1. Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal
Chapter 9 - 3
Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal

2. Vocabulary/Identification
Upton Sinclair
“The Jungle”
Theodore Roosevelt
Square Deal
Meat Inspection Act
Pure Food and Drug Act
Conservation
NAACP

3. Chapter 9 – 3 Objectives Students will be able to:
Identify the ways Roosevelt used the power of the federal government when dealing with:
The coal strike of 1902;
Trust and the Railroads;
Protecting America’s citizens;
Protecting the environment.
Describe Roosevelt’s short-comings on the issue of civil rights.

4. Roosevelt Becomes President
McKinley was assassinated 6 months into his second term, thrusting Roosevelt into the presidency.
Youngest President to date at 42.
Never one to shy away from making news, Roosevelt
Enjoyed boxing, which left him blind in one eye.
He once galloped 100 miles on horseback just to prove it could be done.

5. Roosevelt Becomes President
As President, Roosevelt acted boldly.
Citing federal responsibility, Roosevelt explained,
"It is the duty of the president to act upon the theory that he is the steward of the people, and… to assume he has the legal right to do whatever the needs of the people demand…”
He saw the presidency as a “bully pulpit”, where he could influence the media and shape legislation.

6. Roosevelt Uses His Power
1902 Coal Strike
Strikers wanted, 20% raise, 9 hour work day, and the right to organize a union.
Mine owners said no, and refused to talk.
Roosevelt called both sides to the White House to talk.
The President threatened to “take over” the mines, placing them under the control of the federal government.

7. Roosevelt Uses His Power
1902 Coal Strike
In the end, Roosevelt convinced both sides to submit their demands to a 3rd party mediator who would decide the outcome.
Workers received 10% raise and a 9 hour day, but lost the right to impose a union for the next 3 years.

8. Roosevelt Uses His Power
Roosevelt’s actions demonstrated that in times when the national welfare is at stake, the federal government was expect to intervene.

9. Roosevelt Uses His Power Against Trusts
Trusts – Legal bodies that were created to hold the stock in many companies, thus controlling the activities of those companies in the pursuit of profits.
Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in 1890 to curb the actions of trusts.
Vague language of the Act made it difficult for the government to enforce the law.

10. Roosevelt Uses His Power Against Trusts
Because of his dislike of trusts, Roosevelt ordered the Justice Department to file lawsuits against those trusts who hurt the public interest.
In 1902 the Justice Department sued the Northern Securities Company which held a monopoly over railroads in the northwest.

11. Roosevelt Uses His Power Against Trusts
In 1904, the Supreme Court dissolved the company.
All in all, the Roosevelt administration filed 44 antitrust suits, winning a majority of them.

12. Roosevelt Uses His Power to Regulate Railroads
In 1887, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act, which outlawed the ability of railroad owners from working together to fix, set prices.
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was set up to enforce the laws, but in reality, had little power.

13. Roosevelt Uses His Power to Regulate Railroads
In 1903, at Roosevelt’s urging, Congress passed the Elkins Act, which made it illegal for RR’s to give, and shippers to receive rebates for using certain RR companies.
The Act also required the RR’s to notify the public before it changed the prices.

14. Roosevelt Uses His Power to Regulate Railroads
In 1906, the Hepburn Act limited the number of “free” passes a RR could hand out. This was important because these passes were a popular form of bribery.
The act also gave the ICC the power to set maximum prices for the RR’s.

15. Roosevelt Uses His Power to Regulate Railroads
These actions allowed the federal government the power to regulate the RR’s, which greatly expanded the governments power.

16. Roosevelt Uses His Power Over Health and the Environment
After reading Sinclair’s the ‘Jungle”, Roosevelt was outraged at the conditions of the Chicago meatpacking industry described in the book.
Vowing to find out if the depictions were true, Roosevelt set up a commission of experts to investigate.

17. Roosevelt Uses His Power Over Health and the Environment
The commission’s report not only supported Sinclair’s account, but prompted Roosevelt to push for passage of the Meat Inspection Act, which forced meatpacking companies to adhere to strict rules for cleanliness and created the program for meat inspections.

18. Roosevelt Uses His Power Over Health and the Environment
Americans were bombarded with many ads claiming that using certain products would restore one’s hair, or cure their ills.

19. Roosevelt Uses His Power Over Health and the Environment
So, in 1906, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act.
This new law provided for the following;
Halted the sale of contaminated foods and medicines.
Called for truth in labeling.

20. Roosevelt Uses His Power Over Health and the Environment
While this did not ban harmful products, it followed a progressive belief that if people were informed about what was in products, they would keep away from harmful ones.
Because of exploitation of the land, that included overgrazing in the Great Plains and wiping out forests for farmland, Roosevelt felt he was forced to act.

21. Roosevelt Uses His Power Over Health and the Environment
Condemning the view that America’s resources were endless, Roosevelt was persuaded to set aside 148 million acres for forest conservation, and set up more than 50 wildlife sanctuaries and several national parks.
With the passage of the Newlands Act in 1902, the federal government would manage the water resource of the west.

22. Roosevelt Uses His Power Over Health and the Environment
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23. Roosevelt and Civil Rights
While Roosevelt was known as a great conservationist, the same could not be said about his record in dealing with African – Americans.
When Roosevelt appointed an African-American to run the customhouse in Charlestown, South Carolina, many whites objected.

24. Roosevelt and Civil Rights
But when he appointed a black postmistress to head a Mississippi station, whites refused to accept the appointment.
Angered, Roosevelt closed the station rather than give in to the white protestors.
In 1906, he angered many African – Americans when he dismissed an entire regiment of black soldiers accused of conspiring with others charged with murder

25. Roosevelt and Civil Rights
Trying to make peace, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to a White House dinner.
Washington, who was then one of the most respected AA leaders of the time, was highly criticized for going.
W.E.B. DuBois, leading the critics, demanded that blacks be given immediate social and economic equality.

26. Roosevelt and Civil Rights
Following a civil rights conference in 1905 DuBois and others, along with some white reformers formed the NAACP in 1909.
6000 strong by 1914, their goal was nothing less than full equality of the races.
This found little support among progressives, which was focusing on the needs of middle – class whites

27. Chapter 9 – 3 Objectives Students will be able to:
Identify the ways Roosevelt used the power of the federal government when dealing with:
The coal strike of 1902;
Trust and the Railroads;
Protecting America’s citizens;
Protecting the environment.
Describe Roosevelt’s short-comings on the issue of civil rights.

28. Chapter 9 – 3 Homework
Guided Reading Worksheet – Part A (1-6)