The Progressive Era

The Progressive Era 1896-1919

The Election of 1896 • The Republicans selected William McKinley who ran on a platform of the gold-standardThe Democrats, and supporters of silver, nominated William Jennings Bryan who had campaigned strongly against Cleveland's inactivity during the depression • Bryan, from Nebraska and a staunch free-silver advocate, won the nomination with his “cross of gold” speech at the Democratic convention • In nominating Bryan the Democratic party fractured

The pro-Cleveland Democrats nominated their own candidate – Senator John Palmer – who then said he would not be disappointed if the Republicans won! • The Populists could nominate their own candidate or support Bryan – they chose Bryan but selected their own vice-president (Bryan disagreed) • McKinley conducted a “front porch campaign” talking only to certain groups with pre-arranged answers. They also portrayed Bryan as a radical who sympathized with communists

William Jennings Bryan • In the end Bryan lost to a better organized and financed Republican party • He was successful in the South and West, but very unsuccessful in the North and East • His defeat signaled the end of the Populist party, but most of their agenda was actually implemented by others during the Progressive era • The Democratic party became a party more dedicated to reform and against big business

William McKinley • The election of 1896 proved that big business really controlled politics • One of McKinley fist acts was to pass the Dingley Tariff of 1897 which raised tariffs to a new high • In 1900 the government passed the Gold Standard Act, which ended any threat from the silverites • But it was not internal problems that were going to beset McKinley – it was foreign events and even though the Populist movement had died away there was still a different way of looking at old problems

The Election of 1900 • The Democrats once again nominated William Jennings Bryan who wanted to make imperialism the main issue of the election • The Democrats condemned American action in the Philippines • The Republicans supported imperialism and re-nominated McKinley and named Theodore Roosevelt as his running mate • After Cuba, Roosevelt was a national hero • The Republicans won (292-155)

The Progressive Era • Much of Roosevelt’s tenure became known as the Progressive Era • It was a time of social, political, and economic change when people believed the government should be an agent for human welfare • The reform movement had actually started after the Civil War with the Greenback labor party, but it had gained the most with the Populists • In 1894 Henry Demarest Lloyd attacked Standard Oil with his book, Wealth Against Commonwealth

Social Gospel • People were getting tired of unrestrained big business and the richer getting richer • Jacob Riis showed people how Americans really lived in his book How the Other Half Lives published in 1890. The book was focused on the dirt and squalor of the New York slums • Thorstein Veblen wrote The Theory of the Leisure Class in 1899 and attacked the conspicuous wealth of the robber barons • This social gospel caused people to demand better housing and care for the poor

The Square Deal • Roosevelt’s agenda for the country – “a Square Deal for all” involved progressive legislation:control corporationsconsumer protectionconservation of natural resources • In 1902 Roosevelt ordered the break up of the massive Northern Securities Company and in 1904 he was supported by the Supreme Court which ordered the company dissolved • When coal miners in Pennsylvania went on strike in 1902 Roosevelt called both sides to a conference at the White House

Roosevelt was not going to let the coal shortage affect the country • The mine owners refused to talk to the unions – a move which only angered the president • Nothing was decided at the meeting so Roosevelt threatened to take over the mines and run them with the army • It is questionable if Roosevelt had the authority to use the army, but the threat was more than enough to break the impasse • The strike ended later that year

Muckrakers • Exposing social problems became a common practice after the turn of the century especially in magazines like Collier’s and Cosmopolitan • These writers were dubbed muckrakers • Despite criticism from the White House the sale of books and magazines that exposed filth, crime, and corruption boomed • In 1902 a reporter, Lincoln Steffens wrote in McClure’s about the seedy connections between big business and local government in “The Shame of the Cities”

The majority of Progressive were middle-class people who felt stuck between the rich and the poor • They represented all political affiliations and all regions of the country • One of their first moves was to take the political power away from the party bosses • They demanded voter referendums so legislation could be passed without input from the often-corrupt legislatures • The Seventeenth Amendment (1913) established direct elections for the Senate to eliminate the influence of big business

Robert La Follette • A leading figure in the Progressive movement was Robert La Follette of Wisconsin • As governor La Follette had made the state a ‘laboratory of reform” • He took on the lumber and railroad companies and created the “Wisconsin Idea” • His main aim was to create a government of experts who would then run the state based on progressive principles

Regulating Industry • The Interstate Commerce Commission (1887) had proved inadequate to regulate the railroads • Equally the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) did little to stop the power of the major industries • Roosevelt created the Department of Commerce in 1903, which was authorized to investigate businesses which involved interstate commerce • In 1903 the Elkins Act imposed fines on railroads that gave and offered rebates and special deals • The Hepburn Act of 1906 removed the free passes

