Essential Question: (Just think about this one.) How did progressives bring reform to urban & state governments? Bell Ringer Questions: How effective were progressive reformers in addressing: (a) Problems in cities? (b) Discrimination against African-Americans? (c) Inequalities against women?

National Progressive Reform: Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, & Woodrow Wilson Goal 7.01 & 7.02

President Theodore Roosevelt VP Theodore Roosevelt became president after the assassination of William McKinley in 1901 TR was a different kind of president He thought the gov’t ought to take responsibility for the welfare of the American people His agenda of progressive reform was called the “Square Deal”

Theodore Roosevelt: A “Modern” President “It is the duty of the president to act upon the theory that he is the steward of the people, and…to assume that he has the legal right to do whatever the needs of the people demand, unless the Constitution or the laws explicitly forbid him to do it” TR was committed to a series of reforms: Breaking up harmful monopolies (called “trustbusting”) Regulating businesses such as railroads & the meat industry Conservation of natural resources

Trustbusting During the Gilded Age, Congress passed a series of laws designed to keep big business in check: The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was formed in 1886 to regulate railroads The Sherman Anti-Trust Act in 1890 made it illegal for companies to restrict trade But neither of these laws were strict enough to control monopolies

Trustbusting Roosevelt saw the benefit of efficient monopolies, but wanted to control bad trusts: In 1902, the gov’t ordered the Northern Securities Company (a giant railroad monopoly owned by J.P. Morgan) broken up because it violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act The Roosevelt administration “busted” 25 trusts in 7 years

Theodore Roosevelt, the Trustbuster RESTRAINT

Supporting Workers In 1902, the United Mine Workers went on strike to demand higher pay & an eight-hour work day The anthracite coal strike lasted 11 months & threatened the nation as winter approached

Supporting Workers Unlike the Gilded Age presidents, TR did not side with the owners & break up the strike TR forced both sides to arbitrate or face gov’t seizure of the coal mine The result was a “square deal” for both sides The result was a “square deal” for labor (higher wages) & owners (no formal recognition of the union)

Regulating Business When muckraker Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle was published, Roosevelt pushed for regulation of the meat packing industry Congress passed the Meat Inspection Act in 1906 To ban harmful products & end false medicine claims, the Pure Food & Drug Act passed in 1906 Quick Class Discussion: Why did The Jungle generate so much outrage from Americans & politicians? Read excerpts from The Jungle

Unregulated Food & Medicines: The Need for the Pure Food & Drug Act

Conservation of the Environment During the Gilded Age, corporations clear-cut forests & viewed America’s natural resources as endless Roosevelt began the 1st national environmental conservation program The gov’t protected 195 million acres as off limits to businesses The Reclamation Service to place natural resources (oil, trees, coal) under federal protection

National Parks and Forests

The Legacy of Theodore Roosevelt In 1908, Roosevelt decided not to run for re-election as president TR’s presidency was important because for the first time, the national government: Regulated big business Protected the environment Assumed responsibility for the welfare of workers & consumers

William Howard Taft When Roosevelt decided not to run for re-election in 1908, his successor to the presidency was Republican William Howard Taft

The Presidency of Taft Like TR, Taft believed that the U.S. needed progressive reform: In his 4 years as president, Taft helped break up twice as many monopolies as Roosevelt Created the Children’s Bureau & pushed for child labor laws Helped create safety codes for coal miners & railroad workers

The Presidency of Taft But, Taft did not always trust the gov’t to solve problems & often sided with conservative Republicans He angered progressives when he supported a high tariff which helped monopolies He allowed a cabinet secretary to sell 1 million acres of conservation land to businesses Progressive politicians hoped that TR would run for president again

Progressives (& Roosevelt) began to view Taft as having made a mess of TR’s reforms

The Election of 1912 TR decided to run for president in 1912 but the Republican Party picked Taft as their candidate TR created the Progressive (“Bull Moose”) Party Taft was the Republican nominee & the Democrats ran a reform governor, Woodrow Wilson Republican voters were divided in whom to support: Roosevelt or Taft

The Election of 1912 & the Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party) I’m feeling as fit as a “bull moose”

Republicans divided by a Bull moose equals a Democratic victory! The Election of 1912 With the Republicans divided, Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the election of 1912 Republicans divided by a Bull moose equals a Democratic victory!

President Woodrow Wilson President Wilson oversaw a great wave of progressive reforms: 16th Amendment created the 1st income tax in U.S. history 17th Amendment allowed for the direct-election of U.S. Senators 18th Amendment outlawed alcohol (prohibition) 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote (suffrage) “Progressive Amendments” (1913) was;

President Woodrow Wilson President Wilson oversaw a great wave of progressive reforms: Created the Federal Reserve to regulate the economy by adjusting the money supply & interest rates The Clayton Anti-Trust Act limited the ability of companies to form monopolies & protected workers’ right to strike The Federal Trade Commission monitored unfair business practices (1913) was;

The Federal Reserve System The “Fed” regulates the amount of money in circulation to help keep the economy strong

The End of Progressive Reform The Progressive Era (1890-1920) brought major changes: Gov’t regulation of big business Improvements in U.S. cities More democracy for the people But, the outbreak of World War I in Europe distracted Americans & brought an end to the Progressive Era