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Teddy Roosevelt - The Trust Buster

Teddy Roosevelt was one American who believed a revolution was coming. He believed Wall Street financiers and powerful trust titans to be acting foolishly. He believed that large trusts and were harmful to the economy and especially to the consumer. While they were eating off fancy china on mahogany tables in marble dining rooms, the masses were roughing it. There seemed to be no limit to greed. If docking wages would increase profits, it was done. If higher railroad rates put more gold in their coffers, it was done. How much was enough, Roosevelt wondered?

The President's weapon was the Sherman Antitrust Act, passed by Congress in 1890. This law declared illegal all combinations "in restraint of trade." For the first twelve years of its existence, the Sherman Act was a paper tiger. courts routinely sided with business when any enforcement of the Act was attempted.

1. What belief guided President ’s efforts as a trustbuster?

2. What is a ? Why are they harmful to the economy and to the consumer?

3. What piece of legislation did Roosevelt use to break up monopolies?

The

The Square Deal was Roosevelt's domestic program formed on three basic ideas: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. In general, the Square Deal attacked plutocracy and bad trusts while simultaneously protecting businesses from the most extreme demands of organized labor. In contrast to his predecessor William McKinley, Roosevelt believed that such government action was necessary to mitigate social evil, and as president denounced “the representatives of predatory wealth” as guilty of “all forms of iniquity from the oppression of wage workers to defrauding the public." Trusts and monopolies became the primary target of Square Deal legislation.

During both his terms, Roosevelt tried to extend the Square Deal by pushing the federal courts and Congress to yield to the wishes of the executive branch on all subsequent anti-trust suits. An example of this was the , which stated that railroads were not allowed to give rebates to favored companies any longer. These rebates had treated small Midwestern farmers unfairly by not allowing them equal access to the services of the railroad. Instead, the Interstate Commerce Commission controlled the prices that railroads could charge.

More legislation was passed to protect consumers from tainted or mislabeled food and medical products. Guidelines were imposed that specified how meat was to be processed safely and with proper sanitation methods. Foodstuffs and drugs could no longer be mislabeled, nor could consumers be deliberately misled by food and drug companies. Roosevelt also fought strongly for land conservation, and safeguarded millions of hectares of wilderness from commercial exploitation.

1. What was the main purpose of Roosevelt’s Square Deal?

2. What were 3 basic ideas built into the deal?

Big Stick Diplomacy

The term "Big Stick" diplomacy refers to Roosevelt’s corollary to the , coined by the famous phrase: "speak softly and carry a big stick. Roosevelt attributed the term to a West African proverb, "speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far," but the claim that it originated in West has been disputed. Essentially, "Big Stick" diplomacy is the idea of negotiating peacefully with other nations while simultaneously threatening them with displays of military muscle. Roosevelt first used the phrase in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair on September 2, 1901, twelve days before the assassination of President William McKinley, which subsequently thrust him into the presidency. As president, Roosevelt described his style of foreign policy as "the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis." Roosevelt’s Big Stick Diplomacy is most often associated with his dealings involving South and Central American countries, particularly .

1. Put Roosevelt’s Big Stick Policy into your own words.

2. Roosevelt’s Big Stick policy is most often associated with US involvement in which countries?

Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, 1904 President Theodore Roosevelt’s assertive approach to and the has often been characterized as the “Big Stick,” and his policy came to be known as the to the Monroe Doctrine. Although the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 was essentially passive (it asked that Europeans not increase their influence or recolonize any part of the ), by the 20th century a more confident United States was willing to take on the role of regional policeman. In the early Roosevelt grew concerned that a crisis between Venezuela and its creditors could spark an invasion of that nation by European powers. The Roosevelt Corollary of December 1904 stated that the United States would intervene as a last resort to ensure that other nations in the Western Hemisphere fulfilled their obligations to international creditors, and did not violate the rights of the United States or invite “foreign aggression to the detriment of the entire body of American nations.” As the corollary worked out in practice, the United States increasingly used military force to restore internal stability to nations in the . Roosevelt declared that the United States might “exercise international police power in ‘flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence.’” Over the long term the corollary had little to do with relations between the Western Hemisphere and , but it did serve as justification for U.S. intervention in Cuba, , Haiti, and the .

1. What development in prompted Roosevelt to add the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine?

2. The Roosevelt Corollary allowed the US to build bases in which region of the world?

November 3, 1903: declares independence

With the support of the U.S. government, Panama issues a declaration of independence from . The revolution was engineered by a Panamanian faction backed by the Panama Company, a French-U.S. corporation that hoped to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans with a across the of Panama.

In 1903, the Hay-Herrán Treaty was signed with Colombia, granting the United States use of the in exchange for financial compensation. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty, but the Colombian Senate, fearing a loss of sovereignty, refused. In response, President Theodore Roosevelt gave tacit approval to a rebellion by Panamanian nationalists, which began on November 3, 1903. To aid the rebels, the U.S.-administered railroad in Panama removed its trains from the northern terminus of Colón, thus stranding Colombian troops sent to crush the insurrection. Other Colombian forces were discouraged from marching on Panama by the arrival of the U.S. warship Nashville. On November 6, the United States recognized the Republic of Panama, and on the Hay- Bunau-Varilla Treaty was signed with Panama, granting the United States exclusive and permanent possession of the Zone. In exchange, Panama received $10 million and an annuity of $250,000 beginning nine years later. The treaty was negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State and the owner of the Panama Canal Company. Almost immediately, the treaty was condemned by many as an infringement on their country's new national sovereignty.

