The+Square+Deal

SQUARE DEAL  "Square Deal" was a phrased used to describe Theodore Roosevelt’s governing philosophy during progressive movement. The square deal was imposed to help the middle cass while still protecting business, thus not favoring either end of the spectrum. By definition, the term "square deal" implied that everyone reaped some sort of benefit.The square deal was based on the following principle ideas:  -"Conservation" -"Regulating Business Monopolies" -"Enforcng the Anti-Trust Act" -"Supporting Progressive Ideas"

** Coal Strike of 1902 ** – The United Mine Workers of America from the anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania went on strike in 1902. The minors dissatisfaction with their lack of recognition and control in the coal mining industry led to the well known conflict between the miners and their employers. On May twelfth the minors officially went on strike, fed up with their mistreatment and hard labor without any of the rewards. The minors risked their lives while digging underground for the natural resource that our nation had grown so dependant on. Millions upon millions of city folk relied on coal to heat their homes in the winter. Once the miners went on strike, the maintenence workers quickly followed, leaving the jobs on June second. More than eighty-percent of the workers went on strike that year, roughly over a hundred-thousand workers. At first the owners welcomed a strike due to the overproduction of coal in 1902 but the strike eventually began to worry Americans because they feared they would freeze in the winter without coal. It was on June eighth that Roosevelt asked Carroll D. Wright to look into the matter. After some investigation Wright suggested reforms that would be beneficial for both parties. Wright proposed a nine hour work day and limited collective bargaining but Roosevelt was advised by philander Knox, attorney general, not to intervene. However, Roosevelt set up a conference on October third but this was of no help. J. P. Morgan, ninth century entrepreneur, played his role in the 1902 coal strike. Morgan, being a part of US Steel and having dealing swith Reading Railroad, was an employer of mine workers. Morgan introduced a compromise that would allow the Union and its employers to communicate through a commission. The strike finally came to an end on October 23, 163 days after its beginning, and the workers went back to work the next day. After hearings and investigation, the commissioners concluded that the miners working coniditions were not completely horrible. In the end the workers were given a ten percent wage increase rather than the twenty percent increase they had asked for and a nine-hour-work day.

** Pure Food Drug Act/Meat Inspection Act ** -Due to muckrackers such as Upton Sinclair, the United States public became aware of the unacceptable and disturbing conditions of the meat industry. In Sinclair's famous book //The Jungle// outraged many Americans, including Theodore Roosevelt, who was at first on the fence about Sinclair's socialist accusation and so he decided to set up an investigation into the matter.

A direct result of the news of the unsanitary food industry, the **Meat Inspection Act** was passed in 1906. This reform required the thorough inspection of meat before it was allowed to be sold to consumers. The Act aimed to prevent poisonious products to be in floating around the market place.

Another food/health related act was passed that same year on June 30th, 1906, the **Pure Food and Drug Act**. This law prohibited the production and sale of contaminated and misbrand foods or drugs.

**Trust Busting/Railroad Regulation**  - It was no secret that Theodore Roosevelt was a sensible man although he was sometimes labeled as a radical. Therefore, when it came to dealing with trusts, Theodore had a very logical approach when handling the many trusts that had formed during the late 1800s. Roosevelt acknowledged the fact that not all trusts were bad and that it was not the size of a trust that was damaging, but rather its behavior.


 * The Hepburn Act** gave the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) the authority to set a maximum on railroad rates which resulted in the inability of certain customers recieving free passes or reduced rates.


 * The Elkins Act** strengthened the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. It imposed great fines on railroad owners whom offered rebates and the shippers who recieved the. This reform brought the the US a step closer to eliminating unfair business practices that the majority of the middle and lower class Americans detested, especially farmers.


 * Conservation ** - Roosevelt participated in improving matters relating to the nation's resources, such as forests and irrigation.


 * The Reclamation Act of 1902** - allowed the construction of irrigation and flood-control projects in of most of the government owned land in the West.

Roosevelt also added 150 million acres to the federal reserve which combined with the 50 million acres the goverment already owned. This protected forests from destruction which led back to Roosevelt's belief of using natural resources with resonsibility and caution.


 * Sources: **

United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination by John J Newman and John M Schmalbach [|American-Presidents.org] [|Wikipedia] [|Suite101.com] [|USSteel.com]