YEARSOFGROWTIl
lnc-'ilTikebyR,,1>m
A Mhln.Peo pl e begantodemandthat thenation'sleaders
sho ulddeal withother scandalsexposedbythe
muckrakers.T h ispressurebroughtaboutan
Impo rtant cha ngeinAmericanecono m icand
politica l life .Befo re 1900 most Ame ricans had
believedin" laissezfairc"- the i deathatgov ern m ent s
shouldinterfer e wit h busines s, andw ithpeople's
lives ingene ral,aslittle aspo ssible .Afte r 1900 man y
Americans becam e "Progressives."AP ro g ressive
was someonewhobelieve dthat, ...-hc rc necessary.
th e governmentshou ld takeaniontodeal withthe
problemsofsoc iety.
The Pro g ressiv e mo vem en t found aleader in the
RepublicanT heod o re Roosevelt .Roosevelt becam e
Pr esident in Il)(JI. O neofhis mainbeliefswas that i t
was thed ut yofth e President to uscth epowerofth e
federalgovernment to im p roveco n d itio nsoflife for
th e peo ple- tosecthatth eordinar ym anan dwoman
gotwhathe called"asq uJ.tCd eal. "
Rooseveltw as part icu larlyconce rne dabo ut the
powerofth e trusts.H is idea wasto giveth eUnited
Statesthebest of boehworlds.lie wante d toallow
b us inessm enenoug hfreedo mofaction ro make their
fir m sefficientand pro sper o us, burat th e same time
top reventth em fromtak ingunfairadvantageof
82
ot hc-r people. A hum ori stofthctim emadefun o f this
two-sided atti tudeb y describingit in thesew o rds:
"Thetrustsarc hideo usmonstersb uilt up by the
enlight ened enter p riseofthementh athaved on eso
muchtoadv ancepr o gfl'SSinourbeloved cou nt ry.
Ontheonc handIwouldsta m p them unde r foo t, on
theotherhand, not so fast."
Agoodexampleofthe"square deal"in actionca me
in 1902.Anthracit e coal miners went onstr ike to
o bt ainbetter wages andworkin g conditions.Their
employersrefusede ven to disc usstheworkers'
demands.Thenth e Pr esid entstep pedin .lIcto ld the
m ineo wnersth at theywere beingunreasonable. He
saidth atunlessthey ag reedtonegotiatewith their
workers, th e fed eralg o vern mentwould lakecontro l
ofth e coal mines. T hethreat was eno ug h.The
o wn ers changedth eir attitude and the strike was
sett led.
A no the rexampleo f the"sq ua redeal"carn ea few
years later.Roosevelt for cedth e bi g railroad
compa niestocha rgeall th eir cus to me rs fairrates,
instead of allowin g large cus to me rs like th e o il and
meat-packi n gtru sts to pay lessth an farm ers and
small busi nessm en .l ie alsosupporte d law swhich