On , 1914, the Panama Canal was inaugurated with the passage of the U.S. vessel Ancon, a cargo and passenger . After decades of protest and negotiations, the Panama Canal passed to Panamanian control in December 1999.

1. What prompted the U.S. government to actively encourage a 1903 revolt in Central America?

2. Describe the deal made in the Varilla Treaty.

The : Around the World

On the warm, cloudy morning of December 16, 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt's "Great White Fleet," a force of sixteen bristling with guns and painted sparkling white, steam out of Hampton , to begin its 43,000-mile, 14-month of the globe "to demonstrate to the world America's naval prowess." The four-mile-long armada's world tour included 20 calls on six , and is widely considered one of the greatest peacetime achievements of the U.S. Navy.

1. What did Roosevelt hope to accomplish with the “Great White Fleet”

The Open Door Policy

China was in political and economic disarray as the end of the 19th century approached. The giant was not recognized as a sovereign nation by the major powers, who were busy elbowing one another for trading privileges and plotting how the country could be partitioned. The imperial nations sought spheres of influence and claimed extraterritorial rights in China.

The United States took Far Eastern matters more seriously after the Spanish-American War, when they came into possession of the Philippines. In the fall of 1898, President McKinley stated his desire for the creation of an "open door" that would allow all trading nations access to the Chinese market. The following year, Secretary of State John Hay sought a formal endorsement of the concept by circulating diplomatic notes among the major powers, enabling the secretary to be credited with authoring the Open Door policy.

Hay’s proposal for an Open Door Policy called for the establishment of equal trading rights to all nations in all parts of China and for recognition of Chinese territorial integrity (meaning that the country should not be carved up). The impact of such an Open Door Policy would be to put all of the imperial nations on an equal footing and minimize the power of those nations with existing spheres of influence. No nation formally agreed to Hay’s policy; each used the other nations' reluctance to endorse the Open Door as an excuse for their own inaction. An undeterred Hay simply announced that agreement had been reached. Only Russia and Japan voiced displeasure.

On the surface, it appeared that the United States had advanced a reform viewpoint, but the truth was otherwise. The U.S. had no sphere of influence in China, but had long maintained an active trade there. If other nations were to partition China, the United States would likely be excluded from future commercial activities. In short, Hay was simply trying to protect the prospects of American businessmen and investors. Challenges to the Open Door policy would be mounted frequently in the ensuing years, including the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 in which Chinese nationalists resorted to armed opposition in an attempt to end foreign occupation of their country; Japanese incursions into following the Russo- Japanese War; and the "21 Demands" levied by Japan on China in 1915.

An effort was made to shore up the Open Door in 1921-22 at the Washington Naval Conference, but a challenge was again mounted by the Japanese in the 1930s as they expanded their control in Manchuria. China would not be recognized as a sovereign state until after World War II.

1. Name 2 goals of the Open Door Policy.

2. The emergence of powerful European spheres of influence in Southeast shaped the development of what U.S. foreign policy?

3. Why would the Open Door Policy not be supported by many European countries?

Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907 The Gentlemen's Agreement between the United States and Japan in 1907-1908 represented an effort by President Theodore Roosevelt to calm growing tension between the two countries over the immigration of Japanese workers. A treaty with Japan in 1894 had assured free immigration, but as the number of Japanese workers in California increased, they were met with growing hostility. In August 1900, Japan agreed to deny to laborers seeking to enter the United States; this, however, did not stop the many workers who obtained passports to Canada, Mexico, or Hawaii and then moved on to the United States. Racial antagonism intensified, fed by inflammatory articles in the press. On May 7, 1905, a Japanese and Korean Exclusion League was organized, and on October 11, 1906, the school board arranged for all Asian children to be placed in a segregated school.

Japan was prepared to limit immigration to the United States, but was deeply wounded by San Francisco's discriminatory law aimed specifically at its people. President Roosevelt, wishing to preserve good relations with Japan as a counter to Russian expansion in the , intervened. While the American ambassador reassured the Japanese government, Roosevelt summoned the San Francisco mayor and school board to the in February 1907 and persuaded them to rescind the segregation order, promising that the federal government would itself address the question of immigration. On February 24, the Gentlemen's Agreement with Japan was concluded in the form of a Japanese note agreeing to deny passports to laborers intending to enter the United States and recognizing the U.S. right to exclude Japanese immigrants holding passports originally issued for other countries. This was followed by the formal withdrawal of the San Francisco school board order on March 13, 1907. A final Japanese note dated February 18, 1908, made the Gentlemen's Agreement fully effective. The agreement was superseded by the exclusionary Immigration Act of 1924.

1. What did Roosevelt agree to do in the Gentlemen’s Agreement?

2. What did Japan agree to do in return?