Transcript Progressive Era Under Taft and Wilson

Progressive Era Under Taft
and Wilson
Taft as President
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
William Howard Taft was Roosevelt’s Secretary of War.
Taft was very cautious as president, and he never felt
presidential. This caused him problems within his own party,
because he did not exert much control.
The Payne-Aldrich Tariff caused problems, because
progressives wanted lower tariffs, taxes on imports, but this
bill only lowered tariffs on a few nonessential items.
Taft also had problems concerning another progressive idea,
conservation. He appointed Richard A. Ballinger as
Secretary of the Interior, and he opposed government control
over lands, and he quickly lifted one million acres of land from
protection.
Because of these problems, the Republican Party split.
Conservatives remained with the party, while progressives
formed the Progressive Party, a.k.a. the Bull Moose Party.
Because of the turmoil in the party, the Democrats regained
power in the House of Representatives during the mid-term
election.
Election of 1912
a.
b.
The Democratic
candidate was
Woodrow Wilson, the
Republican candidate
was President Taft, the
Progressive candidate
was Teddy Roosevelt
and the Socialist
candidate was Eugene
Debs.
Wilson won, in large
part, due to the split of
the Republican Party.
Wilson as President
Wilson’s progressive agenda was known as the New Freedom, because
he planned to attack what he called the triple wall of privilege: the trusts,
tariffs, and high finance.
To regulate trusts and big businesses, Wilson pushed for the Clayton
Antitrust Act and the Federal Trade Act, which formed the Federal Trade
Commission.
a.
b.
i.
Clayton Antitrust Act: Strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act by declaring
certain business practices illegal, including purchasing stock of corporations
in order to develop a monopoly.
Federal Trade Commission: Investigated possible violations of regulations,
and worked to stop unfair business practices.
ii.
c.
d.
e.
Wilson wanted to reduce tariffs, because he thought they limited
competition and hurt consumers.
In order to compensate for the loss of income from tariffs, so they took
advantage of the 16th Amendment, and used a graduated federal income
tax to bring in money for the government.
To reform banking and finance, the Federal Reserve Act was passed
creating the Federal Reserve System.
i.
ii.
iii.
The system was under government control.
It had the power to issue new paper money, and it also helped with loans.
The system is still very important today.
Women’s Suffrage Movement
a.
The movement began at the Seneca Falls
Convention in 1848.
b. Leaders of the movement tried 3 strategies
to get the right to vote for women.
i. They tried to convince state
governments to pass laws allowing
women to vote.
ii. They pursued court cases that tested
the 14th Amendment. They were testing
the relationship between citizenship and
voting rights.
iii. They pushed for a Constitutional
Amendment that would grant women the
right to vote.
c. Women in higher education began to gain
more support for the movement.
d. Groups like NAWSA (National American
Women Suffrage Association) pushed
change.
e. Eventually, the 19th Amendment was
passed granting women the right to vote.
The End of Progressivism
a. The start of WWI
drew attention away
from the reform
movement.
b. Focus left the
reform movement
and concentrated
on the war, and
reform efforts
declined.