Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal Chapter 6 Section 3

What is Teddy Roosevelt doing in the cartoon? What does the other person look like? What point do you think the cartoonist was trying to make?

A. Teddy Roosevelt 1. Life Before Politics Came from a prominent family Graduated from Harvard University and entered politics Very involved in sports and hunting Strong personality At age 26, his mother and his wife died For two years, he worked as a cowboy and got a reputation for hunting elk, bears, and mountain lions People admired him for his toughness

2. Roosevelt’s Rise to Presidency Elected governor of NY in 1898 gained a reputation for being a strong progressive Big businesses and corrupt leaders feared him Political machines plan to get rid of him They nominated him to vice president, a position with almost no power at the time

3. Taking Office President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901 Roosevelt became President 4. Roosevelt’s View of the Presidency Previous presidents allowed business and government to take care of itself Roosevelt viewed the office as a place to get involved and make changes

5. The Coal Strike of 1902 Soon after he took office, 150,000 coal miners in Penn. Went on strike Winter was drawing near and without coal, people would not have heat Bosses and workers refused to negotiate Roosevelt then threatened to take over the mines with the U.S. military The bosses then agreed to give workers a shorter workday and better pay

6. The Square Deal In 1904, when Roosevelt was campaigning for president, his program was called the Square Deal He promised that each American would receive a square deal Believed that needs of workers and businesses should be balanced Because of his popularity, he won the election easily

B. Regulating Big Business 1. Trust-Busting Roosevelt became known as “Teddy the Trustbuster” In 1901, JP Morgan and two other RR Tycoons joined their companies together to eliminate their competition Their company was called the Northern Securities Company The next year, TR sued the company for violating the Sherman Anti Trust Act and won TR and his administration, then went on to fight bad trusts -ones that sold inferior products, competed unfairly, or corrupted politicians

2. Regulating RR’s Many RR’s would give rebates to wealthy consumers This meant that rich people paid less for using the RR’s than poor people TR got the Elkins Act passed, which prohibited RR’s from giving rebates The Hepburn Act gave the Interstate Commerce Commission power to regulate other companies besides RR’s

3. Protecting Consumers TR also responded to public unrest about food and drug industries Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle talked about unsanitary conditions in meat plants The book made people call for reform The Meat Inspection Act required the federal gov’t to inspect all meat The Pure Food and Drug Act forbade the sale or distribution of harmful ingredients

C. Environmental Conservation Many companies were wasting forests and natural resources TR came up with the idea of making unusable land useful The Newlands Reclamation Act created irrigation projects to make dry lands farmable Gifford Pinchot first used the word Conservation He believed that conserving resources was the key to ensuring a good future TR named him the head of conservation TR passed the Antiquities Act which created 18 national parks and monuments in America For many historians, conservation is TR’s greatest legacy

D. Progressivism Under Taft William Howard Taft became president after TR He passed the 16th Amendment This allowed the gov’t to tax an individual’s income (Income Tax) Also created the Dept. of Labor to enforce labor laws Taft increased Federal National Forests as well

E. Wilson’s New Freedom Woodrow Wilson became president after Taft His progressive program was called the New Freedom -Called for stronger anti-trust laws and banking reform Passed the Federal Reserve Act -this created a central fund from which banks could borrow money to prevent bank collapses Passed the Clayton Anti-trust Act -prevented companies buying stock in other companies -also supported workers on strike 19th Amendment also passed under Wilson -women’s suffrage

F. African Americans Progressivism did little if nothing for African Americans Brownsville Incident 1906, Brownsville, Texas black soldiers were accused of going on a shooting spree The members of the 25th Infantry were told that if no one claimed responsibility, then all would be dishonorably discharged TR signed the papers and gave 167 black soldiers a DD. Years later, it was discovered that they had been falsely accused