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Chapter 22 - The Battle for National Reform

 1)Theodore Roosevelt and the Modern Presidency

a)The Accidental President

i)VP Theodore Roosevelt assumed presidency September 1901after Pres McKinley assassinated. Reputation as an independent and wild man; became champion of cautious an moderate change, reform to protect society against more radical changes

b)Government, Capital, and Labor

i)Roosevelt saw fed govt as mediator of the public good. Not opposed to industrial combinations but realized potential for abuse of power 

ii)Supported regulation of trusts- created Department of Commerce and Labor 1903 to publicly investigate corporations. Did make effort to break up some trusts- used Sherman Antitrust Act to break up Northern Securities Company monopoly over RRs in Northwest

iii)Saw govt as impartial regulator for labor as well- 1902 strike by United Mine workers led Roosevelt to ask labor and management to accept impartial federal arbitration, threatened to seize mines if management balked

c)“The Square Deal”

i)Reform not priority during first years as president, more concerned w/ winning reelection by not alienating conservative Republicans, winning support of businessmen and using patronage—won 1904 election

ii)First targeted RR industry by asking Congress to increase fed power to oversee rates- Hepburn Railroad Regulation Act of 1906 restored some govt regulatory power

iii)Supported Congress passing Pure Food and Drug Act, after Upton Sinclair’s 1906 The Jungle supported Meat Inspection Act. Also favored 8 hour work day for labor, workmen’s compensation, and inheritance and income taxes

d)Roosevelt and Conservation

i)Concerned w/ unregulated exploitation of resources and wilderness- used executive power to restrict private development on govt land, saw goal of “conservation” to carefully manage development and to apply same scientific method of management being used in cities

ii)President supported public reclamation and irrigation projects- 1902 Newlands Act funded dam construction, reservoirs, canals in West to open new lands for irrigation, cultivation and power development

e)Roosevelt and Preservation

i)Pres also sympathized w/ naturalists who wanted to protect land, wildlife from human intrusion- expanded National Forest System for “rational” lumbering, but also grew National Park System to protect lands from any development

f)The Hetch Hetchy Controversy

i)Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite seen as beautiful land by naturalists, but San Francisco residents + Roosevelt’s head of National Forest System Gifford Pinchot wanted land to build dam + reservoir for city’s growing water needs

ii)Pinchot saw needs of city more important than claims of preservation; issue placed in 1908 referendum, dam approved by large margin in election

g)The Panic of 1907

i)Despite reforms govt still had little control over industrial economy; in 1907 production outgrew domestic + foreign demand, speculation + poor management led to panic. 

ii)JP Morgan pooled assets of NY banks to prop up banks, made deal with Pres to allow US Steel to purchase Tennessee Coal and Iron Company shares

iii)B/c of Panic of 1907 and promise made in 1904 to step down four years later, did not seek renomination and reelection for 1908 bid

2)The Troubled Succession

a)Taft and the Progressives

i)During early administration called on Congress to lower tariff (a progressive demand), refused to oppose Repub Old Guard. Result was Payne-Aldrich Tariff - reduced tariffs little, raised others- progressives resented inaction

ii)1909 Ballinger-Pinchot Dispute in which Head of Forest Service Gifford Pinchot was told that Sec of Interior Richard Ballinger had sold public lands in Alaska for personal profit. Taft thought charges groundless, Pinchot leaked info to press-- Taft fired Pinchot, progressives alienated 

b)The Return of Roosevelt

i)Roosevelt upset w/ Taft and believed only he was capable of reuniting Republican Party; 1910 outlined “New Nationalism” that moved away from conservatism + argued only effort of strong fed govt could bring social justice

c)Spreading Insurgency

i)In 1910 Congressional elections many conservative Repub candidates lost and progressives reelected; Dems gained maj in House, seats in Senate

ii)Reform sentiment on the rise, but Roosevelt claimed he only wanted to pressure Taft into action; Roosevelt decided to run, however, after Taft charged US Steel acquisition of Tennessee Coal and Iron Company had been illegal and reform candidate Robert LaFollette’s campaign collapsed

d)Roosevelt versus Taft

i)Taft had support of conservative Repubs and party leaders, Roosevelt supported by progressives- at convention Republican National Committee gave nomination to Taft. Roosevelt left Repub Party and established own Progressive Party w/ himself as nominee (nicknamed Bull Moose Party)

3)Woodrow Wilson and The New Freedom

a)Woodrow Wilson

i)Reform support growing in Democratic Party as well as Repub Party; Dems chose progressive Woodrow Wilson as 1912 Presidential election nominee

ii)Wilson supported “New Freedom”- held that bigness was unjust and wanted to destroy, not regulate monopoly (whereas Roosevelt’s New Nationalism believed in govt regulation of concentration)

iii)Roosevelt and Taft split Repub vote, Wilson elected

b)The Scholar as President

i)Wilson bold and forceful- used position as leader of Dems to build coalition to support his program (Dem majorities existed in both houses)

ii)Greatly lowered tariff in Underwood-Simmons Tariff in order to introduce competition into market + breakup trusts; to make up for revenues past graduated income tax

iii)1913 Congress passed Federal Reserve Act- regional Fed banks made up of regional banks + issued loans at “discount” rate, issued Fed Reserve notes backed by govt, shifted funds to meet credit demands + protect banks. Supervising Federal Reserve Board members selected by Pres

iv)1914 Wilson began to deal w/ monopoly, Congress passed Federal Trade Commission Act and Clay Antitrust Act 

(1)FTC was regulatory agency to help business determine whether their actions were legal, also power to prosecute “unfair trade practices”

(2)Clayton Antitrust Bill to allow break up of trusts weakened by conservative opposition; ultimately administration decided that government supervision and regulation by FTC sufficient

c)Retreat and Advance

i)Pres believed New Freedom accomplished, therefore didn’t support progressive suffrage movement and efforts to halt segregation in federal agencies after Dems had heavy losses in Congress in 1914 elections to Repubs (who won support from Progressive party) Wilson began new reforms

ii)Wilson supported appointment of progressive Louis Brandeis to Supreme Court; supported measured expanding role of federal govt 1916 Keating-Owen Act regulated child labor (struck down by Sup C b/c relied on interstate commerce clause in Const), 1914 Smith-Lever Act to help agricultural extension education

4)The “Big Stick”: America and The World, 1901-1917

a)Roosevelt and “Civilization”

 

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