The Progressive Era Roosevelt to Wilson Theodore Roosevelt

The Progressive Era Roosevelt to Wilson

Theodore Roosevelt (President: 1901 -1909) New Yorker in background. Influenced by A. T. Mahan about the United States being a major international power. Becomes president after the assassination of William Mc. Kinley. First president to harness the power of media. Took issues to the general public, bypassing resistance in Congress and the courts.

The Square Deal…the Problem “Under modern industrial conditions absence of governmental regulation and control means such swollen development of a few personalities that all other personalities are dwarfed, are stunted and fettered, and their power of initiative, their power of self-help, largely atrophied. ”

The Square Deal…the Solution Collective action and individual action, public law and private character, are both necessary. It is only by a slow and patient inward transformation such as these laws are in bringing about that men are really helped upward in their struggle for a higher and fuller life. ”

TR: Domestic Policy Mediated coal strike: 1902 Antiquities Act: 1906 Food and Drug Act: 1906 Hepburn Act: 1906. Empowered ICC to set maximum rates for railroads. Statehood for Oklahoma: 1907 Created several national monuments and parks

Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy Mediated Russo-Japanese War in 1905 Sent the “Great White Fleet” of U. S. warships on a global tour as a demonstration of power. Formulated “Roosevelt Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine: U. S. had a right to intervene in affairs of other countries in the Americas to prevent European powers from getting involved.

A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama Theodore Roosevelt, interested in a quicker sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific, encouraged a revolution in Panama against Columbia. The new nation of Panama agreed to have a canal build across its mid section. Completed in 1914, it allowed ships to cross from one ocean to another without going around the tip of South America.

The Completed Canal

Progressivism vs. the Establishment in the U. S. : William Howard Taft (President: 1909 -1913) Lawyer in background Moderate trying to balance Progressive and conservative wings of the Republican Party. T Roosevelt did not think was Progressive enough. TR decided to try to run for a third term, resulting in…. .

Dollar Diplomacy in Latin America Under Taft, U. S. policy centered on “Dollar Diplomacy: ” encouraging business interests in the Caribbean and Latin America, but with the implication that the U. S. could intervene in local affairs at any time to secure those investments.

Natural Resources Conservation a major movement. People such as Gifford Pinchot (shown here) advocate “multiple use” of U. S. forests. Start of major water reclamation and dam-building programs. Free-flowing water seen as “wasting” a potential resource. Rise of national and state parks and formation of National Park Service, “developing” scenic areas for tourism.

Progressivism was: A series of social, economic and cultural movements from roughly the 1890 s to the 1920 s that sought to improve society through science, efficiency, education, government policy, and morality.

Who were the Progressives? Leadership of the movements tended to be white, educated, middle/upper middle classes and WASP (white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant) in background. They tended to be Northeastern, urban. Politically, tended to be Republicans at first. Democrats got involved by the 1910 s. However, people from a wide range of classes and backgrounds embraced at least aspects of Progressivism.

Progressive Goals Felt that the best vehicle to transform society was through government, legislation, and institutions. Institutions were the idealized, orderly solutions to what they saw as the chaotic, stuffy, dehumanizing, and contentious world of the late nineteenth century.

Arenas of Progressive activity Investigative journalism Workplace Politics Resources Daily Life Prohibition Women’s Suffrage

Investigative journalism Often called “muckrakers, ” journalists, photographers, and writers exposed the evils of society to a larger public

Examples of Muckrakers: Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle about the meatpacking industry. Frank Norris wrote The Octopus about corporate greed. Jacob Riis wrote How the Other Half Lives about life in the slums. Lincoln Steffens wrote The Shame of the Cities about urban corruption. Ida Tarbell wrote articles for Mc. Clure’s initially targeting Standard Oil.

The Changing Workplace Included Frederick Winslow Taylor’s attempt to systemize the workplace. Growing role of office work and clerical staff. Generally wary of unions. Supported “Welfare Capitalism. ” Examples included Henry Ford and W. C. Coleman. Saw big businesses as problems to be addressed either through “anti-trust” measures or promoting regulation.

Labor Rise of the radical groups like the I. W. W. Triangle Shirtwaist fire in 1912 Ludlow strike and massacre in 1914

Immigration Continues through Ellis and Angel Islands, with lesser migrations through places like the St. Lawrence River, Baltimore, and Galveston. Settlement House movement, of which Chicago’s “Hull House” is best known. Efforts to encourage “Americanization. ”

Political reform Anti-boss system. Favored appointment of qualified civil servants. Favored moving from legislative to executive branch. Favored City Managers as opposed to elected mayors and city councils Advocated a move away from party politics. Voters were to select person, not party. Start of interest group-oriented politics.

Political Reform II Advocated greater “popular” (read white, educated, upper middle class) control of politics through: n Initiative: Forcing legislative action n n Direct (goes directly to ballot) Indirect (legislature must consider) Referendum: Putting a measure on the ballot, generally as a sort of “voter approval” of a piece of legislation. Recall: Voters can recall elected officials. Direct election of U. S. Senators.

The emerging Western voice In Canada, creation of Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905. In U. S. , territories became states such as Utah (1896), Oklahoma (1907), Arizona and New Mexico (both 1912). West for both Canada and U. S. was a source of Progressive reform movements, from women’s suffrage to temperance.

Agriculture In U. S. , agricultural extension through the “Smith. Lever Act” enabled land-grant colleges to teach farmers everything from home canning to the building of silos. “Country Life Movement” promoted the health and social benefits of being on the farm. Growth of farming in upper U. S. Great Plains with a major boom just to the north in Canada.

