Theodore Roosevelt: trust-busting, conservation and the Square Deal

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Limits, land and the meaning of the Square Deal, 1904 to 1920 (cards A to F). Card A, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, dissent in the Northern Securities case, March 14, 1904 (excerpt): "Great cases like hard cases make bad law. For great cases are called great, not by reason of their real importance in shaping the law of the future, but because of some accident of immediate overwhelming interest which appeals to the feelings and distorts the judgment. These immediate interests exercise a kind of hydraulic pressure which makes what previously was clear seem doubtful, and before which even well settled principles of law will bend." Card B, the Agriculture appropriation act, March 4, 1907 (excerpt): "... hereafter no forest reserve shall be created, nor shall any additions be made to one heretofore created within the limits of the States of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, or Wyoming, except by Act of Congress." Card C, Theodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography, 1913, written four years after he left office (adapted, in our words, not a quotation): in 1907 Senator Fulton of Oregon added an amendment to the Agriculture bill so that the President could not set aside more national forests in six northwestern states. Roosevelt wrote that, before the bill became law, he signed proclamations that put some sixteen million acres of timberland into the national forests, so that land grabbers could not get at it. Card D, the Grand Canyon, in our words: the Grand Canyon was a forest reserve from 1893 and a game reserve from 1906. Congress had resisted Roosevelt's efforts to make the canyon a national park, so on January 11, 1908, he used the Antiquities Act to proclaim the Grand Canyon National Monument of 818,560 acres. The first eleven monuments had averaged about 3,300 acres. The Act told Presidents to keep each monument to the smallest area compatible with caring for its objects. The proclamation said the monument did not stop forest uses of the land. Congress made the canyon a national park in 1919, and in 1920 the Supreme Court confirmed that a President could create monuments of any size. People of the Havasupai, Hualapai, Navajo, Hopi and Paiute nations still live near the canyon today. Card E, three counts of protected land, in our words: the Forest Service says there were 60 reserves covering 56 million acres in 1905. The Miller Center at the University of Virginia says protected land grew from 42 million to 172 million acres after Roosevelt added 150 new national forests. The National Park Service says about 230 million acres of public land were protected in all, of which 150 million were national forests. The sources count different things. Card F, the coal commission and the Square Deal, in our words: the commission Roosevelt named heard 558 witnesses over nearly three months and toured the coal towns. It found that the worst conditions it heard about were only a small number of cases and that the miners were only partly justified in saying their earnings were too low. It still gave them a raise and a shorter day, and set up a six-person board, three chosen by workers and three by owners, to settle disputes. Samuel Gompers, a labor leader, later called the strike the most important event in the labor movement. In August 1910, at Osawatomie, Kansas, Roosevelt, by then a former President, said (excerpt): "I stand for the square deal. But when I say that I am for the square deal, I mean not merely that I stand for fair play under the present rules of the game, but that I stand for having those rules changed so as to work for a more substantial equality of opportunity and of reward for equally good service."

2. 1.

   What can card A, a dissent, show about the 1904 ruling, and what can it not show, Ari asks?

   • That the majority was wrong, since a dissent argues the law was misread
   • One justice's reasons for disagreeing, not whether the majority was wrong
   • Little, since a dissent has no force and so no weight with historians
   • What the majority decided, since a dissent is written for the whole Court
3. 2.

   Card D says the Grand Canyon monument was 818,560 acres, against about 3,300 for the first eleven. A critic says that shows the "smallest area" limit was ignored. Which reply is best, Esme asks?

   • It is about 25 times larger, enough to suggest a breach
   • It shows nothing, since the Supreme Court later allowed monuments of any size
   • It shows the limit was broken, since about 250 times the usual size cannot be the smallest area
   • It is far larger, but the limit depends on what the object needs, which the numbers do not show
4. 3.

   Card D says the Act limits monuments to the smallest area needed, yet the Court in 1920 confirmed monuments of any size. How do the two fit, Jun asks?

   • The Court held that the smallest area was the right size for the Grand Canyon
   • The Court ignored the Act's wording, so the limit no longer applies
   • The card gives the 1920 result but not the reasoning, so the fit is not shown
   • The Act's wording had no meaning, since the Court allowed any size
5. 4.

   Card E gives 56 million, 172 million and about 230 million acres. How can all three be right, Kira asks?

   • Government counts of land are too rough to compare
   • They count the same land at different dates, and the land grew steadily
   • One of them must be the true figure and the rest must be errors
   • Different things: 1905 reserves, later forests, all protected land
6. 5.

   Roosevelt signed the 1907 rider limiting new forest reserves in six states. Why did it not stop the Grand Canyon proclamation of 1908, Milo asks?

   • The rider ended in 1907, so it did not apply in 1908
   • The rider named Arizona, but the monument was not a forest reserve then
   • Congress voted to exempt the Grand Canyon from the rider in 1908
   • The monument used the Antiquities Act, and Arizona is not among the six
7. 6.

   Card F says the commission found the miners only partly justified yet gave them a raise and a shorter day. What does that suggest, Noah asks?

   • The commission found the miners fully justified, so it gave them what they asked
   • The mine owners agreed to the raise because the miners would have won in court
   • The award looks like a compromise, not a finding that the miners were right
   • The commission was biased toward the miners, since it gave them a raise
8. 7.

   Gompers later called the strike the most important event in the labor movement. How should a historian treat that, Pia asks?

   • As a verdict, since a leader of workers knew the strike well
   • As one labor leader's view, not a verdict on the strike
   • As worthless, since a labor leader would praise a labor victory
   • As proof the union was recognized, since Gompers praised the outcome
9. 8.

   Why might Roosevelt use the Antiquities Act for the Grand Canyon in 1908 instead of waiting for Congress, according to card D, Ren asks?

   • Congress had already made it a park, and the Act added a monument
   • The Act required Congress to approve each monument he proclaimed
   • The canyon was a forest reserve, so the Forest Service had to approve
   • Congress had resisted making a park, and the Act let him act alone
10. 9.

    In 1902 the Square Deal meant each side treated fairly. In 1910 Roosevelt spoke of changing the rules. What does card F show, Tala asks?

    • His meaning moved from fair play under the rules to changing the rules
    • His meaning stayed the same, since he used the same words in both years
    • His meaning moved from changing the rules to fair play under the rules
    • His 1910 meaning caused the 1902 settlement, since he later explained it
11. 10.

    Which conclusion do cards A to F support best, Zee asks?

    • Roosevelt's power had no limits, since he made monuments of any size, even the largest
    • His power was real but limited by courts and Congress; his own accounts need checking
    • Roosevelt avoided conflict, since the coal award ended in compromise
    • Congress alone decided each land question, since card B limited him