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Progressive Politics
Chapter 18
Unit 6, 1900-1945
Political Reform
• Changes began at the local and state levels to
limit political machines and corruption
• 17th amendment requires to U.S. senators
elected by popular vote
• Initiative and referendum allowed voters to
propose and vote directly on legislation
– Recall allows voters to remove public officials
through popular vote
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Teddy Roosevelt (1901-1908)
• Square Deal: president
should do what is in the
public’s best interest
• Trust-buster: Used Sherman
Act to prosecute
monopolies
– Northern Securities
controlled three major
railroads, dissolved in 1904
– Strengthened ICC
Conservation and Consumers
• Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection
Act (1906) established consumer protections
– Federal agencies regulated quality and safety
• Antiquities Act allowed federal govt.
purchased land to conserve natural areas
– Created national parks : Yellowstone, Yosemite,
and Glacier
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William Howard Taft (1908-1912)
• Continued Antitrust Cases:
Standard Oil broken up in
1911
• Sixteenth Amendment:
Allowed for graduated income
tax
• Split the Republican party
over high tariffs and sale of
federal land
Election of 1912
• Taft for Republican Party
• Woodrow Wilson for
Democratic party
• Eugene Debs for socialist
party
• Teddy Roosevelt for the
Progressive “Bull Moose”
Party
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Woodrow Wilson (1912-1920)
• “New Freedom”: restore the
market economy by reducing
influence of big business
• Clayton Act protected union
and strikers rights
• Outlawed child labor and
established 8 hour workday
Federal Banking System
• Increased govt. supervision of the economy
• Federal Reserve System establish 12 regional
banks
– Central board issued currency, aided failing banks,
and influenced interest rates
• Federal Trade Commission investigated unfair
business practices and monopolies
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