Teddy Roosevelts Square Deal Theodore Roosevelt Square Deal

Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal ► Theodore Roosevelt ► Square Deal ► Upton Sinclair ► The Jungle ► Meat Inspection Act ► Pure Food and Drug Act ► Conservation

Theodore Roosevelt ► Pres. William Mc. Kinley added TR to the ticket in 1900 § TR was the gov. of NY § Mc. Kinley won and TR was the new VP ► Mc. Kinley was assassinated in 1901 ► TR became the youngest president § 42 years old ► Brought new vitality to the office

Square Deal ► Wanted to make sure that Americans were not being abused ► Sponsored many progressive reforms during his time in office

Trust-busting ► Trusts: legal bodies created to hold stock in many companies § Controlled 4/5 of the industries in the U. S. ► Standard Oil was a trust § Used unfair business practices ►Lowered prices in order to drive out competition and then jacked prices up higher than before ► TR ordered the Justice Dept. to break up monopolies like RR companies

Meat Inspection Act ► After reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Americans were calling for reforms ► TR asked for an investigation of the meat packing industry § Report backed up Sinclair’s account ► TR pushed for the Meat Inspection Act in 1906 § Required strict cleanliness and federal inspectors

Pure Food and Drug Act ► Halted the sale of contaminated foods and medicines ► Also called for truth in advertising ► Some products claimed to cure cancer or grow hair ► Some children’s medications contained opiates, cocaine, or alcohol ► Believed that if people were given accurate information, they would act wisely

Conservation ► TR saw that American resources were being sold or used up ► TR began to set aside land as national parks to preserve resources § Created Yosemite National Park ► Some areas would be preserved, while other lands would be developed for the common good