2.3 The Republican Presidency: McKinley, Roosevelt, and Taft

Question 1

What was support for the Republican party like when McKinley came to power?

Answer 1

• Large majorities in both the House and the Senate
• First time since the Black vote that they had won presidency without needing the black vote in the South

Question 2

What was McKinley’s approach to tariffs?

Answer 2

• Maintained the protective tariff
• Dingley Tariff Act of 1897 pushed tariff rater to an even higher level

Question 3

What was McKinley’s stance on the gold standard debate?

Answer 3

• Strong believer in the gold standard
• Policy strengthened by the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush of 1897-9, increasing the gold in circulation
• 1900 Currency Act committed the US to maintain the gold standard

Question 4

What were the problems associated with McKinley’s approach to the gold standard?

Answer 4

• Prosperity was lessened
• Rising farm prices

Question 5

What was McKinley’s involvement in foreign affairs?

Answer 5

• Spanish American War success strengthened his political position
• Not particularly expansionist
• Military and naval successes in Cuba and the Pacific favoured his position
• Made war hero, Roosevelt, his vice president for his re-election in 1900

Question 6

What was McKinley and Roosevelt’s relationship like?

Answer 6

• Not harmonious as a team
• Differences in age, personality, and political beliefs
• Strong electoral team and easily defeated Bryan in the 1900 election

Question 7

How were Roosevelt’s policies different from McKinley’s?

Answer 7

Roosevelt was a lot more interventionist and more progressive

Question 8

When was McKinley president?

Answer 8

1897 until 1901 when he was assassinated

Question 9

What antitrust measures did Roosevelt introduce?

Answer 9

• Wanted to make the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act more effective
• Started proceedings against Northern Securities (JP Morgan) in 1902 which was found to be illegal in 1904
• Went on to make 44 antitrust prosecutions, including American Tobacco and Standard Oil
• 1906 Hepburn Act ensured closer regulation of the railways to ensure the public weren’t being exploited

Question 10

How did Roosevelt deal with the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902?

Answer 10

• Employers had locked out miners who went on strike for better conditions
• Roosevelt intervened on the side of the miners and ensured employers raised wages and offered a 9 hour day
• Made him popular with the working class

Question 11

How did employers respond to Roosevelt’s support of the workers?

Answer 11

• He made them raise wages
• So they raised the prices of their goods to cover the pay rise

Question 12

What did Roosevelt do for conservation of land?

Answer 12

• Ordered 150 million acres of forest to be placed on federal reserves and strictly enforced laws concerning grazing, mining, and lumbering
• Organised the National Conservation Conference which led to many states creating commissions to look after the environment
• About 120 million acres were taken into public domain between 1905 and 1909

Question 13

What did Roosevelt do to improve food quality?

Answer 13

• an Act of 1906 led to the federal programme of meat inspection
• 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act which started the process of ending food adulteration

Question 14

What was Roosevelt’s attitudes towards the native Americans?

Answer 14

• His National parks were on Native American territory which drove them away from their ancestral lands
• “the only good indians are dead indians”
• White supremacy

Question 15

What was the growing divide in the Republican Party under Roosevelt?

Answer 15

Conservatives and Progressives

Question 16

When was Roosevelt president?

Answer 16

1901 - 1909