The Progressive Era

Overview• Late 1890s-1920s• Period of social activism and political reform• Main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of

government• Attempt to eliminate corruption by exposing political

machines and bosses• A second goal was achieving efficiency in public and private

sectors by identifying old ways that needed modernizing• Early on, the movement operated mostly at local levels• Later it expanded to state and national levels• Supporters of Progressive politicians included the middle class

(lawyers, teachers, physicians, ministers and business people)

William McKinley• 25th President (March 1897-Sept 1901)• 3rd President to be assassinated• Commander-in-Chief during the Spanish-American War• Foreign policy issues during his presidency paved the way for

the U.S. becoming a world power• Shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz on Sept 6 and dies on Sept

14th

William McKinley

25th President

3rd President to be assassinated

Leon Czolgosz

Executed October 29, 1901 by electric chair

Spanish-American War• Main issue was Cuban independence from Spain• American public opinion grew angrier at reports of Spanish

atrocities in Cuba• February 15, 1898:• Battleship, USS Maine, sent to protect U.S. interests in Cuba:• Explodes in Havana Harbor killing 261 sailors• “Yellow Press” introduced by William Randolph Hearst and

Joseph Pulitzer:• Journalism using little or no legitimate facts but presents

exaggeration and sensationalism to sell more papers• “Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain”• Spain declares war on the U.S. April 23, 1898 U. S. declares

war on April 25, 1898

William Randolph Hearst

Spanish-American War Cont.

• May 1, 1898, Battle of Manila Bay (Philippines)• Commodore George Dewey defeats the Spanish

fleet• July 1, 1898, Battle of San Juan Hill (Cuba)• Victory for Teddy Roosevelt and the “Rough

Riders”• Fighting ends on August 12, 1898• Treaty of Paris signed on December 10, 1898

Commodore George Dewey

Effects of the Span-Am War

• Temporary American control of Cuba: • Teller Amendment was passed prior to the war which

promised Cuban independence (anti-imperialists)• Platt Amendment was passed which prohibited Cuba

from signing treaties with other countries (imperialists)• After purchase from Spain, U.S. obtained indefinite

colonial authority over Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. (20 million dollars)• Hawaii annexed by the U.S. in June 1898• The war marks the beginning of the U.S. in world affairs• Marked the end of the Spanish Empire

Progressive Era Politicians• Theodore Roosevelt• Assistant Secretary of the Navy (April 1897-May 1898)• Governor of New York (January 1899 – December 1900)• Vice President under McKinley (March 1901-Sept 1901)• 26th President of the U.S. (Sept 1901-March 1909)• Leader of the Republican Party• Founder of the “Bull-Moose Party” (Progressive Party) for the

1912 election• Won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating an end to the

Russo-Japanese War, 1st American to win the prize in any area

Theodore Roosevelt

26th President of the U.S.

“Speak softly but carry a big stick”

T.R.’s Square Deal

• Roosevelt’s domestic agenda• Three basic ideas:• 1. Conservation of natural resources• 2. Control of corporations• 3. Consumer protection• Overall, designed to help the middle class

Newlands Reclamation Act• United States federal law that funded irrigation projects for

the arid lands of 20 states in the American West.• The act set aside money from sales of semi-arid public lands

for the construction and maintenance of irrigation projects• Led to the eventual damming of nearly every major western

river.

T.R. and National Parks• Signed legislation establishing five national parks: • Crater Lake, Oregon• Wind Cave, South Dakota• Sullys Hill, North Dakota (now a game preserve);• Mesa Verde, Colorado • Platt, Oklahoma (now part of Chickasaw National Recreation

Area)• Proclaimed four national monuments:• Devils Tower, Wyoming• El Morro, New Mexico• Montezuma Castle, Arizona• Petrified Forest, Arizona

T.R. and Big Business

• T.R. was considered a “trust-buster” due to his aggressive attacks on large corporations known as trusts• Sherman Antitrust Act:• Passed by Congress in 1890• It was intended to prohibit business practices that

reduced competition in the marketplace• It was the first federal statute to limit cartels and

monopolies• Until the presidency of T.R., politicians were unwilling to

use the law

Trust busting cont.

