Progressivism

1
Progressivism the Republican Roosevelt

• 1901-1912
• When I say I believe in a square deal I do not
  meanto give every man the best hand. If the
  cards do not come to any man, or if they do come,
  and he has not got the power to play them, that
  is his affair. All I mean is that there shall be
  no crookedness in the dealing.
• Theodore Roosevelt, 1905

2
The Progressives Who were they?

• The Changing United States
• 1900-1914- 13 million more immigrants came to the
  US (1 in 7 foreign born)
• 1914 Population 89 MILLION
• 1900-1920 Progressives will produce the change
  that the Populists could not produce.
• Who Were the Progressives
• Mostly middle-class educated all states
  parties (all class war)
• Waged war on modern evils monopolies,
  corruption, inefficiency, and social injustice.
• They were not radicals who wanted to overthrow
  the Governmentthey wanted toStrengthen the
  State- use government as an agency of human
  welfare.
• Why?-- Felt squeezed between the robber barons
  socialists

3
Roots of the Progressive Movement

• New Reformist Movement dates back to 1870s
  Greenback Labor Party Populist of 1890s.
• Unrest due to the power of industrialists
  concentrated power
• BEFORE 1900 (before the Progressive Movement)-
  politicians writers began to target the
  trusts corruption.
• 1894 Henry Lloyd Demarest- wrote about Standard
  Oil (Wealth Against Commonwealth) -- exposed
  Standard Oil even before Ida Tarbell. He inspired
  future investigative reporters.
• 1899- Thorstein Veblen assailed the rich in The
  Theory of the Leisure Class
• Leisure class engages in wasteful business
  (making moneyjust to make money) rather than
  making products that meet real needs.
• Critical of conspicuous consumption
  wasteful and exposes gap between rich poor in
  society.

4
Pre-1900 Progressive Writers Activists

• Jacob Riis (1890) How the Other Half Lives-
  wrote photographed city slum life.
• influenced future NY Police Commissioner
  Theodore Roosevelt who tried to clean up the
  city.
• Ida B. Wells wrote about lynching
• Critics of Social Injustice
• Socialists- many immigrants were socialists
  began to vote in bigger numbers.
• Social Gospel-used Christian teachings to promote
  better housing conditions for the poor.
• Feminists- demanding suffrage
• Lillian Wald (NY) Jane Addams (Chicago)

5
Pictures taken by Jacob Riis
6
The Muckrakers Emerge

• 1902- American publishers start making big money
  exposing societal evils.
• Attacked politics, patent medicines, city life
  etc.
• Purpose- not overthrow capitalism-to cleanse it
• Popularity of 5 10 cent magazines (McClure's,
  Cosmopolitan, Colliers and Everybodys)
• Encouraged tough, investigative writing
• 1906- TR called these journalists muckrakers

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Notable Muckrakers

• 1902- Lincoln Steffens- Shame of the Cities
  uncovered the connection between big business
  municipal governments.
• 1904-Ida Tarbell- mother of trusts wrote
  articles about the unsavory business practices of
  Standard Oil.
• David G. Phillips- series of articles in
  Cosmopolitan The Treason of the Senate (1906)
• 75 of 90 Senators were owned by the RR trusts
• John Spargo (1906) The Bitter Cry of the Children
• Magazines went to great expense to check facts of
  a story research (this is NOT YELLOW
  JOURNALISM)

8
Attack on Patent Medicine

• Patent medicines were dangerous no laws
  regulating
• Addictivehigh volume of alcohol
• Heavily advertised as healing remedies
• Dr. Harvey Wiley (chemist for Department of
  Agriculture)- formed the poison squad(graduates
  of the civil service exam allowed themselves to
  be fed food additives to see the effects on their
  bodies. Wiley even experimented with these so
  called medicines on himself.
• showed the limits of progressives---complaints
  but few remediesmany called for more democracy.

