AP U.S. History Progressive Era, Part 2

Welcome back to www.educator.com.0000

This lesson is on the progressive era, part two.0002

In this lesson, we are going to continue talking about progressivism and focused on progressive era Presidents,0006

such as Teddy Roosevelt who was known as the trustbuster.0013

We are going to talk about his square deal.0017

Then, we are going to talk about his successor William H. Taft who was not known as being a progressive, he is more conservative.0020

But he did in fact, initiate some progressive reforms.0029

And we will talk about some of the major progressive laws that were implemented0034

and talk about the role of the Supreme Court that finally starts to crack down on some monopolies.0038

Then, we will talk about progressive President Woodrow Wilson and his new free agenda.0047

Then, we will finish talking about the civil rights movement of the late 19th century and early 20th century,0054

and the Niagara movement that became very influential and helped to lay the foundation for the civil rights movement throughout the 20th century.0061

First, a little bit about TR or Teddy Roosevelt.0071

His platform, his program was known as the square deal.0076

His reform program sought to keep the wealthy and powerful from taking advantage of small business owners and the poor.0082

You should be familiar with the square deal.0090

One thing to keep in mind is that Teddy Roosevelt did actually support business,0095

and to a certain extent will even support big business but he is not a supporter of monopolies and aggressive business policies.0102

He was a President who expanded executive power tremendously and stepped in,0112

and was the opposite of laissez-faire, and believed in flexing presidential muscle as a trustbuster, and was a huge supporter of regulation.0119

He is a bit of a control freak.0132

He wants to have a lot of influence in policymaking.0133

You will see that his position on deciding which trusts are good and which trusts are bad0138

can be a bit contradictory regarding his trust-busting status.0147

However, early on in his administration, we are going to see that he is a different kind of president.0154

And in fact, there was a coal strike in 1902 and the Federal government does intervene.0160

But this time, instead of crushing the workers for voicing their concerns against employers, management,0166

he actually advocated on behalf of the workers.0174

And as a result, they ended up getting a pay raise.0178

This was significant, the first time in U.S. history that we are seeing that the President is supporting worker rights.0182

And this is going to help build bridges in the long run.0192

Regulating railroads, we have talked about the ICC before.0199

And even though, this was certainly a step in the right direction in terms of regulating railroads,0203

we know that it was not applied in an effective way.0210

In many ways, the ICC’s power was stripped away by the Supreme Court, and thus, was without practical effect.0217

Roosevelt realized that the Supreme Court had oftentimes been more pro business.0227

And some of the laws that were written were too vague and there were loopholes that businesses were able to work around and circumvent.0234

He pushed for the Elkins Act of 1903.0243

This was trying to strengthen regulations of railroads.0246

This imposed fines on railroads that gave special rates to favored shippers.0253

Then, the Hepburn Act was also passed, that gave the ICC strong enforcement powers.0258

This will give the ICC teeth, if you will, will help substantiate it.0263

And gave authority to the government to set and limit shipping costs.0268

Max prices or maximum prices for ferries, bridge tolls and oil pipelines.0272

In terms of food, we are also going to see some major efforts by government to regulate the food industry.0287

This will certainly help the consumer.0294

There was a very influential muckraker named Upton Sinclair and he wrote a book called The Jungle.0299

In this book, he intended to focus on the exploitation of workers in the Chicago meatpacking plants.0308

But in his descriptions during his observations of the working conditions in the meatpacking plants, he was quite descriptive.0316

I will read you a little passage and you can decide for yourself.0328

It was only when the whole ham was spoiled that it came into the department of Elzbiata.0333

Cut up by the 2000 revolutions a minute fliers, and mixed with half a ton of other meat, no odor that ever was in a ham could make any difference.0340

There was never the least attention paid to what was cut up for sausage.0349

They would come all the way from Europe, old sausage that had been rejected, and that was moldy and white.0354

It would be dosed with borax and glycerin, and dumped into the hoppers, and made over again for home consumption.0361

There would be meat that had tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust,0368

where the workers had tramped and spit uncounted billions of consumption germs.0373

