The New Nationalism vs The New Freedom

Running Head The New Nationalism vs The New Freedom The New Nationalism vs The New Freedom Student’s Name 1 I chose the set “The New Nationalism vs The New Freedom” which I will do an analysis in this essay. In the early two decades of the early twentieth century America’s political scene mostly focused on a growing American belief in the ideas if the progressive movement. The movement gained massive popularity during the tenure of two Presidents which focused mainly on social and economic reforms. Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were the two presidents responsible for The New Nationalism and The New Freedom progressive reforms respectively. They had two very different approaches where they used congress to pass legislation in order to keep their own versions of progressive dreams. Roosevelt became president after the assassination of the then president William McKinley. He viewed ‘The New Nationalism”, his progressive program as a plan to change or reform aspects in the American life. Roosevelt totally rejected the idea of a laissez-faire government and believed that the government should take an active role in advocating for reforms while the chief executive should take part in demanding legislative action. He saw a need for the federal government to intervene in matters of the economy by breaking big companies that did not serve in the interest of the general masses. Due to this he utilized the Sherman Antitrust Act (Worth 2012) which prevented monopolization to a point where it prevented fair trade for the consumer. He introduced few anti-trust cases to showcase what the government would do if the big companies refused to abide by the set regulations. This was depicted when the government brought suit against on the largest nation’s trust, J.P. Morgan’s Northern Securities which was in charge of many of the nation’s railroads and won by the supreme court’s ruling in their favour to have the Northern Securities dissolved. This victory led to more successful anti-trust suits. Roosevelt also intervened on farming conditions where he encouraged farmers to change business methods in order to enjoy more benefit while at the same time not relying on farming entirely. Another argument in The New Nationalism reform was the need to ensure comprehensive worker remuneration. This led to the enactment of laws both by the national and local government regulating child labour and work for women. This was depicted when Roosevelt invited labourers and miner owners during the coal strike to negotiate an agreement. During the negotiations a directive was issued to where the miners had to agree to increase the workers’ pay and also allow them work for only a nine hour day shift. This showed President Roosevelt’s commitment to the workers wellbeing and making decisions which favoured the general public. In 1912 Woodrow Wilson delivered The New Freedom speech after his election as president. He saw a need to change some of the reforms made by his predecessor by introducing or changing some reforms. He suggested that the government’s intervention in the economy by controlling large companies should be limited. Due to this he called for the abolishing of the strong intervention measures which had been advocated and started by his predecessor. The New Freedom led to the destruction of trusts hence promoting economic competition. This permitted small businesses to flourish. He suggested limited government interventions through protective tariffs, trusts and banks. Tariffs were meant to protect large companies as he felt that the new tariffs deter foreign markets from importing new forms of competition in the market. Due to this the Underwood Tariff bill (Thornton 1913) was passed in 1913 under the aggressive leadership of President Wilson. The tariff significantly lowered import fees and also became a breakthrough in tax legislation. President Woodrow Wilson introduced the Clayton Anti-Trust Act where businesses were forbidden from using tactics which were similar or could lead to monopolisation. This included the banning of price fixing and all interlocking directories. The act exempted agricultural and labor organizations from prosecution, by legalizing peaceful picketing and strikes. During his second term he pushed for the formation of a Federal Trade Commission (Henderson, Gerard 1927) an agency which he tasked with the mandate of regulating trade on a continuous basis. The commission was expected to fight monopoly by stopping unfair trade practices like false advertising, unlawful competition, bribery, mislabelling among others. The passing of the graduated federal income tax act was perhaps the most significant legislative reform by President Wilson. This was a government’s measure to ensure peaceful income redistribution by involving the government in the economy on a regular basis. Using the Federal Reserve act (Harris 1931) the amount of money in circulation would be regulated by the government itself. This served as a major step in the involvement of the government in the economy’s control. Though Roosevelt and Wilson had different suggestions on the reforms one similarity is that the two plans supported progressive movements. They also supported rag to riches stories or the rise of the common man rather than big corporations who they saw as the oppressors of the general population. Though Roosevelt failed in his 1912 re-election bid this did not mean that New Freedom was better than his New Nationalism ideas.