APUSH – Unit 6, Lecture 3 Ms. Kray Some slides taken from Susan Pojer

 Youngest president in U.S. history (42 yrs old)  Strong progressive  Beginning of the modern presidency - President’s job to set the legislative agenda for Congress - Mediator of the public good

Good Trusts vs. Bad Trusts  Good Trust = dominated the market through efficiency and low prices; should only be regulated  Bad Trust = harmed the public and stifled competition

 Viewed federal gov’t as mediator of the public good  1 st president to enforce Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)  1904  broke up the Northern Securities Company - Railroad trust - Supreme Court reversed earlier decision & upheld TR’s actions  TR also had his attorney general go after Standard Oil & 40 other large corporations

 Gilded Age Presidents had all sided with Big Business in labor disputes –Great Railroad Strike of 1877 –Pullman Strike  TR was different

 TR tried to mediate dispute  Mine owners refused to compromise  TR threatened to take over the mines with federal troops  Owners finally agreed to 10% wage increase but no recognition of the union

 Elkins Act,1903 –ICC gets greater authority to stop railroads from granting rebates to favored customers  Hepburn Act, 1906 –ICC gets power to fix “just and reasonable” rates for RRs

 Huge Public Outcry  Pure Food and Drug Act, 1906  The Meat Inspection Act, 1906

 Forest Reserve Act, 1891 –Used act to set aside 150 mil. acres of land as national reserve  1902  urged passage of Newlands Reclamation Act –$ for irrigation system in the western states  1908  appointed Gifford Pinchot first director of U.S. Forest Service

TR also shared some concerns of the naturalists in the conservation movement –Committed to protecting the natural beauty of the land and the health of its wildlife from human intrusion –Sided w/John Muir, founder of Sierra Club –Added to National Park System Hetch-Hetchy Controversy, 1906 –Helped mobilize a new coalition of people committed to preservation –Made clear casual exploitation of natural wonder would no longer be unopposed

Conservatives wrongly blamed TR’s “mad” economic polices for economic troubles JP Morgan to the rescue...again. –Helped prop up assets in several shaky financial institutions –Key to the plan was his purchase of Tennessee Coal & Iron Co. Panic + TR’s growing “radicalism” in his 2 nd term alienated conservatives in his own party –Could he get the party’s nomination again? –What about his promise to step down?

William Howard Taft (R)* (Hand-picked by TR) Willliam Jennings Bryan (D)

 More of a trustbuster than TR  Angered TR with his attack of the U.S. Steel Corporation  Mann-Elkins Act of 1910  gave ICC the power to suspend new railroad rates and oversee telephone, telegraph, and cable companies  16 th Amendment  income tax (originally a Populist proposal)

 Progressives betrayed! - Payne-Aldrich Tariff, Pinchot-Ballinger Controversy, House Speaker Joe Cannon - Midterm Elections of 1910  Began to rally behind TR

Taft was determined to defeat TR and preserve the conservative heart of the Republican Party.

 High import tariffs.  Put limitations on female and child labor.  Workman’s Compensation Laws.  Against initiative, referendum, and recall.  Against “bad” trusts.  Creation of a Federal Trade Commission.  Stay on the gold standard.  Conservation of natural resources because they are finite.

Come, Mr. President. You Can’t Have the Stage ALL of the Time!

 Taft re-nominated after his supporters excluded TR’s delegates from the convention  TR  “The Republican Party must stand for the rights of humanity, or else it must stand for special privilege.”

People should rise above their sectarian interests to promote the general good.

Big business requires big government.

 Women’s suffrage.  Graduated income tax.  Inheritance tax for the rich.  Lower tariffs.  Limits on campaign spending.  Currency reform.  Minimum wage laws.  Social insurance.  Abolition of child labor.  Workmen’s compensation.

We stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the Lord! ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS!

“The issue is Socialism versus Capitalism. I am for Socialism because I am for humanity.” – Eugene V. Debs

Eugene V. Debs Emil Seigel for President for Vice-President

Year Socialist Party Socialist Labor PartyTotal , , , , ,27536, , ,93133,405130, ,49453,763277, ,23033,546441, ,04320,265351, ,48814,021438, ,67434,115641, ,873

The first American labor group to open its membership to all wage-earning workers, regardless of skill, nationality, race, sex, or gender.

 Government ownership of railroads and utilities.  Guaranteed income tax.  No tariffs.  8-hour work day.  Better housing.  Government inspection of factories.  Women’s suffrage.

Could he rescue the Democratic Party from “Bryanism”?

 Government control of the monopolies  trusts in general were bad  eliminate them!!  Tariff reduction.  One-term President.  Direct election of Senators.  Create a Department of Labor.  Strengthen the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.  Did NOT support women’s suffrage.  Opposed to a central bank.

 By 1912, 100,000 fewer people had voted for Wilson than had voted for Bryan in He’s a minority pres.  Election marked peak of the Socialist movement in America.

The Democratic party took control of the Senate for the first time in 20 years.

 Only 2 nd Dem. elected since Civil War  1 st southerner since Zachary Taylor  Idealistic, intellectual, righteous, & inflexible  Believed that the president should lead Congress - appealed directly to the people to rally their support for his legislative program

 Pledged commitment to New Freedom  Wanted to bring back conditions of free & fair competition  Attacked “the triple wall of privilege”: – tariffs, banks, & trusts

 Called a special session of Congress - 1 st day in office - Appeared in person  Lowered tariff rates for the first time in 50 yrs  Added a graduated income tax rate

 Again went directly to Congress  Proposed a national banking system w/12 district banks supervised by the Federal Reserve Board

 Clayton Antitrust Act, Strengthened provision of Sherman Act - Unions exempt  Federal Trade Commission, agency empowered to investigate & take action against “unfair trade practices”  Federal Farm Loan Act, 1916  Child Labor Act, Declared unconstitutional