Progressive Reforms

Who were the Progressives, and how did they address

the problems that they saw?

Child Labor

Many children working in factories and sweatshops to help their families

As a result, they did not attend school

In 1890: 4% of American teenagers went to school!!!!!!!!

Progressive pushed for laws to restrict or ban child laborNational Child Labor CommitteeBy 1912, 39 states passed child labor lawsProhibited children under age 14 from

working Some states limited the number of hours

that older children could workDecline of child labor meant more children

could now go to school = demand for more schools

Schools in AmericaIn 1870: about 500 high schools

By 1910: 10,000!

By 1930: almost half of all high-school-aged children were attending school!

Progressives also pushed the “Americanization” of immigrant children

Workplace ConditionsReform not as successful here!

Supreme Court tended to side with business; workers not forced to work!

Conditions for women better!: Supreme Court ruled that states could limit the number of hours women worked: “the physical well-being of woman is an object of public interest” (mothers)

By 1916: 2/3 of the states had workers compensation laws: workers who were hurt at work still received some pay, even if their injuries prevented them from working

Political Reform

In many states, big business controlled government, leaving

average citizens with little influence. To return power to the people,

Progressives advocated various reforms!

Political Reforms to end corruptionDirect Primary: voters hold elections to

choose candidates for office – as opposed to party leaders picking candidates!

Recall: voters could remove an elected official before his/her term expired

Initiative: enables citizens to propose and pass laws directly without involving the state legislatures

Referendum: a law passed by a state legislature is placed on a ballot and voted on by the people of that state

African-AmericansAfrican-Americans faced an even tougher battle; they were subject to strict segregation and disenfranchised due to poll taxes, literacy tests, and other methods to deny them their right to vote

Tuskegee Institute: vocational college for African-Americans founded by Booker T. Washington

NAACP: fought through the courts to end segregation and to ensure that African-American men could exercise their right to vote

Tackling Racism Booker T. Washington:

The best way for African-Americans to get ahead was to work hard and improve their economic condition. “cast down your bucket where you are”; be patient and take advantage of current opportunities rather than agitating for more quicker or more radical solutions.

Accomodation - adapt to the limits imposed by white society!

Tackling Racism – a different approachW.E.B. DuBois:

his strategy – push hard for civil rights through political action.

He believed that African-Americans should protest unfair treatment and FIGHT for equality

Trusts / Monopolies

A particular business: Northern Securities Company was a company that controlled the long-distance railroad lines from Chicago to California; this company controlled many railroad companies because the owners had bought up all the stock in these companies. J.P. Morgan, one of the owners of the Northern Securities Company held a monopoly on rail service throughout the Northwest.

T. Roosevelt “Trustbuster”

Roosevelt sued the Northern Securities Company for anti-trust violations. No president before this would have ever done what Roosevelt did!

The Supreme Court ruled the Northern Securities Company as a monopoly.

The role of government in business was now changing! Future Presidents Taft and Wilson followed Roosevelt’s policies!

Consumers and Workers

The book, “The Jungle” described the deplorable conditions of the meat packing industry and described the horrible conditions of the food people were buying!

Video clips

Meat Inspection Act: Required the Dept. of Agriculture to inspect packaged meat before it could be sold to consumers! (Oh, what you could have been eating!

Pure Food and Drug Act: established the Food and Drug Agency, to test and approve drugs before they went on the market; no more magical cures

Workers1902 Arbitration: Roosevelt pressured

coal mine owners and the striking United Mine Workers to submit to arbitration: a legal process which a neutral outside party helps resolve a dispute.

Taft: Department of Labor: investigate welfare of children

Wilson: Keating-Owen Child Labor Act: prohibited companies involved in interstate commerce from hiring workers under 14

EnvironmentIndustry and urban growth was polluting the air and water as well as devastating the landscape; Progressives wanted to protect the natural environment.

Preservation / Conservation

Roosevelt administration set aside nearly 150 million acres of national forests making them National Parks.

Taft administration added 2.7 million acres to the National Wildlife Refuge and Wilson created the National Parks System

Unfortunately not much done in the area of pollution (not well known the effects of)

Reforming the National Government

Progressives wanted financial reforms that would improve government funding and the banking system. They also worked for constitutional reforms, including direct election of senators, a ban on alcohol, and women’s suffrage

Stabilization of the banking system

Since the early 1800’s, the nation had been shaken by financial panics, periods when people withdrew their money from banks after losing confidence in the economy. Panics caused banks and businesses to collapse and sometimes triggered economic depressions!

Federal Reserve Act Divided the country into 12 regions, each with a Federal

Reserve bank. Together, these banks and their operating rules make up the

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM, or central bank of the U.S. Private banks remain independent but agree to operate under

the rules of the Federal Reserve System The “Fed” in return, offers a safety net by lending them money if

they are short of funds It also sets monetary policy to regulate the amount of money in

circulation, including setting interest rates and regulating how much banks can lend.

THE FED HAS MADE THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM MUCH MORE STABLE!!!!!!!!!

Taxes and Tariffs

As the role of the federal government expanded, its need for $$$ to fund its programs increased!Big business wanted to raise tariffs? WHY?Progressives believed these high tariffs were unfair to consumers because they raised the prices of imported goods and increased the cost of living for average Americans.Progressives believed income taxes were the best way to solve the government funding problem.

Sixteenth AmendmentAllow the federal government to impose

income taxesCongress made this tax a “graduated” tax:

those that made more money paid more in income taxes.

President Wilson also wanted tariffs reduced – both of these went into a single bill: The Underwood Tariff Act in 1913

Election of Senators

Progressives felt that citizens needed a greater say in their government. The Constitution required that national senators be elected by state legislatures.

Problem: state lawmakers and the senators they elected often had close ties to large corporations!!

Seventeenth AmendmentProgressives wanted senators to respond

to the will of the people and not the power of big business!

Progressive convinced Congress to propose the 17th Amendment: direct election of senators by popular vote

Gave average citizens more influence in the Senate!

Legislating MoralityThe idea of banning alcohol dated back to the early 1800’s. Most advocates were women and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union: Their argument: drinking alcohol made men unable to support their wives and children.

The Progressive Era group: Anti-Saloon League (mainly men) was a national organization whose motto was: “The Saloon Must Go”

Prohibition Movement gains momentumRoosevelt or Taft did not support

ProhibitionU.S. entry into WWI in 1917 helped the

movement: argument – grain was better used for food for the war effort than for making alcohol!

The 18th Amendment ratified in 1919: Prohibition of “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” would not take effect

Social Inequality

Many Progressives did not tackle issue of social inequality; mainly

women and African-Americans

Women’s SuffrageWomen had been demanding their right to vote

as early as 18481898: 4 states had granted women voting rights1918: 15 statesFinally in 1919: Congress proposed the 19th

Amendment – ratified in 1920: “the right of citizens of the U.S. to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the U.S. or any state on account of sex.”