Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson

Election of 1912

Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal• Progressive who extended federal

government's power to improve labor conditions, control big business, and support conservation

• Trust-buster – breaking up major trusts that he believed abused their power gained him popularity with the American people

• Arbitrator – Felt his job was to keep society operating efficiency so he mediated conflicts between unions and owners– Arbitration – a settlement

negotiated by an outside power

Major Legislation• Hepburn Act – Gave the Interstate

Commerce Commission the power to set railroad rates

• Meat Inspection Act – Required federal inspection of meat sold through interstate commerce and required the Agriculture department to set standards of cleanliness in meatpacking plants– Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle was

published that showed conditions in Chicago slaughterhouses

• Pure Food and Drug Act – Prohibited the manufacture, sale, or shipment of impure or falsely labeled food and drugs

Roosevelt and Conservation• Realized the nations natural

resources were being used up and urged Americans to conserve and protect

• Newlands Reclamation Act – authorized federal funds from public land sales to pay for irrigation and land development projects

• Established US Forest Service – controlled lumbering on federal lands, added 100 million acres to national forests, established 5 national parks, and 51 wildlife reservations

Taft’s Reforms• Payne-Aldrich Tariff – barely cut

tariffs and raised on some goods – debate over tariffs split the Republican party

• Made million’s of acres of public forests available for private development angering progressives

• Children’s Bureau – agency that investigated and publicized the problems of child labor

• Bureau of Mines – monitor the activities of mining companies, expanded the national forests and protected waterpower sites

• Opponent of monopolies - he brought many anti-trust cases to court

Roosevelt’s view on Taft• Roosevelt believed Taft would be

the ideal person to continue his policies

• Roosevelt did not feel he had done that so Roosevelt announced he would reenter politics and attempt to replace Taft as the Republican nominee

• Roosevelt created the Bull Moose party and ran as a Progressive

• The Republican vote was split between Taft and Roosevelt allowing democrat Woodrow Wilson to win the Election of 1912

1912 Election

And the winner is…….Wilson

Wilson’s New Freedom Reforms• Tariff Reform

– Underwood Tariff reduced the tariff on imported goods and allowed Congress to collect income tax

• Banking Reform – Federal Reserve Act created 12 regional banks that set interest rates on what

they charged other banks to borrow – banks would have to keep a portion of their deposits in a regional reserve

• Antitrust Action – Federal Trade Commission was created to monitor American businesses and

investigate companies that engaged in unfair trade practices that hurt competition

– Clayton Antitrust Act – outlawed certain practices that restricted competition and banned discrimination in selling

• Keating-Owen Child Labor Act – prohibited the employment of children under the age of 14 in factories producing good for interstate commerce

Federal Reserve Bank map