Woodrow Wilson

A

3

Other Legislative Achievements

Wilson continued to lead the battle for reforms. He established the Federal Trade Commission in 1914 to ensure that one company or group of companies did not gain control of an entire industry (called a monopoly) and force prices up artificially. The commission was empowered to issue cease-and-desist orders once these illegal activities had been proved. Because the Sherman Antitrust Act had been used against labor, the administration sponsored the Clayton Antitrust Act that same year to strengthen its antitrust provisions against monopoly and to limit its use against labor unions. The Clayton Antitrust Act declared illegal such practices as price-cutting to freeze out competitors and other forms of price discrimination. The law also forbade corporate activities that decreased competition and affirmed the right of unions to strike, boycott, and picket.

Other New Freedom legislation passed during Wilson's first term included an act improving working conditions for American sailors; the Federal Farm Loan Act, which provided credit for farmers; the Warehouse Act, which helped farmers obtain loans; the Adamson Act, which set an eight-hour workday on interstate railroads; an unemployment compensation act for federal employees; a bill providing greater self-government for the Philippines; and a bill prohibiting child labor. These laws were all passed in 1916, but the child labor act was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1918.

A

4

Limitations to the New Freedom

Many observers at the time were awed by Wilson's political leadership. Circumstances of the time, however, greatly limited the effect of Wilson's program. The major economic reforms were accomplished in 1913 and 1914, years that saw an unexpected industrial decline. This minor depression did not start to recede until after World War I had begun in Europe and production for foreign markets expanded, but then the war disrupted foreign trade, diminishing any benefits from the Underwood Tariff. After the war a high protective tariff replaced it, and the Clayton Act, as interpreted by the courts, was of little help to labor unions.

Wilson proved to be less decisive on other reform issues. He had little faith in the ability of women to vote and participate in politics (called suffrage), but for political reasons he was slow to disagree with the determined suffragettes who sought his support for voting rights for women. Similarly, he fought for the child labor law with obvious reluctance and advocated the Adamson Act only to ward off a threatened strike by railroad workers.

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The most conspicuous failure of the New Freedom was its policy toward blacks. Segregation, the practice of keeping people of different races separate from each other, had never been the practice in federal government offices in Washington, D.C. Faced with strong pressure from fellow Southerners, however, Wilson allowed segregation in the capital. Confronted with his vague promises before election that he would treat blacks with fairness, he could only say that the new policy of segregation was in the best interests of blacks and would angrily terminate the interview when his claims were disputed.

B

Foreign Relations

B

1

Latin America

Wilson and Secretary of State Bryan sincerely desired good international relations. In the Caribbean and in Central America, they wanted to substitute moral diplomacy for the Dollar Diplomacy of the Taft administration, under which the U.S. government provided diplomatic support to U.S. companies doing business in other countries. Wilson and Bryan demonstrated their desire to improve relations when they agreed to pay Colombia $20 million in reparation for the role the United States had played in the secession of Panama from Colombia. Ex-President Roosevelt, who had encouraged the Panamanian secession from Colombia, took this move as a personal affront and as a sign of weakness. He denied that his foreign diplomacy required apology of any sort. However unwise or improper the Colombian agreement, it demonstrated that Wilson and his Department of State hoped for cordial relations within the hemisphere.

Nevertheless, Wilson and Bryan forced conditions on Nicaraguans that infringed upon their sovereignty. They feared that those areas of Nicaragua favorable to the building of a new canal across the isthmus might fall into the hands of some European power. Despite repeated protests of goodwill and regard for the interests of other peoples, the treaty Wilson and Bryan drew up in 1913 restrained the free action of the penniless Nicaraguan regime and permitted American intervention. This was a direct continuation of Taft's diplomacy, which had received the support of Republicans and the sharp criticism of anti-imperialists. In addition, Bryan later authorized the use of troops in the Dominican Republic and in Haiti, even though he was a longtime advocate and architect of plans and treaties furthering peace.

B

2

Mexican Revolution

Wilson had other international problems, particularly in Mexico. Mexico had seen a series of revolutions since 1910. Americans with mining and other interests in Mexico wanted immediate U.S. intervention to protect their property. Wilson decided to adopt a policy of “watchful waiting” and to encourage the election of a constitutional government in Mexico. He refused recognition to General , the choice of American interests in Mexico, because he had illegally seized power. The president put more faith in Huerta's major opponent, Venustiano Carranza. Carranza's forces grew stronger in the provinces due to U.S. support, but Huerta's supporters held power in Mexico City.

In April 1914, American sailors of the U.S.S. Dolphin were arrested at Tampico by a Huerta officer. Although the captives were released, the U.S. government was outraged and Wilson had to demand apologies from a government he did not recognize. When news came that a German ship carrying ammunition for Huerta was heading for port, Wilson ordered U.S. troop landings at Veracruz. In the ensuing skirmish more than 300 Mexicans and 90 Americans were killed or wounded, and afterward Mexican public opinion turned against the United States.

Wilson gratefully accepted the mediation of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, but Carranza (who had replaced Huerta) refused to respect their findings. The president then turned his hopes to the peasant leader Francisco “Pancho” Villa, but Villa, harassed by Carranza, attempted to provoke American intervention by crossing the border and raiding towns in the United States. In October 1915, Wilson decided to recognize Carranza as the legitimate heir of the revolution. Villa then seized a number of Americans in January 1916 and executed them. On March 9 he crossed the border into Columbus, New Mexico, where he killed citizens and burned the town.

B

3

Punitive Expedition

Wilson had to respond. Under Brigadier General John J. Pershing a force of more than 6000 troops was dispatched to Mexico. Wilson legitimized the action by acquiring Carranza's permission to pursue Villa. Villa's clever escapes and his second crossing of the border, at Glen Springs, Texas, where he again killed several Americans, inflamed public opinion on both sides of the border and almost caused full-scale war by setting Carranza against the intervention. However, a constitutional government was set up in Mexico in October 1916. Wilson began removing U.S. troops from Mexican soil as the likelihood of U.S. involvement in World War I increased. Wilson's Mexican policy was a failure redeemed only by the fact that he had not tried to force an unpopular government on the Mexican people.