Chapter 17 Section 5 Wilson's New Freedom

Chapter 17 Section 5 Wilson’s New Freedom

Overview
Objectives
To describe Woodrow Wilson’s background and the progressive reforms of his presidency.
To explain the steps leading to woman suffrage.
To sum up the limits of Wilson’s progressivism.

Focus & Motivate
Starting With the Student
Who are the “movers and shakers” in the school or community? Who knows how to get things done?
Students should be able to discuss the qualities that effective people share. What qualities would be found in a person described as “born halfway between the Bible and the dictionary.”

More About . . .
Carrie Chapman Catt
Catt became active in the woman suffrage movement after the tragic death of her first husband, editor Leo Chapman, in 1886. When she married George W. Catt four years later, an unusual prenuptial agreement gave her four months each year to work for woman suffrage. After the retirement of Susan B. Anthony, Catt helped lead the suffrage movement to victory in 1920.

Objective 1 Instruct
Progressive Reform Under Wilson
A cluster diagram will organize Wilson’s administrative policies.
Wilson’s Policies
Trusts
a) Clayton Antitrust Act b) Federal Trade Act

Discussing Key Ideas
· Wilson attacks the trusts with the Federal Trade Act and The Clayton Antitrust Act.
· Wilson lowers tariffs, making up for revenue losses with the new income tax.
· Wilson establishes the Federal Reserve System.

Now & Then
Deregulation
Critical Thinking:
Analyzing
Has anyone, or their families, felt the effects of deregulation? Deregulation has been seen recently in the airfare wars, media mergers, and the Telecommunications Act of 1996,
which removed some restrictions of mergers.

History From Visuals
Tax Revenue, 1915-1995
Reading the Graph
What does the data presented on the graph suggest about the nation and the federal government from 1915 to the present?
Possible Response:
Judging from the increases in taxes collected there was probably a high level of inflation and demand for more revenue in the form of taxes.

Objective 2 Instruct
Woman Suffrage
Discussing Key Ideas
Women press for the vote, winning some local battles. Catt succeeds Susan B. Anthony as head of NAWSA.
In 1920, women finally win the right to vote through ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.

More About. . .
Suffrage in Wyoming
While still a territory, Wyoming granted women the right to vote, hold office, and serve on juries in a law passed on December 10, 1869—the first of its kind in the nation.

History From Visuals
Women March for Suffrage
Reading the Art
Look at details from the photograph that are of interest, such as the women’s clothing and the message on the banner.

Extension
Wilson’s support for woman suffrage was tepid and vague, why then might the women nevertheless carry this banner?

Possible Responses:
To force Wilson’s hand; to shame him into stronger support; to mislead the public into thinking his support was stronger.

More About . . .
Maud Wood Park
After the death of her first husband, Park married a theatrical agent named Robert Hunter but kept the marriage quiet while she campaigned for woman suffrage. A Boston native, she founded the College Equal Suffrage League with Inez Haynes Gillmore Irwin in 1901 and was the first president of the League of Women Voters, founded in 1919. In later years Park led the Women’s Joint Congressional Committee and wrote a book about her experiences in Washington.

More About . . .
Alice Paul
Raised in a Quaker family, Paul attended Swarthmore College and later trained as a lawyer. In London she worked in a settlement house and was jailed for her activities in the suffrage movement. In 1913, she helped found the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, later part of the National Woman’s Party, which she chaired in the 1940s. After WW II, she helped ensure that the U.N. Charter included equal rights provisions for women.

On the World Stage
Emmeline Pankhurst
Critical Thinking:
What is your opinion of Pankhurst’s tactics?
Possible Responses:
Some may feel that her tactics earned needed publicity and advanced a cause. Others may feel that she antagonized too many people.

Objective 3 Instruct
The Limits of Progressivism
Starting With the Student
· How do you feel when someone breaks a promise?
· Are there similar feelings when a politician breaks a campaign promise?

Discussing Key Ideas
Wilson retreats on civil rights.
Reform moves to the back burner as America enters WW I.

More About. . .
William Monroe Trotter
A Harvard graduate, Trotter opposed Booker T. Washington’s accommodations and instead helped found the Niagara Movement with W.E.B. Du Bois. On finding that the NAACP was still too moderate in its timetable, he established the National Equal Rights League to protest discrimination. The nonviolent protest was later adopted by Martin Luther King, Jr., and others in the civil rights movement.

Close
Although Wilson initiated progressive economic and political reforms, his record on social reforms disappointed progressives. Women won the vote with little real help from him, and his record on civil rights was poor.