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American Stories:
A History of the United States
Second Edition
Chapter
23
From Roosevelt to
Wilson in the
Age of Progressivism
1900–1920
American Stories: A History of the United States, Second Edition
Brands • Breen • Williams • Gross
The Troubles of William Howard Taft A 1910
Puck cartoon shows Taft snarled in the intricacies of
office as his disappointed mentor looks on.
From Roosevelt to Wilson in the
Age of Progressivism
1900 – 1920
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The Spirit of Progressivism
Reform in the Cities and States
The Republican Roosevelt
Roosevelt Progressivism at Its Height
The Ordeal of William Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom
The Republicans Split
• Fight between Taft and Roosevelt for
1912 Republican presidential
nomination
 Taft won; Roosevelt formed Progressive or
“Bull Moose” party to unseat him
 Battle between Taft, Roosevelt outlined
nation’s fears over urban-industrial growth
 Currents of progressive reform
Conservationist as Hunter Teddy Roosevelt,
with his hunting party in Africa, poses with one of
the nearly three hundred animals he and his group
took down. As president, Roosevelt had supported
measures protecting wildlife in the United States,
including designating Pelican Island, Florida, as the
nation’s first wildlife refuge.
The Spirit of Progressivism
The Spirit of Progressivism
• Progressivism not a coherent
movement
The Spirit of Progressivism
(cont’d)
• Shared values
 Concern about effects of industrialization
 Optimistic about human nature and
potential for progress
 Willing to intervene in others lives, either
private charity or government
 Sense of evangelical Protestant duty and
faith in the benefits of science
 Commitment to improve all aspects of
American life
The Rise of the Professions
• Professions bulwarks of Progressivism
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Law
Medicine
Business
Education
Social work
• Professionalism strengthened through
entrance exams, national associations
The Social-Justice Movement
• Reformers forsook individualized reform
to address larger structural problems
• Applied scientific methods to social
reform
• Social work became a profession
The Purity Crusade
• Crusade against vice
• 1911: Membership in Women’s
Christian Temperance Union hit
250,000
• 1916: 19 states prohibit alcohol
• 1920: 18th Amendment prohibits
alcohol
Woman Suffrage, Woman’s Rights
• Women filled Progressive ranks
 National Conference of Social Work
 General Federation of Women’s Clubs
• 1890: National American Woman
Suffrage Association formed
Progressivism in Action An Infant Welfare
Society nurse treats the baby of an immigrant
family in Chicago. Medical discoveries and
improvements in the quality of medical education
fostered an interest in public health work among
the social-justice reformers.
Woman Suffrage, Woman’s Rights
(cont’d)
• 1920: 19th Amendment passed
• Suffrage seen as empowering women
to benefit the disadvantaged
Woman Suffrage, Woman’s Rights
(cont’d)
• Politically active women push reforms
of social justice movement
• African American women form National
Association of Colored Women
• Susan B. Anthony: American Woman
Suffrage Association
• National Woman Suffrage Association
pickets White House
A Ferment of Ideas:
Challenging the Status Quo
• Pragmatists: measure value of ideas by
actions they inspire
• Dewey: Education should stress
personal growth, free inquiry, creativity
• Judge Lindsey: “Sociological
Jurisprudence”
Map 23.1 Woman Suffrage Before 1920
State-by-state gains in woman suffrage were
mainly limited to the Far West and were agonizingly
slow in the early twentieth century.
A Ferment of Ideas: Challenging
the Status Quo (cont’d)
• Eugene V. Debs forms Social
Democratic Party
• 1912: Socialist presidential candidate
Eugene Debs polls over 900,000 votes
Votes for Women Woman suffrage was a key
element in the social-justice movement. Without
the right to vote, women working for reform had
little power to influence elected officials to support
their endeavors.
Reform in the Cities and States
Reform in the Cities and States
• Progressives wanted government to
follow the public will
• Reform government
 Reorganize for efficiency, effectiveness
 New agencies address particular social ills
 Posts staffed with experts
• Government power extended at all
levels
Figure 23.1
Voter Participation in Presidential
Elections, 1876–1920
Interest Groups and the
Decline of Popular Politics
• Decline in voter participation
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77% from 1876–1900
65% from 1900–1916
52% in the 1920s
remained near 52% through 20th century
• Interest groups got favorable legislation
through lobbying
Reform in the Cities
• Urban reform leagues formed
professional, nonpolitical civil service
• Appointed commissioners replaced
elected officials in many cities
Reform in the Cities (cont’d)
• City manager idea spread
• Reform mayors
 Tom Johnson of Cleveland
 "Golden Rule" Jones of Toledo
Action in the States
• State regulatory commissions created
to investigate business conduct
• Initiative, referendum, and recall
created
• 1913: 17th Amendment provided for
direct election of U.S. senators
Action in the States (cont’d)
• Robert La Follette of Wisconsin,
developed “Wisconsin Idea”:
 Called the “laboratory of democracy”
 Focus of progressivism shifts to
Washington
The Republican Roosevelt
The Republican Roosevelt
• Often defied convention
• Brought an exuberance to the
presidency
• Surrounded himself with able
associates
Busting the Trusts
• 1902: Wave of trust-busting led by suit
against Northern Securities Company
• 1904: Northern Securities dissolved
Busting the Trusts (cont’d)
• Roosevelt reputed a "trust-buster"
• Comparatively few antitrust cases
under Roosevelt, Taft did almost twice
as many in half the time
Trust-Buster A cartoon illustrating Theodore
Roosevelt’s promise to break up only those “bad
trusts” that were hurtful to the general welfare.
Despite his reputation as a “trustbuster,” Roosevelt
dissolved relatively few trusts.
