Chapter 26 The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution (1865-1896)

A. The Clash of Cultures on the Plains

1. Native Americans numbered about 360,000 in 1860 and scattered about
grasslands of trans Missouri West.
a. The Comanche drove the Apaches off the central plains in the Upper
Rio Grande Valley in the 18th century.
b. The Cheyenne abandoned their villages along the Mississippi and
Missouri River.
c. The Sioux emerged from Great Lakes to prey upon the Crows, Kiowas,
and Pawnees
2. Within a few generations, Cheyenne and Sioux transformed themselves foot-
travelers to nomadic traders beginning the Spanish introduced horses.
a. White intruders however, spread cholera, typhoid, and small pox, while
shrinking the Bison population.
b. Federal government tried to pacify the Plain Indians by signing treaties
with the chiefs at Fort Laramie in 1851 and Fort Atkinson in 1853.
c. The Indians believed recognized no authority outside their Tribes.
3. In the 1860,s the federal government intensified the policies on land control
and herded the Indians into smaller confines.
a. “The Great Sioux reservation” in the Dakota Territory and Indian
Territory in present Oklahoma in which many of the tribes was forced in.
B. Receding Native Population
1.The Indian wars were often savage clashes
a. Colonel J. M. Chivington’s militia massacred 400 Indians at Sand
Creek, Colorado, in 1863 even being promised immunity.
b. In 1866, a Sioux War blocked the construction of the Bozeman Trail to
Montana Goldfields and ambushed Captain William Fetterman’s 81
soldiers in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains.
c. Colonel Custer discovered gold in the “Sioux reservation,” which
eventually led to war under Sitting Bull in the Little Bighorn River
(present day Montana) in which Custer lost.
d. Nez Perces Indians were sent to Kansas as retaliation from the
Americans, and 40% perished from diseases.
e. Apaches of Arizona and New Mexico were led by Geronimo, and
eventually surrendered after the exile of Apache women in Florida.
C. Bellowing Herds of Bison
1. Much of food supply of railroad construction came from Buffalo steaks
a. “Buffalo Bill” Cody killed over 4,000 animals in 18 months
b. Such butchery for hide and food left less than 1000 Buffalo by 1885.
D. The End of The Trail
1. By 1880’s uneasiness began to stir over the of Indians but slow but forceful
conversions came about.
a. Helen Hunt of Massachusetts published A Century of Dishonor in 1881,
which was about the ruthless government actions in dealing with the
Indians.
 b. Helen then published Ramona in 1884, which was a love story of
injustice to California Indians.
c. From reading the literature, humanitarians persuaded them to “walk the
white man’s road.”
d. Christian reformers wanted to convert them into the white society and
in 1884; the whites joined the government in outlawing the sacred
Sun Dance.
e. The “Ghost Dance” spread into the Dakota Sioux, as the army took
force in 1890, at the Battle of Wounded Knee, where 200 Indian men,
women, and children were killed along with 29 soldiers.
2. The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 was the reform Indian policy
a. Dissolved tribes as legal entities, and wiped out tribal ownership and
full citizenship was granted to all Indians in 1924.
b. In 1879, government funded the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania
where Indians were taught English and white values under the motto of
“Kill the Indian and save the man.”
c. Field matrons were teachers who taught the Native American women
the art of sewing and the virtues of chastity and hygiene.
d. By 1900, Indians lost 50% of the 156 million acres they held earlier
because of the Dawes Act.
3. Indian Reorganization Act (“Indian New Deal”) of 1934 restored Indian life.
a. By 1887, the number had been reduced to 243,000-results of bullets,
battles, bacteria- but the census of 2000 counted more than 1.5 million
Native Americans, urban and rural.
E. Mining: From dishpan to Ore Breaker
1.The conquest of Indians and the coming of the railroad were boons to the
mining frontiers.
a. In 1858, the “fifty-niners” or “Pike’s Peakers” rushed to the Rockies for
gold.
b. “Fifty-niners“ also poured heavily in Nevada in 1859, after uncovering
the Comstock Lode.
c. $340 million were mined by “Kings of the Comstock” from 1860-1890,
populating Nevada immensely.
d. Boomtowns known as “Helldorados” sprouted from deserts and “Ghost
towns” in Virginia City, Nevada.
e. The metals helped finance the Civil War, the building of the railroads,
while intensifying relations with the Indians.
F. Beef Bonanzas and the Long Drive
1.Meat profiting was beginning to spread through advancement in technology.
a. Profiting of meat was complicated, as beasts were killed for their hides.
b. The transcontinental railroad in addition to the refrigerated cars kept
meats fresh to the East Coast in cities such as Kansas City and Chicago.
c. Slaughter houses such as the “Long Drive” was also created in Texas.
d. The Winter of 1886-1887 slowly killed off the cows and as savoir,
businesses fenced their ranches with imported bulls for reproduction.
G. The Farmer’s Frontier
1.The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed settlers to acquire 160 acres of land by
living on it for 5 years and paying a fee of about $30.
a. Two out of three were forced to give up the one-sided struggle against
drought because the 5-year deal was much too long.
2. The railways played a major role by developing the agricultural west through
profitable marketing of crops.
a. Settlers of the 1870’s pushed farther west beyond the 100th meridian,
which was the imaginary line running north to south from Dakotas
through west Texas because of crop failures and higher wheat prices.
3. Geologist John Wesley Powell warned that crops could not be planted at the
100th meridian because of scarce rain.
a. “Dry farming” was the new technique that created a pulverized surface
soil resulting in the “Dust Bowl” apparently came.

