THE WILSON YEARS The Election of 1912

Picking the Candidates Republican Party: President Taft Democratic Party: Woodrow Wilson (governor of New Jersey/progressive) Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party): Former President Teddy Roosevelt Socialist Party: Eugene Debs Picking the Candidates

Wilson vs. Roosevelt Wilson: New Freedom Roosevelt: New Nationalism Criticized Roosevelt’s New Nationalism for supporting regulated monopolies Said that approach gave the federal gov’t too much power in the economy Argued for Free Enterprise Accepted large trusts as a fact of life—sought regulation Favored legislation to protect women and children and workers Roosevelt and Taft split the Republican vote—and Wilson wins! Wilson vs. Roosevelt

Wilson’s Reforms Reforming Tariffs Reforming the Banks Personally appeared before Congress to support a tariff reduction bill Underwood Tariff (1913): reduced the avg. tariff on imported goods to about ½ of what it was in 1890’s Provided an income tax on the earnings of individuals Supported the establishment of a federal reserve system Federal Reserve Act of 1913: Banks had to keep portion of reserves in a regional reserve bank It created 12 regional banks supervised by Board of Governors. –national supervision of banking system Wilson’s Reforms

Wilson began to agree with Roosevelt on trusts once in office Progressives in office still demanded reform Federal Trade Commission (FTC): to monitor American business—monitor “unfair trade practices” Clayton Antitrust Act: outlawed certain practices that restricted competition Passing of this Act corrected some of the problems of Sherman Antitrust Antitrust Action

Keating-Owen Child Labor Act: prohibited the employment of children under the age of 14 in factories producing goods for interstate commerce In 1918: Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional because child labor was not “interstate commerce” and therefore only states could regulate it Adamson Act: established 8 hour workday for RR workers Federal Farm Loan Act: helped farmers get low interest loans Regulating Business

The Limits of Progressivism Failure to address racial and religious discrimination However, African Americans were absorbing the reform spirit and launched some campaigns of their own. NAACP was established in 1909 Race Riots occurred in 1908 Jewish people also lived in fear of mob violence ADL-Anti-Defamation League was established The Limits of Progressivism