There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms, and water from leaky roofs would drip over it,0379

and thousands of rats would race about on it.0384

It was too dark in these storage places to see well, but a man can run his hand over these piles of meat and sweep of handfuls of the dried dung of rats.0387

These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them.0397

They would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into the hoppers together.0402

This is no fairy story and no joke.0407

The meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one.0410

And it goes on, talks about the sausage that was made.0416

Decide for yourself, what you would think of this meatpacking plant.0420

This brought attention to the lack of sanitation and how dirty and disgusting these plants were.0427

People were outraged and are very concerned with the descriptions of rotten meat, filthy conditions, and demanded the government to step in.0436

Roosevelt will also be influenced, he urged Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act in 1906, in order for Federal agents to inspect meat plants.0447

The Pure Food and Drug act and the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration,0458

will also be established to ensure safety and proper labeling of food and drugs.0465

This agency is still around today.0471

We know that the Meat Inspection Act is also very important, as we are seeing these regulatory agencies responsible for quality control.0474

They are responsible for recalls and so forth, and to make sure that consumers are safe in what they consume.0486

Today, there is a website where you can go there to learn about the health benefits and other issues that may come up concerning food and drugs.0498

Anything that is regulated by the FDA.0510

Here is a picture of a slaughterhouse.0514

Do keep in mind that muckrakers also use photography to capture conditions and to bring people's attention to those issues.0518

Teddy Roosevelt, the trustbuster.0529

As you see, I put in quotation and I have a question mark for this heading.0531

Now you see two different images and depictions of Teddy the trustbuster.0536

I would like to address both sides of these two different perspectives.0542

On one hand, we are going to see that Teddy Roosevelt is going to become known as the trustbuster because he is a huge supporter of regulation.0547

He does actually differentiate between good trusts and bad trusts.0557

You may or may not know also the bear connotation here, the symbolism that he was named Teddy Bear0562

because he was this hunter. One time in the west, apparently on one of his hunting ventures0570

he was unable to shoot a bear, showing he has a soft heart like a teddy bear.0577

Anyway, he did actually differentiate between good trusts and bad trusts.0584

He believed bad trusts are trusts that harm the public in stifled competition, whereas good trusts were efficient,0588

good for the economy and trusts that had low prices which could help the consumer, and ultimately help the economy.0597

That is going to be really important and he is going to believe that he has a huge role in determining which trusts are good and which trust are bad.0604

He does like to be very hands on, in terms of deciding which company should be regulated or not, which could be problematic at some times.0612

We also see here that he is in his cowboy gear, stereotype of his persona.0623

Here we see a very critical view of his trust-busting record, seeing that he was a bit inconsistent.0632

There is a back door for the national Republican headquarters, that he did have some companies that he had a close relationship with,0640

that he was not as harsh regarding his policy of pushing for further regulations.0649

He also believed that he could work out some deals with some companies to change their behavior.0658

He did not always leave it to the courts to decide.0665

That is kind of an aspect of his trust-busting that you should keep in mind.0670

It is not a simple black and white issue concerning his trust-busting reputation.0676

But to continue talking about Roosevelt as a trustbuster or trustbuster.0684

He enforces the Sherman Antitrust Act and this is very significant.0693

If you could make the argument that he was in fact a trustbuster, but there are times when he does kind of the opposite.0699

And I will give you some examples here.0707

This was pretty significant, you may remember that the Sherman Antitrust Act was somewhat weak and oftentimes not enforced.0710

He was the first President to do so, although, he did make a distinction between good and bad trusts.0717

In 1903, he established the Bureau of Corporations in order to investigate business practices and0723

to support the justice department's capacity to mount antitrust suits.0729

The Northern Securities Company or Trust that controlled the major railroad systems of the northwest,0735

this company ends up having to go to court for monopolistic practices.0741

In a landmark decision, the Northern Securities case, pretty famous, the Supreme Court ordered Northern Securities dissolved in 1904.0748

Here we are seeing he is allowing the court to do their job.0758

He took on many of the nation's giant firms such as Standard Oil that controlled 90% of the oil industry,0761

American Tobacco, and Dupont, it is like a chemical company.0770

It is important to remember that Roosevelt was not necessarily anti-business, just that firms that abuse their powered deserved punishment.0775

