Progressivism and Roosevelt 1901-1912

Progressivism Defined: A movement of American reformers who sought to change the ills of society and politics. Areas of Reform: Politics (machines and corruption) Social Ills (poor living conditions) Economic (labor, monopolies, consumer) Environment (conserve nat. resources)

Progressivism Prog. had been around for decades, but didn’t have the steam it possessed in 20th People began to see the fed. gov’t as the vehicle to serious change. The plight of the masses was being revealed in books, mags, and newspapers TR referred to these publications and their authors as muckrakers (looking for dirt)

Progressive Publications Magazines – “McClure’s”, “Cosmopolitan”, “Collier’s” – all aimed at women Targeted big business – Standard Oil Most books targeted social ills such as poor treatment of women and children. There were a few works that called for racial equality as well.

Political Progressivism Take political power away from “interest” groups and return to the people. Many states pushed for initiatives and referendums for direct leg. by the people Direct election of senators to Congress by the people of each state (17th Am.) Women’s Suffrage (not until 1920)

Reform in the City City managers began to replace elected officials – less democratic – less political Slumlords were often shamed into fixing run-down apartments. City sewage and waste were a priority. Prostitution was openly practiced. City transportation was up for bid. Several states decided to crack down on trusts.

Social Ills The workplace in a capitalist society meant that anything goes. There began a cry for shorter work weeks, minimum wage, and maximum hours/day One of the biggest movements was from the WCTM – over 1 million members. States began to divide into wet and dry zones – cities often being wet.

TR’s Square Deal TR wanted everyone to have a fair chance to make $ - business, labor, and public TR embraced a plan to deal w/ the 3 “C’s” Control of corporations Consumer protection Conservation of natural resources

Sq. Deal and Labor TR was a Republican and business could always count on Rep. TR, however, sided with the coal miners in a strike settlement in 1902. TR asked (big stick in hand) Congress to create a Dept. of Commerce and Labor. Also asked for Bureau of Corporations. He got both to regulate business.

Sq. Deal and Corporations TR walked the tightrope between helping the common man and hurting business. TR thought that big business was not necessarily bad. (Standard Oil) He did fight to break up monopolies in the RR industry and set restrictions on price. He wanted the industrialists to know that gov’t was run by him, not them.

Sq. Deal and Consumerism Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, inspired gov’t control of food stuffs. 1906 – Meat Inspection Act – meat shipped over state lines subject to feds. Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) – labels had to be correct. It had better be what it said it was. Florence Kelley led a crusade to end child labor and also championed consumers.

TR and Environment TR was an avid outdoorsman. He wanted to preserve some of what he loved. He recognized that our natural resources were not inexhaustible. (Pinchot) He set aside millions of acres of forests. He ordered the building of dams and irrigation of land. TR also stressed conservation of vital minerals – coal, oil, water, etc…

Taft as a Progressive                                                                                                                                         TR announced he would not run for office after 1904 election. He did choose William Taft as a “successor” and Sec. of War. Taft was not as good a communicator. Foreign policy – Dollar Diplomacy.

Taft Taft promised to carry on the programs & policies of TR. He was easily elected in 1908. Caved in to pressure from wealthy industrialists who wanted high tariffs. He did, however, continue to break up monopolies and bust trusts. Twice as many as TR. Got stuck in the tub.

Taft v. TR Although Taft set aside even more land for conservation, trouble was brewing. Sec. of the Interior and Gifford Pinchot had a falling out over land use. Pinchot was a TR man and criticized both Taft and Ballinger. Taft fired Pinchot and TR was ticked!

Election of 1912 Taft Wilson TR                                                                                                                                        

Election of 1912 TR was angry with Taft for not doing exactly as he was told. Both sought the Republican nomination. It went to Taft so TR ran as the Bull Moose candidate. Wilson got the Dem. nomination. With Rep. ticket split, Wilson won!

Progressive Wilson Wilson got Congress to pass the Clayton Antitrust Act. The Clayton Act gave teeth to gov’t oversight of big business. Wilson and Congress created the Federal Trade Commission to force compliance. Unions were now free to organize and they were protected by the gov’t.

Federal Reserve Board Wilson wanted a centralized banking system. Federal Reserve created regional reserve banks. 12 of them. The FR also sets the national interest rates for banks to borrow money. This helped assure that banks could not go bankrupt.

Election of 1916 Wilson narrowly won. Both major candidates were Progressive, but Wilson promised to stay out of war. Progressivism had a greater impact on cities than anywhere else. The Progressive Movement came to an end when World War I came close to home.

Failures of Progressivism Did little to help farmers. Did little to help women. Did little to help non-union workers. Did nothing to help Blacks. Supported an imperialistic approach to foreign policy. Created a dependency on government

Women’s Suffrage Susan B. Anthony was the face of the American Women’s Suffrage movement. Many Americans feared that women would become too masculine if they could vote. Others argued that women were already too powerful. Suffragists found that it was easier to get states to allow voting than amendment.