The Progressive Era

The Progressive Era

The Drive to Reform

• _{Origins of Progressivism- middle class and dissatisfied industrial}

workers

• _{Progressive share common beliefs}

– _{Industrialization and urbanization created troubling social and political}

problems.

– _{They wanted their state and federal legislators to write laws that}

addressed the poverty.

– _{Get rid of corrupt politicians}

Problems Progressives wanted to fix

• _{Political reform was the most import issue.}

• _{Women’s right to vote}

• _{Do away with political machines & bosses that bribed voters and violence to swing}

elections.

• Improve living conditions in the cities.

• Wanted Gov. to “Bust the trusts” – to break up big businesses to create more economic opportunities.

• _{They wanted to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor.}

• _{Better working conditions for miners and factory workers.}

Muckrakers expose the need for reform

•

Muckraker- socially conscience journalists.

•

Their main goal was to show the ugly side of life in

hopes of bringing about change.

•

Lincoln Steffens- Wrote

The Shame of the Cities =

stories

about political corruption.

•

Jacob Riis- photographer who’s book

How the Other Half

Muckrakers cont.

•

Ida Tarbell wrote =

The History of Standard Oil

about John D. Rockefeller and what a corrupt and

ruthless businessman he was.

•

John Spargo focused on the dangerous and

difficult life of a child worker.

•

Upton Sinclair – wrote The Jungle – revealed the

Muckrakers cont.

• _{Fiction writers put a human face on social problems creating a}

new genre – the naturalist novel.

• _{Designed to show human misery and the struggles of the}

common people.

• _{Theodore Dreiser – wrote Sister Carrie a story about a small town}

girl in the brutal world of Chicago and New York.

• _{Frank Norris’s The Octopus – about how the Southern Pacific}

railroad squashed the California farmers.

• _{Frances Ellen Watkins wrote about the struggles of black}

Jacob Riis How the other

Ida Tarbell

Progressives Reform Society

•

Social Gospel

– _{Thought that Christianity should be the basis of social}

reform.

– _{Blending of German socialism and American Progressivism.} –

– _{People could make society “the kingdom of God.”}

Settlement House and YMCA

•

A community center that provided services to the

urban poor.

•

Gave mothers classes on child care, taught

English, ran nursery to kindergarten.

•

Young Men’s Christian Association provided

services to the urban poor.

–

They offered Bible Studies, citizenship training,

•

Jane Addams: opened Hull House.

–

Lots were 25 ft. by 125 ft. They held 3 families

–

It was made up of 13 buildings

–

Women who majored in Social Work would visit

Improving Children’s Rights

•

Led by Florence Kelly several laws were

written regarding child labor

–

In Illinois – they banned child labor.

• _{1902 the National Child Labor Committee lobbied the}

federal government to create the US Children's Bureau.

• _{1916 Congress passed the Keating-Owens Act which}

banned child labor

• _{Children under the age of 14 could not work in factories} • _{two years later the US Supreme Court ruled the law}

Progressives and Industrial Workers

• _{Industrial workers faced long hours, hazardous fumes and unsafe}

machinery.

• _{Each year 30,000 workers died on the job with ½ million injured.}

• _{Progressives were able to persuaded some states to limit the}

workday to 10 hours (which was again ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme court)

• _{Triangle Shirtwaist Factory = New York City}

– 146 workers died because the exits were blocked or locked

Reforming Government

• _{Free gov. from political bosses and business interests.}

• _{Reformers improve city gov.}

– _{Galveston, Texas hit by a massive hurricane - Killed more than 8,000 people}

– _{The city replaced the Mayor with Aldermen who were part of a five-person} commission.

– _{It was very successful and other cities began to use this system which they} called the Galveston Plan.

– _{Some cities used a City manager to head the commission.}

Reforming Election Laws

• _{Direct Primary where the People could select the candidates for state}

and local offices.

• _{By 1916 all but four states had direct primaries.}

• _{** major victory was the 17}th _{amendment: prior to 1913 Federal Senators were}

selected by state legislatures. With the passing of the 17th _{Amendment the citizens}

of the state could now vote for their own Senator

• _{Three new political reforms:}

– _{Initiative – gave people the power to put a proposed new law directly on the} ballot on the next election by gathering up signatures on a petition.

Progressive Governors

•

Robert La Follette of Wisconsin.

– “Fighting Bob” won the passage of many reform laws.

– _{He forced railroads to charge lower fees and pay higher taxes.} – _{Improved education, made factories safer, adopt the direct}

primary.

– _{It became the “laboratory of democracy”}

•

Hiram Johnson Governor of California

Women’s Movement sect. 2

•

Women wanted to expand their role in society.

•

Education – more women entered college to

become either teachers, nurses or Social workers.

•

Most women that worked outside the home had

difficult jobs with long hours and danger

Reformers champion women’s rights

•

Muller v. Oregon 1908 Oregon law limited the amount of

time a woman could work to 10 hours. Court agreed.

