The Progressive Period - USA History
The early 20th century was an era of
business expansion and progressive reform in the United States. The
progressives, as they called themselves, worked to make American society a
better and safer place in which to live. They tried to make big business more
responsible through regulations of various kinds. They worked to clean up
corrupt city governments, to improve working conditions in factories, and to
better living conditions for those who lived in slum areas, a large number of whom
were recent immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Many progressives were
also concerned with the environment and conservation of resources.
This generation of Americans also
hoped to make the world a more democratic place. At home, this meant expanding
the right to vote to women and a number of election reforms such as the recall,
referendum, and direct election of Senators. Abroad, it meant trying to make
the world safe for democracy. In 1917, the United States joined Great Britain
and France--two democratic nations--in their war against autocratic Germany and
Austria-Hungary. Soon after the Great War, the majority of Americans turned
away from concern about foreign affairs, adopting an attitude of live and let
live.
The 1920s, also known as the "roaring
twenties" and as "the new era," were similar to the Progressive
Era in that America continued its economic growth and prosperity. The incomes
of working people increased along with those of middle class and wealthier
Americans. The major growth industry was automobile manufacturing. Americans
fell in love with the automobile, which radically changed their way of life. On
the other hand, the 1920s saw the decline of many reform activities that had
been so widespread after 1900.
THE administration of Theodore Roosevelt was in some respects the
first modern presidency. It is with Roosevelt that the most distinctive twentieth-century characteristics of the
executive office emerged as more or less permanent traits. Roosevelt put the
presidency and the federal government at the center of peacetime political
action. He made the White House a national focus for the social mood and did
much to set the moral tone of his times. He exploited the president's powers as
commander in chief to initiate a forceful, independent foreign policy,
deploying military forces abroad without direct (or any) consultation with
Congress. And he extended presidential initiatives in policymaking to the
domestic scene on an unprecedented scale, putting forward reform proposals for
congressional action and using executive orders to promote major innovative
programs.
Not all the traits that Roosevelt brought to the White House were
admirable. There was sometimes as much truculence as confidence, as much
belligerence as goodwill, and as much bravado as good sense. He set some
dubious precedents in his bullying of small nations and in his sometimes casual
regard for constitutional and international law. He did much to prod Americans
to take up their responsibilities as a powerful nation to use their power for
good internationally, even though it must be said that his own conception of
"good" could not always meet a test for universal approval. He was,
in short, not the perfect model for the ideal Philosopher King. But his
contributions to good government certainly outweighed his shortcomings.
That Roosevelt went a long way toward persuading the nation of the
legitimacy of federal responsibility for regulating business activities and
husbanding the country's natural resources, unquestionably counts among his
greatest contributions. By 1900, the corporate consolidation of the nation's business had greatly impaired the effectiveness
of the market to allocate economic opportunities, advantages, and rewards
equitably. Meanwhile, the predominantly interstate and global character of
economic activity had rendered state governments constitutionally and
administratively incapable of overseeing the nation's industrial and financial
affairs so as to redress market imbalances. Nor had the states proved capable
of controlling private exploitation of the public's mineral, timber, water, soil, scenic, and
recreational resources, much of which by 1900 were beginning their way toward
extinction. A longtime governmental vacuum awaited federal attention,
which, given the parochial roots of congressional power, only the president
could provide. The rise of "The Regulatory State" that gained much of
its legitimacy during Roosevelt's presidency was as much an essential part of
the modern political economy as was the emergence of the corporate form of business organization and the
multinational business firm. Although in the final quarter of the century that
began with the Age of Theodore Roosevelt a variety of economic interests came
to use "deregulation" as an effective political slogan, in fact none of even
those same interests truly envisioned a major withdrawal by the federal
government of its regulatory role. Most of what went on in the politics of the
1880s and 1890s aimed chiefly at rearranging the structure of
competitive costs and advantages that different business and other interests
had constructed in previous decades. No one understood the vital importance of
the modern regulatory state better than Theodore Roosevelt, and through all the
political smoke of the 1890s it remained clear that his perceptions continued
to serve modern government.
Meanwhile, the competition for empire among the leading industrial
and military powers of Europe and Asia challenged the rationale of America's
traditional isolationism and forced heavy responsibilities on the country's
commander in chief. These developments greatly magnified the importance of the
presidency and inevitably drew the attention of the press beyond state and
local events to national politics. Later in the century, as film, radio, and
television became public media instruments, the presence of the chief executive
and his family would become more potent and more influential. But Theodore
Roosevelt achieved such stature in advance of the new technology. It may be
that Americans generally get the president who most closely mirrors their mood,
but it is at least arguable that presidents shape the nation's mood, its
manners, its tastes, and its morals somewhat more than they have
been shaped by them. This seems especially true of Theodore Roosevelt.
Theodore Roosevelt was born
into a wealthy and influential family in New
York City.
Young “Teedie” was plagued by asthma and poor eyesight and was educated at home
by tutors until he enrolled at Harvard.
Roosevelt developed deep
interests in natural science and military history. The family traveled widely,
and Roosevelt spent a year living with a family in Germany. His poor health
concerned him deeply, fearing that he would lose the respect of his father,
whom he idolized.
On a family vacation in New
England, young Roosevelt was traumatized by a couple of young toughs; his
embarrassment drove him into a lifelong quest for the strenuous life. His
father prepared a gymnasium at home and Roosevelt began a vigorous program of
physical self-improvement.
In 1876, Roosevelt entered
Harvard where he excelled, graduating Phi Beta Kappa four years later. He
entered the law school at Columbia
University
in the hope of finding a lucrative profession; his father had left him a
significant inheritance, but Roosevelt felt he needed a profession to assure
his security. He found the study of law uninspiring and spent much of his time
completing The Naval War of 1812, a book he had started as an undergraduate.
Roosevelt was elected to the New
York state
assembly in 1882 and allied himself with the Republican Party`s reform
elements. He drew attention for his efforts to investigate the noted financier Jay
Gould`s
shady dealings. Roosevelt further bucked the conservative leadership by
cooperating with the Democratic governor Grover
Cleveland
and opposing the presidential nomination of James
G. Blaine at
the Republican convention in 1884.
In 1880, Roosevelt married
Alice Hathaway Lee, the daughter of a prominent New England banking family. She
died in 1884, while giving birth to their daughter, Alice. Roosevelt’s mother
died from typhoid fever on the same day.
Shaken by his losses,
Roosevelt purchased two cattle ranches in the Dakotas and moved westward. He
hoped to boost his spirits through physical activity. Ranch hands and neighbors
were initially cool toward the bespectacled Easterner with the funny accent,
but he soon won their friendship and respect.
Roosevelt was not successful
as a rancher, however; he lost most of his cattle in a snowstorm. His sojourn
in the West was, however, fruitful from the literary standpoint. His Hunting
Trips of a Ranchman (1885) and Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail were written
for popular audiences and played a role in attracting tourism to the area.
Roosevelt’s four-volume The Winning of the West (1889-96), while heavy on
adventure and heroism, is regarded as an outstanding work.
Roosevelt returned to New
York City in
1886, where he mounted an unsuccessful run for the mayor’s office. He finished
last behind the Democratic winner and runner-up third party candidate Henry
George.
In that year, he married the
refined and introspective Edith K. Carow, a childhood friend. The Roosevelts
had a daughter and four sons of their own. Living the life of a country squire,
Roosevelt settled into relative quiet at Sagamore Hill on Oyster Bay, Long
Island. He
wrote two biographies for the popular American Statesmen series, a widely
admired one on Thomas Hart Benton and a more pedestrian treatment of Gouverneur
Morris.
In 1889, Roosevelt returned
to public life, accepting an appointment to the U.S. Civil Service Commission.
This position was a reward for his assistance with the Benjamin
Harrison
campaign in 1888.
Roosevelt’s energy in
combating the spoils system brought attention to the Commission. Reforms of this era included
an increase in the number of government jobs subject to competitive
examinations, a revision of the those examinations, and the opening of many
positions to female applicants. Roosevelt’s service was appreciated by the next
president, his friend Cleveland, and he was reappointed to another term.
In 1895, Roosevelt became
Police Commissioner of New York City. His efforts to end corruption were not
very successful, but he gained widespread public popularity by conducting
nighttime patrols of the city to ensure that the police were doing their jobs.
Roosevelt drew the ire of the Tammany
Hall and
many German immigrants by enforcing an often ignored law requiring the closure
of beer halls on Sundays.
In 1896, Roosevelt campaigned
vigorously for the Republican nominee, William
McKinley,
and pressed for an appointment after the election victory. The new president
thought Roosevelt was a brash young man, but nevertheless nominated him to be
the assistant secretary of the Navy. In his new position, he pressed hard for
stronger action against Spain for thwarting the Cuban drive for independence.
At this time, he also expressed his dedication to keep European powers out of
active involvement in the Western Hemisphere (see Monroe
Doctrine)
and his conviction that stronger nations must bestow the benefits of their
civilization upon the weaker nations (see Manifest
Destiny). As
a disciple of Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt also advocated a strong navy and
overseas bases.
In May 1898, after war
against Spain
had been declared, Roosevelt resigned as assistant secretary and joined a
volunteer cavalry unit under Colonel Leonard Wood. His exploits with the Rough
Riders in
Cuba were reported in the press, which made him a national celebrity. Roosevelt
regarded his experiences in combat as the high point of his life.
Capitalizing on his
popularity, Roosevelt ran for governor of New York. Republican leaders knew of
his reform tendencies, but pushed his nomination as a means to overcome a
recent history of corruption on the state level.
In November 1898, Roosevelt
was elected by a narrow margin. He showed typical vigor in Albany and, as
feared, alienated political boss Thomas
Platt by
pushing through a new tax on corporate franchises. His efforts at moderate
reforms included a number of conservation measures and improvements in public
education.
In 1900, Platt and other New
York
Republicans urged President McKinley to take Roosevelt as his running mate; the
previous vice president had died in office and Platt was anxious to be rid of
the hard-charging governor.
Roosevelt was initially
reluctant, but quickly realized that he had no base in the Republican Party and
that his only hope for the presidency would come by exposure on a national
ticket. He accepted the offer of the nomination and campaigned tirelessly for
the ticket, a distinct contrast to the homebound McKinley.
Roosevelt`s tenure as
vice-president was cut short by McKinley`s
asassination
in September 1901. Mark Hanna lamented that "that damned cowboy is president now,"
giving expression to the fears of many old line Republicans.
During his first term,
Roosevelt earned a reputation for trust-busting, but his inclination was to
seek regulation of the giants, not their destruction. He also won widespread
approval for forcing arbitration upon a reluctant management during the coal
strike of
1902. Roosevelt took tentative steps toward addressing the concerns of farmers
and other small shippers who believed the railroads were treating them unfairly.
In 1904, Roosevelt`s main
challenger for the Republican nomination, Hanna, died before the convention,
clearing the path for the incumbent. He campaigned on the merits of his
"square deal" for all of the American people and was an easy victor in November. In a move that
he later regretted, Roosevelt announced that he would not seek the nomination
in 1908; in effect, he labeled himself a lame duck.
Domestic progress was muted
during Roosevelt`s second term. Congress had tired of his activism and resisted
many of his proposals. Major progress was made toward conserving the nation`s resources, but
the president was blamed by his critics for contributing to the onset of the Panic
of 1907.
Roosevelt was extremely
active in foreign affairs, particularly in his first administration. He regarded the quest
for the Panama Canal as his greatest achievement, but was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his services in settling
the Russo-Japanese War.
The Republican Party followed
Roosevelt`s counsel in 1908, and nominated William
Howard Taft.
The outgoing president believed that Taft would continue to carry the torch of
reform, but the Party believed it would be able to mold Taft`s actions.
Roosevelt, in typical
fashion, was an active former president. He immediately set out on a 10-month
safari in Africa. His critics at home actively rooted for the lions, but Roosevelt
and his party bagged nearly 300 animals. He then traveled on to the Middle East
and Europe, culminating in a meeting with Kaiser Wilhelm II. Roosevelt`s return
to the United States in June 1910, was front-page news.
Enjoying his active
retirement, Roosevelt was reluctant to reenter the political arena. However, he
became increasingly unhappy with what he regarded as Taft’s disloyalty and his
abandonment of progressivism. In the summer of 1910, the former president
delivered an address at Osawatomie, Kansas, outlining the New Nationalism and
separating his brand of progressivism from Taft’s.
In 1912, Roosevelt initially
declined any interest in receiving the Republican nomination, but when the
anti-Taft forces appeared to be turning to his progressive rival Robert
M. La Follette,
he reconsidered. Roosevelt entered a number of presidential primaries and met
with great success. When the nominating convention met, however, it became
clear that Roosevelt’s challenge would be defeated by the political pros
serving the incumbent Taft.
TR led his supporters out of
the convention, later forming a third alternative, the Progressive
Party. In
response to a reporter’s question about his health, TR said, “I feel as strong
as a bull moose,” providing a popular nickname for the new party.
