Theodore Roosevelt believed the president should take an active role in championing reforms. As president, Roosevelt pushed for regulation of large businesses through antitrust suits and increased oversight of industries like meatpacking and railroads. He also established policies to conserve public lands and resources through the creation of national parks and forests.
2. Unit Learning Goal
NJCCCS: 6.1.12.D.6.b
Compare and contrast the foreign
policies of American presidents during
this time period, and analyze how
these presidents contributed to the
United States becoming a world
power.
3. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
1901 President McKinley assassinated
“I told William McKinley that it was a
mistake to nominate that wild man at
Philadelphia, I asked him if he
realized what would happen if he
should die. Now look, that damned
cowboy is President of the United
States!” – Mark Hanna
4. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Roosevelt became
the youngest
president (42) but
he never openly
rebelled against
the leaders of his
party, instead he
became a
champion of
cautious, moderate
change
5. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Believed that the government
should be a mediator of the
public good, with the president
at its center, he also believed
that economic concentration had
resulted in a consolidation of
power that produced dangerous
abuses of power, urged
regulation (but not destruction)
of the trusts
6. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Roosevelt wanted the
government to have the power to
investigate the activities of the
corporations and publicize the
results, believing that educated
public opinion would eliminate
most of the corporate abuses
7. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Department of Commerce and
Labor (1903) - along with the
Bureau of Corporations was to
investigate activities of
corporations and publicize them
8. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
In 1902 Roosevelt ordered the Justice
Department to invoke the Sherman
Anti-Trust Act against the Northern
Securities Company, which was a
$400 million railroad monopoly in the
Northwest led by JP Morgan, EH
Harriman, and James J. Hill.
9. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
“If we have done anything
wrong, send your man to my man
and they can fix it up”, Roosevelt
proceeded with the case and in
1904 the Supreme Court case
ruled that the company must be
dissolved
10. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Even though Roosevelt filed
more than 40 additional antitrust
suits during his presidency, he
had no serious commitment to
reverse the prevailing trend
toward economic concentration
11. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
In 1902 the United Mine Workers
went on strike against the
anthracite coal industry, it
dragged on long enough to
endanger coal supplies,
Roosevelt asked both operators
and miners to accept impartial
12. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Federal arbitration, the mine
operators resisted and Roosevelt
threatened to seize the mines, in
arbitration the miners got a 10%
wage increase and a 9 hour work day,
more then the union would’ve got
without Roosevelt’s help, but
Roosevelt also on several occasions
sent in federal troops on the behalf of
the employers, Roosevelt’s “Square
Deal”
13. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
During Roosevelt’s first term he was
principally concerned with winning
re-election, so could not afford to
antagonize the conservative
Republican Old Guard, he dispensed
patronage to conservatives and
progressives equally, he won the
support of northern businessmen and
reformers alike.
14. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
In the election of 1904 Roosevelt
faced conservative Democrat
Alton B. Parker and won 57% of
the popular vote and lost no
state outside of the South, was
free to display the extent of his
commitment to reform in his
second term
15. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
The Interstate Commerce Act of
1887 established the Interstate
Commerce Commission, which
was an early effort to regulate
the railroad industry but it was
weakened by the courts,
Roosevelt got the Hepburn.
16. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Railroad Regulation Act of 1905
passed which sought to restore
some regulatory authority over
railroad rates to the government,
many were enraged at how
cautious it was (Senator
LaFollette)
17. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
The Pure Food and Drug Act
restricted the sale of dangerous
or ineffective medicines, but was
limited by its weak enforcement
mechanisms
18. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
In 1906 Upton Sinclair
wrote the powerful
novel The Jungle,
which caused
Roosevelt to push for
the Meat Inspection
Act that ultimately
helped eliminate many
diseases once
transported in impure
meat
19.
20.
21. From Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle
“There would be meat that had tumbled out on
the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the
workers had trampled and spit uncounted
billions of germs. There would be meat stored in
rooms and thousands of rats would race about
it..A man could run his hand over these piles of
meat and sweep handfuls of dried rat dung.
These rats were nuisances, and packers would
put poisoned bread out for them; they would
die, and then the rats, bread, and meat would
go into the hoppers together…
22. In 1906 Sinclair’s novel The Jungle drew outrage
against the Chicago meatpacking industry for its
arrogant disregard of basic health standards. This
led to government regulation of food and drugs.
23. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Starting in 1907 Roosevelt began
pushing for more stringent reforms
such as an 8-hour work day,
compensation for victims of industrial
accidents, an inheritance and income
tax, and regulation of the stock
market.
25. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Roosevelt also began to openly
criticize conservatives in Congress
and the judiciary who were
obstructing these programs, this
resulted in a widening gap between
the president and conservative wing
of his party
26. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Roosevelt was concerned about
the unregulated exploitation of
America’s natural resources and
its remaining wilderness, using
his executive powers Roosevelt
restricted private development
on millions of acres of
undeveloped land, mostly in the
West, by adding them to the
National Forest system
27. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Conservatives in Congress
passed a law in 1907 restricting
Roosevelt’s authority over public
land, Roosevelt and Gifford
Pinchot (chief forester) worked
to seize all the forests and many
of the waterpower sites that
were still in the public domain
before the bill became law
28. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Conservationists promoted
policies to protect land for
carefully managed development,
the National Forest Service (led
by Pinchot) supported rational
and efficient human use of the
wilderness
30. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Roosevelt's legacy in
conservation was that he
established the government role
as a manager of the continuing
development of the wilderness
31. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
The National Reclamation Act
(Newlands Act) provided federal
funds for the construction of dams,
reservoirs and canals in the West -
projects that would open new lands
for cultivation and provide cheap
electric power this was the beginning
of many years of critical federal aid
for irrigation and power development
in the West
32. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
George Perkins wrote Man and
Nature in which he said the most
important consequence of losing
forests was the forest’s role in
stabilizing the natural
environment, received wide
attention and became the basis
for the National Forest Service
33. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Roosevelt championed the
expansion of the National Forest
System as a way to protect the
landscape for continued rational
lumbering, but he also greatly
expanded the National Park
System to protect public land
from any exploitation or
development at all
34. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
First national park was
Yellowstone in Wyoming (1872),
followed by Yosemite and
Sequoia in California and Mount
Rainer in Washington (1890’s),
Roosevelt added Crater Lake
(OR), Mesa Verde (UT), Platt
(OK), Wind Cave (SD)
35. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite was
a spectacular high walled valley
highly popular with conservationists,
but San Francisco residents wanted to
dam it in order to create reservoir for
the city, after the San Francisco
earthquake of 1906 and the resulting
fire, the public outcry for the dam
increased.
36. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Opposed by Muir and the Sierra
Club, the case was turned over to
Pinchot who approved
construction of the dam, Pinchot
who believed in the rational use
of nature was not swayed by
Muir’s aesthetic and spiritual
arguments
37. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Muir helped place a referendum on
the issue on the ballot in 1908, but
dam was approved by huge margins,
the construction of the dam would
finally begin after WWI, the fight
against the Hetch Hetchy dam helped
mobilize a new coalition of people
committed to preservation, not the
"rational use" of wilderness
38. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Panic of 1907 – American industrial
production outran the ability of either
domestic or foreign markets to absorb
it, the banking system and the stock
market displayed pathetic
inadequacies, and irresponsible
speculation and rampant financial
mismanagement shattered the
prosperity that many thought was
permanent
39. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
The conservatives blamed
Roosevelt's "mad" economic
policies, he disagreed but did not
interfere with their recovery
efforts, JP Morgan helped create
a pool of assets from several
important New York banks to
prop up shaky financial
institutions.
40. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
The key to this arrangement was the
purchase of the shares of Tennessee
Coal and Iron Company which were
held by a threatened New York bank,
US Steel would buy the shares but
needed assurances from Roosevelt
that he would not face antitrust
action, Roosevelt agreed and the
Panic soon subsided
41. Theodore Roosevelt and The
Modern Presidency
Roosevelt made a promise in
1904 that he would not seek a
third term, so after 8 years in the
White House in which he had
transformed the role of the
presidency in American
government, Roosevelt retired
from public life at the age of 50
42.
43. National Park System
Congress passed a law that created
Yellowstone National Park
For many historians, environmental
conservation is Teddy Roosevelt’s greatest
legacy.
