History Notes

Election of 1900:

McKinley and Vice President candidate Theodore Roosevelt, easily defeated

William J. Bryan
New York political bosses have Roosevelt nominated for Vice President
They thought this was a powerless position for him

W.E.B. DuBois:

Black leader in the early 1900s who fought for civil rights
Founder of the Niagara Movement
Demanded for blacks to have all their human rights at once
NAACP was created from the Niagara Movement
NAACP: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
He fought for colored people

Booker T. Washington:

Founder of the Tuskegee Institute

Trained thousands of blacks to be better farmers and mechanics
Felt they should train quickly for jobs they could do with their hands
Self-respect, self-education, and self-help would bring blacks the
opportunities they desired

Muckrakers:

Journalists and novelists who investigated and exposed corruption and other
illegal activities

Upton Sinclair:

Wrote The Jungle described as the miseries of workers in the stock yard and
rotten meat packed for sale
Meat Inspection Act
Pure Food and Drug Act
Pure Food Legislation (All passed in 1906)

Consumer Protection:

Meat Inspection Act 1906

- Allowed Federal Officers to inspect meat in Interstate Commerce
- Check to see if meat came from sanitary conditions and healthy
animals
Pure Food and Drug Act
- The manufacturing and sale of impure food, drugs, and liquors was
forbidden
- Labels on patent medicine had to list the contents

Political and Social Reform:

Amendments:

16th Amendment
- Made the Federal Income Tax Legal
th
17 Amendment
- Allowed for the direct election of senators by voters (In the past,
senators have been elected by State Legislatures

Voting Changes:
Initiative:
- Voters can propose a law by petition and have it voted on by the
people
Direct Primary:
- Enabled voters to nominate their parties candidates for the general
election
Recall:
- By petition, voters can force an official to stand for reelection at any
time
Referendum:
- The initiative is put on the ballot for voters to pass of defeat
Womens Suffrage:

Progressives were fighting for a womans right to vote (suffrage)

First state was Wyoming

Political Reform:

Roosevelt favored more reforms:

- Income and Inheritance taxes
- Federal rules for the stock market
- More effective control of business
The trend was for government to become more involved

Municipal Reform:

City manager: A trained manager hired to run the city (not a politician) (could
be fired)

The city manager replaced the mayor

State Reform:

Robert Battling Bob Lafollette:

- Elected governor of Wisconsin in 1900
Enacted progressive measures:
- Direct Primary
- Railroad commission
- Civil service
- Restriction on Lobbying

Trust Busting:

Northern Securities Case

A holding company that dominated the railroads of the Northwest
Roosevelt sued under Anti-trust Act
The supreme court ordered the company dissolved
This is the beginning of the Trust Busting era

Roosevelts Trust Busting Philosophy:

Moved against other unpopular trusts: beef, oil, tobacco

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

Conservation:

Roosevelt increased National Forests by almost 150 million acres

Created U.S forest service, headed by Gifford Pinchot
Pinchot planned reforesting- The planting of trees along with the cutting of
trees.
Roosevelt fired Pinchot

Roosevelts Domestic Program Square Deal

Anthracite Coal Strike, 1902

Workers didnt receive a pay raise in 20 years
Roosevelt brought the striking workers and the owners together
Roosevelt showed how the federal government could help
Government action was considered to be fair to both labor and management
Coal miners- 9 hour days and a 10% raise

Taft Administration at Home:

Election of 1908:

William Howard Taft, the secretary of war was Roosevelts hand-picked

successor.
Taft wanted to be in Supreme Court, but his wife pushed him towards
presidency
Taft easily defeats William Jennings Bryan

Taft as a Progressive:

Most thought Taft would follow Roosevelt in fighting for reform

Many progressives felt he did not fight for reform and were disappointed

Taft and Trust Busting:

Did not make the distinction between good and bad trusts like Roosevelt
Taft- Indict (bring criminal charges against) all trusts, and allow courts to
decide which trusts were good and bad

Payne-Aldrich Tariff:

High tariffs were becoming a problem

Tariff= taxes on goods coming in and out of the country
Consumer prices were rising; Taft promised to lower tariffs
The Payne-Aldrich Tariff actually raised the tariff on many items
This upset progressives

Election of 1912 (the primaries):

The Republican party was badly split

The issue of conservation of natural resources caused a split between
Roosevelt and Taft
Democratic nominee: Woodrow Wilson- Governor of New Jersey
Republican nominee: William Howard Taft
Progressive Republicans were very upset Taft won the nomination
Progressive Republicans persuade Roosevelt to run on a third party ticket
(Bull Moose party)

The Results:

Wilson won fairly easy

Taft and Roosevelt split the Republican vote, giving Wilson the Victory

Wilsons Domestic Program: New Freedom

Underwood tariff
The Underwood-Simmons tariff reduced taxes about 11% from the PayneAldrich tariff
The public supported the cut in tariffs

Federal Reserve Act:

12 Districts
Created a more flexible currency Federal Reserve Note
Also, helped prevent a run on the banks
People would literally run to the bank to get their money out

Federal Reserve System:

All national banks had to become a member of the federal reserve system
Federal Reserve Banks held member banks reserves, and lent money to
member banks when needed
Each was supervised by a Federal Reserve Board- Appointed by the President
Divided the country is 12 districts, each with a federal reserve bank

Clayton Anti-Trust Act:

Gave unions the right to exist

Manufacturers could not charge different customers different prices

Federal Trade Commission:

Created to monitor business

Could issue cease and desist orders against companies engaged in unfair
trade practices