Progressives

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

• Who were the Progressives?• What reforms did they seek?• How successful were Progressive

Era reforms in the period 1890-1920?

Origins of Progressivism

• As America entered into the 20th century, middle class reformers addressed many social problems

• Work conditions, rights for women and children, economic reform, environmental issues and social welfare were a few of these issues

Progressives Goals

• Social Reform• Moral Reform• Economic Reform• Political Reform• Foster efficiency

Progressive’s Characteristic’s

• Middle class morality• Moderation• Scientific• Order and stability• Active government• Collective responsibility• Conservation of

resources

Continue Reforms

• Grange- farmers who wanted to regulate the railroads

• Populists- farmers who wanted free silver and regulate the railroads

• Suffragists- women fighting for the right to vote

• Temperance- fighting to end the use of alcohol

Inequality

-Wealth Gap existed

• Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer

-lack of social services

• People need services

The wealth gap at the turn-of-the-century was noticeable to everyone. The Progressives wanted this wealth gap to close, and they wanted to make government more responsible to its citizens by offering solutions to urban problems.

Socialist Idea

• Government control of business and prosperity, equal distribution of wealth

• Fear of Revolution• Henry George- writes

Progress and Poverty- Single Tax Concept

• Edward Bellamy- writes Looking Backwards- tale of ideal socialist society Edward Bellamy

Socialist Fears

• Overthrow of capitalism• Eugene V.Debs- Questioned the

uneven balance among big business, government and ordinary people

• Debs helped to form the American Socialist Party

“Competition was natural enough at one time, but do you think you are competing today? Many of you think you are competing. Against whom? Against Rockefeller? About as I would if I had a wheelbarrow and competed with the Santa Fe [railroad] from here to Kansas City.”

~Eugene Debs, Socialist Candidate

Progressivisms Emerge

• Mostly middle class and women reformers

• Wanted progress in society

• Social Gospel- thought that people need to help those less fortunate

• Felt government was responsible to help less fortunate because charity could not do enough

Hull House, begun by reformer Jane Addams, was a beginning to the Progressive Movement. Progressives wanted to improve life for American citizens. She did so by beginning her settlement house in Chicago, which helped immigrants and the urban poor get food, clothing, and education.

Promote Moral Development

• Some reformers felt that the answer to societies problems was personal behavior

• They proposed such reforms as prohibition

• Groups wishing to ban alcohol included the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

• Carrie Nation• 18th Amendment- Prohibition

Muckrakers

• Journalist who exposed the corruption in society

• Expose the dirt or social ills of society

• Ida Tarbell- exposed the Standard Oil Trust corrupt business practices

Jacob Riis

• Wrote How the Other Half Lives

• Tenement reform

Lincoln Steffens

• The Shame of the Cities• Uncovered political

corruption in St. Louis• Exposed corrupt

connection between business and politics

Upton Sinclair

• Wrote The Jungle• Exposed the harsh

conditions in the meat packing industry

Cleaning up Local Government

• Efforts at reforming local government stemmed from the desire to make government more efficient and responsive to citizens

• Some believe it also was meant to limit immigrants influence in local governments

Government Reforms

• Commission Govt.- Galveston Texas experts run govt. to make it more efficient

• Manager Govt.- Dayton, Ohio- hire a manager with training and experience in public administration

• Utilities should be publicly owned to keep down the cost

Election Reform

• Increase people’s voting power

• Direct Primaries- voters choose candidates for the election

• Initiatives- bill originated by the people

• Referendums- people vote on bills

• Recall- people vote officials out of office

In 2004, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger gained his office after his predecessor, Gray Davis, was recalled from his position by the California

voters. This special election process was begun by Progressive reformers at the turn-of-the-century to end corrupt governments and make the

government more accountable to the people.

