Chapter 6

Social Reform in the Progressive Era

Realities in the Early Stages of Industrial Society

A. Immigrants bore the brunt of industrialization in Northern and Midwestern cities.

B. Around 21 million immigrants arrived between 1880 and 19141. Major American cities consisted of separate ethnic settlements

with churches, political machines, and newspapers2. In 12 largest cities about 40% of population were immigrants

and about 20% were 2nd generation and about 60% of the work force was foreign born.

C. Employers were unsympathetic to union organizing.D. Few policies or programs existed to protect persons from disease,

poverty, discrimination, disability, crime, fires, and poor living conditions.

The Genesis of Reform

A. Social Darwinism, political power of corporations and preoccupation of upward mobility created a unlikely environment for social reform at the outset of the Progressive Era1. Legislators only met a few months in alternate years in many

states.2. Politics were driven by the patronage system (rewarding their

own political party and giving jobs to voters as incentive to work for the party—not based on merit).

B. Meager taxes were levied to fund government institutions.

Catalytic Events

A. Depression of 1893-1896 brought widespread disenchantment with corporate tycoons.

B. Americans started to wonder if the growth of industry was a great blessing

C. Many were alarmed at the size and power of corporations

Intellectual Ferment and Aroused Public Opinion

A. Turn of the century Americans increasingly believed that environmental factors prohibited the healthy growth of citizens.

B. Reformers countered to Social Darwinism that life should not be devoted to be competition.

C. Reformers argued that unregulated economic activity created high levels of social distress.

D. Progressives began to question provisions of the Constitution and American legal system.

E. Progressives began to question the U.S. as a model society.F. The Social Gospel Movement believed Christian doctrine

supported Social reform.G. Observation of social ills fostered social reform.

The Specter of Social Unrest

A. Most immigrant workers were relatively tranquil during this period.1. Did not speak English.2. Lacked citizenship.3. Feared unemployment.

B. Emergence of radical fringe groups1. Socialism2. Industrial Workers of the World led by Eugene Debs

C. Progressivism had a dark side, some progressives were: 1. Prejudiced against immigrants and African Americans believing them to

uncivilized, ignorant, and immoral.2. Wanted them to embrace middle class virtues.3. Wanted to withhold mother’s pension from them.

Regulatory Reforms in the Progressive Era

A. Major progressive reforms included:1. Expansion of voters power through initiatives, referendums,

and recalls.2. Regulated bank and economic institutions3. Regulated conditions of employment4. Regulated food and drugs5. Regulated employment of children6. Regulated housing

B. Regulations only obtained after extensive political battlesC. Those who sought Federal labor laws told that the Constitution

did not give the federal government jurisdiction over social matters

The Limited Social Programs of the Progressive Era included:

A. Worker’s CompensationB. Mother’s pensionC. Juvenile courtsD. Children’s Bureau

Policy reforms for Women and Children

A. Mother’s pension established between 1911-1919

1. Mostly used by widows.

2. Shift towards outdoor relief (Aid provided to people in their homes vs.

indoor-- institutions such as almshouses, poorhouses, or workhouses). B. Established juvenile court in some local jurisdictions

1. Allowed for examination of family situation.

2. Examined a range of options including probation.

3. Referred children to special juvenile institutions when they needed to be incarcerated.

C. Established Children’s bureau in 1912

D. Enacted legislation in many states that limited kind of work and conditions of work for women.

1. Enacted national legislation in 1916 restricting child labor only to have the Supreme Court over turn it.

Policy reforms for Women and Children (continued)

E. Private Philanthropy

1. Reformers did not strive to supplant (replace) private philanthropy and strongly supported these institutions.

2. Promoted privately funded construction of hospitals.

3. Established settlement houses but did not serve all populations.

4. Other Policy Reforms.

a. Worker’s compensation laws adopted by 1920 in many states.

b. Established after care services for individual who were in mental asylums.

c. Established National Committee for Mental Health.

d. Enacted the 16th amendment to the Constitution in 1913 that established the federal income tax.