9
Political Progressivism

• Goals
• Use state power to curb the trusts (monopolies)
• Improve common persons life (cities labor)
• Also- take back govt from the interests and put
  it back into the hands of the people.
• Objectives
• Direct Primary Elections- aimed at power of
  political machines.
• Initiative- citizens may propose legislation
• Referendum- place items on ballot for voters to
  approve.
• Recall Elections- enable voters to remove an
  elected official

10
Progressives Attack Corruption

• Graft- or corruption became a target of
  Progressives.
• Effect-
• Corrupt Practices Laws many states passed
  corrupt practices acts which limited the amount
  of money candidates could spend for their
  elections restricted contributions from
  corporations.
• The Australian Ballot (Secret Ballot) states
  began to use the secret ballot to counteract
  Political machines.
• 17th Amendment (1913)- allows for direct election
  of state senators by the citizens of the state.
• By 1900so many US Senators were rich
  Millionaires Club elected by Monopoly
  dominated state legislatures.

11
City State Governments became Progressive

• Problem Inefficiency corruption
• Galveston Idea- city appointed expert staffed
  commissions to manage urban affairs (The
  Commission Plan)
• City- Manager Plan used by other cities, in
  which an elected City Council hired a
  professional city manager to run city
  departments the council could fire him too.
• Progressivism Bubbled up to the State Level
• The Wisconsin Idea- 1901 Wis. Gov. Robert La
  Follette (Progressive) fought regulated
  public utility trusts.
• Hiram Johnson- Republican Gov. of Oregon
  prosecuted grafters Southern Pacific RR
  (consulted with Professors at University of
  Madison)
• Charles Evan Hughes- Republican Gov. NY
  investigator of malpractices by gas, insurance
  co.

12
Woman Suffrage

• Voting rights had been the goal of feminists for
  decades.
• Political Reformers wanted to elevate the
  political tone temperance leaders hoped females
  who could vote would help them.
• Woman Suffrage Gets a Boost
• Women began to demand Equal Suffrage for men
  women Votes for Women.
• Demanded no more taxation without
  representation.
• Result Many states in the WEST began to grant
  suffrage (Wyoming was the first).

13
Women and the Progressive Movement

• Women were an indispensible part of the
  Progressive Movement.
• Crucial Focus The Settlement House Movement
  (Jane Addams-Hull House in Chicago Lillian Wald
  Henry Street House in NY).
• Settlement Houses exposed women to problems in
  cities, problems of immigrants, political
  corruption, poor living condition of people.
• Gave women skills confidence to attack such
  evils.
• Womens Literary Clubs educated, middle class
  women met to improve themselves in poetry prose
  for decades now became centers to discuss plan
  to attack social problems.
• The Womans Place
• 19th Century notion of spheres of influence
  said that a womans place was in the home most
  female progressives defended their progressive
  actions as an EXTENSION OF THE HOME SPHERE.
• They challenged moral maternal issues child
  labor, sweat shops, immigrants with children.
• Womens Trade Union League
• National Consumer's League
• Federal Agencies The Childrens Bureau (1912),
  Womens Bureau (1920) under the Department of
  Labor.

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Women Addressed The Worker

• Unsafe and unsanitary sweatshops became a focus
  for women.
• Florence Kelly (former resident of Hull House)-
  became Ill. First state inspector of factories.
• 1899 Kelly took control of the Consumer League-
  used the power of women as consumers to pressure
  for laws protecting women children workers.
• Muller v. Oregon (1908)- Louis Brandeis got the
  court to recognize laws protecting women in the
  workplace (odd- based argument on the weakness of
  women).
• Brandeis- future Supreme Court Justice (1st
  Jewish person on SC)
• Unintended Effect led to closing of many jobs
  to women
• Lochner v. New York (1905)- cancelled a NY law
  est. a 10 hour workday for workers. ( a temporary
  setback for workers in NY)

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The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

• Laws protecting workers were nothing if not
  enforced
• 1911- fire killed 146 workers owner locked door
  from inside (violated fire codes).
• Result- NY passed tougher laws tougher laws
  restricting work hours conditions.
• 1917- 30 states had worker compensation laws
  (insurance for workers involved in industrial
  accidents).