H. The Far West Comes of Age

1) The Great West experienced a growth in population from the 1870's to the
1890's.
a. Six new states admitted- North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana,
Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming.
b. The Mormon Church banned poligamy in 1890, and in 1896, Utah was
admitted as a state.
c. In the end of the year 1889, Oklahoma boasted 60,000 inhabitants, and
therefore was admitted as the "Sooner State."
I. The Fading Frontier
1) The government began to understand that the lands of the west that needed to
be populated.
a. The government set up national parks- first was Yellowstone in 1872,
followed by Yosemite and Sequoia in 1890.
b. "Safety Valve" theory states that when hard times came, the
unemployed who clutter the cities moved west, prospering in farming.
J. Farm Becomes a Factory
1) High prices forced farmers to sell "Cash Crops" such as wheat or corn for
profitable purposes, and lead to farming tool advancements.
a. The speed of harvesting wheat was dramatically increased in the 1870's
by the invention of the twine binder.
b. The 1880's came the combined reaper-thresher, which was drawn by 24
horses.
c. Farms were attaining the status of factories such as the wheat farms of
Minnesota-North Dakota area.
d. California farms, carved out of giant Spanish Mexican land grants and
the railroads huge holdings, were from outset more than three times larger
than the national average.
K. Deflation Dooms the Debtor
1) The farmers skidded in the 1880's and bankruptcy came among the farmers.
 a. The grain farmers had a fierce competition for the prices of grain, were
determined by the world output
b. In 1870, the currency in circulation for each person was $19.42; and in
1890, it was only $22.67.
c. Interest rates ran from 8% to 40%, which were charged on mortgages,
and loan companies.
d. By 1880, one-fourth of all American farms were operated by tenants.
L Unhappy Farmers
1) Farmers suffered because of their mass success, which lead to the mass
competition.
a. The railroad companies raised their freight rates so high, that farmer’s
loss more than their profit.
M. The Farmers Take Their Stand
1) The National Grange of Patrons or Husbandry was organized in 1867.
a. Oliver H. Kelley was a Minnesota farmer, who helped the helpless
farmers with rituals, and fraternal activities.
b. In 1875, it claimed 800,000 members, mainly from the Midwest and the
South.
c. The organization led to the establishment of cooperative owned stores,
and enrollment in politics for others.
d. The case on the Wabash decision of 1886 diminished the influence of
the Granger's.
2) The Greenback Labor Party was created to help programs for labor.
a. In 1878, the Greenback laborers pulled over a million votes and 14
members in Congress.
b. The Greenbacks ran James B. Weaver in the election of 1880, which
was also an old Granger favorite, pulled only 3% of the popular vote.
N. Prelude to Populism
1) The Farmers' Alliance was founded in Texas, around the 1870's to break the
strangling grips of the railroads and manufacturing high prices.
a. The Alliance weakened by excluding the blacks and as a result, in the
1880’s; the Colored Farmers National Alliance emerged, having more than
250,000 people.
2) The populist party or also known as the people's party, emerged as well
a. They called for nationalizing railroads, telephones, and telegraphs;
instituting a graduated income tax.
b. A new federal
3) The Coin’s Financial School (1894) written by William Hope Harvey
explained the importance of free coinage of silver.
a. In 1892, the populist had jolted the traditional parties by winning
several congressional seats and polling more than 1 million votes.

