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CH. 29: PROGRESSIVISM AND THE REPUBLICAN ROOSEVELT

PROGRESSIVISM

Muckrackers

Goo

Goos

Temperance

Suffragettes

Populists

Midclass

Women

Labor

Unions

Civil

Rights

I. WHO WERE THE PROGRESSIVES?

• Middle class men and women• Both political parties• All regions of the country• Muckrakers- writers and

reporters who looked to expose corruption as well as reveal the harsh realities of the city and working class.

II. WHAT DID PROGRESSIVES WANT?

1. Curb the power of trusts.2. Improve common person’s living and working

conditions.3. Stop government corruption by big business.

III. CHANGES IN POLITICS

• Initiative- voters directly propose legislation• Referendum- laws

must be placed on the ballot for final approval by the people• Recall- allowed voters

to remove bad officials (bribed by lobbyists/bosses/trusts)

IV. PROGRESSIVE AMENDMENTS• 16th Amendment (1913)- income tax• 17th Amendment (1913)- direct election of

senators• 18th Amendment (1919)- prohibition • 19th Amendment (1920)- Women’s suffrage

V. WOMEN AS PROGRESSIVES

• Women tended to support the following causes:• Ending child labor• Eradicating disease in tenements• Food safety

• How do these causes align with the traditional role of wife and mother?

• However, not all women limited their reforms to the above causes… Ida M. Tarbell

Muckraker who exposed problems of Standard Oil

Company

VI. TEDDY ROOSEVELT’S SQUARE DEAL

• Predecessor of (his cousin) FDR’s New Deal

The Square Deal had the following goals:1. Control corporations2. Consumer protection3. Conservation of resources

VII. CONTROLLING CORPORATIONS

• Teddy was nicknamed a “trustbuster,” someone who would break up large monopolies.• This is only partially true. Teddy did

not break up all monopolies, only those he deemed bad for the American people.

• The symbolic reason behind trust busting was to send the signal that the government rules the country, not private business.

VII. CONTROLLING CORPORATIONS

• Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902• Cold weather, coal miners

on strike… • Teddy threatened to take

over the mine and operate it with soldiers. *This is the first time the business owner was threatened to end a strike instead of laborers.*

• Workers got a 10% pay boost and a 9 hour work day!

VII. CONTROLLING CORPORATIONS

• Hepburn Act of 1906 • Interstate Commerce

Commission (ICC) expanded to include more rail companies.• Maximum rates were

established to keep passengers from being overcharged.• This kept prices down,

a victory for consumers.

VIII. CONSUMER PROTECTION• Pure Food and Drug Act 1906• Meat Inspection Act 1906- decreed that meat shipped

over state lines would be subject to federal inspection.

IX. CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES

• Forest Reserve Act 1891• National Parks thrived under Teddy Roosevelt

"We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation." Theodore Roosevelt

X. TEDDY HANDPICKS TAFT

• Teddy sticks to his word not to run for reelection in 1908. • Instead he handpicks William

Howard Taft as the Republican candidate (he wins).• Roosevelt despised Taft’s

presidency, and is unable to stay out of the race in 1912.• He runs as a third party candidate

from the Bull Moose Party