• _{Women’s Trade Union League = a group that tried to improve}

conditions for female factory workers. Also pushed for federal laws that set a minimum wage and 8 hour work day, and strike fund to help families when they were out on strike.

•

Florence Kelly formed the National Consumer’s League

which is still active today.

– _{They gave Labels to products that were produced under fair, safe}

Changes in the family life

•

Temperance movement = the practice of never drinking

alcohol.

– _{Men often spent their money on alcohol neglecting their families}

abusing their wives.

– _{Their work led to the 18}th _amendment

•

Nurse Margaret Sanger: thought women’s health would

improve if they had fewer children.

– _{1916 opened the first birth control clinic.}

– _{In 1921 she founded the American Birth Control League to make}

Women fight for the right to vote

• _{Carrie Chapman Catt}

– Urged women to join the National American Woman Suffrage association

– Promoted a call for action on two fronts – Congress to pass

constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote or to use the referendum process to get the right to vote.

– _{Society Plan: to recruit wealthy, well-educated women. These women}

were called suffragettes.

– _{Some women worked against it. The National Association Opposed to}

Activists carry on the struggle

• _{Alice Paul: believed in taking an aggressive measure to get}

Women the right to vote.

• _{Maud Younger = “Millionaire waitresses” organized the first}

California's waitresses’ union.

• _{Nin Otero-Warren: Hispanic who headed New Mexico’s State}

Board of Health.

• _{National Woman’s Party}

– Started marches outside the White house

19

th

Amendment becomes law

•

June 1919 Congress approved the Nineteenth

Amendment which stated that the right to

vote “Shall not be denied or abridged on

account of sex”

•

August 1920 Tennessee became the last state

Discrimination = section 3

• _{Progressivism v. Discrimination: Most progressives were white}

Anglo-Saxon Protestant reformers

• _{Americanization:}

– _{taught immigrants English and how to dress like white middle-class}

– _{Taught them how to eat and adopt American Customs}

– _{Reformers thought that if they made them into better citizens they would be} more loyal

– _{Alcohol: Europeans thought it was ok to have it with every meal, Americans} thought it showed moral faults.

•

Racism limits the Goals of the Progressives

– _{Many progressives shared the same prejudice as other white} Americans.

– _{Many accepted the (misguided) scientific theory that dark} skinned people were less intelligent.

– _{Some Southern progressives did call for the end to the} violence and terrorism towards blacks.

– _{Some encouraged the blacks to “accept” their place in society.}

African Americans Demand Reform

•

Booker T. Washington told blacks to work slowly toward

racial progress.

•

W.E.B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter urged African

Americans to demand immediately all the right guaranteed

by the Constitution.

– _{The Niagara Movement: denounced the idea of gradual progress.}

– _{They condemned Washington's; notion of teaching only trade skill.}

Formation of the NAACP

•

Riots of 1908: white mob tried to lynch two

African Americans. When they could not get to

them they rioted in the city killing two and

burning down 40 houses.

•

White reformers joined with Niagara Movement

to form the National Association for the

advancement of Colored People – NAACP.

–

“ physically free from peonage, mentally free from

Reducing Prejudice and Protecting Rights

• _{Formation of the Urban League: focused on poor workers. Helped}

families buy clothes books, send children to school and to find jobs.

• _{The Anti-Defamation League – to defend Jews and others against}

physical and verbal attacks, false statements.

• _{Mexican Americans Organize:}

– _{Living in Arizona formed “Partido Liberal Mexicano”}

– _{They also formed “mutualistas” groups that made loans and provided legal}

assistance and insurance to help members if they were too sick to work.

– _{Supreme Court ruled that many of the contracts Mexicans were forced to}

Native Americans and Asian Americans

•

Carlos Montezuma helped establish the Society of

American Indians in 1911 to protest federal Indian

policy.

–

He urged Native Americans to preserve their cultures

and avoid being dependent on the government.

•

Takao Ozawa fought the housing laws:

–

1913 California law said only citizens could own land.

–

Japanese could not be citizens – therefore could not

own land.

Sect.4: Roosevelt’s Square Deal

•

Roosevelt Shapes the Modern Presidency

–

Graduated from Harvard with honors

–

His wife and mother died on the same day

–

Moved to the West where he fell in love with the

wilderness

–

In 1889 he became New York City Police Commissioner

–

Became Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy but

•

After the war he became Governor of New York

•

He was selected to run as McKinley’s Vice President in the

1900 election

•

McKinley was assassinated and Roosevelt became the

youngest president ever at age 43

•

He pushed through his “Square Deal” agenda

– _{Keep the wealthy and powerful from taking advantage of small} business owners and the poor

– _{Fight corruption}

Trustbusting and Regulating Industry

• _{Pennsylvania Coal Mines: workers went on strike for more money –} less work hours

– _{Roosevelt knew he needed to keep a steady supply of coal going to keep}

factories open and homes warm

– _{He tried to get the owners to listen to workers’ concerns}

– He threatened to send in Federal troops, take over the plant and make it Federally owned.

