Theodore Roosevelt

September

1901- President McKinley was assassinated Vice President Theodore Roosevelt becomes president Progressivism enters the White House

Progressivism
A belief in reform/change Response to the corruption and scandal of the Reconstruction Era and the Gilded Age Response to Laissez-Faire economics Response to the horrible living conditions within the big cities

Theodore RooseveltA Square Deal

Roosevelt encouraged many reforms (changes) at the federal level Dramatically expanded the power of the presidency and of the federal government Promised Americans a square deal Protection from unfair business practices

Theodore Roosevelt / Coal Strike

Working

conditions in coal mines of Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia worsened by 1901
Hundreds killed in the mines No raises in twenty years

Theodore Roosevelt / Coal Strike

May

1902- United Mine Workers under the leadership of John Mitchell called for a general strike Mine owners refused to deal with the union and attempted to force the workers back to work

Theodore Roosevelt / Coal Strike

Other

factors applied pressure to the situation

Railroads could possibly shut down US citizens could possibly freeze to death during the coming winter months

Theodore Roosevelt / Coal Strike

President Roosevelt called John Mitchell and the mine owners to the White House to arbitrate the situation
Come to a peaceful compromise after hearing the arguments of both sides

Owners would not compromise TR threatened to send the army into the mines October 13, 1902- owners gave in and began to arbitrate with the workers

Theodore Roosevelt / Coal Strike

Miners went back to work and eventually gained almost all of their original demands TR proved that the Federal Government could help in labor battles TR became a champion of the ordinary American

The Trustbuster
Roosevelt

was not against all monopolies and trusts, but the ones that took unfair advantage of the public
Believed in the idea of good and bad monopolies and trusts

TR Attacks the Northern Securities Company

The

Northern Securities Company

A Holding Company created to control the four big railroads of the Northwest Created one, huge railroad combine that could charge any price for shipping goods

TR Attacks the Northern Securities Company

TR revived the Sherman Antitrust Act to demonstrate the power of the Federal Government NSC challenged the president to settle the matter between their lawyers 1904- Supreme Court ruled that the company violated the Sherman Antitrust Act in a 5 to 4 vote Roosevelt won the case and the trust was dissolved

Presidential Election of 1904

Theodore

Roosevelt (R) easily defeated Democratic candidate Judge Alton B. Parker with 336 electoral votes to 140

TR Passes the Hepburn Act

First task was to strengthen the Interstate Commerce Commission Hepburn Act- 1906

Gave the ICC power over pipelines, express and sleeping car companies, bridges, ferries, and terminals Outlawed railroad rebates and free passes

TR Helps Legislate Reform

Meat Inspection Act- 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act- 1906 Employers Liability Act- 1906

Examples of Roosevelts support of laws that would regulate irresponsible businesses Federal government was taking on a new role as the regulator of American business

Roosevelt- The Conservationist

Americas natural resources were being wasted by Big Business Naturalist John Muir and Gifford Pinchot (head of the US Forest Service) advised Roosevelt to start a program of conservation Protection and efficient use of natural resources

Newlands Reclamation Act, 1902

Money from sale of public lands in 16 western states and territories was to be used to build large dams and canal systems to conserve water for irrigation Roosevelt eventually set aside 148 million acres of land for forests, parks, and national monuments

Roosevelts Foreign Policy

TR

believed the US should take center stage in international relations Created the second largest navy in the world (the Great White Fleet) Arbitrated the Russo-Japanese War to a peaceful end in 1905
TR won the Nobel Peace Prize

Roosevelts Foreign Policy

Root-Takahira

Agreement- 1908

Allowed Japan to annex Korea while leaving US colonies alone in the Far East Angered Americans by taking away Koreas independence

Roosevelts Foreign Policy/ The Panama Canal

TR believed that the US should dominate the Caribbean to maintain their power in the Western Hemisphere Favored building a canal through Central America for two reasons
Increased trade Increased naval power

French company started the work originally

Halted by tropical diseases and lack of money

Roosevelts Foreign Policy/ The Panama Canal

US took advantage of the situation

Hay-Poncefote Treaty- 1903
Between the US and Columbia (who controlled the area where the canal would be built) Columbia balked at the amount of money that the US was offering and wanted more

US sparked a revolution in Panama that overthrew the Columbian presence there, thus allowing the new government to lease the land to the US

Roosevelts Foreign Policy/ The Panama Canal

Work began in 1904, but stopped quickly due to malaria among the workers
Dr. William Gorgas was sent in to destroy the mosquitoes that carried the disease

Work resumed in 1906 Panama Canal was completed by 1914 at the cost of half a billion dollars Later, the US would pay Columbia $25 million for the loss of Panama

The Roosevelt Corollary

Acting on Americas responsibility to operate as international policeparticularly in the Western Hemisphere

Addendum to Monroe Doctrine
To protect our Latin American neighbors from European powers

Allowed for US intervention in Latin American affairs

The Algeciras Conference

Algeciras, Spain- 1906

Prompted by aggression between France and Germany in Morocco (North Africa) US delegates aided a peaceful compromise to the animosity between the two European powers