9.3 Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal How did Roosevelt promote reforms at the national level?

Presidency Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901; he was bold, ambitious, and full of energy In the Spanish American War he led a fighting unit called the Rough Riders He used his popularity to get programs passed; he wanted to see that the common people received what he called a Square Deal, or set of progressive reforms sponsored by his administration

Problems of Government Roosevelt used his power of government to deal with trusts, or large companies that had control over their markets By 1900, trusts controlled about 80 percent of US industries Roosevelt supported big business, but also wanted to stop trusts that harmed people He was known as a trustbuster because he worked to file antitrust suits against these companies

Continued He also worked to resolve disputes among strikers, using the government to step in to help reach agreements He also stepped in to fix the ICC, which wasn’t working to regulate the railroad industry; his reform resulted in fairer shipping rates and less corruption in the railroad industry

Public Health and the Environment After reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Roosevelt pushed for the Meat Inspection Act Passed in 1906, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act, which halted the sale of contaminated foods and medicines and called for truth in labeling

Continued John Muir persuaded Roosevelt to set aside 148 million acres of forest reserves and other land for waterpower sites and mineral and water resources Roosevelt appointed Gifford Pinchot as head of the US Forest Service Pinchot believed in conservation of the land, whereas Muir believed in complete preservation of the wilderness

Roosevelt and Civil Rights Roosevelt supported individual African Americans, but did not help them in general In 1909, W. E. B. Du Bois founded the NAACP, or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The progressive movement, however, continued to focus on the needs of middle-class whites