01:512:104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Northern Securities Company, United Mine Workers, Sherman Antitrust Act
13 May 2018
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Chapter 22 - The Battle for National Reform
1)Theodore Roosevelt and the Modern Presidency
a)The Accidental President
i)VP Theodore Roosevelt assumed presidency September 1901after Pres
McKinley assassinated. Reputation as an independent and wild man; became
champion of cautious an moderate change, reform to protect society against
more radical changes
b)Government, Capital, and Labor
i)Roosevelt saw fed govt as mediator of the public good. Not opposed to
industrial combinations but realized potential for abuse of power
ii)Supported regulation of trusts- created Department of Commerce and Labor
1903 to publicly investigate corporations. Did make effort to break up some
trusts- used Sherman Antitrust Act to break up Northern Securities Company
monopoly over RRs in Northwest
iii)Saw govt as impartial regulator for labor as well- 1902 strike by United Mine
workers led Roosevelt to ask labor and management to accept impartial
federal arbitration, threatened to seize mines if management balked
c)“The Square Deal”
i)Reform not priority during first years as president, more concerned w/
winning reelection by not alienating conservative Republicans, winning
support of businessmen and using patronage—won 1904 election
ii)First targeted RR industry by asking Congress to increase fed power to
oversee rates- Hepburn Railroad Regulation Act of 1906 restored some govt
regulatory power
iii)Supported Congress passing Pure Food and Drug Act, after Upton
Sinclair’s 1906 The Jungle supported Meat Inspection Act. Also favored 8
hour work day for labor, workmen’s compensation, and inheritance and
income taxes
d)Roosevelt and Conservation
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i)Concerned w/ unregulated exploitation of resources and wilderness- used
executive power to restrict private development on govt land, saw goal of
“conservation” to carefully manage development and to apply same scientific
method of management being used in cities
ii)President supported public reclamation and irrigation projects- 1902
Newlands Act funded dam construction, reservoirs, canals in West to open
new lands for irrigation, cultivation and power development
e)Roosevelt and Preservation
i)Pres also sympathized w/ naturalists who wanted to protect land, wildlife
from human intrusion- expanded National Forest System for “rational”
lumbering, but also grew National Park System to protect lands from any
development
f)The Hetch Hetchy Controversy
i)Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite seen as beautiful land by naturalists, but
San Francisco residents + Roosevelt’s head of National Forest System Gifford
Pinchot wanted land to build dam + reservoir for city’s growing water needs
ii)Pinchot saw needs of city more important than claims of preservation; issue
placed in 1908 referendum, dam approved by large margin in election
g)The Panic of 1907
i)Despite reforms govt still had little control over industrial economy; in 1907
production outgrew domestic + foreign demand, speculation + poor
management led to panic.
ii)JP Morgan pooled assets of NY banks to prop up banks, made deal with
Pres to allow US Steel to purchase Tennessee Coal and Iron Company
shares
iii)B/c of Panic of 1907 and promise made in 1904 to step down four years
later, did not seek renomination and reelection for 1908 bid
2)The Troubled Succession
a)Taft and the Progressives
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Chapter 22 - the battle for national reform. 1)theodore roosevelt and the modern presidency a)the accidental president i)vp theodore roosevelt assumed presidency september 1901after pres. Reputation as an independent and wild man; became champion of cautious an moderate change, reform to protect society against more radical changes b)government, capital, and labor i)roosevelt saw fed govt as mediator of the public good. Not opposed to industrial combinations but realized potential for abuse of power ii)supported regulation of trusts- created department of commerce and labor. Sinclair"s 1906 the jungle supported meat inspection act. Also favored 8 hour work day for labor, workmen"s compensation, and inheritance and income taxes d)roosevelt and conservation i)concerned w/ unregulated exploitation of resources and wilderness- used executive power to restrict private development on govt land, saw goal of. Conservation to carefully manage development and to apply same scientific method of management being used in cities ii)president supported public reclamation and irrigation projects- 1902.