Teddy also had some different approaches for businesses which he considered good trusts and he could work out a deal.0788

In the Trans-Missouri decision of 1897, the Supreme Court formulated the rule of reason,0800

holding that actions that restrained a monopoly trade regardless of the public impact, automatically violated the Sherman act.0806

This left Teddy in a quandary, he could not rely on the courts to distinguish between good and bad trusts.0814

They start to have a much more straight line and they used this rule of reason to inform their decisions.0822

This is where Teddy is going to step in and advocate for a gentleman's agreement.0833

This is when man to man, behind closed doors you make a deal.0841

You have to compromise, instead of going to court.0847

This agreement was made in 1904, when the Bureau of Corporations are going to investigate, not Trans-Missouri, but U.S. Steel.0852

The chairman of the company approached Teddy Roosevelt with a deal, to cooperate and open their books to the government.0860

Please, come to our company, we will cooperate with you.0867

We will listen to your advice, and so forth, please do not take us to court.0871

If the government detects wrongdoing, they were to quietly take corrective action.0876

This gentleman's agreement was accepted.0881

Here you can see Teddy does not want leave it to the rule of reason to the courts, because this can sometimes backfire.0884

Here is a famous cartoon showing the infant Hercules and the Standard Oil serpents.0895

In terms of the environment, as I had mentioned before, he was a hunter, spent some time in the west and even befriended John Muir.0904

He became an avid environmentalist and conservationist, and wanted to protect wilderness areas.0914

He was a huge supporter of creating National Parks.0923

Some of them had already been established like Yellowstone and Yosemite National Park.0928

John Muir, who was very influential on Roosevelt, but we are going to see that0935

whereas Muir is going to advocate for more preservation, Roosevelt supported efficient use and sustainability.0942

He drew from, building off of this point, the rational use philosophy approach of Gifford Pinchot,0952

who was the Director of Forestry in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, using forest for lumber eventually, but in a more sustainable way.0960

Not just, today we would use the term like clear cutting which is not at all viewed as an environmentally sustainable practice.0969

Roosevelt believed that you should have some rational use, but also promote environmental policies.0981

Roosevelt pushed Congress to pass the National Reclamation Act which gave the Federal government the power to decide0991

where and how water would be distributed, and the Federal government would also help to build dams.0998

We will see that this is going to be put into practice with the building of the Roosevelt Hoover Dam.1004

You can see the foundation being created for other public works programs1011

during other progressive presidencies in the future, such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the New Deal.1017

We will talk about that more later.1033

There are some troubles for the Republican party.1035

William Howard Taft who was Roosevelt's former Secretary of War, ended up winning the presidency.1040

He was not known for being a progressive and was actually much more conservative.1046

Although, we will see some progressive policies under his presidency, ironically.1051

Taft had his own agenda and did not support regulation like Roosevelt did in the past.1056

He promised to lower the tariff during his campaign, but approved the conservative Pepublicans supported Payne-Aldrich Act,1062

the protectionist law that lowered certain tariffs on imports.1070

But in reality that did not lower tariffs significantly, in fact raised the tariff on most imports.1072

He did not distinguish between good and bad trusts and he supported the courts rule of reason,1079

which relaxed the hard line set by the Sherman Antitrust Act.1085

Taft, ends up infuriating Roosevelt, and Roosevelt believes that he is just undoing everything that Roosevelt accomplished.1090

On top of it, he actually fires Pinchot for whistle blowing, exposing this conspiracy to hand public land to a private company.1102

This infuriated Roosevelt, this was very much against conservationist type of policy.1118

That is going to actually inspire him to get back into politics, which I will address in a second.1127

Before that, I also want to say a little bit about Joseph Ken, he was the House Speaker1133

and a very influential politician whose Congress is leading conservative, and progressives, one of the president to rein him in.1137

As Cannon was very outspoken like a dictator, but he did not.1147

He starts to have a huge influence over the Republican Party.1154

We are going to see a split in the Republican Party.1161

Galvanized by Taft’s defection, reformers in the Republican party became a dissident faction calling themselves the progressives or the insurgents.1165