The Antiquities Act led to the creation of
18 national monuments during Roosevelt’s
presidency
44. Theodore Roosevelt’s
Square Deal &
Progressivism
Learning Goal- CRN
Benchmark- Identify, explain
and apply the four goals of
Progressivism
45. Theodore Roosevelt’s
Square Deal
The Main Idea
Theodore Roosevelt used the power of the presidency to push for
progressive reforms in business and in environmental policy.
Reading Focus
• What was Theodore Roosevelt’s view of the role of the president?
• How did Roosevelt attempt to regulate big business?
• What was Roosevelt’s philosophy about conserving the
environment, and how did he carry out his philosophy?
46. Roosevelt’s Upbringing
Theodore Roosevelt was a sickly, shy youth whom doctors
forbade to play sports or do strenuous activities.
In his teenage years, Roosevelt reinvented himself, taking up
sports and becoming vigorous, outgoing, and optimistic.
Roosevelt came from a prominent New York family and attended
Harvard University, but he grew to love the outdoors.
He spent time in northern Maine and in the rugged Badlands of
North Dakota, riding horses and hunting buffalo.
In 1884, when Roosevelt was 26, both his mother and his young
wife died unexpectedly.
Trying to forget his grief, he returned to his ranch in Dakota
Territory, where he lived and worked with cowboys.
He returned to New York after two years and entered politics.
47. Roosevelt’s View of the Presidency
• Roosevelt’s rise to governor of New York upset
From Governor the Republican political machine.
to Vice
• To get rid of the progressive Roosevelt, party
President
bosses got him elected as vice president, a
position with little power at that time.
• President William McKinley was shot and killed
Unlikely in 1901, leaving the office to Roosevelt.
President
• At 42 years old he was the youngest president
and an avid reformer.
• Roosevelt saw the presidency as a bully
View of pulpit, or a platform to publicize important
Office issues and seek support for his policies on
reform.
48. The Coal Strike of 1902
Soon after Roosevelt took office, some 150,000 Pennsylvania coal
miners went on strike for higher wages, shorter hours, and
recognition of their union.
As winter neared, Roosevelt feared what might happen if the strike
was not resolved, since Eastern cities depended upon Pennsylvania
coal for heating.
Roosevelt urged mine owners and the striking workers to accept
arbitration, and though the workers accepted, the owners refused.
Winter drew closer, and Roosevelt threatened to take over the mines
if the owners didn’t agree to arbitration, marking the first time the
federal government had intervened in a strike to protect the interests
of the public.
After a three-month investigation, the arbitrators decided to give the
workers a shorter workday and higher pay but did not require the
mining companies to recognize the union.
Satisfied, Roosevelt pronounced the compromise a “square deal.”
49. The Square Deal
The Square Deal became Roosevelt’s 1904 campaign slogan
and the framework for his entire presidency.
He promised to “see that each is given a square deal, because
he is entitled to no more and should receive no less.”
Roosevelt’s promise revealed his belief that the needs of
workers, business, and consumers should be balanced.
Roosevelt’s square deal called for limiting the power of trusts,
promoting public health and safety, and improving working
conditions.
The popular president faced no opposition for the nomination in
his party. In the general election Roosevelt easily defeated his
Democratic opponent, Judge Alton Parker of New York.
50. Regulating Big Business
Roosevelt believed big business was essential to the nation’s growth but
also believed companies should behave responsibly.
He spent a great deal of attention on regulating corporations, determined
that they should serve the public interest.
In 1901, when three tycoons joined their railroad companies together to
eliminate competition, their company, the Northern Securities Company,
dominated rail shipping from Chicago to the Northwest.
The following year, Roosevelt directed the U.S. attorney general to sue
the company for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Court ruled
that the monopoly did, in fact, violate the act and must be dissolved.
After this ruling, the Roosevelt administration launched a
vigorous trust-busting campaign. Size didn’t matter; the
administration went after bad trusts that sold inferior products,
competed unfairly, or corrupted public officials.
51. Regulating the Railroads
• Another way to ensure businesses competed fairly was through
regulation.
• Railroads often granted rebates to their best customers, which
meant large corporations paid much less for shipping than small
farmers or small businesses.
• To alleviate this problem, Congress passed two acts.
