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Chapter 29
Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad, 1912–1916
CHAPTER THEMES
Theme: After winning a three-way election focused on different theories of progressivism, Woodrow Wilson successfully
pushed through a sweeping program of domestic economic and social reform in his first term.
Theme: Wilson’s attempt to promote an idealistic progressive foreign policy failed, as dangerous military involvements
threatened in both Latin America and the North Atlantic.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Wilson and his New Freedom defeated Roosevelt and his New Nationalism in a contest over alternative forms of
progressivism. Eloquent, idealistic former professor Wilson successfully carried out a broad progressive economic reform
of the tariff, finances, and the trusts. He also achieved some social reforms that benefited the working classes, but not
blacks.
Wilson’s attempt to implement progressive moral goals in foreign policy was less successful, as he stumbled into military
involvements in the Caribbean and revolutionary Mexico. The outbreak of World War I in Europe also brought the threat
of American involvement, especially from German submarine warfare.
Wilson temporarily avoided war by extracting the precarious Sussex pledge from Germany. His antiwar campaign of 1916
narrowly won him reelection over the still-quarreling Republicans.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
New Freedom
Progressive Republican
Bull Moose
Demagogue
Herbert Croly
Woodrow Wilson
triple wall of privilege
Underwood Tariff Bill
Sixteenth Amendment
Louis D. Brandeis
Federal Reserve Act
Federal Trade Commission
Act of 1914
13. Clayton Anti-Trust Act of
1914
14. Holding Companies
15. Federal Farm Loan Act of
1916
16. La Follette’s Seamen’s
Act of 1915
17. Workingmen’s
Compensation Act
18. Adamson Act of 1916
19. Louis D. Brandeis
20. Jones Ac-t in 1916
21. Crisis with Japan in 1913
22. Turmoil in Haiti
23. General Victoriano Huerta
24. Venustiano Carranza
25. Tampico
26. ABC Powers
27. “Pancho” Villa
28. General John J.
“Blackjack” Pershing
29. Sarajevo
30. Central Powers
31. Allies
32. Neutrality
33. Central Powers
34. Kaiser Wilhelm II
35. British Blockade
36. U-boats
37. Lusitania
38. Arabic
39. Sussex
40. Campaign of 1916
41. Charles Evans Hughes
Chapter 29 Study Guide
The "Bull Moose" Campaign of 1912
How did Roosevelt’s entry into the campaign with a Third Party guarantee Wilson’s victory?
Explain the difference between Roosevelt's form of progressivism and Wilson's.
Woodrow Wilson: A Minority President
"The [1912] election results are fascinating." Explain.
Wilson: The Idealist in Politics
Analyze the way in which Wilson's personality and past affect the way he conducted himself as president.
Wilson Tackles the Tariff
What were the three parts of the "triple wall of privilege?"
How did Wilson address the tariff issue?
Wilson Battles the Bankers
What was the major problem with the banking system?
How was the Federal Reserve System different than the banking system that existed in the U.S. in 1913?
The President Tames the Trusts
How did Wilson curb the trusts?
Wilsonian Progressivism at High Tide
Describe some of the positive and negative outcomes of Wilson’s progressive legislation and actions.
New Directions in Foreign Policy
Contrast Wilson's ideas of foreign policy with those of Roosevelt and Taft.
What were the major foreign policy issues Wilson faced in this period?
Moralistic Diplomacy in Mexico
Why did Mexico give such trouble to the Wilson administration?
Evaluate Wilson’s handling of the Mexican crisis.
Thunder Across the Sea
What caused Europe to plunge into WWI in 1914?
A Precarious Neutrality
Why did both the Allies and Central Powers think they could gain American support?
What caused an officially neutral America to turn against the Central Powers?
America Earns Blood Money
Analyze American trading patters during the early part of WWI.
How did Germany's use of submarines lead to tense relations with the U.S.?
Wilson Wins Reelection in 1916
What were the keys to Wilson's electoral victory in 1916?
Varying Viewpoints: Who Were the Progressives?
Which answer to the question above seems correct to you? Why?
EXPANDING THE “VARYING VIEWPOINTS”

Richard Hofstadter, The Age of Reform (1955).
A view of progressives as backward-looking individualists:
“Progressivism, at its heart, was an effort to realize familiar and traditional ideals under novel circumstances.…At
the core of their conception of politics was a figure quite as old-fashioned as the figure of the little competitive
entrepreneur who represented the most commonly accepted economic ideal. This old-fashioned character was the
Man of Good Will, the same innocent, bewildered, bespectacled, and mustached figure we see in the cartoons today
labeled John Q. Public—a white collar or small business voter-taxpayer with perhaps a modest home in the
suburbs.”