16
Results of the Fire

• Tragedy of the fire

17
Progressives Booze

• Progressives turned ire against saloons
• Alcohol connected with Prostitution other
  social ills
• Booze interests dominated cities
• 1900- NY San Francisco-A saloon for every 200
  people
• Womens Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)-Francis
  Willard- praying prohibitionist
• Largest org. of women in the world-1 million
• Anti-Saloon League
• States counties passed dry laws
• Big cities remained wet
• 1914-1/2 of pop. Lived dry ¾ of area outlawed
  saloons
• 1918 18TH Amendment bootlegging organized
  crime

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Theodore Roosevelt Labor

• TR- felt that the public interest was being
  submerged by
• Indifference- Everybodys interests was nobodys
  interest.
• Square Deal-name given TRs domestic programs
  fair play for capital, labor, the public
• The Three Cs control corporations, consumer
  protection, conservation of natural resources.
• Example of the Square Deal Philosophy The 1902
  Anthracite Coal Strike- 140,000 Penn. MINERS
  WALKED OFF THE JOB they wanted a 20 pay
  increase reduced workday from ten to nine
  hours.
• Mine owners refused to negotiate with striking
  miners.
• TR threatened to use troops take over the mines
  (How is this a different response from the
  government from previous examples?)
• Miner got 10 pay boost nine hour day- but, no
  recognition of labor union!
• 1st time government worked in interest of workers

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Department of Commerce Labor

• TR was aware that labor (workers) capital
  (investors) were growing antagonistic.
• TR urged Congress to create the Department of
  Commerce Labor
• Bureau of Corporations (under the Dept. of
  Commerce Labor)
• Power to investigate businesses engaged in
  interstate commerce
• Useful-to break monopolies- trust busting

20
TR controls Corporations

• The Railroads needed to be restrained
• Railroad owners could appeal decisions of
  Interstate Commerce Commission (1887) which took
  up to 10 years.
• Congress was pushed by TR to do something
• Elkins Act (1903)- RR shippers pay fines for
  rebates.
• Hepburn Act (1906)- free passes (too much like
  bribery) on RR were restricted
• Both acts strengthened the ICCs power to
  regulate RRs
• ICC was expanded- could nullify RR rates set
  max. rates
• Other industries regulated express companies,
  sleeping car companies, pipelines affected too.

21
TR Good Trusts /Bad Trusts

• The Progressives took aim at trusts.
• TR believed there were good (with public
  consciences) bad trusts(greedy powerful).
• TR was determined NOT to destroy all large
  businesses.
• Theodore Roosevelt Takes on the Trust
• 1902- Northern Securities Case (RR holding
  company) owned by JP Morgan James J. Hill that
  tried to monopolize Northwest RR companies.
• TR filed an Anti-Trust Lawsuit against Northern
  Securities and the railway owners appealed to the
  Supreme Court
• 1904-Supreme Court upheld Roosevelts antitrust
  suit AND ordered Northern Securities busted up
• TR enhanced his Progressive status

22
TR the Trust-Buster

• TR initiated 44 lawsuits against monopolies
• 1905- Supreme Court declared beef trust illegal
  sugar , fertilizer, harvester trusts limited.
• TR mentality- Big is not necessarily bad
• Did not think trust-busting sound policy always
• TR Wanted to prove that government-not big
  business ran the country

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Theodore Roosevelt Trust-Buster

• TR developed a name as Trust
• Buster
• Reality he never fully used trust-
• Busting laws to their fullest extent.
• Many corporations were healthier
• After TRs presidency but, more tame.
• 1907-TR approved J.P. Morgans
• Plan for US Steel to merge with
• Tennessee Coal Iron without worry
• Of any antitrust action by the govt.
• When Pres. Taft filed a suit..TR was angry!!