O. Coxey’s Army and the Pullman Strike

1) The panic of 1893 and the depression strengthened the Populist’s argument that
farmers and laborers were victimized by politics and the economy.
 a. Jacob S. Coxey led a group of supporters of around 500, up to the
government asking for $500 million in legal tender notes to be issued by
the Treasury.
b. Eugene V. Debs organized the American Railway Union of about
150,000 members as the wages for the Pullman Palace Car Company was
cut by 1/3.
c. U.S. Attorney General Richard Olney claimed that the strike was
interfering with U.S. mail, and President Cleveland sent the federal troops
to the Pullman Strike.

P.Golden McKinley and Silver Bryan

1) In the election of 1896, William McKinley of Ohio ran as the republican
candidate, and President Cleveland no longer led the Democratic Party.
a. The Cross-of Gold Speech gave the Democratic Party hopes as they
elected him as their fifth ballot.
b. Jenning’s intention was to change the standard gold into silver, making
a dollar worth about fifty cents and debts worth less.
Q. Class Conflict: Plowholders Versus Bondholders.
1) Bryan created havoc with the idea of a silver standard and eventually, his fame
was destroyed.
a. The “Gold Bugs” responded their own free and unlimited coinage.
b. The factory owners were threatening to pay their employees in fifty-
cent pieces, instead of a dollar if Bryan won the election.
c. McKinley won the election of 1896, and this political feud was dubbed
the period of the “fourth party system.”

R. Republican Stand-pattism Enthroned

1) The Gold Standard Act of 1900, provided the currency to redeem gold and the
economy came back as inflation slowly too care of all the needs.
Chapter 27 The Path of Empire (1890-1899)

A. Imperialist Stirrings
1. The “Yellow Press” of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.
a. Showed foreign exploits
b. Brought forward the problems to the American society.
2. The new steel navy focused overseas.
a. Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan argued that control of the sea was the
key to world dominance.
b. Mahan helped stimulate the naval race among the great powers.
3. America’s new international interest.
a. “Big Sister” policy, which opened the Latin American markets to the
Yankee traders.
b. Pan American Conference, sketched a plan for economic cooperation
through reciprocal tariff reduction.
4. Diplomatic Crises
a. America and Germany over the Samoan Islands.
b. America and Italy in the New Orleans.
c. The death of two American sailors in Valparaiso, Chile.

B. Monroe’s Doctrine and the Venezuelan Squall

1. President Cleveland wanted to have a protest because he did not like Britain to
much
2. London had replied that this affair was none of Uncle Sam’s business.
3. President Cleveland declared that if Britain did not accept the rightful boundary,
then they would fight.
4. Prestige of the Monroe Doctrine was immensely enhanced.

C. Spurning the Hawaiian Pear

1. Hawaii was a way station and provisioning point for Yankee shippers, sailors,
and whalers.
a. New England missionaries came to preach Protestant Christianity and
protective calico.
2. The United States felt that Hawaii was a virtual extension to itself and warned
other countries to stay away.
3. The US now had priceless naval-base rights to Pearl Harbor.
4. There was both economic and political trouble coming however.
a. Sugar cultivation went sour in 1890 when McKinley Tariff raised
barriers against Hawaiian product.
5. Majority of Hawaiians were not in favor of annexation.
6. The annexation of Hawaii started the first full-fledged imperialistic debate ever.