Three weeks before the
election, Roosevelt was shot in the chest while delivering a speech in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin.
The bullet was slowed and deflected by a folded 50-page speech and a metal
glasses case that were in Roosevelt’s coat pocket. He did not realize that he
had been shot until he touched his chest and saw blood on his hand.
Despite the protests of his
hosts, he insisted on completing his talk before being taken to the hospital.
It was discovered that the bullet had lodged in his chest, but presented no
threat to his health and was never removed. Roosevelt remained under
observation for a week and did not resume campaigning. The attempted assassin,
a deranged saloonkeeper, was later committed to a mental institution.
Woodrow
Wilson, the
Democratic governor of New
Jersey, was
the easy victor over the fatally split Republicans in 1912. Roosevelt, however, had the
satisfaction of finishing ahead of Taft.
Following his defeat,
Roosevelt turned to writing his autobiography and traveling in South America,
where he contracted a serious case of malaria. His relationship with the Wilson
administration was not cordial. Roosevelt was irate over the president’s
efforts to compensate Colombia for the loss of Panama, which Roosevelt regarded
as an implication that he had acted improperly.
As World
War I spread
through Europe, Roosevelt chided the administration for its lack of
preparedness and its acceptance of the violation of American neutral
rights on
the seas. Roosevelt hit the campaign trail in 1916 on behalf of Charles
Evans Hughes,
but did so half-heartedly.
In 1917, at the time of
American entry into the conflict, a vain Roosevelt sought a military command;
he was denied. By this time, Roosevelt was a shadow of his former self, having
been blinded in one eye in a boxing bout with an aide years earlier, but never
mentioning the incident to anyone. He also was deaf in one ear and was considerably
weakened by the ravages of malaria. Roosevelt died in early 1919, and was
buried without ceremony at his beloved Sagamore Hill.
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL
RESOURCES
In the mid to late 19th century,
natural resources were heavily exploited, especially in the West. Land
speculators and developers took over large tracts of forests and grazing land.
Acreage important to waterpower was seized by private concerns. Mining
companies practiced improper and wasteful mining practices. Assuming a seemingly
inexhaustible supply of natural resources, Americans developed a
"tradition of waste."
Alarmed by the public's attitude
toward natural resources as well as the exploitation of natural resources for
private gain, conservationists called for federal supervision of the nation's
resources and the preservation of those resources for future generations. In
President Theodore Roosevelt, the conservationists found a sympathetic ear and
man of action. Conservation of the nation's resources, putting an end to wasteful
uses of raw materials, and the reclamation of large areas of neglected land
have been identified as some of the major achievements of the Roosevelt era.
Progressive
Era
Both Conservationism and
Environmentalism appeared in political debates during the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. There
were three main positions. The laissez-faire position held that owners
of private property—including lumber and mining companies, should be allowed to
do anything they wished for their property.[3]
The Conservationists, led by
President Theodore Roosevelt and his close ally Gifford Pinchot,
said that the laissez-faire approach was too wasteful and inefficient. In any
case, they noted, most of the natural resources in the western states were
already owned by the federal government. The best course of action, they
argued, was a long-term plan devised by national experts to maximize the
long-term economic benefits of natural resources.
Environmentalism was the third position, led by John Muir
(1838–1914). Muir's passion for nature made him the most influential American
environmentalist. Muir preached that nature was sacred and humans are intruders
who should look but not develop. He founded the Sierra Club
and remains an icon of the environmentalist movement. He was primarily
responsible for defining the environmentalist position, in the debate between
Conservation and environmentalism.
Environmentalism preached that
nature was almost sacred, and that man was an intruder. It allowed for limited
tourism (such as hiking), but opposed automobiles in national parks. It
strenuously opposed timber cutting on most public lands, and vehemently
denounced the dams that Roosevelt supported for water supplies, electricity and
flood control. Especially controversial was the Hetch Hetchy dam
in Yosemite National Park, which Roosevelt approved, and which supplies the water
supply of San Francisco.
[edit] Theodore Roosevelt
Roosevelt put conservationist issue
high on the national agenda.[4]
He worked with all the major figures of the movement, especially his chief
advisor on the matter, Gifford Pinchot.
Roosevelt was deeply committed to conserving natural resources, and is
considered to be the nation's first conservation President. He encouraged the Newlands
Reclamation Act of 1902 to promote federal
construction of dams to irrigate small farms and placed 230 million acres
(360,000 mi² or 930,000 km²) under federal protection. Roosevelt set
aside more Federal land for national parks
and nature preserves than all of his predecessors combined.[5]
Roosevelt established the United
States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of
five National
Parks, and signed the year 1906 Antiquities Act,
under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 Bird Reserves,
four Game
Preserves, and 150 National
Forests, including Shoshone
National Forest, the nation's first. The area of
the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately
230,000,000 acres (930,000 km2).
Gifford Pinchot had been appointed by McKinley as chief of Division of
Forestry in the Department of Agriculture. In 1905, his department gained
control of the national forest reserves. Pinchot promoted private use (for a
fee) under federal supervision. In 1907, Roosevelt designated 16 million acres
(65,000 km²) of new national forests just minutes before a deadline.
In May 1908, Roosevelt sponsored the
Conference of Governors held in the White House, with a focus on natural resources
and their most efficient use. Roosevelt delivered the opening address:
"Conservation as a National Duty.".
In 1903 Roosevelt toured the Yosemite Valley with John Muir, who had a very different view of conservation, and tried to minimize commercial use of water resources and forests. Working through the Sierra Club he founded, Muir succeeded in 1905 in having Congress transfer the Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley to the Federal Government.[6] While Muir wanted nature preserved for the sake of pure beauty, Roosevelt subscribed to Pinchot's formulation, "to make the forest produce the largest amount of whatever crop or service will be most useful, and keep on producing it for generation after generation of men and trees." [7]
1930s
In the 1930s, the dominant view was
the conservationism of Theodore Roosevelt and was endorsed by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. It led to the building of many large-scale dams and water
projects, as well as the expansion of the National Forest System to buy out
sub-marginal farms. In 1937, the Pittman–Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act was signed into law, providing funding for state agencies
to carry out their conservation efforts.
[edit] Since 1970
Environmental issues reemerged on
the national agenda in 1970, with Republican Richard Nixon
playing a major role, especially with his creation of the Environmental
Protection Agency. The debates over the public lands
and environmental politics played a supporting role in the decline of
liberalism and the rise of modern conservatism. Although Americans consistently
rank environmental issues as "important", polling data indicates that
in the voting booth voters rank the environmental issues low relative to other
political concerns.