• Roosevelt opposed banning monopolies• He wanted the federal government to “assume power

of supervision and regulation over all corporations doing an interstate business.”• 1902-T.R. brings suit against Northern Securities

Company which controlled all major railroads in the northwestern states (J.P. Morgan)• Morgan lost in the lower courts and took his case to the

Supreme Court that ruled against the railroads• The Court ordered the breakup of Northern Securities

into independent competitive railroads

Trust busting cont.• 1906- Hepburn Act signed which gives the Interstate

Commerce Commission power to regulate railroad rates• 1906- T.R. files suit against J.D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil• Standard Oil ordered broken up• 1907- T.R. files suit against American Tobacco Company• ATC is broken up into 4 companies• T.R. recognized a difference between “good trusts” and “bad

trusts”• He believed that “good trusts” benefited the public with

efficient distribution of new products.• It was his decision to determine the difference between good

or bad trusts

T.R. and Consumers• 1906: “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair• Exposed the corruption of the American meat packing industry• Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906• Provided federal inspection of meat products and prohibited

the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products and poisonous patent medicines

Muckrakers• Term made popular by T.R.• Journalists who exposed waste, corruption, and scandal • Roosevelt gave these journalists their nickname when he

complained they were not being helpful by raking up all the muck

• Ida Tarbell:• Known as one of the leading "muckrakers" of the progressive

era• Best known for her 1904 book The History of the Standard Oil

Company• First woman to challenge Standard Oil

Ida Tarbell

Robert M. La Follette, Sr. • Republican and later a Progressive politician• Member of the U.S. House of Representatives• Governor of Wisconsin• U.S. Senator from Wisconsin• Considered the most important and recognized leader of the

opposition to the growing dominance of corporations over the Government

• Tied for first with Henry Clay as being in the top ten senators in American history

Robert La Follette

William Jennings Bryan • Democrat• Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson• Presidential candidate for Democratic Party 1896, 1900, and

1908• Advocate of trust busting• Opponent of Darwinism (Theory of Evolution)• Lobbied for state laws banning public schools from teaching

evolution• Involved in the “Scopes Monkey” Trial of 1925• Known as the “Great Commoner” because of Christian values

William Jennings Bryan

Progressive Era Amendments• 16th Amendment ratified Feb. 1913:• Allows Congress to levy an income tax• 17th Amendment ratified May 1913:• Direct election of senators by the people• 18th Amendment ratified Jan 1919:• AKA Volstead Act• Outlawed manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol

which started the era known as “Prohibition”• 19th Amendment ratified Aug. 1920• Gave women the right to vote

Direct Democracy• Initiative:• Piece of legislation proposed by any citizen THEN:• Circulated through a petition phase to qualify for the ballot• If it receives a statutory minimum number of valid signatures

it qualifies for the ballot and is then put to the vote• Referendum:• Petition from citizens to seek an election to put legislation that

has passed the executive and legislature up to a vote • Provides a form of citizen veto for legislation• Recall:• Process by which the people seek to remove a elected official

from office.

Election of 1908• T.R. decides not to run but had handpicked his successor:• William Howard Taft (T.R.’s Secretary of War)• Easily wins the election based on the popularity of T.R.• Continued with agenda of T.R.(Trust busting, etc)• “Dollar Diplomacy”:• Effort of the United States under President Taft to further its aims

in Latin America and East Asia through use of economic power by guaranteeing loans made to foreign countries

• Extension of T.R.’s “Roosevelt Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine:

• “If any nation in the Western Hemisphere appeared politically and financially so unstable as to be vulnerable to European control, the United States had the right and obligation to intervene.”

William Howard Taft

27th President of the U.S.

After presidency, serves as the 10th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Election of 1912• T.R. decides to run again but does not get the Republican

nomination• Remains with Taft• T.R. forms the Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party)• Other candidates include:• Woodrow Wilson from the Democratic Party• Eugene Debs from the Socialist Party• Election won by Woodrow Wilson• Last election in which a candidate who was not a Republican

or Democrat came second in either the popular vote or the Electoral College

• First election in which all 48 states of the contiguous United States participated.

