CH. 16-4 TAFT AND WILSON

CH. 16-4 TAFT AND WILSON AMERICAN HISTORY

PROGRESSIVISM UNDER TAFT • Election of 1908—William Taft (R) vs. three-time candidate William Jennings Bryan (D) • Taft wins by nearly 1.27 million votes • Taft worked to secure Roosevelt’s progressive reforms • He also supported creating a Department of Labor • XVIth Amendment introduced during this administration but ratified after he left office in 1913.

Granted Congress the power to levy taxes on individual income • Progressives supported an income tax to pay for government programs more fairly • Taft lost the support of most progressive Republicans • The House passed a bill which lowered tariffs on imported goods • The Senate version had so many amendments that it turned into a high-tariff bill

Taft signed the bill anyway • Progressives were outraged because they thought lower tariffs were a key to lowering prices on consumer goods • Taft also alienated Progressive conservation supporters. • His secretary of the Interior, Richard Ballinger, was accused of impeding an investigation of public coal-land deals in Alaska • Gifford Pinchot accused Ballinger with sabotaging conservation efforts. • Taft fired Pinchot

Roosevelt had supported Taft for President but withdrew his support • SPLIT IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY • 1910—Roosevelt campaigned for congressional candidates that opposed Taft • Roosevelt proposed “New Nationalism” • Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 16 years

Election of 1912—Republican party was badly fractured • Taft (I-R) vs. Woodrow Wilson (D) vs. Roosevelt (Progressive-Bull Moose) • Electoral college totals—Wilson 435, Roosevelt 88, Taft 8

WILSON’S NEW FREEDOM • Wilson was a zealous reformer • NEW FREEDOM—called for tariff reduction, banking reform, and stronger antitrust legislation—causes supported by Progressives • TARIFF REDUCTION • Wilson became the first President since John Adams to address a joint session of Congress • 1913—Congress passes the Underwood Tariff Act • Reduced tariffs to their lowest level in 50 years

Tariff reduction meant the government had less money • The answer was a graduated income tax based on income level • BANKING REFORM • Banks regularly collapsed because too many people withdrew their money at once • FEDERAL RESERVE ACT (1913)—created a fund for banks to borrow from to prevent collapse during a financial panic

Federal Reserve Act created a three-tier banking system • Tier I—Federal Reserve Board—group of persons appointed by the President to run the system • Tier II—12 Federal Reserve Banks—these banks served other banks instead of individuals • Tier III—Private banks that could borrow from the Federal Reserve as necessary

First time banks were regulated by the government • STRONGER ANTI-TRUST LAWS • Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914)—prohibited companies from buying stock in competing companies • Made strikes, boycotts, and peaceful picketing legal for the first time

Wilson support the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) • Enforced antitrust laws and prohibited deceptive advertising

WOMEN GAIN THE VOTE • National American Woman Suffrage Association favored state-by-state approach to women voting • Only 4 western states had given women full voting rights • Alice Paul and Lucy Burns broke off and formed the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage in 1916 • The group wanted a constitutional amendment granting voting rights to women

Members picketed the White House in January 1917, chaining themselves to the railings • Many picketers were arrested • Some went on hunger strikes in prison • The state-by-state approach was gaining momentum • More states tried to pass women’s voting rights but failed • Carrie Chapman Catt launched a new strategy

1917—World War I—Women strongly support the war effort • Their patriotism weakens the opposition to women voting • Congress proposed the XIXth Amendment in 1919 and it was ratified in 1920 granting full voting rights to women

PROGRESSIVISM AND THE RIGHTS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS • Progressive reform had limited success for African Americans • Roosevelt hosted Booker T. Washington for dinner at the White House (a first) • Roosevelt appointed an African American to be a tariff collector in South Carolina • Brownsville, TX—12 members of the 25th Infantry were accused of going on a shooting spree in town • If no one accepted responsibility, the entire group would be dishonorably discharged

No one came forward • Roosevelt signed papers discharging 167 African American soldiers, denying them back pay and canceling their pensions • The truth came out years later • 1972—Records were corrected to show “honorable discharge” • Wilson had a bad record on civil rights • He opposed a federal anti-lynching law • He allowed cabinet members to segregate their offices

Congress passed a law saying it is a felony for blacks and whites to marry in the District of Columbia • The outbreak of WWI brought an end to the Progressive era • World War I, not progressivism, dominated Wilson’s 2nd term in office • THE END

CH. 16-4 TAFT AND WILSON