D. Cubans Rise in Revolt

1. Their sugar production was crippled because of the high tariffs.
2. Scorched Earth Policy
a. They thought if they did enough damage, that Spain would move out.
 b. Or maybe the US would come in and help Cuba.
3. Spanish General Weyler came in
a. Took civilians into barbed wire concentration camps.
b. Many of the victims died because of the pour conditions in them.
4. Americans wanted to do something, but Cleveland wouldn’t budge.

E. The Mystery of the Maine Explosion

1. Atrocities in Cuba were made because of the new “yellow journalism”
a. Where the atrocity stories did not exist, they were made up.
b. Most of these stories outraged the American people and made them
want to become part of this war.
2. Maine blew up in Havana Harbor in February 15, 1898,
3. Many theories were made to explain the explosion.
a. Spanish officials in Cuba was one explanation.
b. A spontaneous combustion in a coal bunker, was another.
4. Americans believed it was the Spanish.

F. McKinley Unleashes the Dogs of War

1. McKinley was very hesitant to go to war, which was criticized by many people,
but needed to stay out of war instead of plunge into it.
2. Public pressures along with him knowing that the war would come eventually
lead to him letting the US go to war.
3. April 11, 1898, McKinley sent his war message to Congress.
a. To send armed intervention to free the oppressed Cubans.
4. Teller Amendment
a. Proclaimed that when the United States had overthrown the Spanish
misrule, it would give Cubans their freedom.
b. This made imperialistic Europeans happy.

G. Dewey’s May Day Victory at Manila

1. The US plunged into war, with 2,100 officers and 28,000 men, compared to the
200,000 Spanish troops in Cuba.
a. Even though the Americans were out numbered, their navy was
stronger, and the Spanish had many handicaps
2. February 25, 1898, Roosevelt told Commodore George Dewey to descend upon
the Philippines to start the war.
3. Dewey did this and had a victory of the Spanish.
H. Unexpected Imperialistic Plums
1. George Dewey became national hero overnight.
a. He was promptly promoted to rank of admiral.
2. American troops captured Manila on August 13, 1898
3. Hawaii was annexed on July 7, 1898.
a. The residents of Hawaii were granted U.S. citizenship with annexation
and received full territorial status in 1900.
I. The Confused Invasion of Cuba
 1. Spanish government ordered a fleet of warships to Cuba, commanded by
Admiral Cervera.
a. Got blockaded in Santiago harbor, Cuba by the American fleet.
2. Americans panicked so navy sent useless civil war ships to useless places for
morale purposes.
3. General William R. Shafter led U.S. troops to push out Cervera.
4. Rough Riders were led by Lieutenant Theodore Roosevelt.
a. They were mostly western cowboys, ex-polo players and ex-convicts.
J. Curtains for Spain in America
1. USS Oregon could destroy the Spanish fleet.
a. Santiago surrendered
2. General Nelson A. Miles captured Puerto Rico with little resistance.
3. Spain signed an armistice on August 12, 1898.
4. 400 died from bullets and over five thousand died from bacteria and other
causes.
K. McKinley Heeds Duty, Destiny, and Dollars
1. In 1898 the Spanish and American negotiators meet in Paris.
a. Cuba is free from Spanish rule
b. America got Guam and Puerto Rico, eliminating Spain’s New World
Empire.
c. America gives Spain $20 million for the Philippine Islands
L. America’s Course (Curse?) of Empire
1. Anti-Imperialist League was enraged at U.S. obtaining all this land.
a. To annex the Filipinos would violate the “consent of the governed”
philosophy in the Declaration of Independence.
2. Expansionists and imperialists thought the richer the natural resources of the
islands appeared to be, the less capable of self–government they seemed to be.
3. America ratified the pact on February 6, 1899, with one vote to spare.
M. Perplexities in Puerto Rico and Cuba
1. Foraker Act of 1900, Puerto Ricans get a limited degree of popular government.
1917, they are granted U.S. citizenship
2. 1901 the Insular Cases ruling was that the flag did out run the Constitution.
3. Soldiers stationed in Cuba with yellow fever volunteer to find cure and it was
carried by mosquitoes and cleanup of breeding places cured it.
4. U.S. withdrew from Cuba in 1902 with respect to the Teller Amendment of 1898
and had Cuba write into their constitution of 1901 the Platt Amendment
N. New Horizons in Two Hemispheres
1. The Spanish American War lasted 113 days.
2. John Hay called it a “splendid little war”
Chapter 28 America on the World State (1899-1809)