Woodrow Wilson

28th President

Governor of New Jersey

President of Princeton University

Wilson as President• Continues with progressive reforms• Federal Reserve is established:• Known as today “The Fed”• Created on Dec. 1913 with the enactment of the Federal

Reserve Act• Central banking system of the U.S.• Originally, three key objectives for monetary policy:• maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-

term interest rates• Events such as the Great Depression were major factors

leading to changes in the system

Wilson as President cont.• Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 • Established the Federal Trade Commission:• Authorized to issue “cease and desist” orders to large

corporations to curb unfair trade practices• Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 • Prohibiting the sale in interstate commerce of goods

manufactured by children in the United States• Supreme Court ruled the act unconstitutional in 1918

World War I Overview• 4 forces at work in Europe• 1. Nationalism• 2. Industrialism• 3. Militarism• 4. System of alliances• The Balkans (Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovinia) called:• “Powder keg of Europe”• June 28, 1914:• Archduke Franz Ferdinand and wife Sophie were assassinated• Set off the chain of events that leads to the start of WWI on

July 28th 1914

Wilson and WWI• Wilson narrowly wins re-election in 1916• His campaign slogan:• "He kept us out of war“• Challenges to U.S. neutrality:• May 7, 1915, German U-Boats sink the British passenger ship:• Lusitania• 1198 dead including 118 Americans• Early 1916, Germany begins unrestricted submarine warfare• Torpedo armed merchant ships w/o warning but no passenger

ships

Wilson and WWI Cont.• March 24, 1916:• French cross-channel passenger ferry, the Sussex, was torpedoed

without warning • No U.S. citizens were killed in this attack• Wilson threatens to break diplomatic relations with Germany if

they continued to sink unarmed ships• May 4, 1916, Germany issues the Sussex Pledge to appease the U.S.

by changing German naval warfare policy• Contained 3 provisions:• Passenger ships would not be targeted• Merchant ships would not be sunk until the presence of weapons

had been established, if necessary by a search of the ship• Merchant ships would not be sunk without provision for the safety

of passengers and crew

Wilson and WWI Cont.• By 1917, Germany is convinced they could defeat the Allies

before the U.S. became involved in the war.• Germany retracts the Sussex Pledge and resumes unrestricted

submarine warfare• Zimmerman Telegram:• Coded message from Germany to Mexico urging the Mexican

government to declare war on the U.S.• Promised the return of the Mexican Cession upon victory• Intercepted and decoded by British intelligence• Wilson asks Congress to declare war in April 1917

Anti-German Sentiment• German Americans were sometimes accused of being too

sympathetic to Germany• Former president Theodore Roosevelt denounced

"hyphenated Americanism“• Insisted that dual loyalties were impossible in wartime• 4,000 German aliens were imprisoned in 1917-18• Allegations included spying for Germany, or endorsing the

German war effort• Thousands were forced to buy war bonds to show their loyalty• "Americanize" names (e.g. Schmidt to Smith, Müller to Miller)• Limited the use of the German language in public places,

especially churches

American Forces in Europe• American Expeditionary Force (A.E.F.)• Led by General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing• Soldiers were known as “Doughboys”• By June 1917, 14,000 U.S. soldiers had arrived in France• By May 1918 , over one million U.S. troops were stationed in

France with about half on the front lines• Battle of Chateau Thierry• Battle of Belleau Woods• Key battles where U.S. Marines stopped the advance of the

Germany army into Paris• The AEF sustained about 320,000 casualties• 53,402 battle deaths, 63,114 non combat deaths and 204,000

wounded

General John J. Pershing

Typical WWI “Doughboy”

Ending the War• Armistice is signed on November 11, 1918 which ends the

fighting• Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, officially ends the

war• There were many provisions in the treaty, one of the most

important and controversial required Germany to accept responsibility for causing the war (along with Austria and Hungary)

• Became known as the War Guilt clause• Required Germany to pay war reparations for damages

Wilson’s Fourteen Points• Wilson’s view of a post-war world that could avoid another

terrible conflict:• No secret alliances between countries• Freedom of the seas in peace and war• General reduction of armaments• The 14th Point:• A league of nations to protect "mutual guarantees of political

independence and territorial integrity to great and small nations alike.“

• Wilson wins the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919• Congress never ratifies the treaty • Claimed it was too harsh on Germany• U.S. is not a member of the League of Nations