Roosevelt and progressivism Day two

Problems with Taft

Although he was hand picked by TR, Taft was not popular with progressives. 1) Taft was not the politician that Roosevelt was and lacked the energy and personal magnetism of his mentor. 2) Taft fired the popular Gifford Pinchot as Chief of the United States Forest Service 3) Taft signed the Payne Aldrich Tariff into law

roosevelt challenges taft

Because Taft had not followed through with many progressive reforms, in 1912 Roosevelt challenged Taft for the republican nomination. This caused a split in the Republican Party.

Why did women led the call for Temperance? Who was the leader ?

Because alcoholism led to abusive men and loss of jobs. The leader of the movement was an hatchet wielding woman by the name of Carrie Nation

Summary

Disputes between William Howard Taft and Teddy Roosevelt led to a split of the Republican Party. Third Party Candidates had an impact in elections in the early 1900s. The Federal government became more powerful following passage of the Underwood tariff, the Clayton antitrust act, the federal reserve act,and the 16th amendment The temperance movement led to the passage of the 18th amendment.

Federal Reserve Act

During those times, many people lost their savings when small banks collapsed and closed, taking people's savings along with them. To restore people's confidence in banks, Wilson created the federal reserve system. Under this system, banks would keep a portion of their deposits in a regional reserve bank as a cushion in case of a crisis.

Bureau of Reclamation

Established in 1902 construction dams, power plants, and canals in 17 western states Sells water wholesale Provides irrigation to the farmland that produces 60 percent of the vegetables in the U.S 58 power plants provide electricity to six million homes

Birth of the N.A.A.C.P

One issue the progressives movement did not address was the issue of equal rights African Americans. In response, W.E.B Dubois helped to form the NAACP in 1909.

Underwood Tariff

Passed in 1914 Established income tax 1% up to $20,000 7% for incomes above $500,000 Cut tariff rate by the largest percentage in decades. The first major reduction in tariffs The average tariffs was decreased from 41 percent to 27 percent. To replace the lost income, a graduated income tax (based on salary) was imposed.

National Parks System

Roosevelt also worked to preserve the nations forests. He declared millions of acres of land as protected national forests and started the national parks system to watch over the lands. Places like Grand Canyon National park in Arizona and Big Bend national park in Texas were established under Roosevelt's Presidency.

Coal Strike of 1902

Roosevelt felt that one of his jobs was to stop job conflicts between different groups in the nation. When the United mine Workers went on strike in 1902, Roosevelt intervened in the strike and got the union and the owners to agree to arbitration.

T.R and conservation

Roosevelt put his stamp on the presidency most clearly in the area of environmental conservation. Roosevelt declared millions of acres of land as protected national forests and urged Americans to conserve their natural resources.

Newlands Reclamation Act

Roosevelt secures passage of the Newlands Reclamation Act, an unprecedented law authorizing federal construction of dams and reservoirs in the west funded by public land sales.

Hepburn Act of 1906

Roosevelt wanted the government to be able to regulate railroad rates to insure fairness. The Hepburn Act gave the interstate commerce Commission the power to set railroad rates to make sure that companies did not compete unfairly with each other.

Temperance Movement

Some progressives believed that a lot of the nations problems were tied in with the consumption and sale of alcohol. The movement to rid the nation of alcohol was known as the temperance movement. Three groups led the call for temperance: women's groups,business owners, and Christians.

Taft Takes Over

Teddy Roosevelt did not run in for president in 1908. Instead, he hand picked his successor in tabbing William Howard Taft.

16th Amendment

The 16th amendment to the U.S constitution created a national income tax. It gave the federal government the power to directly tax its citizens.

18th amendment passed

The 18th amendment made the sale or consumption of alcohol illegal throughput the United States

Payne-Aldrich Tariff

The Payne Aldrich tariff act was the law that called for lower tariff (taxes on imports). The tariff was suppose to provide American industrialists cheap raw materials. Because of compromises in congress, it did not. The Payne Aldrich tariff act upset both proponents and opponents tariffs. The bill greatly angered progressives. Because it increased the duty, the publishing industry viciously criticized Taft, future tarnishing his image.

Election of 1912

The split between the Republicans opened the door for democratic candidate- Woodrow Wilson to win the election.

Clayton Antitrust Act

To strengthen the federal governments ability to break up trusts, the Clayton Antitrust Act was passed. The law gave unions significantly more power because it legalized unions, strikes, boycotts, and pickets.

TR and the Bull moose party

Upset with the direction that Taft had taken the country, in 1912 Roosevelt ran for an unprecedented third term as president. When it became clear that the Republican Party was not going to nominate him, TR left the convention and formed the progressive party, also known as the bull moose party.

Federal Trade Commission

Wilson also wanted to restore competition in the economy. He wanted to break up monopolies. However, once he became president, Wilson realize it would be unrealistic to be break up large companies. In 1914, Wilson asked congress to create Federal Trade Commision (FTC) to regulate American business. But, the commission did not have the power to order companies to stop unfair trade practices.