A. “Little Brown Brothers” in the Philippines

1. Filipinos assumed would receive freedom after Spanish-American War, but
didn’t so they revolted against U.S.
a. Insurrection began on February 4, 1899, and led by Emilio Aguinaldo,
took troops into guerrilla warfare after open combat proved to be useless.
b. 1901 when U.S. soldier invaded Aguinaldo’s guerilla camp and
captured him.
2. President McKinley formed Philippine Commission in 1899 to deal with
Filipinos, and in second year, organization headed by amiable William H. Taft,
who developed strong attachment for the Filipinos, calling them his “little brown
brothers.”
3. Americans tried to assimilate Filipinos, but islanders resisted; finally got their
independence on July 4, 1946.

B. John Hay Defends China (and U.S. Interests)

1. Following defeat by Japan in 1894-94, China carved into spheres of influence
by the European powers.
2. Americans were alarmed, churches worried about their missionary strongholds
while businesses feared that they would not be able to export their products to
China.
3. Secretary of State John Hay dispatched Open Door note, urged European
nations to keep fair competition open to all nations willing and wanting to
participate.
a. Urged them to announce that in their leaseholds or spheres of influence
they would respect certain Chinese rights and ideal of fair competition.
b. Britain, Germany, France, and Japan all accepted. John Hay interpreted
Russian refusal as acceptance and proclaimed that Open Door was in
effect.

C. Hinging the Open Door in China

1. In 1900, super-patriotic group, the “Boxers” revolted and took over capital of
China, Beijing, taking all foreigners hostage.
a. After multi-national force broke rebellion, powers made China pay $333
million for damages, of which the U.S. eventually received $18 million.
2. John Hay announced that Open Door would now embrace territorial integrity of
China in addition to commercial integrity.

D. Kicking “Teddy” Roosevelt Upstairs

1. McKinley, easy choice to be president in 1900, and Republican Party leaders
wanted to get rid of maverick Teddy Roosevelt, so they cooked up a scheme to
kick him into the vice presidency, a traditional political graveyard.
2. TR received a unanimous vote for VP, except for his own.
a. Democrats could only decide on William Jennings Bryan.
 E. Imperialism or Bryanism in 1900?
1. McKinley did nothing and Bryan actively campaigning, but Theodore
Roosevelt’s active campaigning took a lot of momentum away from Bryan’s.
2. Bryan’s supporters concentrated on imperialism while McKinley’s supporters
claimed that “Bryanism,” not imperialism, was the problem, and if Bryan became
president, he would shake up prosperity that was in America at time; McKinley won
easily.

F. TR: Brandisher of the Big Stick

1. Six months later, William McKinley murdered, making Theodore Roosevelt
youngest president ever at age 42.
a. TR promised to carry out McKinley’s policies.
2. Theodore Roosevelt.
a. Motto was “Speak softly and carry a big stick”.
b. A master politician, and a maverick uncontrollable by party machines,
and believed that a president should lead, becoming “first modern
president.”

