CHAPTER OUTLINE

The nature of progressivism General features Aimed against the abuses of the Gilded-Age bosses Goals Greater democracy Honest, efficient government Effective business regulation Greater social justice A diverse movement Antecedents Problems of industrialization and urbanization Urban reform Mugwumps Socialist critiques of living and working conditions Role of the muckrakers Henry Demarest Lloyd and Lincoln Steffens Bringing about popular support for reform Stronger on diagnosis than remedy The themes of progressivism Democratizing the government Direct primaries Initiative, referendum, recall Direct election of senators Efficiency and good government Frederick W. Taylor and scientific management Commission and city-manager forms of city government Use of specialists in government and business Robert M. La Follette “Wisconsin Idea” Regulation of giant corporations Acceptance and regulation of big business Problem of regulating the regulators Impulse toward social justice Private charities and state power Outlawing child labor Erratic course of the Supreme Court Restricting working hours and dangerous occupations Stricter building codes and factory inspection acts Pressure for prohibition Roosevelt’s progressivism TR’s expansive view Focus on trust regulation Opposition to wholesale trust-busting Northern Securities case (1904) used to promote the issue Coal strike of 1902 Basis for the UMW strike Recalcitrant attitude of management TR’s efforts to force arbitration Effects of the incident Congressional action Department of Commerce and Labor Elkins Act Other antitrust suits TR’s second term Election of 1904 Republican nomination Democratic positions and candidate Campaign and results Roosevelt’s legislative leadership Hepburn Act Roosevelt’s support of food and drug regulation Role of muckrakers: Upton Sinclair and others Legislation Efforts for conservation Earlier movements for conservation Roosevelt’s actions Taft’s administration Selection of a successor in 1908 TR’s choice Democrats and Bryan Election results Taft’s background and character Campaign for tariff reform Problems in Senate Taft’s clash with the Progressive Republicans Ballinger-Pinchot controversy Roosevelt’s response upon his return to the United States Initial silence Development of the New Nationalism TR enters the race Taft’s achievements The election of 1912 The Republican nomination of 1912 Creation of the Progressive party Wilson’s rise to power His background Governor of New Jersey His nomination Focus of the campaign on the New Nationalism and the New Freedom Wilson’s election Significance of the election of 1912 High-water mark for progressivism Brought Democrats back into office Brought southerners into control Wilsonian reform Wilson’s style Tariff reform Personal appearance before Congress Tariff changes in the Underwood-Simmons Act Income tax provisions The Federal Reserve Act Compromises required Description of the Federal Reserve System Efforts for new antitrust laws Wilson’s approach in 1912 Federal Trade Commission Act (September 1914) Clayton Antitrust Act (October 1914) Practices outlawed Provisions for labor and farm organizations Disappointments with administration of the new laws The shortcomings of Wilson’s progressivism Women’s suffrage Child labor Racist attitudes Wilson’s return to reform Plight of the Progressive party Appointment of Brandeis to the Supreme Court Support for land banks and long-term farm loans Farm demonstration agents and agricultural education Labor reform legislation The paradoxes of progressivism