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Chapter 29
Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and
Abroad
What’s going on…
 -Democrats had not been in office since 1897.
 -Took advantage of Republican party's disunion at the
convention in Chicago.
 -Woodrow Wilson was a mild conservative gone militant
progressive; lectured at the university level on
government, and in 1902 became president of Princeton
University.
 -In 1910, Wilson entered politics.
I. The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912
 -After being chosen as the Democratic candidate, Wilson was
assigned a platform called "New Freedom".

- "New Freedom" included antitrust legislation, banking
reform, and tariff reductions.

- This means that Wilson was a proponent of small
businesses, entrepreneurship, and a largely unregulated
market; this train of thought is similar to modern-day
conservatism, which is in its most basic terms the belief in
governmental regulation of social life to ensure the
continuation of tradition, law, and morality with limited
governmental interference in economy and trust in the free
market.
Woodrow Wilson
Consider…
 -Today, the Democratic Party is associated with
liberalism, the belief there should be strong governmental
control over the economy to provide financial security for
many as well as strict enforcement of civil rights to ensure
personal freedoms and loose governmental regulations of
a person's social life. Yet, during the early 20th century,
the Democratic Party has what today would be called a
very conservative platform.
The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912, Cont.
 - In the mean time, Roosevelt became part of a third party,
the Progressive Republican Party.
 - Charged with confidence and zeal, Roosevelt declared that
he felt "as strong as a bull moose"; thus, the bull moose
became the political symbol of the Progressive Republican
party.
 - A faction now existed between the once-friendly Taft and
Roosevelt and they ended up dividing the Republican vote,
ensuring the Democrats' victory in the election.
 - While Wilson and Roosevelt both believed that the
government should be more active in the social and
economic affairs of the people, they disagreed about how it
should be done.
Political Zoo?
THE BULL MOOSE
THE DONKEY
The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912, Cont.
 - Roosevelt was influenced by Herbert Croly's "The
Promise of American Life" (1910), who was a progressive
thinker. These two men believed in strong labor unions
and powerful regulatory agencies in Washington for the
American economy; he wanted to introduce minimum
wage laws and an activist welfare program. Roosevelt was
also a proponent of the women's suffrage.
The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912, Cont.
 - Wilson actually wanted to control people trying to
control the market- that is, he wanted the government to
strive for an unregulated, unmonopolized market. He and
the Democratic Party shunned social welfare programs
and put stock into encouraging the people to be
economically competitive.
Consider…
 Someone who believes that government should regulate
both the social and economic spheres of the people is
referred to as a populist. Not many Americans are willing
to affiliate themselves with this group. 3.)Do you think
that one or both of the candidates are populistic? Why
would they be if you think either of them are?
The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912, Cont.
 -Heat of the campaign cooled down when Roosevelt was
shot by a fanatic in Milwaukee. Even after being shot,
Roosevelt gave his speech; he was then rushed to the
hospital and recovered after two weeks.
II. Woodrow Wilson: A Minority President
 - Wilson won by 435 electoral votes and with 41%
popular vote; thus, he was a “minority” president.
 - Roosevelt’s participation in the election basically costs
the Republicans their victory.
 - William Taft would eventually become Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court in 1921, becoming the only US
president to do so.
 - The Socialist Party thrived on, but Theodore Roosevelt
seemed tragically broken after the election. The
Progressive Republican party dies with Roosevelt.
III. Wilson: The Idealist in Politics
 - Wilson sympathized with the South for trying to break free
from the Union.
 - Was a very brilliant orator (keep in mind, he was a university
professor), but his intellectualism caused him to be distant,
arrogant, and cold towards “lesser minds” such as journalists
and certain senators.
 - Wilson was very inflexible about his morals; he was the son
of a Presbyterian minister and would not compromise with
anything he felt was wrong. In the text, they mention that
someone once said that “he was born halfway between the
Bible and the dictionary and never strayed far from either”.
IV. Wilson Tackles the Tariff
 - Wilson called out an assault on what he called the
“triple wall of privilege”, tariff, banks, and the trusts.
 - He was one of the few presidents that knew precisely
what he wanted to do when he walked into office.
 - Wilson pushed for the passing of the Underwood Tariff
Bill, which reduced the rates on tariffs.
V. Wilson Battles the Bankers
 - Panic of 1907 showed that the current banking system was