– The owners agreed to give the miners a small raise and lower working hours to 9 per day.

– _{The next year Roosevelt convinced Congress to create the Department of}

Roosevelt takes on the Railroads

• _{The ICC was suppose to make sure that all shippers were charged}

the same amount.

• _{Supreme Court had stripped the ICC of most of its power to}

regulate railroad charges.

• _{Roosevelt had Congress pass the Elkins Act 1903 which imposed}

fines on railroads that gave special rates to favored shippers.

• _{1906 Congress passed the Hepburn Act which gave the ICC strong}

enforcement powers.

• _{The government now had the authority to set and limit shipping}

Sherman Anti-trust Act

•

Roosevelt did use the Supreme Court to bring down some

big companies and force them to break up into smaller

ones.

•

He saw a difference between “good trusts and bad trusts”.

Sometimes larger companies were better than small ones.

•

He supported big companies as long as they did business

fairly .

Regulating food and drug industry

• _{Meat Inspection Act 1906.}

– _{Federal agents inspect any meat sold across state lines and inspect meat}

processing plants.

– _{Still in place today – if there is a product that can cause people to get sick the}

FDA can pull it off the shelves.

• _{Pure Food and Drug Act}

– _{Banned interstate shipment of impure food and mislabeling of food and drugs.}

– _{FDA today still monitors companies to make sure people are not hurt by}

dangerous substances or dishonest labels.

– _{All drugs must be tested first before it can be sold and must be approved by}

Government Manages the Environment

• _{Government established Yellowstone National Park in 1872 to}

protect wildlife.

• John Muir (naturalist) moved Congress to preserve Yosemite National Park 1890.

• Roosevelt closed off more than 100 million acres of forestland.

• Believed in conserving, and using the forests.

Water Policy

• _{During the gold and silver mining years in the west the miners would}

divert water from rivers to run their machines.

• _{Private irrigation companies came in and redirected the water so farmers}

could revive dried up fields.

• _{Roosevelt had Congress pass the National Reclamation Act which gave the}

federal Gov. the power to decide where and how water would be distributed.

– Gov. would build and mange dams , create reservoirs, that would generate power and direct water flow.

– This would take water to the famers via rivers and streams

President William Howard Taft

•

Roosevelt served two terms then the country elected Taft to

continue the Progressive Reforms.

•

Taft had his own agenda:

– _{He approved the Payne-Aldrich Act which did not lower tariffs}

– _{He pushed for the Mann-Elkins Act which gave the Gov. control} over telephone and telegraph rates

– _{He encouraged Congress to propose an income tax}

Cont.

• _{He allowed some big monopolies to remain as long as they did}

not squeeze out smaller companies.

• _{He sued US Steel and forced them to sell a coal company.}

• _{He fired Gifford Pinchot when he revealed that Sec of Interior}

Ballinger wanted to open federal lands rich in coal in Alaska

• _{Roosevelt did not like the direction Taft was going so he formed}

his own party – a blend of New Nationalism, Progressive and it was nicknamed “The Bull Moose Party”.

• _{This third party split the Republicans and Woodrow Wilson –}

Sect.5: Wilson’s New Freedom

•

1912 Woodrow Wilson become President (first

man from the south to win the presidency in

60 years)

•

His program for America - New Freedom:

–

Place strict government controls on corporations

–

to tear down what he called the “triple wall of

Tariffs and Taxes

• _{He lowered the tariffs on good imported from foreign countries.}

Underwood Tariff Bill

• _{Federal Reserve Act (banking reform)}

– Interest rates for loans fluctuated as they were controlled by wealthy bankers.

– _{Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act – placed national banks under}

control of the Federal Reverse Board. This is still in place today

– _{They also set interest rates on money banks borrow from other banks}

• _{Graduated income tax – became the 16}th _{amendment to the}

constitution

– _{Wealthy people had to pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes}

Antitrust regulations

•

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

– _{Members are named by the president to monitor business}

practices that might lead to monopoly.

– _{They also watch for false advertising and dishonest labeling}

– _{Clayton Antitrust Act – spells out what activities businesses}

could not engage in.

– _{These are still in effect today – the FTC regulates buying on}

Cont.

•

Workers’ Rights Protected- Clayton Antitrust Act

– _{Workers were now protected form being attacked as trusts} and could organize more freely.

– _{Samuel Gompers of the AFL called it the “Magna Carta of} Labor”

– _{Workman’s Compensation Act 1916= gave wages to workers} temporarily disabled

– _{to prevent a railroad strike, Wilson meet with the union and} railroad leaders but they could not reach a settlement so

Ludlow Massacre

• _{When Wilson did not intervene: Coal miners demanded safer} conditions, higher pay and the right to form a union.

• _{When the company refused the workers walked off and set up} tents near the city.

• _{The strike continued through the winter.}

• _{April 1914, Colorado National Guard attacked the miners tent city} killing 26 men, women and children.

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