G. Columbia Blocks the Canal

1. TR traveled to Europe and knew more about foreign affairs and one foreign affair
that needed to be dealt with was creation of a canal through Central American
isthmus.
2. 1850 Clayton-Bulwer Treaty with Britain forbade construction by either country of
a canal in Americas without other’s consent and help, but statement nullified in 1901
by Hay-Pauncefote Treaty.
3. Nicaraguan route was one possible place for a canal, but was opposed by French
Canal Company that was eager to salvage something from their costly failure at
Panama (wanted to make a Panama canal).
a. Leader was Philippe Bunau-Varilla.
4. U.S. finally chose Panama after Mount Pelée erupted and killed 30,000 people.
5. U.S. negotiated deal that would buy 6-mile-wide strip of land in Panama for $10
million and $250,000 annual payment, but treaty retracted by Columbian government,
which owned Panama.
a. TR angry, wanted construction of the canal to begin before 1904
campaign.

H. Uncle Sam Creates a Puppet Panama

1. November 3, 1903, revolution in Panama began with the killing of a Chinese
civilian and a donkey, and when Columbia tried to stop it, U.S., citing 1846 treaty
with Columbia, wouldn’t let Columbian fleet through.
2. Panama recognized by U.S., and fifteen days later, Bunau-Varilla, Panamanian
minister despite French nationality, signed Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty that give
widened (6x10 mi.) Panamanian zone to U.S. for $15 mil.

I. Completing the Canal and Appeasing Columbia

 1. 1904, construction began on Panama Canal, but problems with land slides and
sanitation occurred.
a. Colonel George Washington Coethals organized workers while Colonel
William C. Gorgas exterminated yellow fever.
b. When TR visited Panama in 1906, first U.S. president to leave America
for foreign soil.
c. Canal finished and opened in 1914, at cost of $400 million.

J. TR’s Perversion of the Monroe Doctrine

1. Latin American nations like Venezuela and Dominican Republic had hard time
paying debts to European debtors, so Britain and Germany decided to sent a force to
South America to make them pay.
2. TR feared if European powers interfered in Americas to collect debts, they might
ten stay in Latin America, a violation of Monroe Doctrine, issued his Roosevelt
Corollary, stated that in future cases of debt problems, U.S. would take over and pay
off debts, keeping Europeans away.
a. Latin America felt that Uncle Sam was being overbearing.
3. U.S. Marines landed in Cuba to bring back order to island in 1906, seemed like
extension of “Bad Neighbor” policy.

K. Roosevelt on the World Stage

1. 1904, Japan attacked Russia, Russia had been in Manchuria, and proceeded to
administer series of humiliating victories until Japans’ men started to decline.
a. Approached Theodore Roosevelt to facilitate a peace treaty.
b. Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1905, both sides met, (Japanese wanted
all of strategic island of Sakhalin while Russians disagreed), TR
negotiated deal in which Japan got half of Sakhalin but no indemnity for
its losses.
2. For his work and help in North African disputes in 1906 at international conference
at Algeciras, Spain, TR received Nobel Peace Prize,1906.
3. Russo-Japanese incident, America lost two allies in Russia and Japan; neither felt it
had received its fair share of winnings.

L. Japanese Laborers in California

1. After war, Japanese immigrants poured into California, and fears of “yellow flood”
began.
2. 1906 after San Francisco earthquake when city decreed that due to lack of space,
Japanese children should attend a special school.
a. International issue, but TR settled it.
b. San Francisco would not move students while Japan would keep
workers in Japan.
3. To impress Japanese, Roosevelt sent entire battleship fleet around world for a tour,
and it received tremendous salutes in Latin America, New Zealand, Hawaii,
Australia, and Japan, relieving tensions.
4. Root-Takahira Agreement pledged U.S. and Japan to respect each territorial
possession in Pacific and to uphold Open Note in China.
Chapter 29 Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt (1901-1912)

A. Progressive Roots
1. Beginning of 1900s, America had 76 million people (good condition), but before
first decade of 20th century, U.S. would be struck by movement by people known as
progressives (fought against monopoly, corruption, inefficiency, social injustice)
a. Purpose of Progressive Movement- to use government as agency of
human welfare
2. Progressives had roots in Greenback Labor Party (1870s+1880s) and Populist Party
(1890s)
Before 1900, perceptive politicians and writers begun to pinpoint targets for
progressive attack
a, Henry Demarest Lloyd- Wealth Against Commonwealth (1894)-
targeted Standard Oil Company
b. Thorstein Veblen- The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899)- targeted
new rich
c. Jacob A. Riis- How the Other Half Lives (1890)- targeted New York
slums
d. Theodore Dreiser- The Financier (1912) and The Titan (1914)-
targeted promoters and profiteers
3. Socialists and feminists gained strength and entered Progressive fight.

