Ch.9.3 & 9.5

1. Ch.9.3 & 9.5 Progressivism

2. Teddy Roosevelt becomes president in 1901 Teddy Roosevelt was an athlete, he was a hero of the Spanish American War. He had an electric personality that made him a very popular president The “teddy bear” is named after President Theodore Roosevelt. While on a hunting expedition, he refused to shoot an injured bear. The bear had been cornered, clubbed, and tied to a tree. Fellow hunters suggested Teddy kill it and he refused; saying that was unsportsmanlike. President Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal

3. President Theodore Roosevelt used his popularity to get his programs passed • He wanted the common people to receive what he called a Square Deal How did Roosevelt’s personality shape his presidency? • President Roosevelt uses the power of the government to deal with trusts/monopolies • Trusts were large companies that had control over their markets • Trusts/monopolies drove smaller companies out of business by lowering their prices • Then, when the smaller companies were gone, the trust would raise their prices again because they no longer had any competition

4. By 1900 trusts controlled over 80% of U.S. industries • He had the government sue trusts/big businesses under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. President Roosevelt was called the “trustbuster”. Overall, he filed 44 antitrust law suits. • In 1902 about 140,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania went on strike. The mine owners refused to negotiate. • President Roosevelt called both sides to the White House to talk and he threatened that the federal gov would take over the mines

5. The two sides agreed to have an arbitration commission help settle their differences. • From then on, the president would often step in to help settle a strike. (For example: Truman helped w/ Railroad Strike of 1946, Eisenhower with Steelworkers in 1959, Reagan with Air Traffic Controllers in 1981 & Clinton w/ MLB in 1994)

6. In 1887 the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) had been set up to regulate the railroad industry. It had not been effective. • President Teddy Roosevelt pushed through laws such as the Hepburn Act in 1906, which strictly limited the distribution of free railroad passes, a common form of bribery • Roosevelt’s efforts resulted in fairer shipping rates & less corruption in the railroad industry

7. How did President Teddy Roosevelt use the power of the federal gov to change business practices? After reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair which described filthy conditions in the meatpacking industry, Roosevelt pushed for passage of the Meat Inspection Act. This law passed in 1906 called for strict cleanliness requirements for meat packers. It also created a program for federal meat inspections. Health & Environment

8. Another accomplishment of the Progressive era was the Pure Food & Drug Act passed in 1906. It halted the sale of contaminated foods & medicines & made it mandatory to tell the truth in labeling. • Before President Teddy Roosevelt, the federal gov had paid little attention to the nation’s natural resources. • John Muir, a naturalist & writer persuaded Roosevelt to set aside 148 million acres of forests, and other land for waterpower sites & mineral & water resources. • Roosevelt also signed the Newlands Act which funded irrigation projects that transformed dry wilderness into land suitable for agriculture.

9. What are two ways Roosevelt helped to make people’s lives safer & healthier? • Roosevelt supported individual African Americans like Booker T. Washington. But he didn’t help African Americans in general • In 1909, black leaders including W.E.B. Du Bois, founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). • The organization pushed for civil rights & racial equality. • The Progressive movement however continued to focus on the needs of white middle-class Americans

10. Fun facts about Teddy Roosevelt • Famous quote, “Speak softly and carry a big stick!” • As a child he suffered from asthma so severely that he was unable to go to school • His mother & wife died on the same day! To overcome his grief, he became a cowboy! He spent 2 years as a cattle rancher in the Dakota territory. • Big step for racial issues… he had Booker T. Washington over for dinner @ the White House • He ate 12 eggs a day for breakfast! • While boxing in the White House w/ current heavy-weight champion, Roosevelt took a blow to the face that blinded him in one eye

11. Ch.9.4 Progressivism under President Taft

12. Progressivism under President Taft • President Roosevelt didn’t run for a 3rd term in office. Instead, he wanted William Howard Taft to become president. • Taft had been Roosevelt’s Secretary of War. • Taft was elected in 1909. He did continue many of the Progressive programs. In fact, he busted more than twice as many trusts as Roosevelt had. • However, he had many other problems while in office…

13. Problems during Taft’s administration • President Taft wanted to lower tariffs. • He supported the Payne bill which would lower tariffs. However, the U.S. Senate passed a weakened version of the bill which didn’t lower tariffs much at all. • Taft also had arguments w/ in his administration over how to use federal lands & whether or not private individuals could make $ off of federal land. For example, could a business log in a National Forest and profit from the lumber sales? This caused division during Taft’s administration

14. The Republican Party splits • During Taft’s presidency the Republican Party was divided. The progressives wanted change and the conservatives didn’t want reform. • President Taft wasn’t able to hold the party together • During the 1920 midterm elections the Democrats take control of the House of Representatives for the 1st time in 20 years. This was another blow to the Republican Party.

