The Battle for National Reform

CH.22BRCH.29/30BA

The Battle for National Reform

Seventeenth Amendment

WHAT national reform required the direct election of senators ?

1. The Progressive movement switched emphasis

from the state to the federal level because it encountered failure in trying to regulate business at the state level.

2. The one branch of the US government capable of providing leadership to the national reform

movement of the early 1900s was the presidency.

Progressive Presidents:

T. Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson

Theodore Roosevelt

1901-1909

Theodore Roosevelt The Accidental President

“that damn cowboy” – Mark Hanna

philosophy = Conservative Progressivism- saw his reforms as a way to prevent radicalism from taking control in the future- believed that corruption in big business could be controlled by applying the pressure of an informed public

TR became the most powerful symbol of the reform impulse at the national level

Theodore Roosevelt

The debates over the federal govs role in progressive reform seems really to be a philosophical debate about capitalism v. socialism.

Many moderate progressives including TR were trying to find middle ground.

Socialism • radical criticism of the capitalist system 1900-

1914• supporters of socialism argued that the main

problem of American society was not the abuse of economic system by big business but the economic system as a whole

• differed on – the extent of the changes needed – the tactics necessary needed to achieve the

changes Radical Socialists Moderate Socialists

IWW = WobbliesBig Bill Haywood

Eugene V. Debsleader of the Socialist party perennial presidential candidate

Progressive versions of the debate• Louis Brandeis (14)• brilliant lawyer,

Supreme Court Justice , and author

• associated with the economic viewpoint that government must regulate competition in such a way as to ensure that large combinations did not emerge

• Gov must protect competition

• Monopolies inefficient & threat to freedom

• Herbert Croly • 1st editor of New

Republic• 1909 book, The Promise

of American Life, was one of the most influential progressive documents– expressed a “nationalist”

position on the American economy. This nationalist policy called for guarding against abuses of power by large institutions by distinguishing between good trusts and bad trusts

• Gov must promote efficiency & “public good”

Theodore Roosevelt Influenced by Herbert Croly

• At heart , TR was not a Trust Buster but rather a Trust Regulator

Department of Commerce & Labor

Northern Securities CaseJ.P. Morgan

Good Trusts Bad Trusts

Efficiency encouraged by economic concentration Gov policy should not fight “bigness” but guard against abuses of power by large institutionsGood Trusts = acted responsibly Bad Trusts = ignored the public interest regulation requires oversight by a STRONG modernized gov

Ag. the public good ; ignored the public interestTR quote (596)“We should enter upon a course of supervision , control and regulation of those great corporations … if necessary to bring to the point of control of monopoly prices.”

Theodore Roosevelt • 1st term economic program was

hampered by preoccupation with winning reelection

• Election of 1904 – TR won overwhelming victory

because:•he had neutralized opposition from

within the Republican Party• the Democrats fielded a weak candidate

– Alton B. Parker (4)

•he pursued business reforms without antagonizing financial leaders

Theodore Roosevelt“Square Deal” (5)

• TRs 1904 reform programSecond term yielded reform legislation

-Hepburn Railroad Regulation Act (21)-Pure Food & Drug Act (6)

-Meat Inspection Act (8) 1906- Support was generated by Upton Sinclair’s novel –

The Jungle (7)

In 1907 TR proposed: - 8 hour work days - increased compensation for victims of industrial accidents - inheritance and income taxes

Reaction to TRs reform programs revealed a growing split in the Republican party

Theodore Roosevelt •conservation policy =

–desire to put the gov. in charge of natural resource management

– influenced by Gifford Pinchot

9. John Muir

10. Sierra Club19. conservation20. Yosemite National Park22. Newlands Act

destruction of nature = Jack London

Theodore Roosevelt

The Panic of 1907 (5) showed the largely uncontrolled nature of banking and the stock market

Theodore RooseveltMuckrakers • group of crusading journalists

-late 1880s and early 1900s -who attacked corruption in business

and government & tried to uncover injustice

• Pres. T.R. gave the name because he was annoyed by their excessive zeal

Taft 1909-1913

Taft Election of 1908

-Taft enjoyed the support of : -Progressives -Conservatives -TR

Taft differed from TR :-passive & obese man -believed in following the letter of the law

Taft and Progressivism-first year = less progressive than some had thought

-Payne-Aldrich Tariff of 1909 = little change in the tariff rates

-Pinchot-Ballinger affair (11) Taft fired Gifford Pinchot for leaking

internal administration matters to the press

TaftThe Return of Roosevelt

– 1910 = TR reacted to Taft’s actions as president by setting out on a speaking tour to announce his position

– The New Nationalism speech• A call for a strong federal gov

– an income tax– workers compensation– tariff revision

- 1910 congressional elections showed that the people wanted a return to reform - TR opposed Taft’s handling of the antitrust suit ag. US Steel because it reflected badly on TRs presidency - Robert La Follette (12) candidacy faltered- In 1912, TR reacted to President Taft’s actions by announcing his own candidacy

TaftElection of 1912 = TR

-Lost the Rep. nominationTo progressives , the

Republican party convention of 1912 symbolized the victory of party leaders over the rank and file -Ran as a 3rd Party candidate

“Bull Moose” Party (13)

-Split the Republican Party = Dems win

Woodrow Wilson 1913-1921

Woodrow Wilson

Political characteristics : -self-righteously moral ( NOT - willing to compromise ) -energetic & firm -a dynamic leader

Program called New Freedom – differed fundamentally from TR

on the issue of antitrust laws

Woodrow Wilson•As President

–delegated little authority to others

–used his position as head of the Democratic party to influence Congress

–held close control over his cabinet

Woodrow Wilson• 1st two years, persuaded Congress to :

– created an income tax– regulated the banking industry

•most important piece of domestic legislation was the Federal Reserve Act

•The Federal Reserve System represented a compromise between public and private interests

– Federal Reserve notes (15)– Est. an agency to regulate trade

•The Federal Trade Commission Act allowed business regulation through:

– advising of corporations on whether their behavior was acceptable to the gov;

– the investigation of corporate behavior;– the outlawing of “unfair trade practices”

• 1914 – began pushing reforms again because

Democrats lost heavily in the 1914 elections

Immigration Restriction• Many progressives believed the continuing influx of

foreigners caused many urban problems = Overcrowding , Unemployment , Strained social services

• The so-called “science” of eugenics– argued that human inequalities were hereditary – Was used by some progressives to justify the federal

laws that limited immigration• Progressives used all of the following reasons to

justify immigration restriction:– The introduction of immigrants was polluting the

nation’s racial stock– Newer immigrant groups had proven themselves less

adaptable to American society than earlier groups – The flow of immigrants into urban areas was creating

social unrest• The American Protective Association supported

immigration restrictions• a. eugenics (38)

b. nativism (39)c. New Immigration (40)