progressivism and populism

• Benjamin Harrison, Republican


  1889-1893
• Billion Dollar Congress


  Over $1 billion was spent on measures to improve harbours, rivers, roads and transport systems
• Benefits for Civil War veterans

  Pension Act 1890
• The Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)


  An attempt to limit the power of trusts to protect trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and monopolies
• The Sherman Antitrust Act was not effectively or consistently enforced
• The McKinley Tariff (1890)


  Raised the average duty on imports to almost 50% to protect domestic industries from foreign competition
• Other countries responded by not buying American foodstuff

  Affecting farmers
• Harrison was the most active president since Abraham Lincoln on the international front
• Harrison's international actions


  1. Convened the first Pan-American Conference, in 1889

  2. Negotiated an American protectorate over the Samoan Islands

  3. Continued the work of modernizing and expanding the United States Navy into a world-class fleet

  4. Took the nation to the brink of war with Chile over an assault on American sailors

  5. Stood firm against Britain and Canada to protect the over-harvesting of fur seals in the Bering Sea

  6. Advocated U.S. expansion in the Pacific and the building of a canal across Central America
• Grover Cleveland, Democrat


  1893-1897
• Panic of 1893


  Cleveland had to deal with it
• JP Morgan loan


  Negotiated a deal for $62 million
• Cleveland's beliefs


  • Believed in self help and Laissez-faire
  • Did not think it was the responsibility of the government to provide jobs or help the unemployed
• Cleveland's response to the Pullman Strike


  Took out an injunction to prevent a strike of the Pullman workers in 1894 to keep the railways moving
• Cleveland's forceful response to the Pullman Strike suggested the President was not a man of the people or cared about the workers or industrial relations
• Cleveland was unable to end the depression and this weakened his Democratic Party and led to a Republican victory in the 1896 election
• Cleveland's international actions


  1. Sent a small detachment of marines to Panama (then a Colombian province) to help quash a rebellion

  2. Dispatched U.S. troops to Rio de Janeiro in defiance of a blockade of its harbor by pro-monarchists rebelling against the Republic of Brazil
• William Jennings Bryan


  • Personified the negative reaction to big business
  • Spoke for the farmers and the industrial workers
  • Was anti-capitalist/anti-big business/anti monopoly
  • Left wing-socialist
  • And imperialist
  • Prohibitionist
  • Creationist
• Populist Party


  • Farmers were hurt in the late 1880's by droughts and the McKinley Tariff of 1890 which put the highest tariffs yet seen on manufactured goods
  • The major issue they addressed was money
  • Believed that silver should join gold in being minted for money
  • This would put more money in circulation and create inflation which would help debtors pay off their mortgages with "cheap" money
  • Virtually replaced Democrats in the West and Republicans in the South
  • Believed that they had a chance for control of the government in the 1896 general election
• Reasons for the emergence of the Populists in the 1890s
• Populism withered away almost as rapidly as it had risen
• By its success at the Democratic National Convention, the People's Party lost its separate identity
• By 1908 the Populist Party had virtually ceased to exist and Populism became just one of many strands of reform
• The ability of the main political parties to absorb new elements into a broader coalition proved to be a lasting characteristic of American politics
• Mark Hanna


  • McKinley's campaign manager
  • Raised funds from industrialists and bankers for McKinley's presidential campaigns of 1896 and 1900
  • Used modern campaigning methods including the media, fear tactics, advertising, leaflets, posters, and 'muck slinging'
• Reasons for the Republican win in the 1896 election


  • Failures of the previous Democrat president, Cleveland
  • The Democratic Candidate, William Jennings Bryan seen as too left wing
  • Not a secret ballot
  • The role of big business
  • Modern campaigning method and the role of Mark Hanna
• Theodore Roosevelt, Republican


  1901-1909
• Progressivism


  Roosevelt's progressive policies and actions
• Roosevelt's trust-busting


  1. Used Sherman Anti-Trust Act to dissolve JP Morgan's Northern Securities Company in 1902

  2. U.S. Supreme Court ordered Northern Securities to be dismantled in 1904 for restricting trade by limiting traffic between Chicago and the Northwest
• Roosevelt's conservation efforts


  1. Used Forest Reserve Act to protect forests from Big Business in 1901

  2. Established Pelican Island - National Wildlife Refuge in 1903

  3. The Antiquities Act of 1906 to set aside "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest"
• Roosevelt's intervention in the miners' strike


  Got the miners a pay rise and a shorter working day in 1902
• Hepburn Railroad Regulation Act (1906)


  Gave the Interstate Commerce Commission the authority to establish maximum railroad rates
• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)


  Regulated the food and drug industries
• Meat Inspections Act (1906)


  Regulated the meat industry
• Roosevelt Corollary


  US assumed police power over the Western hemisphere
• Roosevelt's foreign policy actions


  1. The Navy grew, the Great White Fleet circumnavigated the globe

  2. Pursued an 'Open Door' trade policy in China and Japan

  3. Platt Amendment, 1903

  4. Alaska Boundary Dispute, 1903

  5. Moroccan Crisis, 1905

  6. Russian-Japanese War, 1905
• The Panama Canal


  • Showcased superior American technology
  • Allowed passage of the US navy between the East and the West coasts
  • Allowed more efficient and faster trade by speeding up sea journeys
• The Panama Canal was controversial because TR encouraged and supported a revolution in Panama against the legitimate government of Columbia
• The Panama Canal had a high human cost
• Roosevelt was criticised for his arrogance in assuming police power in Latin America