The growth of the Republican party's
political power in the inland West (apart from the Pacific coast) was
facilitated by the rise of popular opposition to public lands reform.
Successful Democrats in the inland West and Alaska typically take more
conservative positions on environmental issues than Democrats from the Coastal
states. Conservatives drew on new organizational networks of think tanks,
industry groups, and citizen-oriented organizations, and they began to deploy
new strategies that affirmed the rights of individuals to their property,
protection of extraction rights, to hunt and recreate, and to pursue happiness
unencumbered by the federal government at the expense of resource conservation
Philosophy of early American conservation movement
During the 19th century, some Americans developed a deep and abiding passion for nature. The early evolution of the conservation movement began through both public and private recognition of the relationship between man and nature often reflected in the great literary and artistic works of the 19th century.[1] Artists, such as Albert Bierstadt, painted powerful landscapes of the American West during the mid 19th century, which were incredibly popular ages representative of the unique natural wonders of the American frontier.[2] Likewise, in 1860, Frederic Edwin Church painted "Twilight in the Wilderness", which was an artistic masterpiece of the era that explored the growing importance of the American wilderness.[2]
Many American writers also romanticized and focused upon nature as a subject matter. However, the most notable literary figure upon the early conservation movement proved to be Henry David Thoreau. Throughout his work, Walden, Thoreau detailed his experiences at the natural setting of Walden Pond and his deep appreciation for nature. In one instance, he described a deep grief for a tree that was cut down. Thoreau went on to bemoan the lack of reverence for the natural world: "I would that our farmers when they cut down a forest felt some of that awe which the old Romans did when they came to thin, or let in the light to, a consecrated grove".[3] As he states in Walden, Thoreau "was interested in the preservation" of nature.[3] In 1860, Henry David Thoreau delivered a speech to the Middlesex Agricultural Society in Massachusetts; the speech, entitled "The Succession of Forest Trees", explored forest ecology and encouraged the agricultural community to plant trees. This speech became one of Thoreau's "most influential ecological contributions to conservationist thought".[2]
The early conservation movement in the United States was also successful due to the hard work of John Muir. Muir was a former carriage worker who was nearly blinded by an accident at work. After almost losing his sight, Muir decided to see "America's natural wonders".[4] Based upon his travels throughout Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Muir wrote a collection of articles for Century magazine, entitled "Studies in the Sierra".[4] In 1892, John Muir joined forces with the editor of "Century" Magazine, Robert Underwood Johnson, to establish the Sierra Club, an organization designed to protect America's natural resources and public parks.[4] Early Americans recognized the importance of natural resources and the necessity of wilderness preservation for sustained yield harvesting of natural resources. In essence, the preservation of wilderness and landscapes were recognized as critical for future generations and their continued subsistence in a healthy environment. The foundation of the conservation movement is grounded during this period between 1850 and 1920. Ultimately, historical trends and cultural mind-sets were united, which influenced ideas and policy towards the early history of the conservation movement in the United States.
Early American conservation movement
The conservation
of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem,
it will avail us little to solve all others.
Theodore Roosevelt[5]
America had its own conservation movement in the 19th century, most often characterized by George Perkins Marsh, author of Man and Nature. The expedition into northwest Wyoming in 1871 led by F. V. Hayden and accompanied by photographer William Henry Jackson provided the imagery needed to substantiate rumors about the grandeur of the Yellowstone region, and resulted in the creation of Yellowstone National Park, the world's first, in 1872. Travels by later U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt through the region around Yellowstone provided the impetus for the creation of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve in 1891. The largest section of the reserve was later renamed Shoshone National Forest, and it is the oldest National Forest in the U.S. But it was not until 1898 when German forester Dr. Carl A. Schenck, on the Biltmore Estate, and Cornell University founded the first two forestry schools, both run by Germans. Bernard Fernow, founder of the forestry schools at Cornell and the University of Toronto, was originally from Prussia (Germany), and he honed his knowledge from Germans who pioneered forestry in India. He introduced Gifford Pinchot, the "father of American forestry", to Brandis and Ribbentrop in Europe. From these men, Pinchot learned the skills and legislative patterns he would later apply to America. Pinchot, in his memoir history Breaking New Ground, credited Brandis especially with helping to form America's conservation laws.
|
“ |
Conservation
means the greatest good to the greatest number for the longest time.—Pinchot |
” |
Pinchot wrote that the principles of conservation were:
- Development: "the use of the natural resources now existing on this continent for the benefit of the people who live here now. There may be just as much waste in neglecting the development and use of certain natural resources as there is in their destruction. … The development of our natural resources and the fullest use of them for the present generation is the first duty of this generation."
- Conservation: "…the prevention of waste in all other directions is a simple matter of good business. The first duty of the human race is to control the earth it lives upon."
- Protection of the public interests: "The natural resources must be developed and preserved for the benefit of the many, and not merely for the profit of a few."[6]
In 1891, Congress passed the Forest Reserve Act, which allowed the President of the United States to set aside forest lands on public domain.[7] A decade after the Forest Reserve Act, presidents Harrison, Cleveland, and McKinley had transferred approximately 50,000,000 acres (200,000 km2) into the forest reserve system.[8] However, President Theodore Roosevelt is credited with the institutionalization of the conservation movement in the United States.[4]
For President Roosevelt, the conservation movement was not about the preservation of nature simply for nature itself. After his experiences traveling as an enthusiastic, zealous hunter, Roosevelt became convinced of "the need for measures to protect the game species from further destruction and eventual extinction".[9] President Roosevelt recognized the necessity of carefully managing America's natural resources. According to Roosevelt, "We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible; this is not so".[10] Nonetheless, Roosevelt believed that conservation of America's natural resources was for the successful management and continued sustain yield harvesting of these resources in the future for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people. Roosevelt took several major steps to further his conservation goals.In 1902, Roosevelt signed the National Reclamation Act, which allowed for the management and settlement of a large tract of barren land.[4] Then, in 1905, President Roosevelt helped to create the United States Forest Service and then appointed respected forester, Gifford Pinchot, as the first head of the agency.[4] By the end of his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt, in partnership with Gifford Pinchot, had successfully increased the number of national parks as well as added area to existing forest reserves.