The Elkins Act The Hepburn Act
Passed in 1903
Passed in 1906
Strengthened the Interstate
Prohibited railroads from Commerce Commission (ICC),
accepting rebates giving it the power to set
maximum railroad rates
Ensured that all customers paid
the same rates for shipping
Gave the ICC power to
regulate other companies
their products engaged in interstate
commerce
52. Dismay Over Food and Drug Practices
Food Drugs
Food producers used clever
Drug companies were also
unconcerned for customer
tricks to pass off tainted foods: health:
• Dairies churned fresh milk • Some sold medicines that
into spoiled butter. didn’t work.
• Poultry sellers added • Some marketed
nonprescription medicines
formaldehyde, which is containing narcotics.
used to embalm dead
bodies, to old eggs to hide
Dr. James’ Soothing
Syrup, intended to
their smell. soothe babies’ teething
• Unwary customers bought the pain, contained heroin.
tainted food thinking it was Gowan’s Pneumonia
healthy. Cure contained the
addictive painkiller
morphine.
53. Upton Sinclair and Meatpacking
Of all industries, meatpacking fell into the worst public disrepute.
The novelist Upton Sinclair exposed the wretched and unsanitary
conditions at meatpacking plants in his novel The Jungle, igniting a
firestorm of criticism aimed at meatpackers.
Roosevelt ordered Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson to investigate
packing house conditions, and his report of gruesome practices shocked
Congress into action.
In 1906 it enacted two groundbreaking consumer protection laws.
The Meat Inspection Act required federal government
inspection of meat shipped across state lines.
The Pure Food and Drug Act outlawed food and drugs
containing harmful ingredients, and required that containers
carry ingredient labels.
54. Environmental Conservation
In the late 1800s natural resources were used at an alarming rate,
and foresting, plowing, polluting, and overgrazing were common.
Roosevelt’s Thoughts Roosevelt’s Solution
• Recognized that natural • The Newlands
resources were limited and that Reclamation Act of 1902
government should regulate reflected Roosevelt’s beliefs.
resources
• The law allowed federal
• Disagreed with naturalist John government to create
Muir, who helped protect irrigation projects to make
Yosemite Park and thought the dry lands productive.
entire wilderness should be
• The projects would be
preserved
funded from money raised
• Believed that conservation by selling off public lands.
involved the active management
• During Roosevelt’s
of public land for varied uses:
presidency, 24 reclamation
some preservation, some
projects were launched.
economical
55. Four Goals of Progressivism
Protecting Social Welfare
Promoting Moral Reform
Creating Economic Reform
Fostering Efficiency
61. Government Reforms
Local
• City Managers
• City Commissions
State
• Regulate companies (i.e. Railroads)
• Protect laborers
• Initiative, Referendum, Recall
National
• 17th Amendment - Direct Election of Senators
62. Changes for Women
Women worked
but only in non-
skilled jobs
• Farms
• Domestic
• Industry
NJCCCS: 6.1.12.A.6.b
Evaluate the ways in which women organized to promote government policies (i.e.,
abolition, women’s suffrage, and the temperance movement) designed to address
injustice, inequality, workplace safety, and immorality.
63. Women in Reform
Women became a
driving force
behind abolition.
Then they began
the fight for
suffrage
• NAWSA
• Susan B. Anthony
65. Women’s Suffrage
Movement was the
struggle to gain same
voting rights as men.
Voting was limited to
white adult males who
owned property. Many
people thought that
property owners had the
strongest interest in good
government; therefore,
they were the best
qualified to make
decisions.
66. A Tea Launches a Revolution
•Tea among five
women friends, on
July 13, 1848,
marked The
Women’s Suffrage
Movement as its
beginning.
•Among these five
women was young
housewife and
mother, Elizabeth
Cady Stanton.
67. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
•During a conversation that
day, Stanton poured her
discontent with Americas
democracy. She believed the
new republic would benefit
by having women play a role
throughout society.
•They were the first small
group of women to plan and
carry out a program.
•This led to…
68. "A convention to discuss the social, civil, religious condition and rights of woman."
First women's rights convention in the United States is held July 19 th 1848, in
New York. Participants signed a “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions”
which outlined the main issues and goals for the emerging women’s movement.
Meetings were held regularly after.
69. Backlash!
•The Women’s Rights Movement
was only one day old and the
backlash had already begun.
•Newspaper editors were so
scandalized by the Declaration of
Sentiments and the ninth
resolution ‘Women demanding
vote!’
•They attacked women with all
they could muster, although,
misconception,
misrepresentation and ridicule
were expected.