Gabriel Kolko, The Triumph of Conservatism (1963).
A view of progressivism as a victory for business conservatism:
“The New Freedom, in its concrete legislative aspects, was little more than the major demands of politically oriented
big businessmen. They had defined the issues, and it was they who managed to provide the direction for change.…In
its larger outlines it was they who gave progressivism its essential character. By the end of 1914 they had triumphed,
and to the extent that the new laws were vague and subject to administrative definitions by boards and commissions,
they were to totally dominate the extensive reign of political capitalism that had been created in the United States by
1915.”

Robert Wiebe, The Search for Order, 1877–1920 (1967).
A view of progressives as forward-looking bureaucrats:
“Experts in administration supported by a variety of professionals sought solutions to the city’s problems through
proper procedures and continuous enforcement.…A blend of many ideas, the new political theory borrowed its most
revolutionary qualities from bureaucratic thought.… Trained, professional servants would staff a government
broadly and continuously involved in society’s operations.…This revolutionary approach to government, incomplete
as it was, eventually dominated the politics of the early twentieth century.”
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE “VARYING VIEWPOINTS”
17. According to each of these historians, who were the progressives, and what were their central values?
18. How would each of these historians relate the progressive constituency to the basic progressive approach to
government?
19. How would each interpret the progressive attack on political bosses and the establishment of independent regulatory
commissions to monitor businesses like the railroads, meat packing, and banking?
Analysis Questions
“Refuse to accept as inevitable any evil in business (e.g., irregularity of employment). Refuse to tolerate any immoral
practice (e.g., espionage)….[Democracy] demands continuous sacrifice by the individual and more exigent obedience to
the moral law than any other form of government.” Louis Brandeis (1856–1941) (1922)
“Those senators do not understand what the people are thinking. They are far from the people, the great mass of the
people.” Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) (1919)
“It is unfair for some to have a lot when others have nothing. The poor who work but earn too little have a claim on the
wealth of the rich.” Francisco (“Pancho”) Villa (1878–1923) (1915)
1.
Were Wilson’s progressive legislative achievements in his first term consistent with his New Freedom campaign?
Why or why not?
2.
How was Wilson’s progressive presidency similar to Theodore Roosevelt’s, and how was it different? Were the
differences ones of personality or policy?
3.
Why did Wilson fail in his attempt to develop a more “moral,” less imperialistic policy in Latin America? Were his
involvements really an attempt to create a new mutual relationship between the United States and the neighboring
republics, or was it just an alternative form of American domination?
4.
Was the United States genuinely neutral during the first years of World War I, or was it biased in favor of the Allies
and against Germany? Was it possible for the U.S. to remain neutral? Why or why not?
5. The U.S. in the period 1898-1919 failed to recognize that it had vital interests at stake in Europe, where it tried to stay
aloof. At the same time, it had fewer or no such interests in Asia, where it eagerly became involved. Assess the
validity of this generalization. (77)
6.
Assess the relative influence of THREE of the following in the American decision to declare war on
Germany in 1917.
German naval policy
Allied propaganda
American economic interests
America’s claim to world power
Woodrow Wilson’s idealism (95)
HISTORIC NOTES

A split in the Republican Party between supporters of Theodore Roosevelt and of President William Howard Taft
gives the Democrats’ Woodrow Wilson victory in the 1912 election.

An idealist by nature and experience, President Wilson soon addresses some of the burning concerns of his time: the
high protective tariff, the power of the trusts, and banking monopolies. He also uses his rhetorical skills and
academic experience to convince the public and Congress that the plight of impoverished and exploited farmers and
wage laborers must be addressed.

Wilson alters foreign policy in Latin America. Roosevelt waved the Big Stick: Taft advocated what became known
as dollar diplomacy to protect and attract US investments. Wilson, on the other hand, recoils from imperial
pretensions. But events in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico convince him to modify his objections to
imperialism and use of the US military.

As militarism, nationalism, and imperialism strain relations among European countries, Wilson maintains a
precarious policy of neutrality. Germany’s use of U-boats to starve Britain into submission leads to what the US
considers serious violations of its shipping and maritime rights.

Despite his reputation as a progressive and advocate for the downtrodden and often forgotten worker and farmer,
Wilson was at best indifferent, often opposed, to black rights. Wilson instituted segregation in the federal
government. A product of the Civil War and Reconstruction South, he held attitudes on black rights in stark contrast
to his zeal for reform in other areas.

The sinking of the passenger liner Lusitanian, which resulted in the loss of nearly 1,200 lives including 128 US
citizens, outraged Americans. However, today many historians are convinced the ship was carrying war materials to
Britain, a violation of the US’s own neutral stance.
Advanced Placement United States History Topic Outline
18. The Emergence of America as a World Power
A. American imperialism: political and economic expansion
B. War in Europe and American neutrality
C. The First World War at home and abroad
D. Treaty of Versailles
E. Society and economy in the postwar years