Transcript 3 - Progressive Presidents

a)Where was the Women’s Rights Convention held?
b)What is suffrage?
c)Why did some women oppose the 14th and 15th
amendments?
Theodore Roosevelt became a war hero in the Spanish-American War and later was elected to governor of New
York. He then ran as the VP with McKinley. When McKinley was assassinated in 1901, Teddy Roosevelt became
president at 42 years old.
The Square Deal
Roosevelt’s policy to better American Society. It was founded upon 3 basic ideas:
1) Conserve natural resources
2) control of corporations
3) consumer protection
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Using Federal Power
“Trust-busting”- trusts
controlled 4/5th of the
industries
He sued Northern Securities
Company (the RR monopoly)
and won
1902 Coal Strike – a 5 month
long strike that saw coal prices
rise was ended by Roosevelt
when he called in a 3rd party
arbitrator to negotiate (result
was 10% pay increase and a 9
hr. work day)
Railroad Regulations – passed
two acts to regulate the RR
and activities with elected
officials
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Health & Environment
Meat Inspection Act –
dictated cleanliness and
inspection standards (inspired
by Upton Sinclair’s book The
Jungle)
Pure Food and Drug Act – no
sale of contaminated food and
medicine, & truth in labeling
Natural Resources – ignored
in the late 19th Century,
Roosevelt set aside millions of
acres in parks/forests/water
reserves
Conservation – some areas
preserved and others are
developed for the common
good
A NAUSEATING JOB, BUT IT MUST BE DONE
In 1906, the federal government
responded to the situation shown in
the cartoon by
Which book was responsible for prompting the investigation
illustrated in this cartoon?
(1) The Octopus by Frank Norris
(2) The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
(3) The Shame of the Cities by Lincoln Steffens
(4) How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis
(1) Taking control of meatpacking
facilities
(2) Sending federal troops to end a
strike by meatpackers
(3) Banning imported meat products
(4) Authorizing government
inspection of meat processing
plants
*Questions 25 and 26 from the June 2014’s test*
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Civil Rights
Not as progressive with the idea of civil rights for African Americans
Invited Booker T. Washington to the White House
African Americans held a civil rights conference in Niagara Falls
1909 – NAACP formed (National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People)
After defeating William Jennings Bryan in the 1908 election (Roosevelt refused to run for a 3rd term), Taft took
the presidency as the next progressive Republican. Taft was very cautious and sought to consolidate reform,
rather than build reform like Roosevelt had done.
Tariffs
 Wanted to lower tariffs to
promote competitive prices in
the market place
 Met with opposition from
Congress
 Signed the Payne-Aldrich Bill,
which did increase some rates
-This angered many as a
betrayal of progressives
Public Land
 Appointed Richard Ballard
(wealthy lawyer) as Secretary
of the Interior
 Returned 1 million acres to
public domain
 Again, angered Progressives
Progressivism Split
 The Republican party was split
and lost many of the mid-term
elections in the House of
Representative  now
Democratic controlled
 As a result of the Republican
Convention, progressives
formed a new political party,
The Bull Moose Party, and
nominated Roosevelt for
another term
Despite breaking up 90 trusts during his time, Taft was in for a messy re-election in 1912. Democrats nominated
Woodrow Wilson who had a strongly progressive campaign. Wilson won with 75% of the electoral votes and Taft
went to Yale to teach law.
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Women
Locally, suffrage movements
strengthened
Carrie Chapman Catt became
the new leader of the National
American Woman Suffrage
Association (NAWSA)
Alice Paul & Lucy Burns
picketed the white house
19th Amendment – written in
1919 and took effect in 1920
Civil Rights
 Made promises for increased
equality but could never
deliver
 African American leaders were
dismayed at the lack of action
by the white leaders
 During his 2nd term, Wilson
would be preoccupied by WWI
and Progressivism would end
Financial Reform
 Wilson targeted big corporations
 Clayton Antitrust Act – prohibited buying stock of one company if it would create a monopoly & legalized
unions and farm organizations
 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – given power to investigate corporate activities
 Income Tax – 16th Amendment a graduated income tax system (how much you pay depends on how much you
make)
 Federal Reserve System – Federal Reserve Act of 1913 started the system still used today, 12 districts in the US
with a regional central bank known as the “bankers bank”