History ch 28 Flashcards
What was a “muckraker”? What was the goal of a muckraker?
Muckrakers are bright young reporters at the turn of the twentieth century who won this unfavorable moniker from Theodore Rossevelt but boosted the circulations of their magazines by writing exposes of widespread corruption in American society. They wanted to lay bare muck of iniquity in American society.
On what targets did reform writers (muckrakers) Steffens, Tarbell, Phillips, and Baker focus?
Steffens focused on the corrupt alliance between big business and municipal government. Tarbell published a devastating but factual expose of the Standard Oil Company. Phillips charged that seventy five of the ninety senators did not represent the people at all but the railroads and trusts. Baker highlighted the sorry subjugation of America’s 9 million blacks of whom 90% still lived in the South and one-third were illiterate.
Why is it difficult to define who the Progressives were?
It was difficult because there was such a wide range of people who were called Progressives. There were people like Theodore Roosevelt who were in the military but also included people like Jane Addams who were pacifists.
What political reforms did the Progressives want to make to help them accomplish their objectives of regaining political power for the people and rooting our graft from politics?
These ardent reforms pushed for direct primary elections so as to undercut power-hungry party bosses. They favored the initiative so that voters could directly propose legislation themselves, thus bypassing the boss-bought state legislatures. Progressives also agitated for the referendum. The recall would enable the voters to remove faithless elected officials, particularly those who had been bribed by bosses or lobbyists. To root out graft from politics, a number of state legislatures passed corrupt-practices acts, which limited the amount of money that candidates could spend for their election. And the Australian ballot was put in place to counteract boss rule.
On what issues were women progressives most active? In what area were they most successful?
A crucial focus for women’s activism was the settlement house movement. The women’s club movement provided an even broader civic entryway for many middle-class women. In 1899 Kelley took control of the newly founded National Consumer League, which mobilized female consumers to pressure for laws safeguarding women and children in the workplace.
What was “Progressive” about the 17th Amendment?
A constitutional amendment to bring about the popular election of senators had rough sledding in Congress, for the plutocratic members of the Senate were happy with existing methods. The local legislatures, when choosing senators, found it politically wise to heed the voice of the people. As a result, the seventeenth amendment was approved which established direct election of U.S. senators.
One of the reasons Progressives were successful is that they argued that Progressive reforms would help prevent socialist inroads in the US. Your text took up the question of why socialism didn’t take root in the US. What were its main observations?
The strikingly egalitarian manners of all Americans, the safety valve of the western frontier, the American workers’ remarkably high standard of living, and an accident of historical timing.
What was “Progressive” about the 18th Amendment?
Based on moral and religious grounds, these churches argued that prohibition would help eliminate political corruption, domestic violence, and prostitution, of which alcohol was seen as the major cause. : (“Constitutional Amendments – Amendment 18 – “the Beginning of Prohibition””)
How can the Progressive mood of the nation at this point be seen in the following cases and pieces of legislation?
Muller v. Oregon
Lochner v. New York
Elkins and Hepburn Acts
Muller v. Oregon: A landmark Supreme Court case in which crusading attorney Louis D. Brandeis persuaded the Supreme Court to accept the constitutionality of limiting the hours of women workers. Because women needed time at home as well as working.
Lochner v. New York: A setback for labor reformers, this Supreme Court decision invalidated a state law establishing a ten-hour day for bakers. It held that the “right to free contact” was implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Bakers should not live where they work so this ban was good.
Elkins and Hepburn Acts: Law passed by Congress to impose penalties on railroads that offered rebates and customers who accepted them. The Hepburn Act of 1906 added free passes to the list of railroad no-no’s. Because railroads were needed during this time so they had to make exceptions to laws.
How did Theodore Roosevelt (TR)’s presidency contribute to the rise of Progressivism in America?
Progressives wanted to use the state to curb monopoly power and to improve the common person’s conditions of life and labor. Roosevelt wanted to improve a person’s conditions of life and labor. So to do this he made the Meat Inspection Act. He also wanted labor in factories and mines so he put federal troops in the mines.
What was advocated by the 3-C’s of Roosevelt’s reform program which he called the “Square Deal”?
It advocated for control of the corporations, consumer protection, and conservation of natural resources.
How did the excesses of private industry provide the rationale for government regulation of commerce and industry to the extent the Progressives desired?
Because of the excess of private industry, the industries like mining and factories began to dwindle. As a result Roosevelt was determined to get an answer. He urged Congress to create a new Department of Commerce and Labor.
Your text seems to say that TR’s reputation as “trustbuster” is overstated, if not undeserved. Why does it make that argument? Who should be seen as the greater trustbuster, in the authors’ opinion?
The author makes that argument because it says that Roosevelt never swung his trust-crushing stick with maximum force. In the author’s opinion William Howard Taft busted more trusts that TR did making him more deserving of the name.
What does the author suggest may have been TR’s most enduring achievement as President—even greater than the Panama Canal?
The author says that passing the Meat Inspection Act might have been more important than the Canal.
Your authors identify several other ways TR shaped policy and the nature of the Presidency—what are these ways?
Roosevelt wanted a better nation starting with people working and preservation. He started from the root creating the Square Deal. This led to Roosevelt being able to have control over corporations, give consumers protection and to conserve natural resources. He wanted to make sure that corporations could not do whatever they wanted so to do that he had to take control.
He didn’t want mining or factories to go down because those were essential to society, so having control meant that private industries could not take all the workers. This has led to millions of businesses being able to be open but still have workers on the “essential” businesses. To protect the customers, meat and other groceries were put on watch to make sure that they were good to eat. The Meat Inspection Act was put in place to make sure that meat shipped over state lines would be subject to federal inspection. This law has kept Americans safe and will continue to for a long time. Natural resources are something that are not easy to get, so to preserve them Roosevelt had to place many laws down to keep them. This has led to natural resources still being available and accessible today. To change the nature of the presidency, he put laws in place that were useful to society to show future presidents to make good laws and not bad ones.
What was Taft’s major obstacle to a successful Presidency and leadership of the Republican Party?
His major obstacle was very lethargic and had to live up to Roosevelt’s presidency.
What major monopoly (trust) was broken up in 1911—and which other one was challenged?
In 1911, the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of the Standard Oil Company. Taft decided to press an antitrust suit against the U.S. Steel Corporation.
What did the Payne-Aldrich Bill say about Taft as a Progressive?
When this was passed President Taft angered the progressive wing of his party when he declared it “the best bill that the Republican party ever passed.”
The Progressive Movement is described as a majority mood— how widespread was the movement?
The Progressive Movement was very widespread because it started out on a local level then soon went to a state and even a national level.
