Reading Quiz (p.193-199) Terms Flashcards
(37 cards)
Gold Standard Act
Passed March 14, 1900. Gold—and only gold—became the standard unit of currency, was passed, thus marking the end of a two-decade struggle to make silver equal to gold.
Presidential election of 1900
The nation reelected McKinley as President, along with Theodore Roosevelt as Vice President.The Democrats nominated William Bryan and Adlai Stevenson on a platform of anti-imperialism, anti-trust, and free silver. A Socialist Party nominated Eugene Debs of Indiana and Job Harriman of California. A Prohibition Party and a People’s Party also put forward candidates for the presidential office.
Assassination of President MCKinley
On September 6, 1901, McKinley was shot by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, and he died a week later, on September 14.
Theodore Roosevelt, as new President
Roosevelt tried to reassure the nation by promising to “continue, absolutely unbroken the policy of President McKinley,” but he was known to champion such progressive causes as child labor laws, food and drug regulation, conservation, railroad re- form, and trust busting. A number of party leaders expressed concern about what he might do as chief executive
Progressivism
Populists and all manner of social reformers from the East and West joined Roosevelt under the banner of“Progressivism,” a movement formed to further popular government and progressive legislation. They insisted that the nation needed labor laws regarding women and children, legislation regulating wages and hours, and statutes that defined safety and health conditions in factories. Trusts and railroadswere high on the list of what needed reform, along with certain business practices known to violate ethical and moral standards. Of particular concern was the unrelenting drive of industries to form trusts.
“Bully pulpit”
A term referring to Roosevelt’s use of his position as chief executive of the nation to seek popular approval of his crusade against trusts.
What two companies inaugurated Roosevelt’s drive to bring an end to industrial abuses?
the U.S. Steel Company, the first billion-dollar corporation in the country; and the Northern Securities Company, a railroad holding company.
Expedition Act
Passed by Congress on February 11, 1903, giving the federalprosecution of antitrust suits precedence in circuit court proceedings.
Department of Labor and Commerce
Established on February 14, 1903.Included a Bureau of Corporations that had authority to investigate and compel testimony on activities by corporations involved in interstate commerce.
Elkins Act
February 19, 1903. Sought to eliminate rebates on freight charges and regulate shipping by railroads.
Hepburn Act
- Reinforced the Interstate Commerce Act by granting it the authority to set maximum railroad rates.
Newlands Act
Pressed upon Congress by Roosevelt in 1902. Directed the proceeds from the sale of arid and semiarid lands in the West to be used for the construction of dams, irrigation, and other reclamation projects.
Independence of Panama and plans for a canal
Roosevelt encouraged Panama, then a province of the nation of Colombia, to seek its freedom in order to allow the building of a canalacross the Isthmus of Panama. When native Panamanians rose up in rebellion in November 1903, American troops were used to block Colombia’s effort to crush the rebellion, and Roosevelt was quick to recognize Panamas independence. The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, signed on November 10, 1903, granted the United States control of a ten-mile zone across the isthmus. The United States agreed to guarantee the independence of Panama by obtaining the right to intervene at any time to protect it sovereignty. It also agreed to pay $10 million and an annual fee of $250,000 to operate a canal after it had been built.
Panama Canal
Guided by Manifest Destiny, the U.S., under Colonel William Gorgas, set to work on the canal, and on January 7, 1914, the first ship passed through it. The canal not only aided world trade but allowed the U.S. to move its fleet to protect its Pacific and Asian possessions. During the administration of President Jimmy Carter in 1977, treaties were negotiated by which the United States would continue to operate the canal until the year 2000, after which ownership of it would be turned over to Panama, with the understanding that its neutrality would be guaranteed even during periods of war.
Presidential election of 1904
Roosevelt wonagainst the Democrat Alton Parker, the Socialist Eugene Debs, the Prohibitionist Silas Swallow, and the Populist Thomas Watson.
Pure Food and Drug Act
Passed on June 30, 1906. Forbade the manufacture, sale, and distribution of adulterated drugs and food in interstate commerce, and it prohibited fraudulent labeling of these products.
Meat Inspection Act
Required sanitary conditions and federal inspection of meatpacking facilities in any operation involved in interstate commerce. It took the publication of Upton Sinclair’s book “The Jungle” to expose the filthy conditions in meatpacking houses and neutralize opposition to the law’s passage.
Progressive movement: reform
As the Progressive movement developedwithin the country, it demanded an end to the abuses of greedy corporations and machine politics.Several states initiated business reforms, railroad legislation, and income tax and adopted the direct primary and the initiative and referendum to allow voters a greater voice in deciding legislation
Progressive movement: modes and means
To a large extent the movement was advanced by a number of writers, such as Sinclair, Ida Tarbell, Henry Lloyd, Lincoln Stephens, and David Phillips, who exposed corruption and greed in business and politics. Magazines with national circulation also brought issues to public attention.
“Muckrakers”
Name given to US journalists and other writers who exposed corruption in politics and business in the early 20th century. The term was first used by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.
Progressive movement:American democracy
The movement urged legislation that would allow the electorate to have a voice in initiating legislature that would benefit them; it urged legislation that would permit the public to approve or disapprove measures passed by state legislatures; and it urged legislation that would permit voters to recall elected officials who did not serve the public well-being.
Political parties of the early 1900s
Democratic, Republican, Populist, Socialist, Socialist Labor, Progressive, Prohibition, Independence, and United Christian.
Presidential election of 1908
Roosevelt stepped down. Republican William Howard Taft, with a platform that called for stricter enforcement of the antitrust laws and further tariff protection, defeated William Jennings Bryan
Mann-Elkins Act
Passed on June 18, 1909. Added telephone, telegraph, and cable companies to the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and permitted it to suspend rate increases or to reduce rates if necessary, subject to judicial review.