ineffective.
- Republicans favored a very centralized national bank; Wilson and
the Democrats wanted numerous, regional banks.
- Thus, President Wilson and Congress sent Republican Senator Aldrich
to investigate the crisis.
- A more effective bank, the Third Bank of the United States, was
erected.
- The currency system of the US was also in a state of disarray;
President Wilson confronted Congress about this and pleaded for
sweeping reforms. It resulted in the Federal Reserve Act of 1913: this
resulted in a new Federal Reserve Board that oversaw a system of 12
regional reserve districts, each with its own central bank. Each central
bank had the power to issue Federal Reserve Notes (paper money).
VI. The President Tames the Trusts
 - In 1914, Congress, moved once again by a dramatic speech
from Wilson, passes the Federal Trade Commission Act.

- The Federal Trade Commission Act allowed the
President to appoint officials to stop unfair trade practices (i.e.
unlawful competition, false advertising, adulteration, bribery,
etc.)
 - Also in 1914, the Clayton Anti-Trust Act was put into effect.
- This act exempted labor unions from being labeled as
trusts and also legalized strikes and peaceful picketing by union
members.
VII. Wilsonian Progressivism at High Tide
 - 1916, Wilson passes the Federal Farm Loan Act, making
credit available to farmers at low rates of interest. In the
same year, he passed the Warehouse Act of 1916, which
permitted loans to be made on the security of staple
crops.

- Both of these reforms were Populist demands.
Wilsonian Progressivism at High Tide, Cont.
 - Progressivism swept the country as Wilson approved
numerous other acts, including reforms for highway
construction, education, child labor conditions/laws,
wages for workers, and more.
 - Wilson also nominated Louis D. Brandeis, a Jewish man,
for a position on the Supreme Court. This enraged
business men, but the Progressives were over joyed.

- Still, Wilson had his prejudices; he actually
accelerated the segregation between African Americans
and Americans of European descent in the federal
bureaucracy.
Consider…
 In the text book, when mentioning that he discriminated
against people of colored skin, they include that
Woodrow Wilson was raised in the South. Keep in mind
that a formal definition of racism is “belief that race is the
primary determinant of human character and status in
society” and a “racist” is someone that judges/acts on
this belief. Also keep in mind that this concept, though it
has gone on for millennia, was not introduced as a word
until the 1930’s.
Wilsonian Progressivism at High Tide, Cont.
 - To stay popular and have hopes of being reelected,
Wilson tried appealing to the upper class, though his
main focus was always in Progressivism.
Question 6
 Evaluate President Wilson’s performance. What do you
like or dislike so far? Jot this question down on the left
side of your paper and as I go over information write your
down your response.
VII. New Directions in Foreign Policy
 - Wilson hated imperialism.
- Imperialism is “the policy of extending a nation’s
authority by territorial acquisition or by the
establishment of economic or political hegemony over
other nations”.
 - After being in office for only a week, Wilson declared
that the US would no longer support countries like China
and those in Latin America.

New Directions in Foreign Policy, Cont.
 - In 1914, Wilson had to compromise with his anti-
imperialism beliefs; during this time, the suppressed
people of Haiti overthrew their brutal government and
Wilson was forced to send American marines there to
protect American lives and property.
 - The United States ended up staying in Haiti for 19 years.
 - In 1916, Wilson made a treaty with Haiti, providing for
finances and police by the US.
New Directions in Foreign Policy, Cont.
 - He also sent American forces in the Dominican Republic
and they would stay there for 8 years.
 - Also in 1916, he passed the Jones Act, which granted full
territorial status to the Philippines and promised
independence as soon as a stable government was
established; the Philippines would be finally free thirty
years later, July 4th, 1946.
 - In 1917, Wilson purchased the Virgin Islands in the West
Indies.
XI. Moralistic Diplomacy in Mexico
 - Though Mexico itself had a lot of resources and potential to
be a rich country, they were exploited by the government and
foreign investors, leaving the actual Mexican citizens poor.
 - The Mexicans revolted; it took a turn for the worse in 1913,
and many fled to the United States, resulting in a massive
influx of Mexican immigrants.
 - They settled mostly in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and
California.
 - Wilson refused to interfere with the revolution in Mexico
because many Americans were urging him to do so out of
material interests, but he later would anyway to eliminate the
new Mexican president, Victoriano Huerta.
Victoriano Huerta
X. Thunder across the Sea
 - Europe manages to fall into another state of war. In
1914, a Siberian nationalist assassinated the heir to the
Austro-Hungarian throne. As a result, Austria declared
war on Siberia; this plunged many other European
countries into war.
 - Americans felt grateful for the geographic distance
between them and Europe.
XI. A Precarious Neutrality
 - Sadly, President Wilson’s wife died around the same
time the war broke out in Europe.
 - He issued the neutrality proclamation, and asked the
people to be neutral in thought and deed.
 - The Americans were, however, bombarded by the
European countries with propaganda to join their side in
the war.
 7. Why do you think Wilson wanted us to stay out of the
war?
A Precarious Neutrality, Cont.
 - Britain was at an advantage because of close cultural,
economic, and linguistic ties with the US; they would give
the news strictly from their perspective and saturate their
tales of war with incidents of German cruelty.