Despite these advancements, the American conservation movement did have difficulties. In the early 1900s the conservation movement in America was split into two main groups: conservationists, like Pinchot and Roosevelt, who were utilitarian foresters and natural rights advocates who wanted to protect forests "for the greater good for the greatest length", and preservationists, such as John Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club. Important differences separated conservationists like Roosevelt and Pinchot from preservationists like Muir. As a preservationist, Muir envisioned the maintenance of pristine natural environments where any development was banned.[4] Whereas conservationists wanted regulated use of forest lands for both public activities and commercial endeavors, preservationists wanted forest to be preserved for natural beauty, scientific study and recreation. The differences continue to the modern era, with sustainable harvest and multiple-use the major focus of the U.S. Forest Service and recreation emphasized by the National Park Service.
Modern American conservation movement
The High Peaks Wilderness Area in the 6,000,000-acre (24,000 km2) Adirondack Park is a publicly protected area located in northeast New York.
Ultimately, the modern conservation movement in the United States continues to strive for the delicate balance between the successful management of society's industrial progress while still preserving the integrity of the natural environment that sustains humanity.[11] In a large part, today's conservation movement in the United States is a joint effort of individuals, grassroots organizations, nongovernmental organizations, learning institutions, and various government agencies, such as the United States Forest Service.
For the modern era, the U.S. Forest Service has noted three important aspects of the conservation movement: the climate change, water issues, and the education of the public on conservation of the natural environment, especially among children.[12] In regards to climate change, the U.S. Forest Service has undertaken a twenty year research project to develop ways to counteract issues surrounding climate change.[12] However, some small steps have been taken regarding climate change. As rising greenhouse gases contribute to global warming, reforestation projects are seeking to counteract rising carbon emissions. In Oregon, the Department of Forestry has developed such a small reforestation program in which landowners can lease their land for one hundred years to grow trees. In turn, these trees offset carbon emissions from power companies.[11] Moreover, reforestation projects have other benefits: reforested areas serve as a natural filter of agricultural fertilizers even as new wildlife habitats are created.[11] Reforested land can also contribute to the local economy as rural landowners also distribute hunting leases during the years between harvests.[11]
In essence, projects, such as reforestation, create a viable market of eco-friendly services mutually beneficial to landowners, businesses and society, and most importantly, the environment. Nonetheless, such creative plans will be necessary in the near future as the United States struggles to maintain a positive balance between society and the finite natural resources of the nation. Ultimately, through dedicated research, eco-friendly practices of land management, and efforts to educate the public regarding the necessity of conservation, those individuals dedicated to American conservation seek to preserve the nation's natural resources
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large corporations and railroads, and fears of corruption in American politics. In the 21st century, progressives continue to embrace concepts such as environmentalism and social justice.[1] Social progressivism, the view that governmental practices ought to be adjusted as society evolves, forms the ideological basis for many American progressives.
One historian defined progressivism as the "political movement that addresses ideas, impulses, and issues stemming from modernization of American society. Emerging at the end of the nineteenth century, it established much of the tone of American politics throughout the first half of the century."[2]
Progressive Era
Historians debate the exact contours, but generally date the "Progressive Era" from the 1890s to either World War I or the onset of the Great Depression.
Many of the core principles of the Progressive Movement focused on the need for efficiency in all areas of society. Purification to eliminate waste and corruption was a powerful element.[3] According to historian William Leuchtenburg:
The Progressives believed in the Hamiltonian concept of positive government, of a national government directing the destinies of the nation at home and abroad. They had little but contempt for the strict construction of the Constitution by conservative judges, who would restrict the power of the national government to act against social evils and to extend the blessings of democracy to less favored lands. The real enemy was particularism, state rights, limited government.[4]
Democracy
Progressives such as William U'Ren and Robert La Follette argued that the average citizen should have more control over his government. The Oregon System of "Initiative, Referendum, and Recall" was exported to many states, including Idaho, Washington, and Wisconsin.[5] Many progressives, such as George M. Forbes —president of Rochester's Board of Education—hoped to make government in the U.S. more responsive to the direct voice of the American people when he said:
[W]e are now intensely occupied in forging the tools of democracy, the direct primary, the initiative, the referendum, the recall, the short ballot, commission government. But in our enthusiasm we do not seem to be aware that these tools will be worthless unless they are used by those who are aflame with the sense of brotherhood...The idea [of the social centers movement is] to establish in each community an institution having a direct and vital relation to the welfare of the neighborhood, ward, or district, and also to the city as a whole[6]
Philip J. Ethington seconds this high view of direct democracy saying:
initiatives, referendums, and recalls, along with direct primaries and the direct election of US Senators, were the core achievements of 'direct democracy' by the Progressive generation during the first two decades of the twentieth century.[7]
Progressives also fought for women's suffrage[8] and the elimination of supposedly corrupt black voters from the election booth.[9]
While the ultimate significance of the progressive movement on today's politics is still up for debate, Alonzo L. Hamby asks:
What were the central themes that emerged from the cacophony [of progressivism]? Democracy or elitism? Social justice or social control? Small entrepreneurship or concentrated capitalism? And what was the impact of American foreign policy? Were the progressives isolationists or interventionists? Imperialists or advocates of national self-determination? And whatever they were, what was their motivation? Moralistic utopianism? Muddled relativistic pragmatism? Hegemonic capitalism? Not surprisingly many battered scholars began to shout 'no mas!' In 1970, Peter Filene declared that the term 'progressivism' had become meaningless.[10]
Municipal administration
The Progressives typically concentrated on city and state government, looking for waste and better ways to provide services as the cities grew rapidly. These changes led to a more structured system, power that had been centralized within the legislature would now be more locally focused. The changes were made to the system to effectively make legal processes, market transactions, bureaucratic administration, and democracy easier to manage, thus putting them under the classification of ‘Municipal Administration’. There was also a change in authority for this system; it was believed that the authority that was not properly organized had now given authority to professionals, experts, and bureaucrats for these services. These changes led to a more solid type of municipal administration compared to the old system that was underdeveloped and poorly constructed.[11][12][13][14][15]
Efficiency
Many progressives such as Louis Brandeis hoped to make American governments better able to serve the people's needs by making governmental operations and services more efficient and rational. Rather than making legal arguments against ten hour workdays for women, he used "scientific principles" and data produced by social scientists documenting the high costs of long working hours for both individuals and society.[16] The progressives' quest for efficiency was sometimes at odds with the progressives' quest for democracy. Taking power out of the hands of elected officials and placing that power in the hands of professional administrators reduced the voice of the politicians and in turn reduced the voice of the people. Centralized decision-making by trained experts and reduced power for local wards made government less corrupt but more distant and isolated from the people it served. Progressives who emphasized the need for efficiency typically argued that trained independent experts could make better decisions than the local politicians. Thus Walter Lippmann in his influential Drift and Mastery (1914), stressing the "scientific spirit" the "discipline of democracy," called for a strong central government guided by experts rather than public opinion.[17]
One example of progressive reform was the rise of the city manager system, in which paid, professional engineers ran the day-to-day affairs of city governments under guidelines established by elected city councils. Many cities created municipal "reference bureaus" which did expert surveys of government departments looking for waste and inefficiency. After in-depth surveys, local and even state governments were reorganized to reduce the number of officials and to eliminate overlapping areas of authority between departments. City governments were reorganized to reduce the power of local ward bosses and to increase the powers of the city council. Governments at every level began developing budgets to help them plan their expenditures (rather than spending money haphazardly as needs arose and revenue became available). Governor Frank Lowden of Illinois showed a "passion for efficiency" as he streamlined state government.[18]
Movements to eliminate governmental corruption
Corruption represented a source of waste and inefficiency in government. William U'Ren in Oregon, and LaFolette in Wisconsin, and others worked to clean up state and local governments by passing laws to weaken the power of machine politicians and political bosses. The Oregon System, which included a "Corrupt Practices Act", a public referendum, and a state-funded voter's pamphlet among other reforms was exported to other states in the northwest and Midwest. Its high point was in 1912, after which they detoured into a disastrous third party status.[19]
Education
Early progressive thinkers such as John Dewey and Lester Ward placed a universal and comprehensive system of education at the top of the progressive agenda, reasoning that if a democracy was to be successful, its leaders, the general public, needed a good education.[20] Progressives worked hard to expand and improve public and private education at all levels. Modernization of society, they believed, necessitated the compulsory education of all children, even if the parents objected. Progressives turned to educational researchers to evaluate the reform agenda by measuring numerous aspects of education, later leading to standardized testing. Many educational reforms and innovations generated during this period continued to influence debates and initiatives in American education for the remainder of the 20th century. One of the most apparent legacies of the Progressive Era left to American education was the perennial drive to reform schools and curricula, often as the product of energetic grass-roots movements in the city.[21]
Since progressivism was and continues to be 'in the eyes of the beholder,' progressive education encompasses very diverse and sometimes conflicting directions in educational policy. Such enduring legacies of the Progressive Era continue to interest historians. Progressive Era reformers stressed 'object teaching,' meeting the needs of particular constituencies within the school district, equal educational opportunity for boys and girls, and avoiding corporal punishment.[22]
Gamson (2003) examines the implementation of progressive reforms in three city school districts—Seattle, Washington, Oakland, California, and Denver, Colorado—during 1900–28. Historians of educational reform during the Progressive Era tend to highlight the fact that many progressive policies and reforms were very different and, at times, even contradictory. At the school district level, contradictory reform policies were often especially apparent, though there is little evidence of confusion among progressive school leaders in Seattle, Oakland, and Denver. District leaders in these cities, including Frank B. Cooper in Seattle and Fred M. Hunter in Oakland, often employed a seemingly contradictory set of reforms: local progressive educators consciously sought to operate independently of national progressive movements; they preferred reforms that were easy to implement; and they were encouraged to mix and blend diverse reforms that had been shown to work in other cities.[23]
The reformers emphasized professionalization and bureaucratization. The old system whereby ward politicians selected school employees was dropped in the case of teachers and replaced by a merit system requiring a college-level education in a normal school (teacher's college).[24] The rapid growth in size and complexity the large urban school systems facilitated stable employment for women teachers and provided senior teachers greater opportunities to mentor younger teachers. By 1900 in Providence, Rhode Island, most women remained as teachers for at least 17.5 years, indicating teaching had become a significant and desirable career path for women.[25]
Regulation of large corporations and monopolies
Many progressives hoped that by regulating large corporations they could liberate human energies from the restrictions imposed by industrial capitalism. Yet the progressive movement was split over which of the following solutions should be used to regulate corporations:
Trust busting
Pro-labor progressives such as Samuel Gompers argued that industrial monopolies were unnatural economic institutions which suppressed the competition which was necessary for progress and improvement.[26][27] United States antitrust law is the body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior (monopoly) and unfair business practices. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft supported trust-busting.[28]
Regulation
Progressives such as Benjamin Parke De Witt argued that in a modern economy, large corporations and even monopolies were both inevitable and desirable.[29] With their massive resources and economies of scale, large corporations offered the U.S. advantages which smaller companies could not offer. Yet, these large corporations might abuse their great power. The federal government should allow these companies to exist but regulate them for the public interest. President Theodore Roosevelt generally supported this idea.
Social work
Progressives set up training programs to ensure that welfare and charity work would be undertaken by trained professionals rather than warm-hearted amateurs.[30]
Jane Addams of Chicago's Hull House typified the leadership of residential, community centers operated by social workers and volunteers and located in inner city slums. The purpose of the settlement houses was to raise the standard of living of urbanites by providing adult education and cultural enrichment programs.[31]
Enactment of child labor laws
Child labor laws were designed to prevent the overworking of children in the newly emerging industries. The goal of these laws was to give working class children the opportunity to go to school and to mature more institutionally, thereby liberating the potential of humanity and encouraging the advancement of humanity.[32][33]
Support for the goals of organized labor
Labor unions grew steadily until 1916, then expanded fast during the war. In 1919 a wave of major strikes alienated the middle class; the strikes were lost, which alienated the workers. In the 1920s the unions were in the doldrums; in 1924 they supported LaFollette's Progressive party, but he only carried his base in Wisconsin. The American Federation of Labor under Samuel Gompers after 1907 began supporting the Democrats, who promised more favorable judges. The Republicans appointed pro-business judges. Theodore Roosevelt and his third party also supported such goals as the eight-hour work day, improved safety and health conditions in factories, workers' compensation laws, and minimum wage laws for women.[34]
Prohibition
Most progressives, especially in rural areas, adopted the cause of prohibition.[35] They saw the saloon as political corruption incarnate, and bewailed the damage done to women and children. They believed the consumption of alcohol limited mankind's potential for advancement.[36] Progressives achieved success first with state laws then with the enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1919. The golden day did not dawn; enforcement was lax, especially in the cities where notorious criminal gangs, such as the Chicago gang of Al Capone made a crime spree based on illegal sales of liquor in speakeasies. The "experiment" (as President Hoover called it) also cost the treasury large sums of taxes and the 18th amendment was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1933.[37]
Conservationism
During the term of the progressive President Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909), and influenced by the ideas of 'philosopher-scientists' such as George Perkins Marsh, John Wesley Powell, Lester Frank Ward and W J McGee,[38] the largest government-funded conservation-related projects in U.S. history were undertaken:
[edit] National parks and wildlife refuges
On March 14, 1903, President Roosevelt created the first National Bird Preserve, (the beginning of the Wildlife Refuge system), on Pelican Island, Florida. In all, by 1909, the Roosevelt administration had created an unprecedented 42 million acres (170,000 km²) of United States National Forests, 53 National Wildlife Refuges and 18 areas of "special interest", such as the Grand Canyon.
[edit] Reclamation
In addition, Roosevelt approved the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902, which gave subsidies for irrigation in sixteen western states. Another conservation-oriented bill was the Antiquities Act of 1906 that protected large areas of land. The Inland Waterways Commission was appointed by Roosevelt on March 14, 1907 to study the river systems of the United States, including the development of water power, flood control, and land reclamation.[39]
Politics
In the early 20th century, politicians of the Democratic and Republican parties, Bull-Moose Republicans, Lincoln–Roosevelt League Republicans (in California) and the United States Progressive Party began to pursue social, environmental, political, and economic reforms. Chief among these aims was the pursuit of trustbusting (breaking up very large monopolies), support for labor unions, public health programs, decreased corruption in politics, and environmental conservation[40]
The Progressive Movement enlisted support from both major parties (and from minor parties as well). One leader, William Jennings Bryan, had been linked to the Populist movement of the 1890s, while the other major leaders were opposed to Populism. When Roosevelt left the Republican Party in 1912, he took with him many of the intellectual leaders of progressivism, but very few political leaders.[41] The Republican Party then became notably more committed to business-oriented and efficiency oriented progressivism, typified by Taft and Herbert Hoover.[42]
A social attitude underlying some forms of Progressivism has been populism, which can range from the political left to the political right. Populism has often manifested itself as a distrust of concentrations of power in the hands of politicians, corporations, families, and special interest groups, generating calls for purification and the rejection of rule by elites.[43]
Municipal reform
The Progressives were very active in reforming local government to introduce efficiency and weed out corruption. Many felt the saloon was the power base for corruption, so they tried to get rid of it. Others (like Jane Addams) promoted Settlement Houses.[44] Many cities created municipal research bureaus, and did in-depth studies of budgets and the schools. Early municipal reformers included Hazen S. Pingree (mayor of Detroit in the 1890s)[45] and Tom L. Johnson in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1901, Johnson won election as mayor of Cleveland on a platform of just taxation, home rule for Ohio cities, and a 3-cent streetcar fare.[46] Columbia University President Seth Low was elected mayor of New York City in 1901 on a reform ticket.[47]
Cultural progressivism
The foundation of the progressive tendency was rooted in the uniquely American philosophy of pragmatism, which was primarily developed by John Dewey and William James[48][49]
Equally significant to progressive-era reform were the crusading journalists, known as muckrakers. These journalists publicized, to middle class readers, economic privilege, political corruption, and social injustice. Their articles appeared in McClure's Magazine and other reform periodicals. Some muckrakers focused on corporate abuses. Ida Tarbell, for instance, exposed the activities of the Standard Oil Company. In The Shame of the Cities (1904), Lincoln Steffens dissected corruption in city government. In Following the Color Line (1908), Ray Stannard Baker criticized race relations. Other muckrakers assailed the Senate, railroad companies, insurance companies, and fraud in patent medicine.[50]
Novelists, too, criticized corporate injustices. Theodore Dreiser drew harsh portraits of a type of ruthless businessman in The Financier (1912) and The Titan (1914). In The Jungle (1906), Socialist Upton Sinclair repelled readers with descriptions of Chicago’s meatpacking plants, and his work led to support for remedial food safety legislation.
Leading intellectuals also shaped the progressive mentality. In Dynamic Sociology (1883) Lester Frank Ward laid out the philosophical foundations of the Progressive movement and attacked the laissez-faire policies advocated by Herbert Spencer and William Graham Sumner.[49] In The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), Thorstein Veblen attacked the “conspicuous consumption” of the wealthy. Educator John Dewey emphasized a child-centered philosophy of pedagogy, known as progressive education, which affected schoolrooms for three generations.[51]
Other progressive movements
Following the first progressive movement of the early 20th century, later groups have also used the term "progressive".
Second progressive movement
Main article: Progressive Party (United
States, 1924)
In 1924, Wisconsin Senator Robert La Follette ran for president on the "Progressive party" ticket. La Follette won the support of labor unions, Germans and Socialists by crusading against both oligarchy—rule by a tiny elite—and plutocracy (government of, by, and for the wealthy). He carried Wisconsin.[52]
[edit] Third progressive movement
Main article: Progressive Party (United
States, 1948)
The third progressive movement was initiated in 1947 by former Vice President Henry A. Wallace, who ran for president in 1948, attracting support from voters who were disillusioned by the Cold War policies of Democrat Harry S. Truman. Many progressives were uncomfortable with Wallace's religiosity, but were nonetheless admirers of his call for a sort of global "New Deal" and his advocacy of better relations with the Soviet Union.
Contemporary progressivism
The fourth and current liberal Progressive movement grew out of social activism movements, Naderite and populist left political movements in conjunction with the civil rights, LGBT (Gay rights), women's or feminist, and environmental movements of the 1960s–1980s.[53] This exists as a cluster of political, activist, and media organizations ranging in outlook from centrism (e.g., Reform Party of the United States of America) to left-liberalism to social democracy (like the Green Party) and sometimes even democratic socialism (like the Socialist Party USA).
While many contemporary Democratic party leaders and Green Party leaders have at times called themselves "progressives," the term is usually self-applied by those on or to the left of the Democratic party,[54][not in citation given] Bernie Sanders, Russ Feingold, Al Franken, Debbie Stabenow, Dennis Kucinich, Alan Grayson, Mike Gravel, Cynthia McKinney (The Green Party candidate for President in 2008), John Edwards, Sherrod Brown, Kathleen Sebelius, David McReynolds, Ralph Nader (The Green Party presidential candidate in 2000), Howard Dean, Peter Camejo, Al Gore, and the late Paul Wellstone and Ted Kennedy. At the same time, the term is also applied to many leaders in the women's movement, cosmopolitanism, the labor movement, the American civil rights movement, the environmental movement, the immigrant rights movement, and the gay and lesbian rights movement.
Other well-known progressives include Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti, George Lakoff, Michael Lerner, and Urvashi Vaid, however Chomsky and most American leftists disapprove of the co-option of the term "progressive" by overwhelmingly pro-corporate and pro-military politicians and think tanks such as Third Way.[citation needed]
Significant publications include The Progressive magazine, The Nation, The American Prospect, The Huffington Post, Mother Jones, In These Times, CounterPunch, and AlterNet.org. Broadcasting outlets include (the now-defunct) Air America Radio, the Pacifica Radio network, Democracy Now!, and certain community radio stations. Notable media voices include Alexander Cockburn, Alan Colmes, Barbara Ehrenreich, Juan Gonzalez, Amy Goodman, Thom Hartmann, Arianna Huffington, Jim Hightower, Lionel, the late Molly Ivins, Rachel Maddow, Bill Maher, Stephanie Miller, Mike Malloy, Keith Olbermann, Greg Palast, Ron Reagan, Randi Rhodes, Betsy Rosenberg, Ed Schultz, David Sirota, Jon Stewart, Cenk Uygur and The Young Turks.
Modern issues for progressives can include[citation needed]: electoral reform (including instant runoff voting, proportional representation and fusion candidates), environmental conservation, pollution control and environmentalism, separation of church and state, same-sex marriage, reproductive rights, universal health care, abolition of the death penalty, affordable housing, a viable Social Security System, renewable energy, smart growth urban development, a living wage and pro-union policies, immigration, among many others.
Examples of the broad range of progressive texts include: The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman; New Age Politics by Mark Satin; Why Americans Hate Politics by E.J. Dionne, Jr.; Community Building: Renewing Spirit & Learning in Business edited by Kazimierz Gozdz; Ecopolitics: Building a Green Society by Daniel Coleman; and Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich.
The main current national progressive parties are the Democratic Party and the Green Party of the United States. The Democratic Party has major-party status in all fifty States, while there are state Green Parties or affiliates with the national Green Party in most states. The most successful non-major state-level progressive party is the Vermont Progressive Party. However, progressives often shy away from parties and align within more community-oriented activist groups, coalitions and networks, such as the Maine People's Alliance and Northeast Action.[citation needed]
The Roosevelt Corollary is a corollary to the Monroe Doctrine that was articulated by President Theodore Roosevelt in his State of the Union Address in 1904. The corollary states that the United States will intervene in conflicts between European Nations and Latin American countries to enforce legitimate claims of the European powers, rather than having the Europeans press their claims directly.
Use of the Corollary
The Roosevelt Corollary was supposed to be an addition to the Monroe Doctrine, however, it could be seen as a departure. While the Monroe Doctrine said European countries should stay out of Latin America, the Roosevelt Corollary took this further to say he had the right to exercise military force in Latin American countries in order to keep European countries out. Historian Walter LaFeber wrote
[Roosevelt] essentially turns the Monroe Doctrine on its head and says the Europeans should stay out, but the United States has the right, under the doctrine, to go in in order to exercise police power to keep the Europeans out of the way. It's a very neat twist on the Monroe Doctrine, and, of course, it becomes very, very important because over the next 15 to 20 years, the United States will move into Latin America about a dozen times with military force, to the point where the United States Marines become known in the area as "State Department troops" because they are always moving in to protect State Department interests and State Department policy in the Caribbean. So what Roosevelt does here, by redefining the Monroe Doctrine, turns out to be very historic, and it leads the United States into a period of confrontation with peoples in the Caribbean and Central America, that was a really important part of American imperialism.[1]
U.S. Presidents cited the Roosevelt Corollary as justification for U.S. intervention in Cuba (1906–1909),[2] Nicaragua (1909–1910, 1912–1925 and 1926–1933),[3] Haiti (1915–1934),[3] and the Dominican Republic (1916–1924).[3]
Shift to the "Good Neighbor" policy
In 1928, under President Calvin Coolidge, the Clark Memorandum stated that the U.S. did not have the right to intervene when there was a threat by European powers, reversing the Roosevelt Corollary. Herbert Hoover also helped move the U.S. away from the imperialist tendencies of the Roosevelt Corollary by going on good-will tours, withdrawing troops from Nicaragua and Haiti, and generally abstaining from intervening in the internal affairs of neighboring countries.[4] In 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt further renounced interventionism and established his "Good Neighbor Policy", leaving unchallenged the emergence of dictatorships like that of Batista in Cuba and Trujillo in the Dominican Republic.[5] Three highly oppressive dictators - Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo, Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza, and Haitian dictator François Duvalier - were each considered to be "frankenstein dictators" due to the mishandlings of the American occupations in the countries.[5]
Criticism
The argument made by Mitchener and Weidenmier (2006)[6] in support of the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine has been criticized on the grounds that it "represent[s] the one-sided approach that some scholars bring to the study of imperialistic and hegemonic interventions and also highlight how arguments for the general utility of imperialism are increasingly made and accepted." Christopher Coyne and Stephen Davies, in their article "Nineteen Public Bads of Empire, Nation Building, and the Like", argue that a foreign policy modeled on the Roosevelt Corollary leads to negative consequences both in national security terms and in terms of its effect on domestic politics.[citation needed]
Critics, such as Noam Chomsky, have argued that the Roosevelt Corollary was merely a more explicit imperialist threat, building on the Monroe Doctrine, and indicating that the U.S. would intervene not only in defense of South American states in the face of European imperialism, but would also use its muscle to obtain concessions and privileges for American corporations.[7]
Serge Ricard of the University of Paris goes even further, stating that the Roosevelt Corollary was not merely an addendum to the earlier Monroe Doctrine, through which the U.S. pledged to protect the Americas from European imperialist interventions. Rather, the Roosevelt Corollary was "an entirely new diplomatic tenet which epitomized his 'big stick' approach to foreign policy".[8] In other words, while the Monroe Doctrine sought to bar entry to the European empires, the Roosevelt Corollary announced America's intention to take their place.
A recently published book, The Imperial Cruise: The Secret History of Empire and War,[9] documents that in 1905 Roosevelt imagined that his "international police powers" extended to North Asia.[10] Unable to use American force in North Asia, Roosevelt believed that Japanese expansionism into the area would further U.S. interests. In July 1905 Roosevelt secretly agreed a "Japanese Monroe Doctrine for Asia."[11]" that allowed the takeover of Korea by Japan. With this secret and unconstitutional maneuver,[12] Roosevelt inadvertently ignited the problem (Japanese expansionism in Asia) that Franklin Delano Roosevelt would later confront during World War II in Asia.[9] The New York Times wrote, "The Imperial Cruise is startling enough to reshape conventional wisdom about Roosevelt's presidency
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