The Gilded Age and Progressivism

A. The Election of 1900 and the Succession of Theodore Roosevelt

McKinley and VP Theodore Roosevelt, easily defeated William J. Bryan
NY political bosses have Roosevelt nominated for VP
o Felt it was a powerless position (Thomas Platt)
B. Assassination of President McKinley
Sept. 6, 1901: W. McKinley was shot at an exposition in Buffalo, NY
Died 8 days later
Assassin: Leon Czolgosz
Roosevelt became youngest US president at 42
C. Reformers: The Progressives and Their Objectives
W.E.B. DuBois
o Black leader in the early1900s who fought for civil rights
o Came from a good background
o Founder of the Niagra Movement
a) Demanded that blacks get all their rights at once
b) Helped create NAACP in 1909
1. National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People
2. Fought for African - American political rights
Booker T. Washington
o Came from a bad background
o Founder of the Tuskegee Institute
o Trained thousands of blacks to be better farmers and mechanics
o Felt they should train quickly for jobs they could do with their hands
o Self respect, self education, and self help would bring blacks the
opportunities they desired

D. Muckrakers
Journalists and novelists who investigated and exposed corruption and other
illegal activity
Example: Upton Sinclair
E. Upton Sinclair
Wrote The Jungle
o Described the miseries of workers in the stockyard, and rotten meat

packed for sale

Meat Inspection Act & Pure Food and Drug Act
o Passed in 1906

o Pure Food legislation was passed b/c of his writings

F. Consumer Protection
Meat Inspection Act: 1906
o Federal officials could inspect all meat shipped in interstate commerce
o Checked to see if meat came from healthy animals and was packed under

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sanitary conditions
o The Jungle helped pass act
Pure Food and Drug Act: 1906
The manufacture and sale of impure food, drugs, and liquors was forbidden
Labels on patent medicines had to list contents
Ida Tarbell
Published attacks on the Standard Oil Company
Writings appeared in the popular McClures Magazine
Lincoln Steffens
A pioneer investigating reporter
Wrote articles on the misgovernment of cities
A new force (media power) had now entered politics
Political and Social Reforms
Amendments
o 16th Amendment
a) Made the federal income tax legal
th
o 17 Amendment
a) Allowed for direct election of Senators by voters
*In the past, Senators had been elected by state legislatures
Voting Changes
Direct Primary
o Voters nominate their partys candidates for the general election
Initiative
o Voters can propose a law by petition and have it voted on by the people
Referendum
o Initiative is put on ballot for voters to pass or defeat
Recall
o By petition, voters could force on official to stand for reelection at any

time
L. Womens Suffrage
Progressives were fighting for a womans right to vote suffrage
o First state: Wyoming
The west led the way with womens suffrage
M. Political Reform
Roosevelt favored more reforms
o Income and inheritance taxes

o Federal rules for the stock market

o More effective control of business
Trend was for government to get more involved
N. Municipal Reform
City Manager: a trained manager hired to run the city
o Not a politician; could be fired
o Replaced a mayor
o Worked well with small cities
O. State Reform
Robert Battling Bob LaFollette
o Elected governor of Wisconsin:1900
o Enacted Progressive measures
a) Direct Primary
b) Railroad Commission
c) Civil Service
d) Restrictions on Lobbying
1. Representing a company or industry in relation to laws and
the government
Roosevelt called Wisconsin A Laboratory for Democracy
P. Roosevelts Domestic Program: Square Deal
Square Deal: even/fair
Anthracite Coal Strike: 1902
o Workers didnt receive a pay raise in 20 years
o Roosevelt brought the striking workers and the owners together
o Roosevelt showed the federal government could help
o Government action was considered to be fair to both labor and
management
o Coal miners got 10% raise and 9 hour days
Q. Trust Busting
Northern Securities Case
o Northern Securities: a holding company that dominated the railroads of the
Northwest
o The US Government with Roosevelt sued under the Sherman Anti Trust
Act
o The Supreme Court ordered the company dissolved
o Beginning of the Trust Busting era
R. Roosevelts Trust Busting Philosophy
Moved against other unpopular trusts
o Beef
o Oil

o Tobacco
Felt the government should break up large corporations only when they hurt the

public
S. Conservation
Roosevelt helped set aside 230 million acres of public land (most were national
forests: almost 150 million acres)
Created US Forest Service; headed by Gifford Pinchot
Pinchot planned reforesting: the planting of trees along with the cutting of trees
T. Taft Administration at Home
Election of 1908
o William Howard Taft
a) Secretary of War
b) Roosevelts handpicked successor
o Taft easily defeated William J. Bryan
U. Taft as a Progressive
Most thought Taft would follow Roosevelt in fighting for reform
Many progressives felt he didnt fight for reform and were disappointed
V. Taft and Trust Busting
Didnt make distinction between good and bad trusts like Roosevelt
Taft indicted (bring criminal charges against) all trusts and allow courts to decide
which trusts were good or bad
W. Mann Elkins Act (1910)
Government has control over telegraph and telephone rates
Brought twice as many lawsuits against companies as Roosevelt
o Broke up Standard Oil
X. Payne Aldrich Tariff
High tariffs were becoming a problem
Consumer prices were rising; Taft promised to lower tariffs
Payne Aldrich Tariff actually raised the tariff on many items
This upset progressives
Y. Election of 1912
The Primaries
o The Republican party was badly split
a) The issue of conservation of natural resources caused a split between
Roosevelt and Taft
o Democrat Nominee: Woodrow Wilson
o Republican Nominee: William Howard Taft
a) Progressive Republicans were upset about this

o Progressive Republicans persuaded Roosevelt to run on a 3rd party ticket

Bull Moose party
Z. The Results
Wilson won fairly easily
Taft and Roosevelt split the Republicans vote, giving Wilson the victory
AA.
Wilsons Domestic Program: New Freedom
Underwood Taiff
o The Underwood Simmons Tariff reduced taxes about 11% from the

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Payne Aldrich Tariff

o The public supported the cut in tariffs
Federal Reserve Act
12 districts
Created a more flexible currency Federal Reserve Note ($)
o Helped prevent a run on the banks
Federal Reservation System
All national banks had to become a member of the FRS
Federal Reserve Banks held members reserves and lent money to memerb
banks when needed
Each was supervised by a Federal Reserve Board member
o Appointed by the president
Divided the country into 12 districts, each with a Federal Reserve Bank
Clayton Anti Trust Act
Gave unions right to exist
Couldnt charge different people different prices
Federal Trade Commission
Monitor business
cease and desist orders against companies engaged in unfair trade practices