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The New Freedom

The New Freedom was Woodrow Wilson's campaign platform in the 1912 presidential election, and also refers to the progressive programs enacted by Wilson during his time as president. First expressed in his campaign speeches and promises, Wilson later wrote a 1913 book of the same name. After the 1918 midterm elections, Republicans took control of Congress and were mostly hostile to the New Freedom. As president, Wilson focused on various types of reform, such as the following:

Campaign slogan in 1912[edit]

Wilson's position in 1912 stood in opposition to Progressive party candidate Theodore Roosevelt's ideas of New Nationalism, particularly on the issue of antitrust modification. According to Wilson, "If America is not to have free enterprise, he can have freedom of no sort whatever." In presenting his policy, Wilson warned that New Nationalism represented collectivism, while New Freedom stood for political and economic liberty from such things as trusts (powerful monopolies). Wilson was strongly influenced by his chief economic advisor Louis D. Brandeis, an enemy of big business and monopoly.[5]


Although Wilson and Roosevelt agreed that economic power was being abused by trusts, Wilson and Roosevelt were split on how the government should handle the restraint of private power as in dismantling corporations that had too much economic power in a large society. Wilson wrote extensively on the meaning of "government" shortly after his election.

According to one journal, when became the head of the Department of Agriculture in 1913 ‘he expressed the “progressive movement” ferment by systematically broadening the department's policies directing them into the fields of distribution, into the broader economic problems of rural life, into the questions of fair prices to farmers and unfair prices to consumers, into the problems of farm management and home management.’[29]

David F. Houston

A provision of the Federal Reserve Act, approved on December the 23rd 1913, authorized national banks to lend money on farm mortgages.

[30]

For farmers there was a provision in the Federal Reserve Act in which the Federal Reserve Board "was given power to define the paper which would be eligible for discount, to make agricultural paper eligible, and to give it a maturity of six months as against ninety days for ordinary commercial paper."

[31]

The 1914 led to the support of the federal government to support farm cooperatives, bringing about a system of country agents to assist farmers in conducting more efficient and scientific stock-raising and crop-growing.[32]

Smith–Lever Act

The Cotton Warehouse Act (1914) authorized the federal government to license warehouses. The intention of this legislation was to ensure that the better handling of crops "would make warehouse receipts more readily acceptable by banks as collateral for loans."

[33]

The establishment of the regional banking system and the administration of the Comptroller of the Currency resulted in a general reduction of interest rates by from 1 to 3%.

[34]

Money was furnished by the Secretary of the Treasury in abundance at low rates to move crops.

[34]

The appropriation for eradication of the cattle tick was doubled, while that for the control of hog cholera was increased from $100,000 to $360,000. In addition, the foot-and-mouth disease was eradicated at a cost to the government of $4,500,000.

[34]

A market and live stock news service was established.

[34]

In a revision of the tariff special attention was paid to the special necessities of farmers, with various articles peculiarly used by farmers placed on the free list. This included articles such as machinery for use in the manufacture of sugar, cotton gins, threshing machines, cultivators, horserakes, mowers, agricultural drills and planters, reapers, harvesters, tooth and disk harrows, plows, and wagons and carts.

[34]

A survey of farm women was carried out in 1913, which was instrumental “in determining early Extension System policies and establishing priorities that affected farm women and men for at least the next two decades.”

[35]

The Agricultural Extension Act (1914) authorized federal grants-in-aid to the state agricultural colleges for the purpose of supporting a program of extension work in farm areas.

[33]

The of 1916 provided federal credit to small farmers via cooperatives.[32]

Federal Farm Loan Act

The .

Warehouse Act of 1916

The of 1916.

Stock-Raising Homestead Act

The Grain Standards Act of 1916 mandated the grading and inspection of grains under federal license.

[36]

Under a special appropriation provided by the Food Production and Control Acts of 1917 seeds were purchased and sold to farmers at cost while fertilizer was also distributed. In addition, the Agriculture Department started inspecting agricultural products at central markets that year, while a program of licensing warehouses, fertilizer producers, farm equipment companies and stockyards was also launched.

[37]

From 1918 to 1931 emergency seed loans were provided through the Secretary of Agriculture by Congress. These loans were made “to assist farmers in designated areas that had suffered unusual hardships, such as droughts and floods, and could not obtain credit elsewhere.”

[38]

Books[edit]

In 1913 Woodrow Wilson's book The New Freedom was published, detailing his thoughts about the concepts and program.[95] He had previously written two other books, Congressional Government published in 1900, followed in 1901 by When a Man Comes to Himself.

Square Deal

New Nationalism (Theodore Roosevelt)

New Deal

Fair Deal

. 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs--The Election that Changed the Country (2005) excerpt and text search

Chace, James

Flehinger, Brett, ed. The 1912 Election and the Power of Progressivism: A Brief History with Documents (2002)

Gould, Lewis L. Four Hats in the Ring: The 1912 Election and the Birth of Modern American Politics (2008)

excerpt and text search

Grantham, Dewey W. "Southern congressional leaders and the new freedom, 1913-1917." The Journal of Southern History (1947) 13#4 pp: 439–459.

in JSTOR

Link, Arthur S. Woodrow Wilson and the progressive era, 1910-1917 (1954)

Link, Arthur S. "The South and the" New Freedom": An Interpretation." The American Scholar (1951): 314–324.

in JSTOR

Link, Arthur Stanley. Wilson: The Road to the White House (1947); Wilson: The New Freedom (1956); Wilson: Campaigns for progressivism and peace, 1916-1917 (1965)

Wilson, Woodrow. The New Freedom, A Call For the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People, (1913).

at Project Gutenberg

The New Freedom

public domain audiobook at LibriVox

The New Freedom