Chapter 17 Section 3 Guided Reading

Chapter 17 Section 3 Guided Reading


Problem:
1) 1902 coal strike
2) Trusts
3) Unregulated big business
4) Dangerous foods and medicines
5) Shrinking wilderness and national resources
6) Racial discrimination


What steps did Roosevelt take to solve each problem?
1) When 140,000 coal miners had been on strike for 5 months and coal reserves were running low, Roosevelt invited both sides to the White House to talk things out. Roosevelt threatened to take over the mines, and so mine operators and strikers agreed to let a third party work out their differences
2) Roosevelt started filing suits under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. He ordered the Justice Department to sue the Northeastern Securities Company, which had a monopoly over the northwestern railroads. Roosevelt filed 44 antitrust suits, winning many and breaking up a good number of trusts.
3) Roosevelt urged Congress to pass the Elkins Act, which would made it illegal for railroad officials to give and shippers to receive rebates for using particular railroads, and specified that railroads could not change rates without notifying the public.
4) Roosevelt appointed a commission of experts to investigate the meatpacking industry, which brought back a report of terrible conditions. Roosevelt encouraged the passage of the Meat Inspection Act. Congress (though it does not say at Roosevelt’s urging) passed the Pure Food and Drug Act, which called for truth in labeling and stopped the sale of contaminated food and medicine.
5) Roosevelt set aside 1.5 million acres of water-power sites, 80 million acres of land to be explored by experts from the Geological Survey for water and mineral sources, and was persuaded by his friend to set aside 148 million acres of forest reserves. He established over 50 wildlife sanctuaries and some national parks as well.
6) Roosevelt appointed an African American as head of the Charleston, South Carolina customhouse, and when people in Mississippi refused top accept the black postmistress, Roosevelt closed the station rather than give in.


What legislation helped solve the problem?
1) No legislation, except for the arbitration commission helped to solve the problem.
2) Roosevelt used the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
3) The Interstate Commerce Act, which made it illegal for rich railroad owners from fixing high prices by dividing business in a certain area, the Elkins Act, which gave more power to the weak Interstate Commerce commission, and the Hepburn Act, which limited the distribution of free passes for railroads, and gave the ICC the power to set maximum rates.
4) The Meat Inspection Act dictated strict cleanliness requirements and established a federal meat inspection program, and the Pure Food and Drug Act called for truth in labeling.
5) The National Reclamation Act of 1902 was passed, giving money to irrigation projects with money from the sale of public lands.
6)


Square deal- Described the various progressive reforms sponsored by the Roosevelt administration.
NAACP- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People aimed for full equality amongst the races, and held civil rights meetings. It was a combination of black and white people.
Upton Sinclair- Author of the influential book The Jungle.f
The Jungle- A book that exposed the disgusting conditions of the meatpacking industry and caused the government to intervene, taking measures to promote more clean meat.