Then, in the Standard Oil decision of 1911, this is another event happening at this time,1175

the Supreme Court once again asserted the rule of reason, which meant that the courts not the President1182

would distinguish between good and bad trusts.1187

And ultimately, the outcome of this case, they found Standard Oil guilty of monopolizing the oil industry through a series of anticompetitive and abusive actions.1191

Keep in mind that Ida Tarbell, was an important muckraker that exposed a lot of the business practices in1204

Standard Oil and advocated for regulation and that the government cracked down on this business, this monopoly.1213

Taft’s attorney general brought suit also against U.S. Steel, based in the antimonopoly charges in part on acquisition approved by Roosevelt.1222

Anxious to reenter politics, Roosevelt cannot ignore what appeared to be a direct attack on his honor.1231

That is going to encourage him to get back into politics.1240

Even though Taft was known as being the conservative, he ironically pursued monopolies even more aggressively than Roosevelt.1244

Or at least let the Supreme Court do their job, and not intervene and decide for themselves which trusts are good, which trusts are bad.1251

There some other key amendments that were put into place under Taft.1264

Progressive amendments, you could also say populist amendments.1271

The 16th Amendment was passed that instituted a national income tax.1276

The 17th Amendment, this called for the law for the direct election of senators.1282

That was definitely viewed as an empowering amendment, as people had a much more direct influence over their senators.1289

Roosevelt travels the country and speaks out for new nationalism.1298

A program to restore the government's trust busting power and that human welfare had priority over property rights.1305

He proposed a Federal child labor law, regulation of labor relations, a national minimum wage for women,1312

and proposals to curb the power of the courts based on his insistence that they stood in the way of reform.1323

He declares itself as strong as a bull moose.1330

The progressive party, in many ways, becomes known as the Bull Moose Party.1336

We are going to shift a little bit and talk about civil rights.1344

Other progressives were looking to improve civil rights for African-Americans.1348

And there are few important civil rights activists that I like to highlight.1354

One being Booker T. Washington, he believed that African-Americans had to achieve economic independence before civil rights.1358

This is important, this is an important point.1368

Many people view him as an accommodationist, as a result.1372

He believed the blacks should tolerate discrimination, while they proved themselves.1376

This, I do not want to overstate, he was also a supporter of civil rights but he believed that this is going to be a gradual process.1382

Anyway, the blacks should tolerate discrimination while they prove themselves, and that civil rights would come naturally.1390

This is known as the Atlanta compromise, when he gives this very famous speech.1398

He helped to found Tuskegee Institute, and behind the scenes he does actually fight for civil rights1403

and was very much against Jim Crow laws and disfranchisement of African-Americans.1410

He still believed in economic independence first before fighting for civil rights.1415

W.E.B Dubois is going to take a different approach.1422

They are both supporters of civil rights and empowering African-Americans but they have different roads to achieve their goals.1426

Dubois was a Harvard educated sociologist and activist who believed1434

that African-Americans had to demand for their social and civil rights, or else become permanent victims of racism.1439

We wrote a very influential collection of essays called The Souls of Black Folk.1446

He encouraged the talented tenth of the black population to strive for higher education.1452

Whereas, Booker T. Washington is going advocate for technical skills that may seem much more practical for African-Americans1459

who do not have a lot of education in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.1469

Dubois is going to say no, we need to have leaders, we need to have highly educated African-American people to help lift up the community.1475

He edited The Crisis, this was a magazine, he used that as a platform to demand for equal rights for blacks.1488

He was also instrumental in the Niagara movement.1498

During the summer of 1905, he, along with William Monroe Trotter, two of the most outspoken African-Americans1502

believed the African-Americans needed to stand up for civil rights and social justice, met at Niagara Falls in Canada.1510

Why Niagara Falls?1518

They had to meet there because they were unable to get rooms in a hotel in New York.1519

Here is a famous picture illustrating their gathering.1525

This group who denounced the idea of gradual progress and called for African-Americans1529

to be educated in a more comprehensive way, not just trade schools.1536

This will leave a long-term impact on the civil rights movement.1545

Shortly, thereafter, the NAACP was created in 1909.1549

This acronym stands for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.1555

