APUSH CH 28+29 Lecture Name: Hour: Chapter 28: Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt, 1901-1912 I. The Progressive Era A. What Was It? 1. A time period that focused on correcting political, economic, and social problems in the U.S. the time period to cure the ills of the Gilded Age/industrialization 2. Aimed to return control of the government to the people and to restore economic opportunities a. Some goals of the era were to: i. Protect workers with workplace reforms aa. Aimed to protect workers from the tragedy that occurred at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company (1911) ii. Created unemployment insurance and health insurance for workers iii. Protect the poor iv. Development of social welfare programs v. Moral reforms (such as the prohibition of alcohol) 3. Involved a diverse group of reformers a. Church leaders b. African Americans c. Union leaders d. Women e. Political leaders B. Political Progressivism 1. Favored the following reforms (think of the Populists.) a. Direct primary elections: candidates no longer selected by party bosses b. Initiative: voters could propose legislation c. Referendum: laws would be placed on the ballot for voters approval d. Recall: voters could remove corrupt/ineffective politicians e. Direct election of senators rather than selection by state legislatures (17 th Amendment, 1913) f. Women s suffrage (although it did not happen yet) 2. At the state level progressive reforms were also common a. Wisconsin Governor Robert La Follette is known for the Wisconsin Idea: progressive reforms such as direct primaries, tax reform and a state commission that monitored railroads and utilities 3. Child and women s labor were also addressed a. By 1907 most states had passed child labor laws i. Mandatory school attendance laws also kept children out of mines and dangerous factory work b. Muller v. Oregon (1908) ruled that women needed special protection from long hours of labor 1
C. The Muckrakers 1. Journalists famous for exposing corrupt practices in society 2. Magazines such as McClure s, Collier s, and Cosmopolitan had success running articles about the problems in society a. Attacked big business, trusts, railroads, etc. b. Famous muckrakers: Upton Sinclair (The Jungle), Jacob Riis (How the Other Half Lives), Lincoln Steffens (The Shame of the Cities), and Ida Tarbell (The History of the Standard Oil Company) D. Rise of the Socialist Party 1. The Socialist Party of America was dedicated to the welfare of the working class 2. Favored more radical reforms than the Progressives did a. Public ownership of railroads and utilities as well as the oil and steel industries 3. Eugene V. Debs was a founder of the party a. 5-time presidential candidate between 1900-1920 b. Also a former railway union leader; became socialist as a result of the Pullman strike II. TR s Second Term: A Square Deal and Progressive Policies A. Election of 1904 1. Republicans nominated TR 2. Democrats nominated Alton Parker 3. TR won: 336 to 140 electoral votes B. A Square Deal 1. TR ran on the nation of a square deal for Americans 2. He wanted to focus on reforms in three areas: a. Consumer protection b. Conservation/natural resources c. Control of corporations C. Reforms 1. Railroads were in need of regulation a. Elkins Act (1903): curbed railroad rebates for favored shippers b. Hepburn Act (1906): allowed the ICC to set maximum rates that railroads could charge 2. Food and Drug Industries a. Meat Inspection Act of 1906: provided for the inspection of meat i. This was the result of the publication of Upton Sinclair s The Jungle which TR had read ii. TR sent two men, Charles Neill and James Reynolds, to inspect meat packing plants iii. Their findings were disturbing and included in The Neill-Reynolds Report aa. Eventually this report was made public and severely hurt the meat packing industry but also forced positive changes to occur b. Pure Food and Drug Act: forbade the manufacture, sale, and transportation of adulterer or mislabeled foods and drugs 3. The Gentlemen s Agreement (1908): limited the number of Japanese laborers allowed in the U.S. a. This also stated that TR would not favor a law limiting Japanese immigration 2
4. In 1908 TR would not run for the presidency again and there was some opposition to his progressive policies a. He pushed for Taft to become the Republican candidate (served as Secretary of War under TR although his expertise was law) III. Taft as President A. Election of 1908 1. Republicans nominated William H. Taft 2. Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan 3. Taft won: 321 to 162 electoral votes B. Taft s Presidency 1. Compared to TR, Taft was not as sophisticated despite being deemed a progressive 2. Taft lacked TR s leadership skills 3. Signed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff which was reduced some tariffs but kept others right where they had been (his party disliked this) 4. Compared to TR, Taft was much better at breaking up trusts (broke up twice as many in is 4 years as president) a. Prosecuted the U.S. Steel Company 5. Also established national forest reserves and set aside federal oil lands 6. The Mann-Elkins Act (1910) gave the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to suspend new railroad rates and oversee the telephone, telegraph, and cable companies 7. Taft was a weaker foreign policy president famous for the policy of dollar diplomacy which encouraged the U.S. to invest in foreign markets/countries 8. The bottom line: he was not TR and had a hard time trying to live up to his predecessor IV. The Election of 1912 A. TR for President?!? 1. By 1912, TR was extremely upset with Taft and his presidency the nation had felt betrayed by Taft 2. At the 1912 nominating convention, Taft won the Republican nomination a. This caused TR to run as a third party candidate under the Bull Moose Party (The Progressive Party) i. He came up with the policy known as New Nationalism aa. Called for more reforms in various areas such as workplace protection, direct primaries, and an income tax B. Results of the 1912 Election 1. Wilson wins b. T. Woodrow Wilson was nominated as the Democratic candidate i. Committed to the Idea of a New Freedom, which would limit big business and government 3