Conservation • In 1881 Congress created the Division of Forestry as part of the Department of agriculture • Roosevelt appointed Gifford Pinchot as forestry chief • To help protect the environment and maintain the forests Roosevelt added fifty wildlife refuges and five national parks • Roosevelt vehemently opposed industrialists who wanted to strip the country of natural resources

Upton Sinclair • In 1906 Upton Sinclair published The Jungle which exposed the atrocious problems faced by the workers and the unsanitary conditions in the plants • When Roosevelt read the book he was sickened and appointed a special commission to investigate the meatpacking plants • In 1906 he passed the Meat Inspection Act, which required meat that was shipped over state line to be inspected before shipping • The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was to prevent mislabeling of foods and drugs

Panic of 1907 • As Roosevelt called for more legislation against big business so he became less desirable as a presidential candidate for the Republicans • In 1907 an economic crisis hit Wall Street as banks closed and people defaulted on their loans • The crisis was blamed on Roosevelt who had interfered with the workings of Wall Street • In return Roosevelt blamed wealthy individuals who, he said, had manipulated the situation • Thankfully the crisis was short but it did allow some fiscal reform

The crisis made everyone aware that money needed to be available to prevent future panics • In 1908 Congress passed the Aldrich-Vreeland Act, which gave the national banks the power to issue emergency currency

The Election of 1908 • Roosevelt probably would have won in 1908 if he had chosen to run, but he had promised in 1904 to step aside • Roosevelt selected William Howard Taft as his successor, confident in the fact that Taft would simply continue his agenda • The Democrats nominated the twice-beaten William Jennings Bryan • Both men tried to persuade the public that they were progressives • The Socialist picked Eugene V. Debs who came third but gained nearly half a million votes

Progressive Legislation • Social justice was a main thrust of the Progressive movement • Social justice including helping children and women workers, establishing settlement houses, and fighting the evils of liquor • In the Muller v. Oregon (1908) case the Supreme Court upheld a ten-hour day for women • In Bunting v. Oregon (1917) the Courts accepted a ten-hour day for men and women • In 1911 the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in New York, in which 146 people died led to the enforcement of stricter building codes

William Howard Taft • Taft was Roosevelt’s handpicked successor • Once out of office and still young – only 50 – Roosevelt went big game hunting in Africa • A big problem was that Taft did not like politics. Most of his advice came from his energetic wife, but she suffered a stroke after the election and couldn’t help her husband • Taft’s policies split the Republican party especially over the Ballinger-Pinchot controversy • Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger wanted to allow industrialists access to resources in the northwest

Roosevelt had placed the millions of acres of water off-limits by making them part of ranger stations • Ballinger and Taft both agreed that Roosevelt had gone too far • Ballinger gave federal coal reserves in Alaska to a Seattle business group who were then going to resell the land • When Chief of Forestry Pinchot reported the dealings to Taft he was ignored. In 1910 when he went public he was fired • A congressional committee found Ballinger not guilty of collusion, but he resigned soon after

In 1910 Roosevelt returned to the United States to hear reports of what Taft had, or had not done • Roosevelt felt betrayed • Roosevelt started addressing the public and advocating his policy of New Nationalism demanding more regulatory reform, social welfare, and direct democracy • Many Republicans were willing to back Roosevelt if he entered the race in 1912, but others supported La Follette

The Election of 1912 • Roosevelt won most of the presidential primaries, even in Taft’s own state of Ohio • But the Republican nominating committee selected Taft, who was after all still president • Roosevelt was outraged and turned to the Progressive party (Bull Moose party) and pushed La Follette aside • The Democrats nominated governor of New Jersey and former president of Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson • The Socialists nominated Eugene Debs

During the campaign Roosevelt was shot by a fanatic, but continued to campaign • The issue was Roosevelt’s New Nationalism or Wilson’s New Freedom • Wilson won the election, Roosevelt came second, and Taft came third • Wilson won the election with slightly more than 6 million votes. Taft and Roosevelt together had 7.5 million votes • The electoral college vote was a landslide 435-88-8 • Taft left politics to teach law at Yale before being selected chief justice of the Supreme Court in 1921

Woodrow Wilson • After the election of 1912 – in which all the candidates had expressed some progressive sentiment - the idea of progressivism started to decline • It was also the first time the Democrats had held the White House and Congress since the Cleveland administration • Wilson was not the political force of Roosevelt, but he was knew how to be a politician and how to talk to the people and Congress • He rewarded his friends with appointments

His first big issue was the tariff • He called Congress to a special session and addressed them himself and asked for tariff reduction • In 1913 the Underwood-Simmons Tariff became law and reduced import tariffs from 37% to 29%, the tariff did not include some 300 products – mostly natural resources • Congress also approved the Sixteenth Amendment (1913) which implemented the first income tax • The Glass-Owen Federal Reserve Act created a new national banking system with Federal Reserve Banks

Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) • Breaking the trust was a major part of the New Freedom plan, which had continued to grow despite the Sherman Anti-Trust Act • Wilson made the Federal Trade Commission the watchdog over trusts and empowered the Commission to act • The Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) prohibited price discrimination, interlocking directorates of large companies, and companies from purchasing stock in competing industries

Foreign Policy • Wilson lacked international experience, yet ironically his tenure would be dominated by foreign affairs • Wilson did believe that the United States had a moral obligation to protect and spread democracy • Prior to 1914 Secretary of State Bryan was busy negotiating with countries to avoid conflict • In 1914 two conflicts exploded that changed everything

World War One • In August 1914 World War One erupted in Europe with the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire by a Serb patriot in Sarajevo • The Austrians with the support of their German allies declared war on Serbia • Within weeks most of Europe was at war • Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria faced Britain, France, Russia and later Italy • But this war involved other counties not just Europeans

Russia joined Britain as did Japan • Wilson called on Americans to be neutral in thought and deed • Britain expected the United States to become an ally because of their shared tradition • Germany expected the United States to become an ally based on the number of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe • Most Americans favored the British • In 1914 the United States was in a recession so war orders from Britain and France helped relieve some of the problems

The Germans protested the trade between the two countries as violating the neutrality • Since the British controlled the Atlantic Ocean any trade between Germany and America would have been very risky • In 1915 Germany announced it would use submarines to sink ships that violated the laws of neutrality, they promised to try and not sink American ships • Wilson continued to claim neutrality while hoping American ships would not be sunk • The German U-boats proved deadly

Lusitania • At the start of 1915 almost 100 ships were sunk • On May 7, they sank the British passenger liner Lusitania with the loss of over a thousand lives – 128 Americans • The ship did have some ammunition on board which the Germans used as justification • The American people demanded war and revenge but Wilson stood firm and remained neutral • After another passenger ship was sunk the Germans promised not to sink passenger ships without warning

Sussex Pledge • In 1916 the Germans sank the French passenger ship Sussex • Wilson was furious and said that if the Germans did not stop sinking merchant ships immediately, he would break off diplomatic relations – the first step on the road to war • The Germans agreed not to sink merchant ships without warning, but America would have to persuade Britain to change its naval blockade • Wilson accepted the pledge but without the strings attached

The Election of 1916 • The Progressives re-nominated Teddy Roosevelt, but he did not want to split the Republican vote again and give the election to the man he hated – Wilson • The Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, the liberal Supreme Court justice from New York • Hughes was anti-German in anti-German regions of the country, but in other regions he portrayed himself as an isolationist • Wilson was re-nominated on the slogan “He Kept us Out of War”

After the election it looked like Hughes would win – he was even proclaimed the winner by some New York newspapers • In the West and Mid-west Wilson gained ground – the final result depended upon California • Wilson barely won (277-254) • In January 1917 Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare – all ships in the war zone would be targets • Now the man who kept America from war would have no choice but war

Wilson called for the arming of merchant ships to try an keep America neutral • But in March 1917 a telegram from Germany to Mexico was discovered • The Zimmermann note was from German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann and included vague promises of returning Texas and Arizona back to Mexico if there could be a German-Mexican alliance • With the overthrow of the Tsar in Russia the American government could now claim to be fighting for democracy • In 1917 Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war

American Expeditionary Force • In 1917 the Bolshevik Revolution succeeded and Russia dropped out the war • Now the Germans and their allies were free to focus all their power against the tired Allies in on the Western front • Early in 1918 the Germans launched a series of offensives • But by May there were over 1 million American “doughboys” in Europe led by General Pershing • By July the Germans were exhausted • The end of the war was in sight

War Legislation • Selective Service Act (1917) - Required all males between 21 and 30 to register for military service • Committee on Public Information (1917) - Created by Congress under the control of George Creel to mobilize public support for the war effort • War Industries Board (1917) - Created to the economic effort. Developed new industries and controlled prices. Companies that cooperated were exempt from antitrust legislation

Espionage Act (1917) - A $10,000 fine or 20 years imprisonment for those interfering with the draft or encouraging disloyalty • Sedition Act (1918) – increased the penalties for people who tried to stop or said anything negative about the sale of Liberty Bonds and for saying, writing, or printing anything disloyal about the government, the Constitution, or the armed forces

Schenck v. United States (1919) – The Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a man charged anti-draft leaflets to members of the armed services. The man had claimed free speech. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes stated that free speech does not protect a man from falsely shouting “fire!” in a theatre – the act applied when there was a “clear and present danger” • In Abrams vs. United States (1919) the Court confirmed the conviction of a man for passing out leaflets opposing American intervention in the Bolshevik Revolution

The Progressive Era