This was created to fight for African-Americans voting rights, civil rights, and to advocate for social justice.1560

Black and white came together and used the courts to challenge unfair laws through these organizations, still around today.1568

Here is a picture, later period in history, but they will be very instrumental throughout U.S. history1578

especially during the civil rights movement and still active today, dealing with more contemporary civil rights issues.1585

The Urban League, as you could see within the name, focused more on the urban environment.1595

Originally founded in New York City and united in 1911 with many other agencies,1601

they took the lead in providing welfare to black migrants to the North.1606

In many cases, uneducated, lacked skills, this was to provide people with a start, with a little help,1614

while they were going through the transition and migration.1623

This network created was intended to help African-Americans in various cities to get jobs1627

and financially assist families with basic needs, such as clothing, books, food, other supplies.1633

Still active today.1642

Now shifting gears a little bit to another President, Woodrow Wilson and his New Freedom, what he will call New Freedom.1647

Steering the course between Taft’s conservatism and Roosevelt's radicalism, so to speak, Wilson for radical progressivism,1654

Wilson will carve out a middle way that brought to bear the powers of government without threatening the constitutional order.1662

He will try to curb abusive corporate power without threatening the capitalist system.1674

The middle way, I think it is a good way of understanding Wilson's approach.1680

He is going to use freedom, free trade in a lot of his speeches.1686

His program was similar to Roosevelt, in a sense that it would apply strict government controls on corporations but there were some differences.1694

But what did New Freedom trying to address?1704

He attacked the triple wall, what he called the triple wall of privilege, the tariffs, the banks, and the trust,1706

that block businesses from being free.1715

Three important laws, we will see agencies were created, I guess you could say, laws/agency.1719

The Underwood Tariff Act of 1913, the creation of the income tax, the 16th Amendment gave Congress the power to have an income tax.1729

This solidifies that.1739

Trusts dominating industries were targeted to foster competition and reduce prices for consumers.1741

The Federal Reserve Act of 1913, this was passed in order to place national banks under Federal control.1748

And the intention was to help the economy, regulate the economy.1755

This was not as strong as we will see after the Great Depression, as we will see a huge expansion of regulatory agencies under FDR.1759

More about that later.1773

The Federal Trade Commission was created in 1914, in order to monitor business practices that might lead to monopoly.1775

It ultimately became a watchdog, a group that is watching, observing, regulating for false ads or dishonest labeling.1783

Obviously, a huge positive for consumers.1795

Other laws that were passed under Wilson.1801

The Clayton Antitrust Act, this was a big one, this protected labor unions.1804

As you know, there is a long history of labor unions being crushed and the Supreme Court, oftentimes, found them in restraint of trade.1809

This protected labor unions from being attacked as trust.1819

There is my point.1825

This becomes known as the Magna Carta of Labor, and ultimately closed the loophole from the U.S. versus E.C. Knight case, that so called sugar case.1826

This was a major switch in U.S. history, it is more pro labor, pro regulation.1836

It also lamented the Sherman Act and its definition of illegal practices.1843

That is left flexible to distinguish whether or not an action stifled competition or created a monopoly.1848

The Federal Farm Loan Act was passed that provided the low interest credit system, long demanded by farmers.1855

There is a populist law, a Federal Child Labor Law, the Adamson Eight Hour Law for railroad workers,1864

and the Seamen’s Act which a limited abuse of sailors.1871

Several regulatory laws were implemented.1875

We were on a progressive roll during this point in history.1879

And look, we are already at the end and into the assessments.1884

The first example here, this will be multiple choice.1891

Upton Sinclair, The Jungle.1896

Worst of any however, were the fertilizer men and those who served in the cooking rooms,1898

these people could not be shown to the visitors, for the owner of a fertilizer men would scare any ordinary visitor at a 100 yards.1905

And as for the other men who worked in tank rooms full of steam, their peculiar trouble was that they fell into the vents.1915

And when they were fished out, there was never enough of them left to be worth exhibiting.1922

Sometimes they would be overlooked for days, till all but the bones of them has gone out to the world as germs pure leaf lard.1927

I cannot hide my displeasure.1943

Which group or idea of the progressive movement is most closely associated with the excerpt?1946