Roads Railroads were still the main way of getting about. Road conditions varied from marginal to dangerous. A group of interested organizations known as the “Good Roads Movement” began advocating for better road conditions overall and for a more coordinated, integrated set of state and national road systems.

Society: Religion Variants included: The “Social Gospel” (Christians obligated to help those in need). Advocating a return to what they saw as traditional, “Biblebased” religion. Examples includes a series of tracts in the 1910 s called “the Fundamentals. ” A growing interest in “religious science” and selfhelp movements.

Society: Education Curriculum moves from “classical” education to more practical subjects such as “home economics, ” “vocational education, ” and “physical education. ” Rise of “extension” programs from Land Grant Colleges to bring the knowledge of the universities to the people in the community.

Society: Housing The housing ideal was the small bungalow. Moving away from the formality of the Victorian era to a more informal way of life that centered on the family and raising children.

Society: Prohibition A variety of groups such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union saw liquor and the saloon as a major cause of social ills in society. Was often a way of discussing issues such as domestic violence. At first, laws took place on the local or state level, as in Kansas. Resulted in 18 th Amendment.

Society: Eugenics There was a common belief was that each race/people had their own genetic make-up and that mixing of races or allowing “inferior” peoples to reproduce was seen as harmful to the larger gene pool. Linked closely to concepts of “Social Darwinism”—the belief that those who were on top in society were superior than those who were not.

Society: Gender and Sexuality Some social commentators were fearful that women were becoming less “feminine” and men were becoming “effeminate. ” A related movement in popular culture, for example, was the “western” that advocated men coming out west to be “toughened up. ” Some, such as Margaret Sanger, advocated sex education and birth control, a frank discussion of sexuality that was shocking for the time.

Two arguments for women’s suffrage Equal Rights In 19 th century, leadership under Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton through the National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA) advocated suffrage based on political rights and equality with men. Also had image of being a radical movement. Maternal New leadership in the early 20 th century featured women such as Anna Howard Shaw and a generation representing “The New Woman, ” who argued that voting women would provide something new and better into the political system. White women were seen as a bulwark against immigrants and black male’s votes. Made suffrage respectable and suitably “feminine. ”

The old generation leading(? ) the new

An example of the “New Woman” who, if given the right to vote, would support reform legislation.

Where women get to vote U. S. Local elections, then state by state in the late 1800 s and early 1900 s (starting with Wyoming) then to U. S. through 19 th Amendment in 1919 Canada: Local elections, then Provincial (starting with the Prairie Provinces) from 1916 -1920. Suffrage in national elections granted in 1918 but provincial elections varied by province. Quebec did not give women the right to vote in provincial elections until 1940! Mexico. Women guaranteed right to vote on local election since 1947 and given full rights to vote and run for office in 1953.

The U. S. Election of 1912 Taft as Republican candidate Woodrow Wilson as Democratic candidate Theodore Roosevelt as Progressive Party candidate once Republicans reject him as candidate for third term. Eugene Debs as Socialist Party Candidate

Woodrow Wilson (President: 1913 -1921) Virginian in background. Academic in profession (was President of Princeton) Known for his ideological/academic approach to things. Was a Progressive with a sympathetic Congress.

Woodrow Wilson: Domestic Policy Federal Reserve Act: 1913. Created a system of 12 reserve banks to provide some oversight over the activities the member banks (required for national banks, optional for state banks). Income tax (16 th Amendment): 1913. Direct election of senators (17 th Amendment): 1913. Keating Owen: 1914. Restricting child labor. Supreme Court later struck down. Established Federal Trade Commission: 1914. To regulate business. Have power to prosecute “unfair trade practices. ” Had power to investigate corporate behavior. National Park System created 1916. National Prohibition (18 th Amendment): 1918 Women’s suffrage (19 th Amendment): 1919

Meanwhile, in Mexico…. . Growing numbers of strikes such as the copper miners of Sonora. Meanwhile, a popular movement under Emiliano Zapata emerged against the haciendas in the central part of the country. A new Liberal party emerged but was crushed in the early 1900 s. Leaders, especially Flores Magon, fled to U. S. and argued for the overthrow of Diaz. Included a modest idealist named Francisco Madero.

End of the Porfiriato In 1910, Porfirio Diaz was elected to his eighth consecutive term as President. Growing outrage at the indifference and corruption of the Porfiriato grew into a support for Madero, who many felt was the legitimate winner of the 1910 election. Diaz resigns in 1911 and went into exile in France.

The warlords mobilize Madero barely held on before being toppled by his main General, Victoriano Huerta, in 1913. Other rivals such as: n Zapata in the southern part of Mexico n Venustiano Carranza and Alvaro Obregon in Sorona. n Doroteo Arango (Pancho Villa) in Chihuahua and Durango.

Huerta and Wilson was outraged by Huerta’s power politics. Huerta tried to get support from Germany. In 1914, when a group of American Marines tried to stop a German ship with arms from docking in Tampico, Huerta’s govt. had them arrested. U. S. demanded a response. When Huerta refused to go along, U. S. forces invade and occupy Vera Cruz. Huerta’s government collapses soon afterward. A power struggle breaks out between Obregon, Carranza, and Villa, among others. Carranza ends up holding Mexico City and U. S. gives nominal support.

The War, the U. S. , and Mexico Francisco “Pancho” Villa attacked Columbus, New Mexico (shown here) in March 1916. General Pershing leads an expedition into Mexico to capture Villa but fails. The Zimmerman Telegram revealed an offer from a German official to the Mexican government that if Mexico supported Germany in the event of the U. S. getting involved, and the Germans win, Mexico could get part of the American Southwest back as reparations.