Transcript Slide 1

Roosevelt and Progressivism
Objective: Explain how reformers
tried to solve the problems of the
cities and how Roosevelt helped them
The Progressive Era:1890—1920
• Progressivism—An early 20th-century reform
movement seeking to:
▫ Return government to the control of the people
▫ Restore economic opportunities
▫ Correct injustices in American life
• Reform— the improvement or amendment of
what is wrong, corrupt, or unsatisfactory
• Conservation: controlling how natural
resources are used.
Return Government to the hands of
the People:
• 3 Political Reforms:
• Direct Primary: allowed voters to choose the
party candidates rather than the party
conventions.
• Initiative: allowed voters to propose a law
directly. The “idea” comes from the people not
the legislators
• Referendum: a proposed law was submitted to
the vote of the people.
• Recall: allowed people to vote an official out of
office
http://politics.nytimes.com/electionguide/2008/results/votes/
The first initiative went before the voters in
1912. It proposed granting women the right
to vote, and was approved with 68 percent in
favor.
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/state/how-az's-medical-marijuana-initiativediffers-from-ca
• Draw Pictures of direct primary, initiative, and
referendum, recall
• Answer this question:
• How does direct primary, initiative, recall and
referendum return government to the hands of
the people?
Promoting Social Welfare
Social Reform:
• Settlement houses: helped the
poor and immigrants improve their
lives.
▫ Offered services such as daycare,
education, and health care to needy
people in the slums.
• Jane Addams--founded a
settlement house called, Hull House, in Chicago.
Founded by
Jane
Addams
Hull House
helped
Thousands of
immigrants
In Chicago.
Creating Economic Reform
• Limit the power of big business and regulating
its activities
• Sherman Antitrust Act – 1890 made it illegal for
corporations to gain control of industries by
forming trusts
• Required a strong president to enforce
• “TrustBuster”-- a term that referred to
President Theodore Roosevelt's policy of
prosecuting monopolies, or trusts that violated
the Sherman Anti-Trust Act that made it illegal
for corporations to gain control of industries by
forming trusts.
Roosevelt broke up Railroad and
Oil trusts. (Total of 44)
Taft actually broke up more trusts, but
Roosevelt gets more credit. (total of 99)
Then and Now
• BIG BUSINESS AND COMPETITION
In the late 1800s, John D. Rockefeller made a fortune as
he gained control of most of the nation's oil refineries, oil
fields, and pipelines. In 1906, the government filed an
antitrust suit against Rockefeller's Standard Oil. This
resulted in its breakup in 1911. The cartoon above shows
Standard Oil as an octopus.
In the 1990s, Bill Gates became the richest man in the
world as he built Seattle–based Microsoft into a
computer software giant. In 1998, the government filed
an antitrust suit against Microsoft. It charged the
company with using illegal tactics to gain a monopoly
with its computer operating system and Web browser.
How does breaking up trusts and monopolies give
more economic opportunity?
• More people can own businesses
• People will have more choices for products
• Competition for products reduces the price.
Progressive Reforms
• Muckrakers: A name given to journalists
who exposed corruption in American society
in the early 1900’s.
• Upton Sinclair, author of The Jungle. This novel
describes a Chicago meat packing plant in which
dead rats end up in the sausage. Sinclair focused
his attention on the poor sanitary conditions
under which the meat-packers worked.
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Progressive Laws1906
▫ Meat Inspection Act-required meat
to be inspected before sale
▫ Pure Food and Drug Act-banned the
sale of impure foods and drugs.
FDA NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: August 19, 2010
URGENT Nationwide Egg Recall
Eggs in Their Shells May Put Consumers at
Risk for Salmonella
Answer the question: How did Upton Sinclair’s
book “The Jungle” influence American life?
Teddy Roosevelt:1901-1908
• First progressive president: became president
after William McKinley was assassinated in
1901.
• “Trust-Buster”
• “Regulator” of Business
• “Crusader” for Conservation – controlling how
natural resources are used
• Known for his “Square Deal”- its purpose was to
ensure fairness for workers, consumers, and big
business.
Conservation
• Doubled number of national parks in US
• Congress refused to establish more
• Used Antiquities Act to create national
monuments instead – preserved the Grand
Canyon and Petrified Forest
Activity and Summary
• What kinds of problems did progressives
attempt to solve?
• What did President Roosevelt mean by a “square
deal,” and how did he try to achieve it?
• What were Roosevelt’s achievements in the field
of conservation?
• Activity: Illustrate one of the problems or
solutions of the progressive era