B. Raking Muck with the Muckrakers

1. 1902- exposing of evil is flourishing industry among American publishers
2. Magazines dug deep for dirt that public loved to hate
3. 1906- President Roosevelt branded reporters as “muckrakers”
4. Muckrakers boomed circulation; some of scandalous exposures published as
best selling books
5. 1902- Lincoln Steffens launched series of articles in McClure’s titled “The
Shame of the Cities”
a. unmasked corrupt alliance between big business and municipal
government
6. Plenty muckrakers fearlessly tilted pen lances at varied targets
7. Some of most effective fire of muckrakers directed at social evils
8. Muckrakers signified much about nature of progressive reform movement

C. Political Progressivism
1. Progressive reformers sensed pressure from new giant corporations, restless
immigrant hordes, aggressive labor unions
2. Progressives favored “initiative” so voters could propose legislation, the
“referendum” so people could vote on laws that affected them, the “recall” to take
bad officials off positions
3. Progressives desired to expose graft, use secret ballot to counteract effects of
party bosses, have direct election of U.S. senators to curb corruption
a. 1913- 17th Amendment provided direct election of senators
 3. Females campaigned for woman’s suffrage, but that didn’t come

D. Progressivism in the Cities and States

1. Progressive cities used expert staffed commissions to manage urban affairs or
city manager system, designed to take politics out of municipal administration
2. Urban reformers tackled “slumlords,” juvenile delinquency, wide open
prostitution
3. Governor Robert M. La Follette (Wisconsin) wrestled control from trusts and
returned power to the people, becoming Progressive leader in process.
a. Other states took to regulate railroads and trusts
b. Governor Charles Evans Hughes (New York) gained fame by
investigating malpractices of gas and insurance companies.

E. Battling Social Ills

1. Progressives made major improvements in fight against child labor
a. Muller vs. Oregon (1908) found attorney Louis D. Brandeis persuading
Supreme Court to accept constitutionality of laws that protected women
workers.
b. Lochner vs. New York invalidated a New York law establishing a ten-
hour day for bakers.
c. 1917- Court upheld similar law as New York Law for factory workers.
2. Alcohol came under attack of Progressives
a. Prohibitionist organizations formed- Woman’s Christian Temperance
Union (Frances E. Willard) and Anti-Saloon League
b. 1919- 18th Amendment prohibited sale and drinking of alcohol.

F. TR’s Square Deal for Labor

1. Progressivism spirit touched President Roosevelt, and “Square Deal” embraced
three Cs: control of corporations, consumer protection, and conservation of US
natural resources.
2. 1902- strike broke out in anthracite coalmines of Pennsylvania, some 140,000
workers demanded 20% pay increase and reduction of workday to nine hours
a. after owners refused to negotiate and lack of coal was getting to the
freezing schools, hospitals, and factories, TR threatened to seize mines
and operate with federal troops
b. Workers got 10% pay increase and 9 hour workday, but union wasn’t
officially recognized as bargaining agent.
3. 1903- Department of Commerce and Labor formed, part of which was Bureau
of Corporations, allowed to probe businesses engaged in interstate commerce;
highly useful in “trust-busting.”

