Progressive RootsEmily Santora, Jacob Kantzos, and Jimmy Barrios Period 62/11/2013

“I am, therefore, a Progressive because we have not kept up with our own changes of conditions, either in the

economic field or in the political field. We have not kept up as well as other nations have. We have not adjusted our practices

to the facts of the case…”-Woodrow Wilson, campaign speech, 1912

Background Information Before the first decade of

the 20th century, American was influenced by a Progressive movement Fought against:

Monopolies Corruption Inefficiency Social Injustice

Purpose was to use government as an agency of human welfare

Topics to Discuss

1. Origins of Progressivism

2.Political Reforms

3.Social Reforms

4.Economic Reforms

Origins of Progressivism

Motives of Progressives Progressives were largely influenced by the

Greenback Party (1870s and 1880s) and the Populist Party (1890s)

Henry Demarest Lloyd’s book Wealth Against Commonwealth exposed the corruption of the monopoly of the Standard Oil Company Those who made money from the trusts were

criticized also The power of big businesses widened the gap

between rich and poor

The Muckrakers Popular magazines began

digging up dirt about the trusts Cosmopolitan Collier’s Everybody's

Lincoln Steffens and Ida M. Tarbell exposed money trusts, railroad barons, and the corruption of American businesses David G. Phillips argued that 75

of 90 U.S. Senators did not represent the people, but the railroads and trusts Muckrakers believed that the

only way to fix American democracy was more democracy Ida M. Tarbell was concerned

with Jim Crow laws, which were shaping a segregated

culture.

Case Study: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair The Jungle depicted the lives

of immigrants working the United States and exposed the gruesome practices of the American meatpacking industry Is referred to as “the Uncle

Tom’s Cabin of wage slavery” because of its portrayal of the corruption of big businesses

Eventually led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act

“The meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the

shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one—there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with

which a poisoned rat was a tidbit. There was no place for the men to wash their hands before they ate their dinner, and so they made a practice of washing them in the water that was to be ladled into

the sausage. There were the butt-ends of smoked meat, and the

scraps of corned beef, and all the odds and ends of the waste of the plants, that would be dumped into

old barrels in the cellar and left there. ”

Political Reforms

Initiative, Referendum, and Recall Shortly after the Gilded

Age, a time of political corruption, the American people wanted to become more involved Mostly middle-class

citizens and restless immigrants

This system allowed citizens to participate more fully in state legislature

They were able to propose new laws, vote on them, as well as recall laws and politicians that they didn’t like

Initiative, Referendum, and Recall

Initiative •Voters could directly propose legislation

Referendum •People could vote on laws that affected them

Recall •People could remove bad and corrupt officials from office

Political Progressivism Using the Australian

ballot, Progressives counteracted the effects of party bosses Had a direct

election of U.S. senators to avoid corruption

The 17th Amendment provided for direct election of senators

Social Reforms

Municipal Reform As the urban environment

grew in size, people wanted changes in the city The city-manager system

was designed to remove politics out of municipal administration

Asked for better schools, cleaner streets, and less crime

This drew more to the city, causing a need for constant reform and maintenance as more people meant more problems

Progressive Woman Women were important factors during

the Progressive movement Couldn’t vote or hold political office Fought for issues such as child labor

The Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York killed 146 workers, mostly women

Muller vs. Oregon persuaded the Supreme Court to accept the constitutionality of laws which protected women workers Lochner vs. New York established a ten-hour

day for bakers

Temperance and Prohibition The general public, and more

specifically, married women, began to take offense at the gross nature of man and alcohol

The media began to portray alcohol as the source of evil, linking it to crimes, abuse, etc. Others saw alcohol as the

fuel to political reform, since most Progressives met at bars

This led to the official prohibition of alcohol, which would later result in an uproar from men and the liquor industry.

TR’s Square Deal Instituted by Theodore Roosevelt Noticing the faults of the U.S. system, Roosevelt pushed for

reform Embraced control of corporations, consumer protection, and the

conservation of the United States’ natural resources This act encompassed a wide variety of reforms from the

consumer protection to creation of national parks Roosevelt aimed toward regulating the dangers of large

corporations such as the meat industry and his love for nature led him to create national parks in order to preserve it

The Department of Commerce and Labor was formed in 1903, which was allowed to probe businesses engaged in interstate commerce Was useful in trust-busting

Control of Corporations Congress passed the

Elkins Act in 1903, which fined railroads

Roosevelt established “bad trusts” and “good trusts” and set out to control “bad trusts” Northern Securities

Company organized by J.P Morgan http://www.history.com/topics/theodore-roosevelt/videos#theodore-roosevelt-vs-corporate-

america

Civil Rights Plessy vs. Ferguson made the statement

that the black and white communities should be “Separate but Equal”

African Americans cried out for better facilities and opportunities (i.e. better schooling)

Ultimately would lead to the Civil Rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Economic Reforms

President Taft & Dollar Diplomacy President William Taft

was mildly progressive and sensitive to criticism, but not as liberal as Roosevelt

Urged the Dollar Diplomacy, which called for American to invest abroad into foreign areas of concern to the US Gave US economic

control of these areas