"Square Deal" in the Coalfields
• 1902: United Mine Workers strike in
Pennsylvania threatened U.S. economy
• U.M.W., companies to White House
• Roosevelt won company concessions by
threatening military seizure of mines
• Roosevelt acted as broker of interests
Roosevelt Progressivism
at its Height
Roosevelt Progressivism
at Its Height
• 1904—A four-way election
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Republican—Theodore Roosevelt
Democrat—Alton B. Parker
Socialist—Eugene V. Debs
Prohibition—Silas C. Swallow
• Roosevelt won 57% of popular vote,
336 electoral votes
Regulating the Railroads
• 1903: Elkins Act prohibited railroad
rebates, strengthened Interstate
Commerce Commission
• Widespread popular demand for further
railroad regulation after Roosevelt’s
reelection
Regulating the Railroads (cont’d)
• 1906: Hepburn Act further
strengthened Interstate Commerce
Commission
 Membership from five to seven
 May fix reasonable maximum rates
 Jurisdiction broadened to include oil
pipeline, express, sleeping car companies
TABLE 23.1
The Election of 1904
Cleaning Up Food and Drugs
• Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906)
prompted federal investigation of
meatpacking industry
• 1906: Meat Inspection Act
 Sets rules for sanitary meatpacking
 Requires government inspection of meat
products
Cleaning Up Food and Drugs
(cont’d)
• Samuel Hopkins Adams exposed
dangers of patent medicines
• 1906: Pure Food and Drug Act
 Required manufacturers to list certain
ingredients
 Banned manufacture and sale of
adulterated drugs
Conserving the Land
• First comprehensive national
conservation policy
 Roosevelt worked with Gifford Pinchot,
chief of Forest Service
 Policy defined “conservation” as wise use
of natural resources
• Quadrupled acreage under federal
protection
Map 23.2 National Parks and Forests During the
presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, who considered
conservation his most important domestic
achievement, millions of acres of land were set
aside for national parks and forests.
Conserving the Land (cont’d)
• Roosevelt’s challenge
 Attacked “malefactors of great wealth”
 Criticized conservatism of federal courts
 Agitated for pro-labor legislation
TABLE 23.2
The Election of 1908
Conserving the Land (cont’d)
• Popular response
 Business leaders blamed for financial panic
 Overwhelming majority support
The Ordeal of William Howard Taft
The Ordeal of William Howard Taft
• Taft: Abled administrator, poor
president
• Conservative Republicans resurged
• Taft lost support of Progressives
Party Insurgency
• Tariff split Republicans
 Progressives: high tariff favored trusts
 Conservatives: high tariff protected
business
• 1909 Payne-Aldrich Act provoked
Progressives to break with Taft
The Ballinger-Pinchot Affair
• Gifford Pinchot leading conservationist,
Roosevelt appointee
• Pinchot accused Interior Secretary
Richard Ballinger of selling public lands
to friends
• Taft fired Pinchot
• Progressives antagonized
Taft Alienates the Progressives
• 1910: Taft successfully pushed MannElkins Act to strengthen ICC
 Empowers ICC to fix railroad rates
 Progressive Republicans attacked Taft’s
plan of a Commerce Court to hear ICC
appeals
 Progressives obstructed Taft’s negotiations
Taft Alienates the Progressives
(cont’d)
• 1910: Taft attacked Progressive
Republicans, Democrats gained
Congress
• Fought against trusts, sued Roosevelt,
supported Sherman Antitrust Act
• Anti-Taft Republicans urged Roosevelt
to run for president
Taft Alienates the Progressives
(cont’d)
• Legislation protecting laborers
• 16th Amendment created income tax
• Taft a greater trustbuster than
Roosevelt
Taft Alienates the Progressives
(cont’d)
• Taft, Roosevelt attacked one another
publicly
• 1912: Taft renominated by Republicans,
little chance for victory
Differing Philosophies in
the Election of 1912
• Roosevelt: Progressive ("Bull Moose")
 “New Nationalism”
 Federal regulation of economy
 Wasteful competition replaced by efficiency
The Bull Moose Campaign “I’m feeling like a
bull moose!” declared Teddy Roosevelt while
campaigning in 1912 as a Progressive,
inadvertently renaming the new political party. The
patch depicts a strong, independent animal, much
like Roosevelt himself. In 1904, Roosevelt had won
re-election by promising to give Americans a
“square deal.”
Differing Philosophies in
the Election of 1912 (cont’d)
• Woodrow Wilson: Democrat
 "New Freedom" for individual
 Restrain big business, government
• Democrats won White House, Congress
Map 23.3
Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom
Woodrow Wilson’s
New Freedom
• Woodrow Wilson: Former president of
Princeton, governor of New Jersey
• Progressive, intellectual, inspiring
orator
• One of America’s most effective
presidents
The New Freedom in Action
• 1913: Underwood Tariff cut duties
• 1913: Federal Reserve Act reformed
banks, established stable currency
The New Freedom in Action
(cont’d)
• 1914: Clayton Antitrust Act outlawed
unfair trade practices, protected unions
• Federal Reserve Board governed
nationwide system
Wilson Moves Toward
the New Nationalism
• Reasons for the move
 Distracted by the outbreak of war in
Europe
 Needed conservative Southern support
 Republicans seemed to gain by attacking
his programs
• 1916: Presidential election
Wilson Moves Toward
the New Nationalism (cont’d)
• Wilson renewed reform in reelection bid
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Federal Farm Loan Act
Intervened in strikes on behalf of workers
Attempted to ban child labor
Increased income taxes on the rich
Supported women’s suffrage
• Program won Wilson a close election
Conclusion:
The Fruits of Progressivism
Conclusion:
The Fruits of the Progressivism
• Reform of government at all levels
• Intelligent planning of reform
• World War I ends Progressive optimism
Timeline