70. “ Ain ’t I a Woman?”
1851-Former slave Sojourner Truth delivers her “Ain’t I a
Woman” speech at a women’s rights convention in Ohio.
71. Susan B. Anthony
•Prominent American Civil
Rights leader, played a huge
role to introduce Women’s
Suffrage into the United
States.
•Along with Sojourner and
other leaders, she traveled
the U.S and Europe and gave
from 75-100 speeches every
year on Women’s rights for 45
years.
February 15, 1820 – March 13,
1906
72. •In 1872, Susan B. Anthony was
arrested and brought to trial for
attempting to vote for U.S Grant in
the presidential election.
•At the same time Truth appeared at a
polling booth, in Michigan, demanding
a ballot which she was turned away.
73. ‘Anti’ Woman Suffrage
•At first, the idea that women
should have a right to vote was
seen as so ridiculous that no
one even attempted to oppose
it.
•Soon they would have to take
the suffragettes more seriously
as they began to gain support.
74. Who the hell do they think they
are?
1. Women would be
corrupted by politics.
2. If women became
involved in politics, they
would stop marrying, having
children, and the human
race would die out.
3. Women were
emotional creatures, and
incapable of making a sound
political decision.
75. Progress
•1912-Theodore Roosevelt ‘s
Progressive party became the first
national political party to adopt the
first woman suffrage plank.
•1916-Jeanette Rankin becomes
the first American Woman
elected to represent her state in
the U.S. House of
Representatives.
76. the 19 th
Amendment
August 26 th , 1920,
19 th Amendment is
ratified, it’s
victory is
accomplished!!
Guarantees all
American Women
the right to vote.
77. Square Deal
Teddy Roosevelt –
the first
“Progressive”
president
Used federal
power to reform
labor, business
and government
78. Big Business Attitude
“The rights and interests of the
laboring men will be protected and
cared for – not by labor agitators,
but by the Christian men to whom
God, in his infinite wisdom, has
given control of the property
interests of this country.”
79. Trust Busting
Teddy believed in
“good” and “bad”
trusts.
What is the
difference?
His goal was to
break the bad
trusts, but to keep
the good trusts –
why?
His true goal –
federal regulation!
80. Federal Regulation
Through regulation – rules and
laws set by the government –
Teddy believed that he could
protect citizens and the
environment.
• Protecting health
Meat Inspection Act
• Protecting consumers
Pure Food and Drug Act
• Protecting the environment
National Parks and conservation efforts
81. William Howard Taft T.R.’s Heir
Even though he busted
more trusts than TR, Taft
was seen as weaker.
Lowering of tariffs was
important to
progressives, but Taft
failed at that…
Taft allowed the sale of
public lands that were to
be conserved…
= split of Republican
party
83. William Taft
Cartoon shows William Taft
(1857-1930) as the choice of
President Theodore Roosevelt.
Once in office, Taft alienated
the progressives and
Roosevelt.
84. The Troubled Succession
William Howard Taft was Roosevelt's
handpicked successor, seemed
acceptable to both progressives and
conservatives, easily defeated William
Jennings Bryan in the 1908 election,
however, 4 years later Taft left office as
the most decisively defeated president of
the 20th Century, his party deeply divided,
and with the Democrats in control of the
government for the first time in 20 years
85. The Troubled Succession
Taft called Congress into special
session to lower protective tariff
rates, but Taft made no attempt to
overcome the opposition of Old Guard
Republicans arguing that it would
violate doctrine of separation of
powers, the result was the Payne-
Aldrich Tariff which reduced tariff
rates scarcely at all, and in some
areas raised them, progressives
resented Taft’s passivity
86. The Troubled Succession
Taft replaced Roosevelt's secretary of
interior, James R. Garfield an ardent
conservationist, with a the
conservative Richard A. Ballinger, a
conservative corporate lawyer,
Ballinger attempted to invalidate
Roosevelt's removal of 1 million acres
of forests and mineral reserves from
the public lands available for private
development
87. The Troubled Succession
Louis Glavis, an Interior Department
investigator, charged Ballinger with
having connived to turn over valuable
public coal lands in Alaska to a private
syndicate for personal profit, Glavis
took the evidence to Pinchot and
Pinchot took the investigation to Taft.