- The Germans and the Austro-Hungarians relied on
their relatives living in the States to sympathize; they did,
but many were grateful to not be part of the war, so they
didn’t cause much of an uproar.
 - Most Americans were anti-German from the start. Still,
they wanted to keep out of the war.
XII. America Earns Blood Money
 - With unbelievably unfortunate timing, America hit an
economic recession when the war started. Out of desperation,
they tried trading with Germany because they technically
could; however, the British naval blockade would not permit
them from doing so. The US reluctantly ceased trading after a
little more than two years of trade.
 - Thus, Germany declared submarine war with Britain and said
that they would not attack neutral merchant ships, but slyly
warned that there may be “accidents”.
 - Wilson warned Germany that they would be held with “strict
accountability” in the event these “accidents” occurred.
America Earns Blood Money, Cont.
 - With unbelievably unfortunate timing, America hit an
economic recession when the war started. Out of desperation,
they tried trading with Germany because they technically
could; however, the British naval blockade would not permit
them from doing so. The US reluctantly ceased trading.
 - Thus, Germany declared submarine war with Britain and said
that they would not attack neutral merchant ships, but slyly
warned that there may be “accidents”.
 - Wilson warned Germany that they would be held with “strict
accountability” in the event these “accidents” occurred.
America Earns Blood Money, Cont.
 - 128 Americans were killed by the German submarines (or U-boats,
as they called them).
 - Americans were naturally outraged; Wilson, however, clung to
neutrality. He issued a strong warning to the Germans.
 - After the Germans sunk the Arabic, a British ship, and killing two
Americans in 1915, Germany finally agreed to not harm unarmed
ships without warning.
 - Still, the Germans sunk the Sussex, a French trading ship; they
agreed to actually hold up their pledge of not attacking unarmed
ships without warning, but only if the British blockade was lifted so
that they could trade with the US. Wilson agreed to this, but he
couldn’t really fulfill his end of the bargain- he couldn’t actually
make Britain lift their blockade so in reality all he did was buy some
time.
The
German
submarines
, also called
“u-boats”
Consider…
 President Wilson tried with all his might to stay out of the
war in Europe, even when the Germans blatantly
threatened the US. This made many Americans angry,
such as Secretary of State Bryan, who resigned because of
Wilson’s refusal to fight and Theodore Roosevelt who
dismissed Wilson’s diplomacy as “weasel words”. Yet,
Wilson stood his ground; he proclaimed “There is such a
thing as a man too proud to fight.” 8. Do you agree with
his stance? Why or why not?
VIII. Wilson Wins Reelection in 1916
 - Charles Evans Hughes was elected to be the Republican
Party’s candidate.
 - Roosevelt hated Woodrow Wilson so much that he didn’t
even care about the election’s victor, he just wanted Wilson to
lose. So, he decided not to run; he did not want to split the
Party again and ensure Wilson’s victory, but he instead
supported Hughes.

- Roosevelt didn’t like Hughes much either, stating that
the only difference between the two men was “a shave”
(Wilson was always shaved while Hughes had a mustache).
Again, Roosevelt DIDN’T CARE, he hated Wilson so much he
just wanted to make sure he lost the election.
Charles
Evans
Hughes
Wilson Wins Reelection in 1916, Cont.
 - Still, Wilson won the election, though just barely.
 - His implied promises of peace throughout the campaign
and this appealed to many Americans.
 - Ironically, Wilson would end up leading the country
through the very war he wanted to prevent.
~ END ~However
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