Chapter 29: Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad, 1912-1916 I. Wilson: A Minority President A. The Election of 1912 1. With both TR and Taft running it made it difficult for either one to win the election 2. It was evident that Progressivism would continue no matter who was elected (it was believed it would be TR or Wilson and not Taft) 3. In the end, Wilson wins with 435 electoral votes (TR had 88, Taft had just 8) but only had about 42% of the popular vote B. Who Was Woodrow Wilson? 1. Democrat 2. Former Governor of NJ (known for progressive reforms) 3. Very well-spoken and extremely educated 4. Lacked the charisma/popularity that TR had C. Highlights of Wilson s Administration 1. New Freedom: Supported a stronger government role in economic affairs 2. Focused reforms on the triple wall of privilege : tariffs, banking, and trusts 3. Underwood Tariff Bill (1913): encouraged imports because tariffs had been reduced 4. 16 th Amendment: instituted a federal income tax (ratified in 1913) 5. Federal Reserve Act: set-up the Federal Reserve Board to regulate the amount of money in circulation (established 12 district banks) 6. Federal Trade Commission: created in 1914 to regulate interstate commerce/break up monopolies 7. Clayton Anti-Trust Act: prohibited corporations from serving on the board of directors of businesses that were in same industry (interlocking directorates) a. Also said price discrimination was not allowed 8. Federal Farm Loan Act (1916): guaranteed lower interest rate loans to farmers 9. Adamson Act (1916) through which mandated an 8-hour workday and time-and-a-half for overtime a. He also backed laws against child labor (The Child Labor Act) 10. 19 th Amendment: granted women the right to vote (ratified August 1920) 11. Nominated the first Jewish person to the Supreme Court: Louis Brandeis 12. Anti-imperialist: hated the idea of having to carry TR s big stick around a. Ended dollar diplomacy b. Although U.S. did take more control in Caribbean (Nicaragua and Haiti) 13. Jones Act (1916): Gave the Philippines territorial status but not independence 14. Strained relations with Huerta of Mexico (dictatorship) II. War Erupts in Europe A. World War I 1. Chain of Events a. Sarajevo: June 28, 1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne) and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist b. Vienna, July 23: Austria issued an ultimatum threatening war against Serbia and invaded the country 4 days later c. St. Petersburg, July 31: Russia (ally to Serbia) mobilized its army against Austria d. Berlin, August 1: Germany (ally to Austria) declared war on Russia e. Berlin, August 3: Germany declared war against France (ally of Russia) and invaded Belgium f. London, August 4: Britain (ally to France) declared war on Germany 4
2. Causes of WWI: MAIN a. Militarism: European countries competed to have the largest military b. Alliances: the most powerful countries in Europe formed alliances to protect each other and their interests i. They believed alliances would prevent war c. Imperialism: competed for colonies and resources d. Nationalism: minority ethnic groups wanted to break away from old European empires 3. The Alliances: a. Triple Alliance (Central Powers): Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy b. Triple Entente (Allies): Britain, France, and Russia B. Wilson and the War 1. Wanted to distance the U.S. from the war and issued a proclamation of neutrality 2. But, the U.S. was also economically linked with the Allies a. Britain had been one of the U.S. s best customers b. When war broke out, Britain flooded the U.S. with orders for products and arms i. As a result, between 1914-1916 American exports to Britain grew over 300% c. At the same time, exports to Germany dropped 90% d. Much of the U.S. s trade with the Allies was financed through loans from private American banks C. Germany s Position 1. Germany realized that the U.S. had become the Allies arsenal and bank 2. It was their job to stop this trade by seizing contraband from neutral (American) ships a. This set off a period of submarine, or U-boat warfare 3. U-boat warfare finally went too far in May 1915 when the British passenger liner the Lusitania was sunk (more than 1200 passengers on Board--some who were Americans-- and a cargo of food and contraband) D. Wilson Responds 1. Wilson saw this as a brutal assault on innocent people 2. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan advised that Americans be prohibited from traveling on belligerent ships and that passenger vessels be prohibited from carrying war goods a. Wilson disagreed; this led to Bryan s resignation 3. The U.S. still sought to avoid war with Germany and ordered the U-boats to stop attacking passenger liners 4. This led Congress to consider the Gore-McLemore Resolution that would have prohibited Americans from traveling on armed merchant vessels or ships that were carrying contraband a. Wilson disliked this resolution; it was later defeated in Congress 5. March 1916: a U-boat attacked the Sussex, a French vessel, and brought the U.S. one step closer to war 5
III. Fight for Reelection or Fight a War? A. Wilson s Reelection Campaign: A Success (1916) 1. Wilson s reelection campaign was built on the fact that he had kept the U.S. out of war and maintained his policy of neutrality a. Therefore, his slogan for reelection was He Kept Us Out of War 2. Wilson won reelection over Charles Evans Hughes (277 to 254 electoral votes) although it was a nail biter B. Wilson s Second Administration (1916-1920) 1. Devoted to ending the war 2. Broke relations with Germany after unlimited U-boat warfare 3. Proved to be a great leader during the war 6