New Freedom - Michael Dudkin
New Freedom was the theme of Woodrow Wilson’s 1912 campaign for presidential office. During his battle with former president Theodore Roosevelt, both announced plans to combat the same issues that crippled America. They went about this in different ways, however, mainly due to their personalities and advisors. For example, in the field of business reform, Roosevelt attempted to appeal to the most populous social classes by giving people like farmers more power and business drastically less. Wilson, on the other hand, with a hate for ignorance and an independent philosophy, agreed with his advisor Brandeis in a plan to eliminate trusts and monopolies, while keeping much of the nation’s free enterprise and competition. While both progressive plans battled similar topics, Wilson’s was organized, concise, and more appealing to those in power over Roosevelt’s. It relied on three types of change: tariff reform, business reform, and economic reform.
Tariffs in the early 20th century, while rapidly building America its industrial culture, were excessive for the middle classes: factory workers and farmers. Farmers, still a major part of the country’s supply and economy, were trapped and tortured by the contemporary tariffs, as they increased prices on all goods while providing no aid to crop growth or price. In order to maximize their crop output, farmers were forced to buy from industry, giving even more money to the business that was killing their own. With the promise of lower taxes, and the eventual Underwood Tariff Act, farmers gained support from their own government and found it manageable to continue their enterprise again. Moving on to business reform, Wilson planned to bring the trust model to oblivion. With the establishment of the Federal Trade Commission by the Federal Trade Act, the government could investigate shady interstate business operations and halt all practices if illegalities were exposed. As previously all enterprise was nearly impossible to investigate and judge, this marked a progressive step toward securing control over the American economy. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act was also issued, expanding on the list of operations the Sherman Anti-Trust Act considered to be illegal. In addition, the Clayton Act made sure that most types of unions could not be exploited by the Sherman Act and claimed to be an inconvenience to the people. Picketing, strikes, and boycotts were written to be seen as equals to unions in the viewpoint of the law. In terms of economy, Wilson promised to amend the sporadic and diverse banking system in progress and unify with without a central Bank of the United States to add extra risk. In 1913, the Federal Reserve System was established by the Federal Reserve Act, gliding swiftly past senators due to the 1907 panic. This new system was aimed at providing certain areas with financial support with regard to their population and had the overwhelming task of maintaining the weight of the dollar, the standardized currency. Removing the need for a central bank, the Federal Reserve increased employment, stabilized inflation and interest rates, and allowed farmers to support their failing systems. With the Federal Farm Loan Act and lower tariffs, the progressive movement achieved a net victory for the lower classes, saving the farmer and stabilizing the economy.
Works Cited:
Wilson, Woodrow. "Monopoly, or Opportunity? | Woodrow Wilson | The New Freedom, 1913." WWW Virtual Library @ Www.vlib.us | WWW-VL | United States History; World History; WWI; American History Documents; US Art Museums; US History Museums; USA Historic Sites; Native American Bibliography; Web Site Tools; Electronic Texts. United States History Index. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. <http://www.vlib.us/amdocs/texts/monopoly.htm>.
"Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/43g.asp>.
Woodrow Wilson, The New Freedom: A Call for the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People (1913)
No comments:
Post a Comment