Progressive era study notes

Progressive Era

Theodore’s square deal

- McKinley was inaugurated as president for a second term, but he was shot twice by 28-year-old Leon Czolgosz, while speaking at Pan-American Exposition.

- Due to the assassination of McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th US president.
The Coal Strike Hard coal mines were irresponsible of the safety of their workers. In 1901, 441 men were killed in mining accidents in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Workers did not receive raises in wages; they were paid by weight of coal they dug, but companies were not weighing honestly. Coal miners went on strike in May 1902 led by John Mitchell. Roosevelt invited John Mitchell to the White House along with other miners. When mine operators refused, Teddy Roosevelt threatened them to send in the army into the mines. Then on October 13th owners gave in finally and strike ended with workers receiving most of their demands
The Northern Securities Case (1904) The Northern Securities Company was a corporation set up to hold a controlling part of the stock of other companies. It was formed by railroad builders James J. Hill, the Rockefellers, J.P Morgan, and E.H Harriman, to control the four big railroad of the Northwest. Citizens were now forced to pay fares of railroads. He used the issue skilfully to revive the Sherman Antitrust Act and to show the power of the federal government. The wealthy men had disrupted the nation’s stock market by their fight for monopoly and therefore Roosevelt had the company sued under Sherman Act. Roosevelt pushed the case and in 1904 the Supreme Court, by a vote 5 to 4, held that the Northern Securities Company did violate Sherman Antitrust Act. The court ordered company to dissolve and after this victory.

Election of 1904 Easily won election of 1904 against Democratic and conservative leader Judge Alton B. Parker of New York. Roosevelt carried entire North and West with 336 electoral votes, Parker left with 140 votes from the “solid south”.

Hepburn Railroad Act Roosevelt strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission so it could really regulate the railroads. 1906, after a 16-month battle in the Senate, the Hepburn bill became a law. Hepburn law gave the ICC power over pipelines, express and sleeping car companies, bridges, ferries and terminals. Railroad rebates and free passes were forbidden. If shipper complained about unfair rate, Commission could reduce rate until federal court ruled on its fairness.

Other Reform Legislation

The Meat Inspection Act (1906) gave federal officials the right to inspect all meat shipped in interstate commerce to see whether it came from healthy animals and was packed under sanitary conditions
1906 A Pure Food and Drug Act was passed which regulated the manufacturing and sale of impure foods, drugs, and liquors was forbidden
Labels on patent medicines had to list contents

Conservation of Natural Resources In June 1902, his strong support helped to secure the passage of the New lands Reclamation Act. The money from the sale helped to build large dams and canal systems conserve water for irrigation. In 1891, congress gave President power over “public lands wholly or in part covered with timber”. Roosevelt increased # of national forests to 149 totalling over 190 million acres. It helped to prevent illegal use of public lands by lumber companies and cattle raisers.

The Panic of 1907 In summer of 1907 when Wall Street prices fell drastically, number of banks and businesses failed. Some supporters advised him to “go slow” against large corporations but Roosevelt did not slow his efforts for reform but was willing to compromise. He took the advice of J.P Morgan who said it was important for United States Steel to buy largest competitor. Tennessee Coal and Iron Company were near collapse and without making and “binding promise” Roosevelt told Morgan to go ahead. Further efforts for reform Roosevelt’s messages to Congress in Dec. 1907 and Jan. 1908 called for further reforms. He wanted to fix income and inheritance taxes, federal rules for the stock market, limits on the use of labour injunctions, and more effective control of business.

Middle Class Reformers

Progressives no longer believed it was good enough for the government to be only and umpire
Even in democracy, the powers of a citizen and a corporation were not equal
In the 1900’s, Americans wanted the government to be the nation’s guardian.

Reform in the Cities Mayoral elections began in 1889, but Robber Barons soon took over cities and towns again, but some reformers managed to stay in office. Change gradually took place, and in 1900, in Galveston Texas, the mayor and council were replaced by a small commission. The commission was elected by a non-partisan ballot. ...

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Progressives no longer believed it was good enough for the government to be only and umpire
Even in democracy, the powers of a citizen and a corporation were not equal
In the 1900’s, Americans wanted the government to be the nation’s guardian.

State Government Reform After cities had reformed, states wanted to do so as well. The first governor elected was Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin. Also known as “Battling Bob,” brought the state legislature under his control. A primary was held to give voters the right to choose the candidates running for public office. Theodore Roosevelt later called Wisconsin “a laboratory for democracy.” State laws were quickly passed for conservation, supervision of state banks, taxes on corporations, and several others.