88. The Troubled Succession
Taftinvestigated the claims,
found that they were groundless
and fired Glavis, Pinchot leaked
the story out into the press and
Taft fired Pinchot for
insubordination.
89. The Troubled Succession
The result of the Ballinger-Pinchot
dispute aroused public passion and Taft
alienated supporters of Roosevelt
completely
Roosevelt became furious with Taft
when he returned to New York in 1910
and felt that he alone was capable of
reuniting the Republican Party
(Taft has) “…completely twisted around the
policies I advocated and acted upon. ”
Theodore Roosevelt
90. The Troubled Succession
Roosevelt's “New Nationalism” made it
clear he had moved away from the
cautious conservatism of the first years
of his presidency, argued that social
justice was possible only through
vigorous efforts of strong federal
government whose executive acted as
the “steward of the public welfare”,
those who thought primarily of property
rights and personal profit “must now
give way to the advocate of human
welfare”
91. The Troubled Succession
Roosevelt supported graduated
income and inheritance taxes,
workers' compensation for
industrial accidents, regulation of
the labor of women and children,
tariff revision, firmer regulation
of corporations
92. The Troubled Succession
In the Congressional elections of
1910, conservative Republicans went
down to defeat while progressive
Republican incumbents were
reelected, Democrats ran progressive
candidates of their own and gained
control of the House of
Representatives for the first time in
16 years, reform sentiment was on
the rise
93. The Troubled Succession
In1911 the Taft administration
announced a suit that charged
US Steel with antitrust violations
in the 1907 acquisition of the
Tennessee Coal and Iron
Company, Roosevelt was
enraged by the implication that
he had acted improperly
94. The Troubled Succession
In1912 Senator La Follette, who
had been campaigning for
president himself, suffered a
nervous breakdown (exhausted
and distraught over his
daughter’s illness) Roosevelt
announced his candidacy for
president on February 22, 1912
95. The Troubled Succession
The campaign for the Republican
nomination was battle between
Roosevelt (progressives) and Taft
(conservatives) but Taft remained the
choice of most party leaders who
controlled the nominating process,
Roosevelt told the convention “We
stand at Armageddon and we battle
for the Lord”, the Republican
convention nominated Taft
96. The Troubled Succession
Roosevelt launched the new
Progressive Party and nominated
himself as the presidential
candidate, Roosevelt approached
the campaign "fit as a bull
moose", but many of the
insurgents who had supported
him during the primaries refused
to follow him out of the
Republican party
98. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
Democrats nominated the only true
progressive candidate, Woodrow
Wilson, on the 46th ballot at the
convention in Baltimore in 1912
President of Princeton University
1902 – 1910, Governor of New Jersey
1910 – 1912, displayed a commitment
to reform
99. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
Wilson's “New Freedom” believed
bigness (economic concentration
in the trusts) was both unjust
and inefficient, proper response
to monopoly was not to regulate
it but to destroy it
100. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
1912 Election –
Roosevelt and Taft
split the
Republican vote
allowing Wilson to
win the election
101. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
Wilson concentrated the powers of
the executive branch in his own
hands, he exerted firm control over
his cabinet, and delegated real
authority to those whose loyalty to
him was beyond question, Colonel
Edward M. House was Wilson’s most
powerful advisor even though he held
no official position in the executive
branch
102. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
The Democrats captured both
houses of Congress in the 1912
election, which made it much
easier for Wilson to get his
progressive agenda passed
103. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
Wilson called Congress into
special session in order to pass
the Underwood- Simmons Tariff,
which substantially lowered the
protective tariff in order to allow
real competition into American
markets and break the power of
the trusts.
104. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
Congress approved a graduated
income tax (under the 16th
Amendment) to make up for lost
revenue from the tariff, this first
modern income tax imposed a 1% tax
on individuals and corporations
earning over $4,000 up to a maximum
of 6% on incomes of over $500,000
105. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
The Federal Reserve
Act (1913) created
twelve regional banks,
each to be owned and
controlled by the
individual banks of its
district, these regional
banks would hold a
certain percentage of
the assets of their
member banks in
reserve.
106. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
The system would use those
reserves to support loans to
private banks at an interest rate
that the Federal Reserve Board
would set, they would also issue
a new type of currency, Federal
Reserve Notes, which would
become the nations basic
medium of trade and backed by
the government.
107. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
The Federal Reserve System
would be able to shift funds
quickly to troubled areas, to
meet increased demand for
credit, or to protect imperiled
banks.
108. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
The Federal Trade Commission Act (1914)
created a regulatory agency that would help
businesses determine in advance whether
their actions would be acceptable to the
government, the agency would also have
authority to launch prosecutions against
"unfair trade practices", it would also have
the power to investigate corporate behavior
Abusive behavior included: monopolies,
false advertising, bribery and food
adulteration.
109. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
The Clayton Antitrust Act was
attacked by conservative
interests and weakened it greatly
Wilson did little to protect it
110. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
By the fall of 1914, Wilson believed that
agitation for reform would slowly
subside, he refused to support
movement for women's suffrage,
condoned the reimposition of
segregation in the agencies of the
federal government (southern
Democrats), he dismissed progressive
proposals for additional reform
legislation as unconstitutional or
unnecessary
111. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
The 1914 congressional elections
resulted in the Democrats
suffering major losses in
Congress led by voters who had
supported the Progressive Party
returning to the Republican Party
112. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
In January 1916, Wilson
appointed Louis Brandeis to the
Supreme Court becoming the
first Jewish member of the Court
and also the most progressive
member of the Court
113. Woodrow Wilson and the New
Freedom
Wilson sponsored measures that
expanded the role of the national
government, he supported the
Keating-Owen Act (1916) which was
the first federal law regulating child
labor, it prohibited the shipment of
goods produced by underage children
across state lines, the Supreme Court
struck down the Keating-Owen Act in
1918
114. Adamson Eight-Hour Act (1916)
The Adamson Eight-Hour Act
(1916) growing out of concern
that a railroad strike would
severely damage the economy,
the act had Wilson’s support and
provided compensation for
overtime work
Legislation provided for an 8 hour
workday as well.
115. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
The President could act in foreign
policy with less regard for
Congress and the Supreme Court
overseas the president could
exercise power unfettered and
alone
116. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
Roosevelt pursued an activist
foreign policy, believed in the
value of using American power in
the world "speak softly but carry
a big stick",
He believed in an important
distinction between the
"civilized" and "uncivilized"
nations of the world
117. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
“Civilized” nations were
predominantly white, Anglo-Saxon,
producers of industrial goods, had a
right and duty to intervene in the
affairs of the backward nation to
preserve order and stability.
“Uncivilized” nations were non-white,
Latin or Slavic, suppliers of raw
materials and markets, not yet
industrialized
118. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
By 1906, the
American navy
was surpassed
only by that of
Britain, although
Germany was
rapidly gaining
ground
119. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
Japan staged a surprise attack on the
Russian fleet at Port Arthur in
southern Manchuria (China),
Roosevelt agreed to mediate an end
to the conflict, at the peace
conference in Portsmouth, New
Hampshire Roosevelt extracted from
the Russians a recognition of Japan's
territorial gains, and from Japan an
agreement to cease fighting and
expansion
120. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
He also negotiated a secret
agreement with the Japanese to
ensure that the US could
continue to trade freely in the
region, Roosevelt won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1906 for his work
in ending the Russo-Japanese
War
121. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
Japan destroyed the Russian
fleet at Port Arthur and began to
emerge as the preeminent naval
power in the Pacific, the
Japanese began to exclude
American trade from many of the
territories that it controlled.
122. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet
(sixteen American battleships) on a trip
around the world to remind Japan of the
potential might of the US Naval forces
123. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
In 1902, the naval forces of Britain, Italy
and Germany blockaded Venezuela's
coast in response to Venezuela's
reneging on debts owed to European
countries, German ships began to
bombard a Venezuelan port amid rumors
that Germany planned to establish a
permanent base in the region, Roosevelt
used the threat of American naval power
to pressure German navy to withdraw
124. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
Roosevelt Corollary (1904) to the
Monroe doctrine, the US had the
right not only to oppose
European intervention in the
Western Hemisphere, but to
intervene itself in the domestic
affairs of its neighbors if they
proved unable to maintain order
and national sovereignty on their
own
125.
