Progressivism: use government as an agency of human welfare opposed hands-off individualism/Laissez-Faire
Late 19th Century Social Critics:
Lloyd > "Bloated Trusts" like standard oil
Veblen > "Conspicuous Consumption" of the new rich
Riis > Slum conditions of New York City
Early 20th Century Muckrakers:
Steffens > Corruption in city government
Tarbell > Expose of the standard oil company
Phillips > U.S. Senate represented RR's/Trusts
· Muckrakers believed their primary function was to make the public aware of social problems/not proposed solutions
· Progressive reformers were mainly middle-class people who sought to 1) curb the threats posed by trusts and 2) stem the threats of Socialists by improving the common person's conditions of life and labor
* Progressives sought to cleanse capitalism not overthrow it!
Progressives political reforms: Direct primary, initiative, referendum, recall, secret ballot, direct election of Senators (17th Amendment-1913), and the city manager-system
Support for Prohibition > 18th Amendment (1919)
Teddy Roosevelt called for a "square deal" for capital, labor and the public at large > 3 C's
1. Control of the Corporations:
1902 - Coal Strike in Pennsylvania - T.R. forced the mine owners to arbitrate an agreement with the workers
1903 - Elkins Act - curbed rebates on railroads
1906 - Hepburn Act - restricted free passes on railroads
* Roosevelt believed in regulating, not fragmenting, trusts
2. Consumer Protection:
1906 - Meat Inspection Act - motivated by Upton Sinclair's book, The Jungle
1906 - Pure Food and Drug Act > mislabeling food/drugs
3. Conservation of Natural Resources
1902 - Newlands Act - Funds from sale of public lands in the west to be used for irrigation projects; set aside 125 million of acres of forest land developed a policy of multiple-use-resource management
"Roosevelt Panic " of 1907 > Reform in banking policy - Emergency currency could be issued
T.R.'s Legacy : A middle-of-the-road politician who greatly increased the power and prestige of the presidency
1908 Election: Taft (R ) defeated Bryan (D) and Debs (S)
Taft's foreign policy was called: "dollar diplomacy "
1. Used foreign policy to protect wall street dollars invested abroad
2. Used wall street dollars to uphold foreign policy
Taft the "Trust Buster " - Brought 90 suits against the trusts compared to 44 for Roosevelt
1911 - The Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Standard Oil based on the " Rule Of Reason "
Taft's Image as a progressive was tarnished by the Payne-Aldrich Tariff (1909) and the Ballinger-Pinchot controversy over public lands (1910) > split at the 1912 Republican Convention.