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Rough Riders at San Juan Hill
The Rough Riders were a diverse group of volunteer cavalry soldiers who served during the Spanish-American War in 1898. The men were led by TR and are best known for their overwhelming victory at San Juan Hill in Cuba. They assisted the American forces in forming a constricting ring around the city of Santiago de Cuba. -
First named president
Theodore Roosevelt became president because he was the vice president of William McKinley, but then McKinley died causing Theodore Roosevelt to become president. Roosevelt allowed for the government to rule again, and take control during the Progressive Era. He also changed the government's relationship to big business. -
National Reclamation Act
The Reclamation Act is a United States federal law that funded irrigation projects for the arid lands of 20 states in the American West. The act at first covered only 13 of the western states as Texas had no federal lands. Texas was added later by a special act passed in 1906. -
Coal Strike
Miners striked for higher wages, shorter workdays, and the recognition of their union. The Coal Strike resulted in a victory for the hard-coal miners with a 10% increase in wages and an hours reduction in their working day. -
Elkins Act Passed
Roosevelt signed this into law in 1903. The Elkins Act prohibits railroad companies from giving rebates to businesses that ship large quantities of goods and giving power to those businesses to artificially lower shipping prices. The result of the act was that railroads had a stronger mechanism to protect their collusive prices and corporate trusts were weakened in their ability to gain shipping discounts. -
The Northern Securities Case
In Northern Securities Co. v. the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a holding company formed to create a railroad monopoly violated the Sherman Antitrust Law. The government's victory in the case helped solidify President Theodore Roosevelt's reputation as a “trustbuster.” -
Yosemite Under Federal Control
In 1906, the state-controlled Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove came under federal jurisdiction with the rest of the park. It was the first land the government protected because of its natural beauty so that people could enjoy it. -
Meat Inspection Act
The Meat Inspection Act was passed after years of reports on the unsafe and unsanitary practices of the meatpacking industry. It is now a law that makes it illegal to adulterate or misbrand meat and meat products being sold as food and ensures that meat and products are slaughtered and processed under strictly regulated sanitary conditions. -
Passage of Pure Food and Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was the first of a series of significant consumer protection laws which was enacted by Congress in the 20th century and led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. Roosevelt signed the Food and Drugs Act, known simply as the Wiley Act, a pillar of the Progressive era. -
Leaves presidency, visits Africa
The purpose of the trip was to collect specimens for the Smithsonian's new Natural History Museum, which is now the National Museum of Natural History. The expedition collected around 11,400 animal specimens which took Smithsonian naturalists eight years to catalog. -
Wins First Full Term as President
TR was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to promote progressive policies. Roosevelt received a large amount of money for the campaign from wealthy capitalists, such as Edward H. Harriman, Henry C. Frick, and J.P. Morgan. The wealthy capitalists and others contributed more than $2 million to TR's campaign. They supported him because they preferred an "unpredictable head of a predictable party" in power over the "predictable head of an unpredictable party." -
Running for President in the Bull-Moose Party
The Progressive Party ("Bull Moose Party") was a third party in the U.S. formed in 1912 by TR after he lost the presidential nomination of the Republican Party to his former rival, incumbent President William Howard Taft. The party’s popular nickname of Bull Moose was derived from the characteristics of strength and vigor often used by Roosevelt to describe himself. He had an energetic campaign, and he was shot by an insane man in Wisconsin, when on his way to make a speech.