126. Roosevelt’s Big Stick
Policy
Roosevelt’s motto was to “speak softly and carry a big stick”
Roosevelt attempted to build a reputation of the U.S. as a world
power
As a strategic necessity for holding onto Puerto Rico in the
Caribbean to the Philippines in the Pacific, the U.S. needed a canal
through Central America to connect the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans
Theodore Roosevelt
129. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
In1903 the Dominican Republic
went bankrupt, it owed $22
million to European nations,
Roosevelt gained control of
Dominican customs and
distributed 45% of the revenues
to Dominicans and the rest to
foreign creditors
130. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
The Platt Amendment gave the
US the right to prevent any
foreign power from intruding
into Cuba, in 1906 American
troops landed to keep the peace
and remained there for 3 years
131. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
ThePanama Canal was the most
celebrated accomplishment of
Roosevelt's presidency it linked
the Pacific and the Atlantic by
creating a channel through
Central America
132. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
Roosevelt sent John Hay, his
Secretary of State, to negotiate
an agreement with Colombian
diplomats, Tomas Herren signed
an agreement giving US
perpetual rights to six-mile wide
"canal zone" across Colombia in
return for $10 million and an
annual rent of $250,000
133. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
The Colombian Senate was
outraged and did not ratify the
Herren agreement, sent a new
representative to Washington
demanding $20 million and share
of the payment to the French
134. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
Phillippe Bunau-Varilla was the chief
engineer of the French canal project,
he helped organize and finance a
revolution in Panama, Roosevelt
landed troops from the U.S.S
Nashville to “maintain order” and
their presence prevented Colombian
forced from suppressing the rebellion.
135. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
The new
Panamanian
government
was recognized
by Roosevelt 3
days later and
quickly agreed
to the canal
project, it
opened in 1914
136. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
Dollar Diplomacy – Taft's Secretary of
State Philander C. Knox worked
aggressively to extend American
investments into less-developed regions,
Americans intervene in Nicaragua
(1909) and then made substantial loans
to the new government thus increasing
the US financial leverage over the
country, two years later a revolution
broke out again and US troops remained
in Nicaragua for over a decade
137. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
1916: Americans established a
military government in Dominican
Republic after Dominicans refused to
accept a treaty that would have made
the country a virtual American
protectorate Wilson bought the
Danish West Indies from the Dutch
(fearful that the Germans were about
to acquire them) and renamed them
the Virgin Islands
138. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
Under Porfirio Diaz, the corrupt
dictator of Mexico, American
businesses had been establishing
an enormous economic presence
in Mexico, in 1910, Diaz was
overthrown by Francisco Madero
who promised democratic reform
and seemed hostile to American
businesses in Mexico.
139. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
The US encouraged Victoriano
Huerta to depose Madero and the
Taft administration was ready to
recognize the new Huerta regime
and welcome back a receptive
environment for American
investments in Mexico.
140. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
Thenew government murdered
Madero and Wilson announced he
would never recognize Huerta's
government of butchers, in 1913,
Huerta, with the help of
American business interests,
established a full military
dictatorship in Mexico
141. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
In April 1914, an officer in Huerta’s
army temporarily arrested several
American sailors from the U.S.S
Dolphin who had gone ashore in
Tampico, the men were immediately
released but the American admiral
was not satisfied with the apology he
received demanded that the Huerta
forces fire a 21 gun salute to the
American flag as display of public
penance, the Mexicans refused
142. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
Wilson used the incident as a
pretext for seizing the Mexican
port of Veracruz, in a clash with
Mexican forces Americans killed
126 of the defenders and
suffered 19 casualties of their
own
143. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
TheCarranza faction captured
Mexico City, but refused to
accept American guidelines for
the creation of a new
government, Wilson considered
throwing American support to
Pancho Villa but his military
position deteriorated and Wilson
abandoned him.
144. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
Pancho Villa retaliated by taking
16 American mining engineers
off a train in northern Mexico and
shooting them, 3 months later
Pancho Villa led his soldiers
across the border into Columbus,
New Mexico where he killed 17
more Americans
145. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
Wilsonordered General John J.
Pershing to lead an American
expeditionary force across the
Mexican border in pursuit of
Pancho Villa, they never captured
him but did get into conflicts
with the Mexican army in which
40 Mexicans were killed and 12
Americans were killed.
146. The "Big Stick": America and the
World, 1901-1917
TheUS and
Mexico looked
ready to go to
war, but Wilson
withdrew quietly
and granted
formal
recognition to the
Carranza regime.
