United States History

1. United States History Chapter 19: Progressive Politicians

2. Reforming Government • Government corruption was rampant in the late 1800s and Progressives wanted to eliminate that corruption • The election process was fixed to eliminate the power of the bosses • Direct primaries were created for voters to choose candidates that run in the general election later • 17th Amendment: gave voters power to elect senators, not states choosing • Initiative and referendum: gives voters power to create laws and vote on laws • Recall: voters can remove elected officials from office • Reforms had mixed results, with business still heavily influencing elections

3. Theodore Roosevelt • William McKinley won a second term in 1900 but was assassinated shortly after in 1901 • Teddy Roosevelt, as his vice president, became president • He felt that the presidency was an office that needed to be more hands on and address vital issues • One of the biggest accomplishments of his first term was brokering a deal with miners and coal mines over a strike that almost crippled the country • Arbitrators, a third party outside of the mines, worked a deal out with workers and owners, preventing a strike that would have cut off coal supplies in the winter of 1902-03 • He called the compromise a “square deal” • His reelection in 1904 emphasized the Square Deal • He called for limited power of trusts, health and public safety and improved working conditions

4. Regulating Business • Roosevelt set out to make sure the Sherman Antitrust Act was enforced and helped to establish the Interstate Commerce Commission • The ICC regulated railroad rates to prevent companies from giving rebates and charging more for shorter runs • Laws were passed to regulate the safety of food and drugs • Pure Food and Drug Act: prevented the sale of bad or dangerous food and drugs • Meat Inspection Act: required meat to be inspected before being shipped • Brought about by muckraking author Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle, which outlined the atrocities of the Chicago meatpacking industry • Roosevelt also worked to protect the environment • He helped pass laws to manage public lands, reclaim damaged lands, and established the National Park Service to protect areas of wonder, beauty, and fragility

5. Theodore Roosevelt 1901-1909

6. William Howard Taft • Roosevelt gave his support to Taft in the election of 1908 • Taft continued many of the policies implemented by Roosevelt, such as environmental protection, more regulation of business, reforming of working conditions, including child labor, etc. • Mann-Elkins Act of 1910: extended the ICC jurisdiction to telephone and telegraph companies, not just railroads • 16th Amendment: proposed in 1909, ratified in 1913, gave the gov’t power to levy income taxes • However, other actions taken by Taft angered Progressive politicians, especially Roosevelt • Payne-Aldrich Tariff: a high tax on imports that Progressives were against because of its role in raising consumer prices of goods • Ballinger-Pinchot Affair: rift between Ballinger (Secretary of the Interior) and Pinchot (head of US Forest Service) • Pinchot was fired for criticizing Ballinger • The firing showed that Taft was weak when it come to environmental reform and cost Republicans many seats in Congress in the elections of 1910 • Roosevelt was angered greatly, and decided to run for president again in 1912

7. William Howard Taft 1909-1913

8. Election of 1912 • Taft and Roosevelt were both Republicans running for president, but Republicans nominated the incumbent Taft • Outraged, Roosevelt formed his own party, the Progressive Party, also known as the “Bull Moose” Party • Woodrow Wilson was selected to run for president by the Democrats • The split in the Republican Party ensured a victory for the Democrats • Wilson believed in many Progressive reform measures, however, he felt that too much control could limit individual freedoms • He was more moderate than Roosevelt in his ideas of reform, and much different from another candidate, Socialist Eugene Debs, who called for public ownership of industries • In the end, he soundly defeated all other candidates, even gaining votes from Republicans that were against Taft and Roosevelt

9. Election of 1912

10. Wilson’s Administration • After taking office, Wilson did many things to reform government • Lowered tariffs with the Underwood Tariff Act of 1913 • Implemented a progressive income tax (the higher your income, the higher your taxes) • Created the Federal Reserve System in 1913 to regulate money • Passed the Clayton Antitrust Act in 1914 by putting some meat on the bones of the Sherman Antitrust Act, finally making it effective • Created the Federal Trade Commission in 1914 to oversee industry and trade practices • Wilson also addressed labor practices • Passed laws that shortened workdays and gave workers the right to strike • Federal Workmen’s Compensation Act created to give benefits to those injured on the job • Tried to outlaw child labor, but was unsuccessful

11. Women’s Suffrage Movement • Women were not allowed to vote in any elections in most places around the nation • The National American Woman Suffrage Association, led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was created in 1890 to fight for the right to vote • Another group, the National Woman’s Party, created in 1916, focused on passing an amendment guaranteeing suffrage • Finally, after years of hard work at the state and national levels, the 19th Amendment was ratified • Ratified in 1920 • Guaranteed the right to vote to be protected regardless of sex

12. Woodrow Wilson 1913-1921