Other State Reforms

Workmen’s compensation laws made the employer pay for injuries endured by his workers
Massachusetts passed the first minimum wage law for women in 1912 and regulated the number of hours that women can work
One by one, states began outlawing alcohol, and by 1914, 26 states were “dry”
States formed railroad and public utility commissions to sustain low rates and a high quality of service.

Direct Democracy Reformers were blocked by political bosses and had to find a way to break their power. They changed the ballots to a single coloured sheet so that Political Bosses could not tell whom the voter had voted for. In 1888, Massachusetts became the first state to print and distribute ballots containing all of the nominees. Progressive reformers tried to give the voters the right to choose the party candidates running for public office. Primary elections were how candidates were chosen for general elections. In the South, only “white” Democrats could vote. In 1910, the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified stating that all senators would be elected to their position instead of being appointed.

The Muckrakers The group symbolized pro-reform journalists, artists and novelists entitled by Theodore Roosevelt. They looked in everywhere from Wall Street to labour unions, in the trusts for any shard of evidence linking to crime or corruption. When they couldn’t find one, they used their imagination and made them up. These messages were carried in newspapers daily.

TAFT IN THE WHITE HOUSE TR said he was not going to run for a 3rd term. He picked his secretary of War, William Howard Taft, to be his successor. Republicans of Chicago in June 1908 chose Taft on the 1st ballot. Democrats tried to try again William Jennings Bryan. Taft won by over a million votes, but it was an endorsement for TR’s policies than for the Republican Party. People that voted for Taft voted for democratic governors, and republicans lost seats in the house, but still remained in control. The New President Taft took office on March 4th, 1909. As governor of Philippines he brought reforms without resentment. He was also a successful lawyer that was deliberate, but cautious. The movement in his mind was as sedate as his walk. He preferred to postpone a decision rather than risk error and haste. He was troubled by new schemes of the “direct democracy” being pushed by reformers. Taft Disappoints the Reformers A high tariff, which protected some American industries and their workers, raised prices for all consumers. In the Republican Party platforms of 1908 Taft and TR had promised “substantial revision” of the Dingley tariff. Soon after presidency Taft called Congress to revise the tariff. The final bill revised by the Senate hardly lowered duties. The Payne-Aldrich tariff was a plain betrayal of party pledges but Taft still signed the bill and even called it the “best tariff ever passed by the republican party” causing Progressives to question their electoral choice. Taft lost complete progressive support by a scandal in a sale of public land. In 1909, an argument arose between Taft’s secretary, Richard A. Ballinger, and Chief of the Forest Service, Clifford Pinchot, about a sale of government lands in Alaska to a group controlled by J.P. Morgan and Daniel Guggenheim. Arguments caused by Pinchot persisted causing Taft to fire him, which angered conversationalists, and more importantly TR. The “Insurgents” Revolt The Ballinger-Pinchot affair and the Payne-Aldrich tariff persuaded them that Taft was a ‘tool of the interests”. They decided to become “insurgents” and strike on their own. First they attacked the Speaker of the House, Joseph G. Cannon. A bill passed that made Cannon dictator of the House, but the insurgents managed to strip him of his power. When Taft asked to create an act to increase the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission over railroads, the insurgents moved to make the act even stronger. By the Mann-Elkins act (1910), they extended the ICC’s powers. The Royal Process of Theodore Roosevelt When Taft took office, Roosevelt sailed for a long hunting trip in East Africa, to avoid any sign of wishing to control Taft. When Roosevelt returned in the spring of 1910, still only 51, Roosevelt could not just sit on the sidelines and do not like what was occurring during Taft’s Presidency. Pinchot persuaded TR that Taft had been wrong in the Ballinger-Pinchot Affair, which caused him to embark on a speaking tour praising insurgents and criticizing Taft. In August, he started his own reform program call “New Nationalism”; he called for strict regulation of large corporations and a real tariff revision. He wanted federal taxes, compensation laws, and publicity for gift to political campaigns, asked for more protection of women and children in industry, for direct primaries and for the imitative, referendum, and recall.The Election of 1910 Taft lacked support in either house of Congress. In New Jersey, the Democratic Party elected Woodrow Wilson as Governor. The Progressive Republicans felt like it was that time to take over the party. La Follette being their strongest candidate in 1912. Roosevelt was encouraged to take the Presidency but refused. TR believed that the government should distinguish between good and bad trust and indict bad ones but Taft preferred to indict one and let the courts decide. Roosevelt was a man of dislikes and, perhaps due to jealousy, did not like La Follette, causing him enter the race for Presidency.Taft vs. TR Taft’s administration had varied successes and more jobs came under the civil service. He saw to it that federal government would keep the coal, oil, and other minerals beneath the surface of public lands sold to private buyers. Taft sponsored the income-tax amendment, which would become the 16th amendment in 1913. TR launched a new party called the new Progressive Party and he was nominated. They favoured more direct democracy, conservation, minimum wages for women, an end to child labour and they demanded tariff revision and closer regulation of Interstate Commerce by expert commissions. The Election of 1912 It was a 3-way fight: Representative Oscar Underwood, Champ Clark, and 3rd Woodrow Wilson. Wilson won on the 46th ballot. Like the republicans, the democrats called for conservation and banking and currency reform. Republicans asked for mild revision of tariffs and democrats for much lower duties. The election was a battle between TR and Wilson, both Progressives, whereas, Taft had little popular support. TR offered a full program of social legislation. Wilson had no such program but he worked out an approach call the “New Freedom”. Taft won 3.5 million votes, which showed the people were in favour of Progressives with 10 million votes. Taft cheerfully retired.

