The Beginning of the Progressive Era

President McKinley  On September 5, 1901, President William McKinley delivered a speech at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.  he following day, the president appeared at a public reception in the Temple of Music on the Exposition grounds.  A large crowd had assembled to shake hands with the president and exchange a few words.

 Leon Czolgosz (pronounced “cholgosh”), a Detroit- born anarchist of Polish parents, stood near the front of the line with his right hand wrapped in a handkerchief to make it appear as if he were protecting an injured hand from infection.  When his turn came, Czolgosz extended his left hand toward the president while firing two rapid shots from a.32 caliber revolver concealed behind the covering.

McKinley’s Assassination

Leon Czolgosz

 Secret service agents and police immediately disarmed the assassin and began to inflict a near fatal beating.  McKinley was still conscious and pleaded that the assault on Czolgosz stop.  McKinley was taken to a local hospital where he underwent surgery for his gunshot wounds.  It at first appeared that he would recover, but complications set in and the president died on September 14, 1901.

 Czolgosz received a hasty trial, was found guilty of murder and was electrocuted in the state prison at Auburn, New York on October 29.

 What effect would this assassination have on the United States?

Teddy Roosevelt’s Rise  The Republican political machine in N.Y. threw their considerable support behind Roosevelt, a returning war hero, helping him defeat a popular Democratic to win the governorship.  Once elected, Roosevelt displayed his characteristic independence and unwillingness to buckle to the pressure of party bosses.  The bosses did not like this… they needed him out of New York and someplace he had no power…

 In 1900, the leading New York Republican Thomas C. Platt conspired with national party boss Mark Hanna to get Roosevelt named as McKinley’s running mate, in order to keep him from running for a second term in the governor’s office.  Roosevelt campaigned vigorously for McKinley, traveling by train for more than 21,000 miles to speak in 24 states, and McKinley and Roosevelt won in a landslide over Democrats William Jennings Bryan and Adlai E. Stevenson.

Theodore Roosevelt becomes President  The rising young Republican politician Theodore Roosevelt unexpectedly became the 26th president of the United States in September 1901, after the assassination of William McKinley.  Roosevelt confronted the bitter struggle between management and labor head-on and became known as the great “trust buster” for his efforts to break up trusts and monopolies under the Sherman Antitrust Act.  He was going to give a “Square Deal” to all laborers.

Teddy Roosevelt

 He was also a dedicated conservationist, setting aside some 200 million acres for national forests, reserves and wildlife refuges during his presidency.  In the foreign policy arena, Roosevelt won a Nobel Peace Prize for his negotiations to end the Russo-Japanese War and spearheaded the beginning of construction on the Panama Canal.  His popularity allowed him to run and win the 1904 Presidential election.

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Bad Government…  People were sick of the government.  The corruption…  The unresponsiveness to the average American…  They wanted change.  This is what allowed T.R. and the progressive era to begin.  Other changes in government occurred as well:

The Initiative and Referendum  An Initiative is a means through which any citizen or organization may gather a predetermined number of signatures to qualify a measure to be placed on a ballot, and to be voted upon in a future election.  Popular Referendum, in which a predetermined number of signatures qualifies a ballot measure for repealing a specific act of the legislature.

17 th Amendment  The 17 th Amendment to the United States Constitution established the popular election of United States Senators by the people of the states.  Why would this be necessary in a time of reform?

The 19 th Amendment  Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote.