Woodrow Wilson emerged as the progressive leader the Democrats needed to win the 1912 election. His platform, called the "New Freedom," advocated for reducing tariffs, establishing the Federal Reserve system, and strengthening antitrust laws. Wilson narrowly won the election in a three-way race against Republican incumbent William Taft and former president Theodore Roosevelt running as a third party candidate. His domestic reforms helped establish the modern progressive era, but Wilson struggled to maintain neutrality as World War I engulfed Europe.

2. THE EMERGENCE of DR. THOMAS WOODROW
WILSON
Office-hungry Democrats – the “outs” since
1897 – were jubilant over the disruptive
Republican brawl at the convention in Chicago.
If the Democrats could come up with an
outstanding reformist leader, they had an
excellent chance to win the White House.
Such a leader emerged in Dr.
WoodrowWilson, once a mild conservative but
now a militant progressive. Provide a profile of
Wilson.
When the Democrats met at Baltimore in
1912, Wilson was nominated, aided by William
Jennings Bryan’s switch to his side.
The Democrats gave Wilson a strong progressive
platform to run on; dubbed the “New Freedom”
program. Identify the platform’s components.

3. THE “BULL MOOSE” CAMPAIGN of 1912
TR formally split the Republican party when he became the presidential candidate on a
third-party Progressive Republican ticket, championing the cause of social justice.
By dividing the Republican vote, they virtually guaranteed a Democratic victory.
The two antagonists tore into each other as only former friends can. What were their
chief insults to each other?

4. TR set out on a barn-storming campaign, desperately trying to win another term and re-
igniting his progressive agenda.

5. Beyond the clashing personalities, the overshadowing question of the 1912 campaign was
which of two varieties of progressivism would prevail – TR’s New Nationalism or Wilson’s
New Freedom. Both men favored a more active govt. role in economic & social affairs, but
they disagreed sharply over specific strategies.
TR’s “NEW NATIONALISM” v. WILSON’S “NEW FREEDOM”
•Favored continued consolidation of * Favored small enterprise, entrepreneur-
trusts & labor unions, paralleled by the ship, and the free functioning of
growth of powerful regulatory agencies unregulated and un-monopolized markets
in Washington (Jeffersonian)
•Called for woman’s suffrage and more * Shunned social welfare proposals
social welfare (minimum wage laws)
•Favored an activist welfare state like * Cornerstone was not regulation but
the future New Deal program of FDR fragmentation of big business through
enforcement of anti-trust laws

6. WOODROW WILSON: A MINORITY PRESIDENT
Wilson won the presidential contest handily. But with winning only 41% of the vote, Wilson
was clearly a minority president, though the Democrats won a majority in Congress.
The election results indicate that Progressivism, rather than Wilson was the runaway
winner.
How was Roosevelt’s lone-wolf course tragic for both himself and for the
Republican party?
What would be the fate for Taft?

8. Not to be ignored from the election results was the strong showing for Socialist
candidate Eugene Debs, who won more than 900,000 votes. Socialists dreamed of being in
the White House within eight years.

10. SIMILARITIES BETWEEN TR & WILSON
Both were born into “secure” families
Both accepted conventional laissez-faire
philosophy
Both believed they stood for the general
welfare rather than special interests
Both were wary of organized labor & the
Populist movement (socialist?)
Both were suspicious of trusts
Both were late converts to progressivism
•The biggest difference between the two men
was the ability and willingness of TR to work
with political opponents/rivals. Wilson would not
do this and he paid dearly.

12. THE NEW FREEDOM in ACTION
Wilson aimed to attack the “Triple Wall of Privilege”, including tariffs, banks, and
trusts.
Tariff Reform: Underwood Tariff (1912)
1. Substantially reduced tariffs
2. It was the first tariff reform since the
Civil War
3. Generally still protectionist, but a more
moderate level

13. Banking Reform: The Federal Reserve Act
1. Ended the debate between a private or
govt.-run banking system.
2. Provided for an elastic money supply
3. Passed as a result of the findings of the
Pujo Commission
4. The nation was divided into 12 federal 7. A Federal Reserve Board
reserve districts would/could control interest
5. Each central bank could clear checks & print rates
money 8. The chairman would act
6. Each central bank would serve as a banker’s independently of the 3 branches
bank of govt.

14. Control of Trusts: The Clayton Anti-Trust Act
1. Purpose: To rectify the weaknesses of the
Sherman Act – what was its’ primary weakness?
2. Provisions:
a. Forbade the interlocking directorate
b. Forbade stock pooling
c. Restricted price fixing
d. Corporate leaders personally responsible for
violations
e. Excluded labor as a “combination in restraint
of trade”
f. Federal Trade Commission established

15. OTHER NEW FREEDOM REFORMS
* 17th Amendment: Direct election of senators
* LaFollette Seaman’s Act: Regulated American merchant marine
* Child Labor Laws: Prohibited interstate trade of goods made by the use of child labor
(later declared unconstitutional)
* Adamson Act: Provided an 8-hour work day for railroad workers
* Federal Farm Loan Act: Provided for low interest loans to farmers
* 19th Amendment: Women gained the right to vote (1920)
Wilson was a southerner and a bigot. He believed blacks to be inferior and they were excluded from
his New Freedom programs. He did support Louis Brandies, a Jew, for nomination to the Supreme
Court.

16. NEW DIRECTIONS in FOREIGN POLICY
In foreign policy areas, how was Wilson different from TR? What were his views
regarding TR’s “big stick” diplomacy and Taft’s “dollar” diplomacy? But as most
presidents quickly discover, political realities often temper or change a new president’s
policies.
Despite his anti-imperialism views, political turmoil in Haiti forced Wilson to dispatch
marines to protect American lives and property, which resembled a move that TR would
have made.

17. In other imperialistic moves, Wilson dispatched marines to quell riots in the Dominican
Republic, which lasted for 8 years.
In 1917 Wilson purchased from Denmark the Virgin Islands, located in the West Indies.
Increasingly, the Caribbean Sea, with its vital approaches to the Panama Canal, was taking
on the earmarks of Yankee reserve.

18. MORALISTIC DIPLOMACY in MEXICO
Revolution and outside exploitation plagued Mexico
during the first years of the 20th century. By 1913
American capitalists had sunk about a billion dollars
into the under-developed but richly endowed
country, and about 50,000 U.S. citizens lived in
Mexico.
In 1913 a murderous clique murdered the popular new
revolutionary president and installed General
Huerta, a full-blooded Indian, in the president’s
chair.
How did this turmoil impact the U.S.?

19. Wilson’s policy stood firmly against demands for intervention. It was “perilous,” he
declared, to determine foreign policy, “in the terms of material interest.” But he also
refused to officially recognize the govt. of Huerta, even though most foreign powers
recognized his regime. He also allowed American arms to flow to Huerta’s principal
rivals, Venustiano Carranza and “Pancho” Villa.
How was Wilson’s policy complicated by the Tampico Incident? What rescued Wilson
from war with Mexico?
The Huerta regime collapsed in 1914 and Carranza took over the presidency. Was he
pro-U.S.?

20. “Pancho” Villa emerged as the chief rival of President Carranza, whom Wilson reluctantly
supported with arms and diplomatic recognition. Villa hated Americans – explain the
events occurring in Columbus, New Mexico in 1916. What was Wilson’s response?

21. Pershing’s force of cavalry penetrated deep into Mexico, clashed with Carranza’s
forces, mauled the Villistas, but missed capturing Villa.
As the threat of war with Germany loomed, the invading force was withdrawn in January
1917.

22. THUNDER ACROSS the SEA
Europe’s powder magazine exploded in the
summer of 1914 with a single gunshot.
An explosive chain reaction followed and
almost overnight most of Europe was locked
in a fight to the death.

23. Identify the combating alliances. Official U.S. policy? What did we once again
count on to protect/insulate us?

25. A PRECARIOUS NEUTRALITY
Peace-loving President Wilson, his grief over the
war’s outbreak compounded by the recent death
of his wife, sorrowfully issued the routine
neutrality proclamation and called on Americans
to be neutral in thought as well as deed. Such
evenhandedness proved difficult.
Both sides wooed the U.S.:
a. British/French advantages?
b. German advantages?
c. American sentiment? Why?
d. What was the hope of most
Americans in 1914?

26. AMERICA EARNS BLOOD MONEY
When WWI began, the U.S. was bogged down in a worrisome business recession. Fatefully, British and
French war orders soon pulled American industry out of the hard times. What was the German
reaction? Was the U.S. in violation? What prevented American trade with Germany?

27. The British controlled the sea-lanes, and they threw a noose-tight blockade of mines and
ships across the North Sea, gateway to German ports (British Order in Council 1914).
Over the unavailing protests of
American shippers, and
manufacturers, the British began
forcing American vessels off the
high seas and into their ports.
This harassment of American
shipping proved highly effective, as
trade between Germany and the
U.S. virtually ceased.

28. Hard-pressed Germany did not tamely consent to being starved out. In retaliation for the
British blockade, in February 1915 Berlin announced a submarine war area around the
British Isles.
The submarine was a weapon so new that
existing international law could not be
made to fit it.
The old rules governing surface ships
could hardly apply to submarines, which
could easily be rammed or sunk if they
surfaced.

29. The cigar-shaped marauders posed a dire
threat to the U.S. – so long as Wilson
insisted on maintaining America’s neutral
rights.
Berlin officials declared that they would
try not to sink neutral shipping, but they
warned that mistakes would probably
occur.
Wilson hoped that no high-seas incident
would force the U.S. into war. He
warned Germany that it would be held to
“strict accountability” for any attacks on
American vessels or citizens.

30. The German submarines (U-boats or “undersea boat”) began
their deadly work in early 1915. They sank about 90 ships in
the war zone.
Evidence suggested that the British were using its passenger
ships to transport war materials. Berlin responded by issuing
warnings in newspapers that civilians sailing on vessels flying
the flag of Great Britain, or her allies, would be sunk.
The Lusitania ad ran in the New York Herald in May 1915, six
days before German U-boats sunk her.

31. True to their word, the Germans sank the British passenger liner, Lusitania, off the coast
of Ireland on May 7, 1915, with the loss of 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans.

32. The Lusitania was carrying 4,200 cases of
small-arms ammunition, a fact the Germans
used to justify the sinking.
But Americans were swept by a wave of
shock and anger at this act of “mass
murder” and “piracy.”
How did Wilson respond to the attack?
Why did he respond in this manner?
How did the sinking of the Arabic
become a victory for Wilson?
When the Germans sunk the French
passenger liner, Sussex,enflaming
American anger, what was their pledge?
What was Berlin’s condition attached to
the Sussex pledge? Was it realistic?
And how did Wilson respond to Berlin’s
condition?

33. WILSON WINS REELECTION in 1916
Against a backdrop of possible war, the presidential campaign of 1916 gathered speed.
The Progressives and the Republicans met in Chicago. The Progressives nominated TR –
why did he refuse to run?

34. The Republicans nominated Supreme
Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes, a
liberal intellectual and former governor
of New York.
What was the Republican platform?
What did TR think of Hughes?
Wilson was re-nominated and ran on the
slogan, “He Kept Us Out of War.”
Democrats warned that by electing
Hughes, the nation would be electing a
fight.

35. On election night, Wilson went to bed accepting defeat after seeing Hughes sweep the
east. New York newspapers were headlining the “new” president. But the rest of the
country turned the tide, with California proving to be pivotal. Thus, Wilson barely
squeaked through, but peaceful expectations would soon be shattered.

36. CHAPTER POST-SCRIPT
Americans at all levels over-estimated the traditional isolation of the “great moat” (the world had
changed).
On the whole, American sympathies went out to the Allies:
* We shared an ancestry & recent better relations with Britain
* Many Americans continued to owe a debt of gratitude to the French
* The British had a near-monopoly on war propaganda
* Germany was viewed as a dangerous rival to U.S. interests
* British war policy would force the Germans to attack cruise ships & other neutral shipping
* By 1914 America as a world power would not be able to remain neutral
* The Brits were thieves: the Germans were murderers. Americans picked the lesser of two
evils

37. A.P. UNIT QUIZZES
(IMPERIALISM; PROGRESSIVISM; ROAD TO WAR
http://www.historyteacher.net/USProjects/USQuizzes/Imperialism1.htm
http://www.historyteacher.net/USProjects/USQuizzes/Imperialism2.htm
http://www.historyteacher.net/USProjects/USQuizzes/Progressivism1.htm
http://www.historyteacher.net/USProjects/USQuizzes/Progressivism2.htm
http://www.historyteacher.net/USProjects/USQuizzes/Progressivism3.htm