Political and Social Reform

1) Amendments:
a. 16th amendment; federal income tax
b. 17th amendment; allowed for the direct election of senators by voters
i. In the past senators had been elected by state legislatures
c. Direct Primary
i. Enabled voters to nominate their partys candidates for the
general election
d. Initiative
i. Voters proposing a law by petition
e. Referendum
i. Initiative is put on ballots for voters to pass or defeat
f. Recall
i. By petition, officials can be forced to stand for reelection
g. Womens suffrage
i. Progressives fighting for womens right to vote
ii. Wyoming: first state
h. Roosevelt
i. Favored more reforms; income tax, federal rules for stock
market, more effective control of business
Municipal Reform
1) City Manager
a. Trained manager hired to run city
b. Not a politician, could be fired
c. Small Cities
2) State Reform
a. Battling Bob LaFollett elected governor of Wisconsin in 1900
b. Progressive Measures; Direct Primary, Railroad Commission, Civil
Service, Restrictions on Lobbying
c. Wisconsin; Laboratory for Democracy TR
3) TRs domestic program; Square Deal
a. Anthracite Coal Strike; 1902
i. Workers did not receive a raise for 20 years
ii. TR brought workers and owners together peacefully
iii. Showed how federal gov. could help.
b. Coal Miners; 9 hour day and 10% raise
4) Trust Busting
a. Northern Securities Case
i. Holding company that dominated NW railroads
ii. Roosevelt sued under Sherman Anti Trust Act
iii. Wins suit
iv. Beginning of trust busting era
5) TRs Trust Busting Philosophy
a. Moved against beef, oil, tobacco
b. Eliminate Bad Trusts
6) Conservation

a. Increased National Forests by about 150 million acres

b. Created US forest service, headed by Gifford Pinchot
c. Pinchot planned reforesting
7) Taft Administration at Home
a. Election of 1908
i. William Howard Taft, Secretary of War, was Roosevelts Hand
Packed Successor
ii. Defeats William Jennings Brian
b. Most though Taft would continue Roosevelts legacy
c. Disappointed Progressives
8) Taft and Trust Busting
a. Did not make god vs bad distinction
b. Indict all trusts and allow courts to decide
9) Payne Aldrich Tariff
a. High Tariffs becoming a problem
b. Consumer Prices rising, Taft promised to lower tariffs.
c. PAT actually raised many tariffs
d. Progressives upset
10)
Election of 1912
a. Primaries
b. Republican party badly split
c. Issue of conservation and natural resources split TR and Taft
d. Democratic nominee is Woodrow Wilson of NJ
e. Republic nominee is Taft
f. Roosevelt becomes Bull Moose party (Progressives)
11)
Wilson; New Freedom
a. Wilson Wins Election
b. Underwood Tariff
c. Reduced taxes by about 11%
d. Federal reserve note
12)
Federal Reserve System
a. All national banks are part of system
b. FRBs held money of member banks
c. Each bank supervised by FRB approved by president
d. Divided Country into 12 districts, each with reserve bank
13)
Clayton Anti Trust Act
a. Gave unions the right to exist
b. Manufacturers couldnt charge different people different prices
14)
Federal Trade Commission
a. Monitoring business
b. Could issue cease and desist against companies