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20th Century U.S. History
THEODORE ROOSEVELT 1901-1908
Notes
I FIRST MODERN PRESIDENT
1. 1st president in U.S. History to use govt. to directly help public
interest.
a. Saw the presidency as a "bully pulpit" to preach his ideas
b. Supported progressive reform with strong rhetoric but in reality
was more moderate (and conservative at times); "middle of the
road" politician.
c. Often bypassed congressional opposition by using “Executive
Orders.”
d. Enormously popular among a large percentage of Americans
2. 1st president to play a significant role in world affairs.
II "SQUARE DEAL" (for Capital, labor, and the public at large)
TR’s program embraced three (3) C’s:
 Regulation of Corporation.
 Consumer protection.
 Conservation of natural resources.
1. Regulation of Corporations
a. Anthracite Coal Strike, 1902: (hard coal used to heat homes)
1) United Mine Workers union in coal mines of PA went on
strike: demanded 20% pay increase; reduction of work day
from 10 to 9 hours; and better safety conditions.
2) George F. Baer, president of company refused to arbitrate or
negotiate.
3) TR threatened to seize mines and operate them with
federal troops if owners refused compromise
(unprecedented action by a president in U.S. history). TR
rationalized that the public at large was in jeopardy of having
no coal during winter so it was his duty to intervene.
4) Owners consented to arbitration
a) Miners received a 10% pay boost and 9-hour work day
b) Owners got a 10% increase in price of coal.
b. Department of Commerce & Labor: created in 1903 to settle
disputes between capital and labor.
c. 1902, Roosevelt attacked the Northern Securities Company
1) Holding company owned by J. P. Morgan & James G. Hill
had monopoly of railroads in the northwest.
2) Supreme Court upheld Roosevelt’s antitrust lawsuit to
dissolve it in 1904.
3) Roosevelt now seen as a "trustbuster".
a) 1905, Court declared beef trust illegal; and sugar,
fertilizer, harvester trusts also regulated by anti-trust
legislation.
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b) TR later went after Du Pont, Standard Oil, and American
Tobacco Co.
d. Elkins Act (1903)
1) Aimed primarily at reducing abuse of rebates used by
railroads.
2) Heavy fines could now be imposed on both railroads and
shippers for abusing rebates.
e. Hepburn Act (1906) (More effective than Elkins Act)
1) Expanded the power of the Interstate Commerce
Commission (created in 1887)
a) Severely restricted railroad’s giving of free passes
b) Could nullify existing rates and set maximum rates if
necessary.
2) Concluded that there were "good trusts" and "bad trusts"
which were greedy. "Bad Trusts" should be prosecuted but
good trusts were healthy for the economy.
f. Roosevelt as a "trustbuster"
1) Reputation inflated as TR exaggerated his anti-trust activities
to gain political popularity.
2) TR did not consider wholesale trust-busting economically
sound policy. Believed in regulating, not breaking up, trusts.
3) In reality, trusts healthier at end of TR’s reign than
before.
2. Consumer Protection.
a. Impulse for meat protection
1) European markets threatened to ban American meat since
some meat was found to be tainted.
2) Upton Sinclair: The Jungle (1906)
a) Public was sickened by his detailed descriptions of filth,
disease, and putrefaction in Chicago’s damp and illventilated slaughterhouses.
b) TR appointed a special investigating commission whose
report almost out-did Sinclair’s novel.
b. Meat Inspection Act (1906) Preparation of meat shipped over
state lines would be subject to federal inspection throughout the
meat making process.
c. Pure Food & Drug Act (1906)
1) Prevented adulteration and mislabeling of foods and drugs.
2) Hitherto, many patent medicines laced with alcohol while
labels misrepresented the contents of their containers.
3. Conservation.
a. Conservation was Roosevelt’s most enduring achievement.
1) TR, an outdoorsman, appalled at destruction of timber &
mineral resources.
2) Aroused public opinion about conservation.
3) Sought “wise use,” not preservation; recreation, sustain-yield
logging, watershed protection & stock grazing on same
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expanse of federal land.
b. Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902
1) Govt. authorized to collect money from sale of public lands in
western states and use funds for development of irrigation
projects.
2) Money put into revolving account to finance more such
projects.
c. Saving the forests
1) TR set aside 125 acres of forests in federal reserves. About
3X as much as his 3 predecessors.
2) Also earmarked millions of acres of coal deposits, as well as
water resources useful for irrigation and power.
III ELECTION OF 1904 Made himself a "lame duck" president
by announcing after his election that he would not run for a third term.
IV PANIC OF 1907
1. Wall Street suffered a short but brutal panic in 1907
a. "Runs" on banks, suicides, and criminal indictments against
speculators.
1) TR cooperated with Morgan banks and other large banks to
prevent banking collapse by transferring millions of Treasury
funds from one bank to another.
2) Causes: Speculation and mismanagement in Wall Street
banks and trust companies as well as overextension of credit
caused the panic.
b. Business leaders blamed Roosevelt’s anti-trust actions for causing
the panic.
c. Roosevelt felt Wall Street of deliberately caused the panic.
1) He began a second wave of trust-busting.
2) Reform now became acceptable
2. Results
a. Panic showed the need for elastic money supply.
1) During panic, banks unable to increase volume of currency in
circulation.
2) Those with money reluctant to loan money to fellow banks.
3) This apparent weakness paved way for Federal Reserve
Act of 1913.
b. Labor and local reformers gained important middle-class
allies.
c. Progressives finally embraced reforms put forth by reformers of
early 1900s, Socialists, Populists party, and Mugwumps.
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Notes