Progressivism Under Roosevelt and Taft Unit 2, Lesson 3

Essential Idea President Roosevelt oversaw many progressive reforms, but his disapproval of the next president, Taft, set up the Election of 1912.

Theodore Roosevelt The “Square Deal” was Roosevelt’s policy to balance the needs of ALL Americans The Square Deal contained the “three Cs”—control of corporations, consumer protection, and conservation Roosevelt’s popular policies helped him easily get reelected

Square Deal: Control of Corporations C #1: Control of Corporations Anthracite Coal Strike: Anthracite Coal Strike—coal miners went on strike, threatening the nation’s coal supply

Square Deal: Control of Corporations The coal mine owners refused to negotiate with the strikers, which angered Roosevelt Roosevelt saw the strike as special interests hurting the whole country Roosevelt threatened to seize the mines with the military For the first time, the federal government would act AGAINST a big business

Square Deal: Control of Corporations Roosevelt’s pressure made the owners negotiate and compromise with the miners Roosevelt’s “square deal” approach had balanced the needs of the workers, business owners, and the whole country

Square Deal: Control of Corporations Railroads: The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) had proven to be weak in regulating railroads Roosevelt signed new laws to increase the ICC’s power over railroad rates Roosevelt’s “square deal” approach balanced the needs of railroads and their customers

Square Deal: Control of Corporations Northern Securities v. United States: Roosevelt was the first to enforce the Sherman Anti-Trust Act against a trust Northern Securities v. United States—the Supreme Court broke up J.P. Morgan’s railroad trust Roosevelt Controls Corporations

The “Trust-buster” Americans nicknamed Roosevelt, “trustbuster” However, he only broke up “bad trusts” and only regulated “good trusts” Roosevelt’s “square deal” approach to trusts balanced the needs of big and small businesses

Square Deal: Consumer Protection C #2: Consumer Protection Regulating Food and Drugs: Roosevelt was outraged by The Jungle and pushed Congress to act Meat Inspection Act—this law gave the federal government authority to inspect meat

Square Deal: Consumer Protection Pure Food and Drug Act—this law required food and drug products to have accurate content labels Roosevelt’s “square deal” approach balanced the needs of food and drug producers and consumers

Square Deal: Conservation C #3: Conservation During the Gilded Age, Americans had wasted natural resources and hurt the environment Preservation—people like John Muir, believed in leaving nature untouched, unused, and preserved Environmental Attitudes Evolve

Square Deal: Conservation Conservation—Roosevelt desired conservation, meaning using natural resources in a responsible way that protects the environment He signed laws to conserve of water and forests Antiquities Act—this law protected places of cultural, historical, or natural significance

Square Deal: Conservation Roosevelt’s actions laid the foundation for today’s National Park System Roosevelt’s “square deal” approach balanced the needs of the environment and society Roosevelt’s Square Deal

Taft Elected Election of 1908: Roosevelt was popular but decided not to run for a third term He hand-picked William Taft to be his successor and continue progressivism Roosevelt’s popularity helped Taft easily win the Election of 1908

Taft the Progressive Taft the Progressive: Taft began his presidency with many actions that progressives supported 16th Amendment—this law made it legal for Congress to pass an income tax Taft signed more laws to regulate railroads Children’s Bureau—this agency investigated and reported on child labor Trust-busting—Taft “busted” more trusts than Roosevelt had, and he did not set apart “good trusts”

Taft Betrays Progressivism? Over time, Taft’s actions angered progressives and Roosevelt Taft signed into law higher tariffs, which helped big businesses and trusts Taft put a non-conservationist in charge of the national forests Taft began to support and campaign for non-progressive congressmen

Roosevelt Returns Roosevelt felt Taft had betrayed progressive ideas and the “square deal” Roosevelt felt his integrity was insulted when Taft attacked trusts that Roosevelt deemed “good” Roosevelt came out of retirement to run for president, against Taft, for a third term

Election of 1912 Candidate 1: Theodore Roosevelt Party: Bull-Moose (Progressive) Party Details: Roosevelt ran as a third party candidate with a progressive platform Roosevelt campaigned on continuing to regulate trusts

Election of 1912 Candidate 2: Woodrow Wilson Party: Democratic Party Details: Wilson, a progressive, wanted to reform trusts, tariffs, banks, and labor He pledged to go further than Roosevelt regarding trusts—he would destroy, not just regulate, trusts

Election of 1912 Candidate 3: William Taft Party: Republican Party Details: Taft ran as a conservative, less progressive candidate who received support from non-progressives

Election of 1912 Candidate 4: Eugene V. Debs Party: Socialist Party Details: Debs’ “progressivism” was too radical for most Americans, but he still won almost one million votes

Election of 1912 Results: Taft and Roosevelt split the Republican vote, helping Wilson win the most electoral votes Wilson became the third progressive president Taft’s Presidency and the Election of 1912

Significance of Election of 1912 Three of the four candidates were progressive and got the vast majority of votes The Election of 1912 showed that Americans overwhelmingly supported progressivism over conservative politics The Progressive Era continued under President Wilson