Muckrakers, Trustbusters, Supreme Court, Square deal?1954

Muckrakers.1962

The Jungle directly contributed to the passage of,1963

National Labor Act, Seamen’s Act, Meat Inspection Act, Clayton Act?1966

Meat Inspection Act.1974

Example one continued, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle was primarily concerned about working conditions,1977

which of the following most directly helped organized labor?1983

Mann Elkins Act, Muckrakers, Clayton Antitrust, The National Urban League.1985

The answer is Clayton Antitrust, remember the Magna Carta of labor.1992

Next example, this is going to be a short answer, principles of the Niagara movement.2001

We just learned about that.2007

We believe also in protest against the curtailment of civil rights.2008

We specially complain about the denial of equal opportunities to us in economic life.2015

We note with alarm, the evident retrogression in this land of sound public opinion on the subject of manhood rights,2021

republican government and human brotherhood.2028

Any discrimination based simply on race or color is barbarous.2032

We care not how hallowed it be by custom, expediency, or prejudice, but discrimination based simply and solely on physical peculiarities,2037

place or birth, or color of skin, are relics of the unreasoning human savagery of which the world is ought to be thoroughly ashamed.2046

Of the above grievances, we did not hesitate to complain, and to complain loudly and insistently.2060

persistent manly agitation is the way to liberty, and toward the goal the Niagara movement has started and asked the cooperation of all men of all races.2067

Short answer, using in the excerpt answer A, B, and C.2084

Briefly explain how the point of view of this excerpt differed from the approach advocated by Booker T. Washington.2089

The Niagara movement supported political protest against discrimination and the violation of African-American civil rights,2102

and while Washington supported civil rights, he also believed in a gradual approach and2111

that African-American should prove themselves to be economically independent first, before advocating for civil rights.2117

B, briefly explain one form of discrimination against African-Americans from the period that it would support this excerpt.2126

African-Americans faced segregation and discrimination, especially in the south, because of the Plessy vs. Ferguson case,2134

that established separate but equal was constitutional.2142

Briefly explain one way the Niagara movement reflected the ideas of W.E.B Dubois.2150

W.E.B Dubois was one of the founders of the Niagara movement and his ideas were implemented via the Niagara movement.2158

He believed that African-Americans needed to demand equal civil rights and aimed toward higher education not just trade school education.2168

More short answers, briefly explain how two of the following reforms from the Wilson administration fulfilled the longstanding goals of reformers.2182

For this, I have chosen this one and this one.2194

Let us do Clayton first.2203

The Clayton Antitrust Act strengthened the antitrust powers of Federal government2205

to break up the monopolies and protected labor unions from the court.2209

Second one, the Federal Trade Commission that was created to regulate businesses and protect consumers from fraud2215

and unfair practices became an important feature of the Wilson administration.2222

Briefly explain how one of the above either reflected or violated Wilson's campaign policy of new freedom.2230

On one hand, the reforms that were instituted during Wilson's administration helped consumers,2237

laborers, and farmers, and unions.2242

On the other hand, advocates of free trade would be disillusioned that the size of government was increasing.2245

This was the antithesis of freedom.2250

We have the trustbuster.2258

We have a short answer, using the cartoon answer A, B, and C.2264

Briefly explain how the point of view of the artist about two of the following.2267

Bad trust, good trust, role of Theodore Roosevelt.2272

This you could obviously combine all three.2275

I’m going to address the first two.2280

You will see I kind of address the third part too.2283

Roosevelt made a distinction between good trusts that were viewed as successful businesses2287

that help the economy and bad trusts that were monopolistic and harmful to the U.S.2292

Briefly explain one way that trust policy of Woodrow Wilson differed from those of Theodore Roosevelt.2304

Roosevelt’s policies advocated for strong Federal regulation of large corporations,2310

whereas Wilson's New Freedom advocated for the breakup of trusts and corporations that dominated the market.2315

Roosevelt was more apt to support gentlemen's agreements whereas Wilson advocated for free trade and economic freedom.2321

There we go, we are finally done with the progressive era.2332

Thank you for watching www.educator.com.2336