15. In 1912, Teddy Roosevelt decides to run for a 3rd term in office & run against his old friend President Taft. • The Republican party splits… Taft had the advantage because he was already in office. Therefore, the Republican party supports Taft. However, Roosevelt was well like and many Republicans split from the party to support Roosevelt. They created a new party; called the Bull Moose Party. It had a progressive agenda & ran on a platform of reform..

16. The Democrats have the advantage… • Because the Republican Party split the Democrats have an advantage. They nominate the reform governor of New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson • Democrat Woodrow Wilson wins the presidency in 1912 • Wilson was also a progressive. He called his campaign, the New Freedom. • He wanted stronger antitrust legislation, banking reform & lower tariffs

17. Wilson opposed all business monopolies & trusts • He wanted the gov to distribute national wealth more equally among the people • Besides the Democrats winning the presidential election in 1912, Congress became a Democratic majority • At the time 75% of the American population supported reform. Therefore, President Wilson had more power to carry out his reforms once in office

18. Taft tidbits • President Taft weighed 332 lbs. He got stuck in the White House bath tub! • Taft loved baseball. He was the 1st president to throw out the first pitch at a ball game. That tradition continues today. • Taft also started the 7th inning stretch. After he stood and stretched during the 7th inning, fellow fans followed his lead out of respect. • Taft's dream was to be a Supreme Court Justice – not president. Eight years after leaving the Oval Office, his dream became true & he took a seat on the Supreme Court

19. Ch.9.5 - Progressivism President Wilson’s New Freedom

20. President Woodrow Wilson grew up in a religious family in the South. • He began his career as a lawyer, then a college professor, university president, and governor of New Jersey. • Under Wilson Congress passed 2 antitrust laws. The first was the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914. This law had several important effects. 1) made it more difficult for monopolies to form 2) said that people who ran a company could be held personally responsible if the company violated the law 3) ruled that labor unions & farm organizations were not themselves considered to be trusts. This made strikes, peaceful picketing & boycotts legal

21. The 2nd Antitrust measure was the Federal Trade Act of 1914. This act set up the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This agency had the power to investigate businesses for the gov. The FTC was very active under President Wilson. During his administration the FTC issued nearly 400 orders telling companies to stop breaking laws!

22. President Wilson also worked to lower tariffs. He believed that high tariffs had encouraged the growth of monopolies. By raising the cost of foreign goods, they cut the competition against American goods. • He supported the passing of the Underwood Tariff of 1913 which lowered tariffs for the 1st time since the Civil War. • With less $ coming in from tariffs, the gov. needed another source of revenue. The gov turned to an income tax.

23. The tax on people’s income & business profits was created by the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1913. • President Wilson then turned his attention to bank reform. It was difficult for people to obtain credit. The new Federal Reserve System solved this problem by dividing the country into 12 districts, each w/ a Federal Reserve Bank. • The Federal Reserve System controlled $ supply & made credit more easily available. Setting up the Federal Reserve was one of President Wilson’s most important reforms.

24. At the same time Wilson was pushing for reforms, women continued fighting for voting rights. Local suffrage organizations used door-to-door campaigns to win support. College educated women began reaching out to working class women to fight for suffrage Some women became bold & began heckling government officials. Some women adopted more radical tactics such as picketing the White House around-the-clock What were 3 areas Wilson reformed?

25. Some women went to jail fighting for suffrage and some women started hunger strikes. But, it took WWI to bring women the vote. • A great number of women became active supporting the war effort. Women ran committees, rolled bandages & sold liberty bonds in order to raise funds for the war. • Once women became politically active in the war effort, women across the country felt even more strongly that they should have the right to vote. • At last, in 1920 Congress passed the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote.

26. Like presidents Teddy Roosevelt & Taft, Wilson backed away from civil rights. During the 1912 campaign he won the support of the NAACP by promising to treat blacks equally. He also promised to speak out against lynching (mob killings of African Americans). However, once he was president Wilson opposed federal laws against lynching. This was because he felt states rather than the federal gov. had the right to make anti-lynching laws. The limits of Progressivism

27. He was dyslexic & didn’t learn to read until he was 9 years old Wilson’s wife, Edith, was a descendant of Pocahontas Wilson had a Ph.D., was a teacher, professor, and President of Princeton University He was president during the first World War. He had an extra marital affair w/ a woman in Bermuda while he was president He is the only president buried in Washington D.C. - National Cathedral- Woodrow Wilson facts