G. TR Corrals the Corporations

1. 1887- formed Interstate Commerce Commission had proven to be inadequate;
1903- Congress passed Elkins Act, which fined RR’s that gave rebates and
shippers that accepted them
2. Hepburn Act restricted free passes of railroads.
 3. TR decided there were “good trusts” and “bad trusts,” and set out to control
“bad trusts”
a. 1904- Supreme Court upheld TR’s antitrust suit and ordered Northern
Securities to dissolve, decision that angered Wall Street but helped TR’s
image
4. TR crack down on over 40 trusts, and helped dissolve beef, sugar, fertilizer,
harvesters trusts, but wasn’t as big of a trustbuster as portrayed
a. Had no wish to take down “good trusts,” but trusts that did fall under
TR’s big stick fell symbolically, so other trusts would reform themselves
5. TR’s successor, William Howard Taft, crushed more trusts than TR

H. Caring of the Consumer

1. 1906- significant improvements in meat industry passed, such as Meat
Inspection Act, which decreed that preparation of meat shipped over state lines
would be subject to federal inspection from corral to can
a. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle enlightened American public to horrors of
meatpacking industry
2. Pure Food and Drug Act tried to prevent adulteration and mislabeling of foods
and pharmaceuticals
a. Another reason- to make sure European markets could trust American
beef and other meat
I. Earth Control

1. Desert Land Act of 1877

a. 1st conservation act
b. Federal government sold arid land cheaply on the condition that the
purchaser must irrigate the thirsty soil within 3 years

2. More successful - Forest Reserve Act of 1891

a. authorized president to set aside public forests as national parks and
other reserves
b. Under this act, 46 million acres of forest were rescued.

3. Gifford Pinchot
a. Persuaded Roosevelt
b. Head of the federal Division of Forestry
c. Helped initiate massive conservation projects
4. Newlands Act of 1902
a. Initiated irrigation projects for the western states
5. Roosevelt set aside 125 million acres
6. Jack London’s Call of the Wild
7. Establishments of the Boy Scouts of America and the Sierra Club – dedicated
to preserve wilderness of western landscape
8. 1913 - Hetch Hetchy Valley controversy
J. The “Roosevelt Panic” of 1907
1. Republicans thought TR to be dangerous and unpredictable like a rattlesnake
2. 1907 - panic on Wall Street, TR at the center of its blame. Eventually this panic
paved the way for long-overdue fiscal reforms
3. 1908 – Aldrich -Vreeland Act was passed - authorized national banks to issue
emergency currency backed by various kinds of collateral.
a. Led to Federal Reserve Act of 1913

K. The Rough Rider Thunders Out

1. In 1908 campaign, TR chose William Taft as his “successor,” who defeated
William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic nominee
2. TR’s contributions that lasted – power of presidential office, “big stick”
diplomacy, progressive movement, Square Deal, and the idea that America shared
the world with other nations

L. Taft: A Round Peg in a Square Hole

1. William Taft – progressive and sensitive to criticism, not as liberal as
Roosevelt

M. The Dollar Goes Abroad as Diplomat

1. “Dollar Diplomacy” - called for Wall Street bankers to sluice their surplus
dollars into foreign areas of strategic concern to the U.S., especially in the Far
East and in the regions critical to the security of the Panama Canal, or otherwise,
rival powers like Germany might weaken U.S. trade.
2. 1909 - Philander C. Knox proposed that a group of American and foreign
bankers buy the railroads and turn them over to China.
3. Taft pumped money into Honduras and Haiti

N. Taft the Trustbuster

1. Taft brought 90 suits against trusts.
2. In 1911, the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of the Standard Oil
Company.
3. After Taft tried to break apart U.S. Steel, he increasingly became TR’s
antagonist.

O. Taft Splits the Republican Party

1. Payne-Aldrich Bill passed; it betrayed Taft’s promise and outraged many
people
2. While Taft did establish the Bureau of Mines to control mineral resources, his
participation in the Ballinger-Pinchot quarrel of 1910 was criticized by Pinchot,
who was then fired by Taft.
3. 1910 - the Republican Party split between the Progressives and the Old Guard
that Taft supported, and Democrats emerged with a landslide in the House.

P. The Taft-Roosevelt Rupture

1. 1911 - National Progressive Republican League was formed
 a. Robert La Follette was leader
2. TR became a candidate on the Progressive ticketE
3. Election of 1912 - Theodore Roosevelt versus William H. Taft versus the
Democratic candidate