24
TR Consumer Protection

• Roosevelt supported a measure in 1906 that
  benefitted corporations AND consumers.
• Foreign Governments were blocking American
  meat-packing companies from European markets (US
  meattainted).
• American consumers wanted safer canned products.
• Upton Sinclairs The Jungle- had a big
  influence on the American demand for safer food.
• Sinclair--A socialist who wanted to focus US
  attention on the condition of workers in the
  meatpacking industry, actually sickened Americans
  with tales of unsanitary conditions.
• Reaction by TR Congress
• Meat Inspection Act (1906)- meat shipped across
  state lines may be inspected from corral to
  cannery by the federal government.
• Pure Food Drug Act (1906)- prevent mislabeling
  adulteration. (patent meds)

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US Inspectors Examine meat at The Swift Co.
packinghouse
26
TR Conservation

• By 1900, 25 of original timber lands remained
• TRs most lasting tangible legacy- 125 million
  acres preserved (3 times his predecessors)
• Conservation Before Theodore Roosevelt
• 1. Desert Land Act (1877)- arid land sold if
  purchaser would irrigate it.

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TR Conservation

• 2. Forest Reserve Act (1891)- allowed Pres. To
  set aside public lands as national parks
• 46 million acres rescued in 1890s
• 3. The Carey Act (1894)- distributed federal land
  to the states if they irrigated it settled it.
• TR and Conservation
• 3. Newlands Reclamation Act (1902)- collect
  from sale of public lands to fund dam
  irrigation.
• The Roosevelt Dam on Arizonas Salt River
  (1911)

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The Environmentalists

• During the 2nd Industrial Revolution, mans
  dominion of the natural world caused many people
  to champion the earth.
• Natures American Defenders
• Well-off townspeople or city dwellers-Henry David
  Thoreau Ralph Waldo Emerson.
• Gilded Age- Americans romanticized pioneer
  ancestors rediscovered hunting, fishing.
• Preservationists (John Muir)- nature should be
  left untouched by humanity.
• Preservationists lost a battle to preserve
  Hetch Hetchy Vallley in Yosemite to a dam for San
  Francisco (1913).

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Conservation v. Preservation

• The Conservation Movement
• TR and conservationists believed nature must
  neither be uncritically worshipped nor wastefully
  exploited but, used efficiently.
• Resource Management (TR Gifford Pinchot)-
  rational use or multiple-use resource.
• Nature should not be wasted nor preserved.
• US Policy until the 1950s
• Americans as Conservationists
• Best selling book Jack Londons Call of the
  Wild(1903)
• Boy Scouts became nations largest youth
  organization.
• Audubon Society-founded by donations from womens
  clubs to save wild native birds.
• Sierra Club (1892) Dedicated to preserving wild
  western landscapes.

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Election of 1904

• Theodore Roosevelt was re-elected.
• HE Enjoyed huge popularity (Teddy Bear
  Toy-inspired by one of TRs hunting trips).
• Conservative Republicans considered TR dangerous
  because he regulated corporations, taxing
  incomes, protecting workers.
• TR had announced he would not serve a 3rd term.

31
Roosevelt Panic of 1907

• 1907- Wall St. Panic mini depression runs on
  banks, suicides, criminal charges against stock
  speculators.
• Bankers/Big Business blamed TRs trust-busting
  had started the crisis.
• Aldridge-Vreeland Act (1908)- allowed national
  banks to issue emergency currency (sets
  foundation for future Federal Reserve Bank)
• Currency elastic supply needed

32
Election of 1908

• TR Republicans handpicked friend William H.
  Taft (Sec. of War mild Progressive) to carry
  out Roosevelts Policies.
• Republicans nominated William H. Taft prodded
  and guided by Theodore Roosevelt.
• Democrat Candidate William J. Bryan
• Socialist Eugene V. Debs
• Taft won (Bryan will loose for a 3rd time)
• TR goes lion hunting

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The Election of 1908
34
Legacy of Theodore Roosevelt

• Began to tame capitalism
• Most lasting achievement- conservation of natural
  resources for future generations.
• Enlarged power prestige of the Presidential
  Office (used publicity as political ploy).
• Helped shape the progressive movement and the
  liberal reform that came later (Square Deal is
  grandfather of the New Deal)
• TR more than any president before him opened
  Americans eyes to the fact that they shared the
  world with other nations.

