing problems
 Taft fights some Roosevelt conservation policies
 Roosevelt returns from safari angry and ready to intervene
II.
Progressive Victories
 Alice Paul and followers push for woman suffrage
amendment
 Supporters of prohibition want amendment also
 Opposition grows to immigration from southern and eastern
Europe
 Child labor reform dominates concerns over children
III.
Labor Protest in a Changing Workplace
 Larger corporations and factories distance workers from
management
 Some corporations try paternalism as way to fight unionism
 Serious strikes affect country
 Taft’s “dollar diplomacy” in Latin America and Far East
achieve mixed results
Industrial
America,
1900-1920
IV.
Republican Discord and Democratic
Opportunity
 Roosevelt loses nomination to Taft
 Woodrow Wilson receives Democratic nod
 Wilson campaigns on “New Freedom” and wins, with help of split
Republican party, pushing Congress to make needed changes
 Progressive party draws more interest than Socialist party
™
Election of 1912
V.
Wilson’s Presidency
 Legislation establishes Federal Reserve System to regulate
America’s money supply
 Federal Trade Commission established to regulate trusts
 Social reform is not one of Wilson’s priorities
VI.
Social and Cultural Change During the
Wilson Years
 Cultural changes accelerate, with Henry Ford’s mass
production and generous wages holding down
unionism
 Electricity becomes more widespread, changing patterns of
life
 Art and literature mirror social ferment
 Americans make use of new leisure time
VII. New Freedom Diplomacy
 Lacking international experience, Wilson works hard to
improve relations around world
 Mexican Revolution provides tense moments, but Wilson
diffuses situation
 Post-revolution immigration from Mexico changes face of
Southwest
VIII. World War I
 Serb assassination of Austria-Hungary’s archduke takes
Europe into war
 Americans caught off guard by European events