Theodore Roosevelt the Square Deal Agenda

Theodore Roosevelt & the Square Deal

Agenda for Next Week • Monday October 10: Wrap up chapter 16/finish lecture on Roosevelt & Progressivism • Tuesday October 11: Ms. Connolly (Current Events) • Wednesday October 12: Ch. 16 Test (Sub) • Thursday October 13: Ms. Connolly

Agenda for Week of October 17 -21 • Monday-Tuesday: Ms. Connolly • Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: - Substitute teacher. - Watching To Kill a Mockingbird in class.

The Many Talents of TR • Politician (held offices at city, state & Federal levels) • Explorer • Hunter • Published author (wrote over 35 books) • Soldier • Historian • Cattle Rancher

Vice President Elected as William Mc. Kinley’s VP in 1900

Mc. Kinley Assassinated in September 1901

Roosevelt becomes youngest President in history at 42 years old • Changed the Presidency • Believed that the President should be more active & set the legislative agenda • The first truly “activist” President • Credited with transitioning US into 20 th century

The Bully Pulpit • "I suppose my critics will call that preaching, but I have got such a bully pulpit!“ • TR used the Presidency to advocate issues & to get public support for his agenda • Believed the President should lead and actively push and progress America forward. • Traveled the country giving dynamic speeches

Used his Presidency to enact PROGRESSIVE IDEAS to REFORM American politics, society & business

TR’s Domestic Agenda of Reform • Labor – Advocated the rights of workers (labor). • Trust-Busting – Breaking up monopolistic trusts • Regulation of business – Government took power to regulation railroads • Consumer Protection – Government regulation of food production • Conservation – Set aside land for national parks

LABOR: The Coal Strike of 1902 • May 12, 1902: Coal Miners in eastern Pennsylvania go on strike to: – Secure better wages – Safer working conditions – Recognition of United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Over 100, 000 workers walk off the job

Americans feared if strike continued, they would have no coal for the winter

TR Intervenes • TR directly intervenes in the crisis • Calls the Coal Business owners and Union leaders to the White House & directly mediates meeting • Encourages arbitration TR threatened to take over mines with Federal troops if an agreement wasn’t made

TR Saves the Day • Mine Owners accept arbitration because of TR’s threat • Special Arbitration rules: – Workers get a 10% pay increase – Workday shortened to 9 hours

How does TR’s demonstrate change? • President’s (before TR) did not interfere in businesses and in labor strikes (“laissez faire”) • TR threatened to take control of coal mines. Constitutional or not? • Beginning of the trend of government taking the side of workers • Activist government

When asked if his efforts were legal and Constitutional, TR said. . “To hell with the Constitution, people want coal!”

Roosevelt called this “The Square Deal” • Roosevelt believed he balanced the desires of all parties. . . – The People: Wanted coal – The Worker’s: Got higher wages (not as high was they wanted) and shorter workdays – Business owners: Production resumed, were not required to recognize Union.

“Square Deal” becomes TR’s capaign slogan • Roosevelt said he promised to “see that each person is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less. ” • Promised to balance the needs of worker’s, businesses and consumers.

TRUST-BUSTING Northern Securities Company • Northern Pacific, Great Northern & Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroads combine into one company • Total worth $400 Million • Dominated Railroad lines from Chicago to Northwest.

TR Stops it! • TR sues the National Securities Company for violating the… (what law prohibited trusts that limited competition? ) SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT

Teddy “the Trust-Buster” Roosevelt • Roosevelt successfully breaks up the National Securities Company • Next sues to break up Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company (completed under Taft) • Filed dozens of lawsuits against other trusts that he saw as bad for the American consumer.

TR & Railroad Regulation Review: Railroad rebates for big businesses

TR & Railroad Regulation TR persuades Republic Congress to pass legislation giving Federal government control over railroad companies • Elkins Act (1903) – Makes it illegal for railroad companies to give rebates to large corporations • Hepburn Act (1906) – Gave the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to set railroad rates.

The Main Idea • Roosevelt believed that government had the duty to regulate big business to protect the welfare of society • Believed “laissez-faire” did not apply when business provided a necessary service to the people (Railroads, coal, oil)

Environmental Conservation Background: • February 14, 1884: TR’s wife (Alice) and mother die on the same day.

Environmental Conservation • Roosevelt moves to the Dakota’s to hunt buffalo and start a ranch • Roosevelt became disturbed by… – Damage being done to wildlife – Forests being depleted – The western frontier was disappearing This experience leads TR to develop conservationist ideas

Environmental Conservation What is a Conservationist? A person who seeks to protect and preserve natural resources

Environmental Conservation • TR uses the Presidency to promote conservation of the American wilderness • Before TR, government had left wilderness unregulated • 1903: TR visits naturalist John Muir at Yosemite - Muir helps convinces Roosevelt to use Federal government to preserve land

Muir believed all of the undeveloped land should be preserved. . . TR believed some land should be preserved and other land should be developed for economic use

Conservation Under TR • Newlands Reclamation Act – Federal government creates irrigation systems & build dams to make dry lands productive – Applies to land in 20 states – Funded by the sale of government land – After an area would be irrigated, it would be sold – Allowed much of the dry land of the American west to be developed and settled

Conservation Under TR • Establishes U. S. Forest Service – TR increased Federal land reserves from 40 million to 200 million acres by the end of his 2 nd term. – Brought much of the west under direct Federal control. - Authority later expanded to allow Federal government to buy privately owned land. - Land in eastern U. S. added

Antiquities Act of 1906 • Authorized the Federal government to declare historical landmarks • Designed to protect Indian ruins, artifacts & other areas of natural American history • Created 18 national monuments

Legacy of TR The Grand Canyon

Legacy of TR Crater Lake National Park (Oregon)

Legacy of TR Petrified Forest (Arizona)

“"All the great natural resources which are vital to the welfare of the whole people should be kept either in the hands or under the control of the whole people. " - Theodore Roosevelt

Consumer Protection • 1906: Upton Sinclair publishes The Jungle • Exposes the unsanitary conditions within the meat packing industry • Muckraking – Journalists who exposed the “filth” (muck) of society.

Read excerpt from “The Jungle”

"I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach. - Upton Sinclair

The Result • Meat Inspection Act • Mandatory inspection of livestock before slaughter • Mandatory postmortem inspection of every carcass • Sanitary standards established for slaughterhouses and meat processing plants; and • Authorized U. S. Department of Agriculture ongoing monitoring and inspection of slaughter and processing operations.

The Result • Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) – Forbade the manufacture, sale or transportation of food or medicine containing harmful ingredients – Required ingredient labels on drugs – Created the Food and Drug Administration responsible for testing the safety of foods and drugs designed for human consumption