Limited Reforms for Workers and Persons with Mental Illness

A. Employers used a variety of legal defenses to place part or all of the responsibility for work-related injuries on employees.

1. Workers who were injured were entitled to obtain an award, the amount of which was determined on the basis of the specific type of injury.

B. The introduction of an initial set of aftercare services for people who had been institutionalized in mental asylums.

1. Clifford Beers, a former mental patient who wrote about his ordeal in public institutions, led to the establishment of nongovernmental societies for mental hygiene.

Health Reforms within a Flawed Capitalistic Model

A. Nearly 20 percent of the populations of entire cities were killed by such epidemics as cholera, typhoid fever, and malaria.

B. Children died in great numbers from influenza, whooping cough, measles, and scarlet fever.

C. Public health Reforms included:

1. Public health centers in many American communities were established to offer residents newly developed inoculations.

2. Public health inspectors enforced regulations that required sanitary conditions in housing, restaurants, and other businesses.

Health Reforms within a Flawed Capitalistic Model (continued)

D. Capitalistic medical care model followed two-tracks

1. Track 1: Physicians and nongovernmental hospitals were funded by fees charged to patients.

2. Track 2: The poor, who could not afford the fees, either went untreated or sought care from public hospitals which were underfunded and poorly staffed.

The Limited Nature of progressives’ Social Reforms

A. Most progressive reforms did not require large government expenditures, major benefits, or service programs.

B. Local property taxes were the primary source of governmental revenues and mainly used for schools and public services.

Political Realities that Limited Reform

A. Supreme Court, local and state courts impeded reform by making adverse rulings.

B. Neither Republicans or Democrats focused on the needs of workers, low income people, or oppressed groups.

C. Political cooperation among ethnic groups was impeded by language, ethnic rivalries, and residual segregation.

1. Labor Unions were uncertain allies of reformers

Women and Children Seizing the Opportunity

A. Muller v. Oregon limited work hours (10) and established minimum wages for women.

B. The National Consumers League (headed by Florence Kelly) sought child labor laws and protective legislation for women.

C. Women’s Christian Temperance Union sought legislation for women and children in addition to temperance legislation.

Social Reforms and the Bull Moose Campaign of 1912

A. Democratic and Republican parties were had strong conservative

wings during the Progressive era.

B. Corporate officials continued to assume a dominate role, attempting

to persuade political officials to oppose certain reforms.

C. After conservative William Howard Taft secured the Republican

nomination in 1912, defeating Theodore Roosevelt, the Progressive

Party convinced Theodore Roosevelt to run for President in 1912 on a

third party ticket (it was called the Bull Moose Party).

D. Roosevelt lost the presidential election 1912 to Woodrow Wilson who

ousted Taft- - demonstrating how difficult if was for third party

candidates to win national elections.

The Oppression of Vulnerable Populations or Out-Groups in the Progressive Era

A. American had contradictory views of immigrants.

1. Immigrants were valued as cheap labor for American industry.

2. Fears that immigrants could incite social unrest in the form of unions.

3. Feared that immigrants would dilute the Anglo-Saxon race.

4. Feared their religion (Catholicism and Judaism) would threaten Protestant America.

5. Yet progressives, like Jane Addams, sought to work with immigrants to bring social reforms to American cities.

The Oppression of Vulnerable Populations or Out-Groups in the Progressive Era (continued)

B. The Oppression of Women

1. Women remained shackled by the traditional notions of women in society yet

many women were key leaders in the progressive movement. Further, they

engaged in political action and civil unrest to secure suffrage for women, finally

securing it with enactment of the 19th amendment to the Constitution in 1920.

2. Women’s suffrage became the central reform issue of the women’s movement.

3. Suffragettes emphasized that if women could vote they would vote for reforms

and family issues.

4. During WWI Wilson agreed to support suffrage when the women threatened to

withdraw support of the war.

