Chapter 21Section 3

Presidents Back Progressive Goals

1896- Republican President William McKinley is elected President

McKinley popularity soared as business boomed

A Reforming President

Business expanded and unemployment fell

By 1900 McKinley realized that Progressive were gaining strength. With this in mind he chose Theodore Roosevelt as his running mate

President contd.

Teddy Roosevelt or TR came from a wealthy New York family. As a child he was often sick but lifted weights, ran, and boxed

Roosevelt supported many Progressive goals and hated corruption. He believed government should protect public interest

“TR”

By age 26 Roosevelt was serving in the New York State legislature

Tragically his mother and wife died on the same day

Rough and Tumble Politics

He quit politics and moved to a cattle ranch in present day North Dakota

2 year later TR returned east He served on the Civil Service Commission 1898 Roosevelt signed up to fight the war

against Spain 1898 he was elected governor of New York

Tumble contd.

Roosevelt pushed for reform

He was call a goo goo, a nickname for someone who wanted good government

Sept. 1901 an assassin shot and killed President McKinley, Roosevelt become President

Reform Governor

TR thought the good trusts should be left alone

TR thought the government should either control or break up the trusts that cheated the public and took advantage of its workers

Good and Bad Trusts

This was Roosevelt government test case 1902 TR ordered the Attorney General to

bring a lawsuit against the Northern Securities Case

This giant trust had been put together by J.P. Morgan

TR argued that Northern Securities used unfair practices in violation of the Sherman Act.

The Northern Securities Case

Other businesses worried because they operated like Northern Securities. If its practices were illegal so were theirs

Ordinary people supported the President

Case contd.

The Supreme Court found that Northern Securities had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by limiting trade

It ordered the trust to be broken up

The decision showed the effects of the Progressive Movement

A Victory for Roosevelt

- TR then ordered the Attorney General to file suit against other trusts that had broken the law

- Some business leader referred to TR as a trustbuster

- Trustbuster- someone who wanted to destroy all trusts

Victory contd.

TR crashed with the mine owners

1902 coal miners in Pennsylvania went on strike

They wanted better pay and a shorter work day

Trouble in Coal Fields

As winter approached schools and hospitals ran out of coal

TR threatened to send troops in to run the mines

As a result owners sat down with the union and reached and agreement

Coal contd.

Working people around the country cheered

Other Presidents used troops to break strikes

TR was the first to side with labor against mine owners

Coal contd.

1904 Roosevelt runs for President promising American a square deal

Square Deal- all Americans should have equal opportunity to succeed

The promise helped TR win by a landslide

The Promise of a Square Deal

TR knew the ICC had done little to end rebated and other abuses of the railroad

Elkins Act: 1903 outlawed rebated

Hepburn Act: 1906 gave the ICC greater power including the right to set railroad rates

Regulating Railroads

TR read Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle; as a result he sent more inspectors to meatpacking houses

Owners refused to let inspectors in

TR sent newspapers copies of government report supporting Sinclair’s pictures of the meatpacking industry

Protecting Consumers

1906 Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act: it forced meat packing to open their doors to inspectors

Muckrakers had revealed that the food industry was adding dangerous chemicals to canned foods

Consumers contd.

Pure Food and Drug Act: required food and rug makers to list all ingredients on their packages◦ Also tried to end false advertisement

◦ Ban the use of impure ingredients

Consumers contd.

TR loved the outdoors He was alarmed about the destruction of

the wilderness Conservation: protection of natural

resources Some forest and mountain areas should be

left as wilderness He wanted lumber companies to replants

trees

Protecting Natural Resources

1908 TR supported William Taft in the Presidential election

TR then left for a year to hunt big game in Africa

Taft and Reformers

Taft was very different from TR Like TR, Taft supported Progressive causes He pushed ahead with trust busting Taft lost support of the Progressives when

he signed a tariff bill that Progressive opposed and he blocked conservation policies they supported

TR returned from Africa to find out reformers felt Taft betrayed them

Taft vs. TR

TR decides to run against Taft in the 1912 Republican Primary

Taft vs. TR contd.

Many Republican business people distrusted TR so they chose Taft as their candidate

Progressive Republicans were furious and marched out of the Convention

They set up their own party, the Progressive Party

They chose TR to run for President TR said “I feel as strong as a bull” He and

his supporters became known as the Bull Moose Party

“Strong as a Bull Moose”

Democrats chose Woodrow Wilson, a progressive as their candidate

Wilson won the election on 1912

Taft and Roosevelt split the Republican votes helping Wilson to win by getting mostly all Democrats votes

A Democratic Victory

New Freedom: Wilson’s program to split up trusts and restore competition

He pushed for a lower tariff to increase competition from foreigners

Congress imposed a graduate income tax Federal Reserve Act: passed to regulate

banking

The New Freedom

Wilson realized he could not break up large corporations just try and control them

Federal Trade Commission: they had power to investigate companies and order them to stop using unfair business

Clayton Antitrust Act: banned some business practices limiting competition and barred antitrust laws from being used against unions

Controlling Big Business

After 1914 the Progressive Era slowed

They had reached many of their goals and war in Europe caught American attention

Big Business contd.