Ch. 28 Notes PDF

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Notes from Chapter 28...

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Progressive Roots 

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Henry Demarest Lloyd’s Wealth Against Commonwealth criticized the Standard Oil company and Jacob A. Riis’s How the Other Half Lives described the slums of New York. o These books brought to light the social inequality and other issues plaguing the country. Women and Socialists led social justice reform in this era.

Raking Muck with Muckrakers 

Muckrakers were reform minded journalists who wrote articles that exposed corruption and scandal. o They often went after trusts and politicians. o Ida Tarbell published a devastating description of Standard Oil Company. o David G. Phillips published “The Treason of the Senate” that exposed 75/90 senators for representing railroad trusts rather than the people. o John Spargo wrote about the abuses of child labor in The Bitter Cry of the Children.

Political Progressivism  

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Most progressive reformers were middle class men and women. Progressives sought 2 goals: to use state power to control trusts and to improve the common person’s conditions of life and labor. o They wanted to regain control of the power that had shifted from the people to the hands of the special interest groups. Progressives supported the referendum and recall which allowed voters to directly cote on laws to remove corrupt elected officials. Progressives pass 17th Amendment in 1913 that established direct election of U.S. senators, rather than being elected through the state legislatures.

Progressive Women 

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Women formed clubs such as the Women’s Trade Union League to discuss and propose solutions for societal problems. The formation of these clubs was known as the Club Movement. o Women defended their activities as an extension of their domestic spheres. Muller vs Oregon supreme court case ruled that it was constitutional to pass “protective legislation” to specifically protect women factory workers. o These laws could be abused in ways such as “women cannot work here because works need to carry 40lb loads sometimes”. o Women were suspicious of they were being kept away from high paying jobs.

TR’s Square Deal for Labor 

Roosevelt’s square deal consisted of 3 C’s: control of corporation, consumer protection, and conservation of natural resources.

o Department of Commerce was created in 1903 to regulate business engaged in interstate commerce. TR Corrals the Corporations   

Elkins Act was passed in 1903 and it fined railroad companies that gave rebates. Hepburn Act of 1906 restricted free passes and expanded Interstate Commerce Commission. Roosevelt challenged the Northern Securities Company in 1902, and the supreme court dissolved the trust. o Northern Securities was owned by J.P Morgan. Roosevelts willingness to go after big fish reflected his courage.

Caring for the Consumer 

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Botulism was found in American meats, so Roosevelt passed the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. This stated that the preparation of meat shipped over state lines was to be subject to federal inspection. Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was designed to prevent mislabeling of foods and pharmaceuticals. o These Acts reflected TR’s second C of the square deal: Consumer Protection.

Earth Control   

Desert Land Act of 1887 sold dessert land cheaply, contingent upon the fact that the purchaser would irrigate the soil within 3 years. Forest Reserve Act of 1891 authorized the president to set aside public forests and national parks and other reserves. Under Roosevelt, foresters and engineers developed policy of “multiple-use resource management”, which sought to sustainably use federal lands for recreation, logging, watershed protection, and cattle grazing. o These Acts reflected Roosevelt’s 3rd C: Conservation of Natural Resources.

The “Roosevelt Panic” of 1907  

Panic of 1907 was a short economic downturn that resulted in financial reforms. o People blamed it on Roosevelt and his trust busting. Aldrich-Vreeland Act was passed in 1908 in response and it authorized national banks to issue emergency currency in the event of a currency shortage. o Laid the groundwork for the federal reserve.

The Rough Rider Thunders Out 

In the election of 1908, Republicans choose TR’s secretary of War, William Howard Taft. Democrats choose William Jennings Bryan. o Taft wins.

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During Roosevelt’s presidency, he enlarged the power of the president and opened Americans’ eyes to the fact that we shared the world with other nations.

Taft: A Round Peg in a Square Hole 

Taft generally adopted a passive attitude towards Congress because he was not suited for the job as president.

The Dollar Goes Abroad as a Diplomat 

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Taft encouraged the U.S. to engage in dollar diplomacy, investing in foreign areas of strategic interest to the U.S. o American bankers thus strengthened U.S. defenses and foreign policies. In 1909, Secretary of State, Philander Knox, proposed the Russia and Japan the buying of their railroads in China. Both countries rejected the offer.

Taft the Trustbuster 

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Taft brought even more lawsuits against trusts than Roosevelt did. o He ended the existence of the Standard Oil Company and split it into 34 separate entities. Supreme Court laid out its “rule of reason” doctrine. This stated that a trust was only illegal if it unreasonably restrained trade.

Taft Splits the Republican Party 

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Taft signed the Payne-Aldrich Bill in 1909, which placed high tariffs on many imports. o This angered many republicans because in his campaign, Taft promised to lower tariffs. Taft’s conservationist record was tainted when he fired the Agricultural department’s division of forestry chief for insubordination. Republican Party was furious, causing the party to split in the spring of 1910.

The Taft-Roosevelt Rupture 

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National Progressive Republican League was formed in 1911. o La Follette was the leading candidate because it was assumed Roosevelt would not re-run. Roosevelt challenged Taft to the republican nominee, but Taft won the candidacy. Roosevelt would run as a third-party candidate.

The “Bull-Moose” Campaign of 1912 

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Democrats choose Woodrow Wilson as their presidential candidate in 1912. o Wilson had a strong progressive platform that supported banking reform, stronger antitrust laws, and tariff reductions (New Freedom program). Wilson won the election because Roosevelt and Taft split the republican votes....