Progressives did not come only in the Republican flavor. Thomas
Woodrow Wilson also saw the need for change. Born in Staunton,
Virginia, Wilson served as president of Princeton University and
governor of New Jersey. He combined a southern background with
northern sensibilities. His 1912 platform for change was called
the New Freedom. Wilson was an admirer of Thomas Jefferson. The
agrarian utopia of small, educated farmers envisioned by
Jefferson struck a chord with Wilson. Of course, the advent of
industry could not be denied, but a nation of small farmers and
small businesspeople seemed totally possible. The New Freedom
sought to achieve this vision by attacking what Wilson called
the Triple Wall of Privilege — the tariff, the banks, and the
trusts. Tariffs protected the large industrialists at the
expense of small farmers. Wilson signed the Underwood-Simmons
Act into law in 1913, which reduced tariff rates. The banking
system also pinched small farmers and entrepreneurs. The gold
standard still made currenc