35
Taft as President

• Jovial and personally popular with the people.
• Second in his class at Yale lawyer, judge
• Lacked TRs ability to use personality to lead
  conflicting forces in Republican party.
• Taft Foreign Policy
• Taft wanted to use American investments to boost
  US interest overseas in Far East. Critics called
  it Dollar Diplomacy.
• Dollar Diplomacy- encourage investment abroad
  to boost US interests (Globalization).
• By beating foreign investors, US could strengthen
  US defenses foreign policy.

36
Dollar Diplomacy at Work?

• Chinas Manchuria
• Japan Russia (recent enemies) controlled
  railroads in Manchuria.
• Taft worried the monopolies would strangle
  Chinese economic interests close China to US
  merchants.
• 1909-Sec. of State Philander Knox proposed a
  group of American foreign investors buy the
  Manchurian Railroads turn them over to China.
• Japan Russia said noTaft was ridiculed.

37
Dollar Diplomacy in the Caribbean

• Taft administration urged Wall Street investors
  to pump investments in Honduras Haiti.
• Under the Monroe Doctrine-US would not allow
  foreign nations to intervene.
• Disorders in Cuba, Honduras, and Dominican
  Republican brought US troops to restore order
  protect investments.
• 1912- 2,500 US Marines were sent to Nicaragua to
  halt a revolt there.

38
President Taft as Trustbuster

• Busted 90 trusts (more than TR)-
• 1911- US Supreme Court dissolved Standard Oil for
  violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act 1890.
• Rule of Reason ruling in Supreme
  Courtcombinations that unreasonably restrained
  trade are illegal.made it harder for the US
  government to win antitrust lawsuits.
• 1911- Taft brought a lawsuit against US Steel
  Corp. angered T. Roosevelt!

39
Taft Splits the Republican Party

• Progressive members of the Republican Party
  wanted to lower the US tariffs. Taft had promised
  in his reelection to lower the tariff.
• Payne-Aldrich Bill
• 1909- Taft called Congress into special session
  they passed moderate tariff bill.
• Senators tacked on hundreds of provisions that
  added tariffs on specific products.
• Only hides, sea moss, and canary seed was left
  off the tariff hike list.

40
Taft Splits the Party on Conservation

• Taft was a conservationist.
• Created Bureau of Mines to control mineral
  resources.
• 1910- Ballinger-Pinchot Quarrel
• Secretary of Interior Richard Ballinger opened
  public lands in Wyoming, Montana, Alaska to
  corporate development.
• Gifford Pinchot (Chief Forestry Division)-
  criticized the move.
• Taft dismissed Pinchot for insubordination
• Protest from conservationists and friends of TR
• TR ANGRY TOO!!

41
TR Returns

• 1910- Theodore Roosevelt returned to NY
• Osawatomie, Kansas- Roosevelt gave a speech and
  shocked the old guard Republicans.
• New Nationalism-TR urged the US government to
  increase its power to cure economic social
  abuses.
• In the Congressional Elections of 1910, the split
  Republican Party lost badly.
• Democrats earned 228 seats to the Republicans 61
  seats in the House.
• Socialist Victor Berger elected as representative
  of Milwaukee.
• Republicans held the Senate 51 to 41.

42
Taft-Roosevelt Rupture

• 1911- National Progressive Republican League
  formed with Robert La Follette as its leading
  candidate for presidential nomination.
• 1912- T. Roosevelt wrote seven state governors
  saying he would accept the Republican nomination
  La Follette was pushed aside.
• The 1912 Republican Convention (Chicago)
• Roosevelt supporters were 100 delegates short of
  winning the nomination challenged the right of
  250 Taft delegates to be seated.
• Most of the challenges lost in favor of Taft
• Roosevelt supporters cried Foul refused to
  vote Taft is nominated as the Republican
  Candidate.

43
Republicans Split