WILSON IN THE WHITE HOUSE
New Freedom: is the policy of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson which promoted antitrust modification, tariff revision, and reform in banking and currency matters. This policy stood in opposition to former President Theodore Roosevelt's ideas of New Nationalism, particularly on the issue of antitrust modification. However, once elected, Wilson seemed to abandon his "New Freedom" and adopted policies that were more similar to those of Roosevelt's New Nationalism, such as the Federal Reserve System.

Underwood-Simmons Act, 1913 Law passed in October 1913 to reduce the Republican Payne-Aldrich Tariff of 1909, which reduced the overall tariff from 40% to 25%. Taxed items included; fabrics, iron, steel, farm machinery and many raw materials and food

Federal Reserve Act of 1913 Twelve regional Federal Reserve banks were established nationwide, under the supervision of the central Federal Reserve Board to reform the national banking system and its credit procedures. Federal Reserve Notes became the new form of currency. By increasing or decreasing the amount of money in circulation, the Federal Reserve exerted some control over the economy.

Harrison Act, 1914 United States federal law that regulated and taxed the production, importation, and distribution of narcotics, particularly opium.

Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was established as a bipartisan body consisting of five members, who served a seven year term. Members were authorized to issue Cease and Desist orders of large corporations to curb unfair trade practices, including monopolies to federal judicial review. Members wrote out annual reports of all major businesses as well as ceased unfair and unlawful practices.

The Clayton Antitrust Act, 1914 It was enacted to replace the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The law defined the unfair business practices for which a corporation could be punished. It forbade individuals from serving as director of two or more companies and to prevent interlocking directorates. New fines were emplaced on businesses that violated the laws and could have been fined or imprisoned

The Seamen’s Act The government ensured improved living conditions, food, and wages in the navy.

The Adamson Treaty, 1916 The act was passed as an emergency measure to avoid a strike by railway workers. It required railroads involved in interstate commerce to institute the eight-hour work days without reducing workers’ wages. Workers who were willing to work overtime were given one-and-a-half times their hourly salary

Child Labour Child Labour was first strictly regulated by enacting the Keating-Owen Act of 1916. The act prohibited the employment of children in most jobs. Wilson approved the law, although he believed in abolishing child labour altogether. On February 24, 1919, Congress passed the Child Labour Tax Law which imposed a tax of 10% on the net profits of a company who employed children under the age of fourteen.

Election of 1916 Woodrow Wilson was re-nominated at the Democratic Convention in St. Louis. Theodore Roosevelt refused to run as the Progressive party’s candidate, and once again ran as a Republican for nomination and was now seen as an immature and aggressive leader, and voters feared that electing him would be far too risky during a world war. The Progressives party broke down, and its members either went back to support the Republicans or backed Wilson, who had adopted many of their reforms. Republicans then elected Charles Evans Hughes as their candidate whose views opposed those of Wilson. Wilson conducted his campaign from his home in New Jersey, whereas Hughes went on a tour of the country. Woodrow Wilson had been re-elected by an electoral vote of 277 to 254.

Women and the Nineteenth Amendment Beginning in early 1917, a group of militant suffragists began urging Woodrow Wilson to give women the right to vote. They called themselves the "Silent Sentinels," women stood at the White House gates for months. At first he was amused but in late June 1917, six women were arrested. All the women were charged with "obstructing traffic." The movement had been growing for decades, which led Wilson to begin modifying his position. This was embarked during World War I, which would bring the president fully behind efforts to secure a federal amendment for women’s suffrage. Women embraced the war as an opportunity for women to earn the vote through their patriotism. The Senate rejected women’s suffrage by two votes. The Nineteenth Amendment would have to wait until 1920, after the war was already won.