Progressive Reform by
Theodore Roosevelt
I. Background
• He wasn’t supposed to be president! - He was nominated as
McKinley’s VP, Pres was assassinated!
‣ Became President in 1901 (the youngest person to hold office
- Kennedy was the youngest ELECTED)
• Roosevelt was born into a wealthy family in NY… He was a
marksman and a master at horseback riding. At Harvard he
wrestled and boxed.
• When he spared a bear cub on a
hunting expedition, a toy maker
marketed a popular new product - The
Teddy Bear.
•
•
•
Roosevelt acted boldly in
both sports and politics.
He used his dynamic
personality and popularity
to advance his programs
(something other
presidents did later, too).
Roosevelt created the
Square Deal: program of
progressive reforms
designed to protect the
common people against
big business.
II. Using Federal Power
• Roosevelt was convinced that modern America
required a powerful federal government
‣ Coal Strike 1902: 140,000 coal miners went on
strike, demanding a 20% pay raise, 9-hour work
day, and a right to organize a union.
‣ Mine operators refused to meet with them.
‣ Five months later, reserves began to run low, and
it was winter time… Roosevelt called both sides to
the White House to negotiate.
Arbitration: Both sides submitted their differences to
• Federal
an arbitration commission - works with both sides to mediate
the dispute and settle the strike.
1903, the commission made a compromise - miners won
‣ In
a 10% pay raise, a shorter 9-hour work day, couldn’t strike
for 3 years (no union)
Roosevelt’s intervention, from then on, when a strike
‣ With
threatened public welfare, the government was expected to
intervene.
By 1900,
• Trust-busting:
trusts controlled 4/5 of
the industries in the US trusts lowered prices to
drive competitors out of
business!
‣
‣
Roosevelt felt some
trusts were good and
some were bad
(greedy).
Roosevelt
administered 44 antitrust lawsuits and
eventually broke up
some of the trusts.
• Elkins Act of 1903
made it illegal for RR
officials to give, and
shippers to receive,
discounts or refunds
for using a certain
RR. (to get more
business)
‣ RR could not change
rates without
notifying the public.
III. Protecting Citizens & The Environment
• Protecting Health:
A0er “The Jungle,”
Roosevelt created a
commission to
investigate the
meatpacking industry,
and see if it backed up
Sinclair’s findings
‣ Meat Inspection Act: 1906: dictated strict cleanliness
requirements for meatpackers - Supported progressive
principle of government regulation.
Food and Drug Act: halted the sale of contaminated
• Pure
foods and medicines and called for truth in labeling.
‣ Manufacturers put preservatives, like coal, tar, dye, borax
and formaldehyde in canned pork and beans!
‣ Food and medicine manufacturers followed the act
because they wanted to regain confidence by consumers
for their products
& Natural Resources: Before Roosevelt, little
• Conservation
attention paid to the nation’s preservation of land.
Roosevelt felt that forests and water problems were a vital
concern. He even banned Christmas trees from the White
House in 1902
‣ John Muir: persuaded Roosevelt to set aside 1.5 million
acres of land, and another 80 million to be explored for
mineral and water resources
‣ Established more than 50 wildlife sanctuaries and several
national parks.
Yellowstone Nat’l Park
IV. Roosevelt & Civil Rights
•
•
Like other progressives,
Roosevelt was not a
supporter of civil rights for
African Americans.
He did support a few
individual African
Americans
‣ As a symbolic gesture,
Roosevelt invited Booker T.
Washington to dinner at
the White House; the head
of the all-black training
school, the Tuskegee
Institute.
§ In 1909, a number of African
Americans joined prominent white
reformers in NY to form the
NAACP (National Association for
the Advancement of Colored
People) which had 6,000 members
by 1914.
‣ They wanted full equality among
the races.
‣ Found little support from the
Progressive movement, which
focused on needs of the middleclass whites.
‣ Presidents following Roosevelt
also did little to help with the
advancement of the goal of
racial equality.