The Oppression of Vulnerable Populations or Out-Groups in the Progressive Era (continued)

B. The Oppression of Women (continued)

5. 19th Amendment enacted in 1920 gave women suffrage.

6. Female employment increased in industry.

7. More married women worked.

8. Margaret Sanger founded the birth control movement but

made little progress.

9. The cult of domesticity for married women remained strong.

The Oppression of Vulnerable Populations or Out-Groups in the Progressive Era (continued)

C. The Oppression of African Americans

1. Southern whites regained their stronghold in political power when

North withdrew military from the South in the late 1870s.

2. Supreme court rulings rendering civil rights useless in the wake of

the Civil War.

3. Jim Crow laws were enacted in Southern states.

4. African Americans in the North also encountered poverty and

oppression.

The Oppression of Vulnerable Populations or Out-Groups in the Progressive Era (continued)

C. The Oppression of African Americans (continued)

5. African Americans in both the North and South created strategy for coping with adversity.a. Developed self-help and charitable projects.b. Developed mutual benefit societies that provided insurance for sickness and funerals.c. Participated in church groupsd. Formed their own settlement housese. Established 200 hospitals and nurse-training schools.f. Education – from kindergarten to college – was emphasized and viewed as a kind of

antipoverty program.

6. Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)

a. The Supreme Court condoned (permit) a Southern state’s law that upheld Jim Crow

legislation that required separate, but equal facilities between African Americans and

Whites; fueling the continuation of racist practices.

The Oppression of Vulnerable Populations or Out-Groups in the Progressive Era (continued)

D. The Oppression of Asian Immigrants

1. Suffered extensive discrimination and poverty on the West coast and elsewhere.

2. With Chinese persons already banned from immigrating to the United States,

Japanese immigrants were excluded by the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907 (not

allowing Japan to emigrate labors to the US).

3. Japanese residents were prohibited from land parcels and ownerships by Alien

Land Laws of 1913 and 1920 in California.

4. In Hawaii and California, the Japanese immigrants filled positions as craftspeople

and artisans when a shortage arose.

The Oppression of Vulnerable Populations or Out-Groups in the Progressive Era (continued)

E. The Oppression of Spanish-speaking Persons

1. Mexican immigrants could move freely between the United States

and Mexico, creating a labor force for farming and ranching.

2. Yet Latinos were brutally oppressed in agriculture settings and

cities of the southwest.

3. Spanish-speaking communities organized mutualistas, or mutual

aid funds to provide insurance, funeral, and limited welfare

benefits.

The Oppression of Vulnerable Populations or Out-Groups in the Progressive Era (continued)

F. The Alliance of Progressivism and Racism

1. Prejudice against immigrants was prevalent in the Progressive Era in response to

the sheer numbers of immigrants as well as anti-Catholic sentiment and racism, as

well as anti-Semitism.

2. Anti-immigrant leaders proposed severe restrictions on immigration in 1914 but

President Wilson vetoed it. They succeeded in enacting a literacy test in the

Immigration Act of 1917. The Immigration Act of 1924 severely limited immigration

from Southern Europe and Russia, while favoring immigrants from Northern Europe

The Resilience of Jane Addams and Her Allies

A. Social reforms were active from 1890s until U.S. entered WWI.B. The emergence of social workers

1. By 1920s social workers staffed many agencies that helped the poor.

2. Two factions of social workers emerged:a. Settlement people were more reform oriented and

were led by such progressives as Jane Addams.b. Charity workers, who placed more emphasis on

casework or counseling, were led by such persons as Mary Richmond.

c. Both factions often joined together to support specific reforms.

The Evolution of the Reluctant Welfare State

A. Progressivism expanded social obligation to include many regulations to welfare and important social programs.

B. Progressive movement must be viewed as enacting only modest social welfare innovations when viewed from a contemporary perspective because the movement emphasized enactment of regulations at the state and local level rather than federal programs.

C. Yet progressives obtained remarkable successes in light of many barriers that they confronted.