Reform at Federal Level

• 16th Amendment- federal income tax• 17th Amendment- direct election of senators• 18th Amendment- Prohibition• Australian Ballot- secret ballots

REGULATING BIG BUSINESS• Under the progressive

Republican leadership of Robert La Follette, Wisconsin led the way in regulating big business

Robert La Follette

Women’s Rights

• More states granting suffrage- mainly western states

• Often treated unequally in the economic world

• Paid less treated worse• Susan B Anthony led the

fight and organized protests

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

• 146 young women killed when a fire broke out

• Couldn’t escape because exit doors locked by owner

• Caused a push for working conditions reform

Deaths from Fire

Consumer Reforms

• Zoning laws- where things could be located- help keep cities clean

• Building codes-must meet standards, safer homes and workplace

• The Jungle- help to create FDA and caused for reform in meat packing industry

“There would be meat that had tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers had tramped and spit uncounted billions of consumption (tuberculosis) germs. There would be meat

stored in great piles in rooms;…and thousands of rats would race about on it…A man could run his hands over these piles of meat and sweep off handfuls of the dried dung of rats. These rats were

nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them; they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into the hoppers together…There were things that went into the sausage in

comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit.”—The Jungle

Labor Reforms

• Oregon v Muller- limited women’s working hours to ten a day

• Limits on child labor- Children prone to accidents,

developed health problems and stunted growth

- Banned child labor or set a maximum number of hours they could work

- Florence Kelley led the reform

Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal

• When President William McKinley was assassinated 6 months into his second term, Theodore Roosevelt became the nations 26th president

• Roosevelt rose steadily through the govt. ranks

• He was a reform governor in New York who wanted to clean up political machines

Roosevelt and the Roughriders• Roosevelt grabbed

national attention by advocating war with Spain in 1898

• His volunteer cavalry brigade, the Rough Riders, won public acclaim for its role in the battle at San Juan Hill in Cuba

• Roosevelt returned a hero and was soon elected governor of NY and later McKinley’s vice-president

The Modern President

• When Roosevelt was thrust into the presidency in 1901, he became the youngest president ever at age 42

• He quickly established himself as a modern president who could influence the media and shape legislation

• Modern America requires a strong federal government

• “Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick”

Square Deal

• Treated the presidency as a bully pulpit

• He serves as a protector of the people

• He influences the news and media to shape legislation

• Square Deal- was his program to fix the evils of society

• Square Deal’s 3 C’s- Control the corporations- Consumer protection- conservation

It is the duty of the President to act upon the

theory that he is the steward of the people,

and…to assume that he has the legal right to do

whatever the needs of the people demand, unless the

Constitution or the laws explicitly forbid him to do

it.”

~Teddy Roosevelt

1902 Anthracite Coal Strike• In 1902 140,000 coal miners in

Pennsylvania went on strike for increased wages, a 9-hour work day, and the right to unionize

• Mine owners refused to bargain

• Strike threatens fuel needs for the nation

• Roosevelt threatens to take over the mines

• Roosevelt had both sides go to arbitration

• Set an example of Presidents mediating conflicts that threaten the nation

Trustbusting• By 1900, Trusts – legal bodies created to

hold stock in many companies – controlled 80% of U.S. industries

• Roosevelt believed in good and bad trusts• Wanted to stop those who harmed public

interest• Roosevelt filed 44 anti-trust suits winning

most and real govt. regulation of trusts begun

• Northern Securities v U.S.- monopoly over the railroads, dissolved by Supreme Court- Roosevelt 1st win

• Roosevelt known as the trustbuster

As part of his Square Deal, President

Roosevelt aggressively used the Sherman

Antitrust Act of 1890 to attack big

businesses engaging in unfair practices. His

victory over his first target, the Northern Securities Company,

earned him a reputation as a hard-

hitting trustbuster committed to

protecting the public interest.

President Roosevelt took a stand against

the large trusts of the nation, filing 44 suits against large trusts, and winning most of

his claims.

The Jungle

• Written by Upton Sinclair• Muckraking novel• Exposed the unsanitary

conditions of meatpacking industry

• Disgusted Roosevelt made him take action

Govt. action because of The Jungle• In response to unregulated claims

and unhealthy products, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906

• The Act halted the sale of contaminated foods and medicines and called for truth in labeling

• The Meat Inspection Act- dictated strict cleanliness standards for meat packing facilities

• FDA- Food and Drug Administration created

ROOSEVELT AND THE ENVIRONMENT

• Before Roosevelt’s presidency, the federal government paid very little attention to the nation’s natural resources

• Roosevelt made conservation a primary concern of his administration Roosevelt, left, was an avid

outdoorsman – here he is with author John Muir at Yosemite Park

ROOSEVELT’S ENVIROMENTAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Roosevelt set aside 148 million acres of forest reserves

• He also set aside 1.5 million acres of water-power sites and he established 50 wildlife sanctuaries and several national parks

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Progressivism under Taft

• Republican William Howard Taft easily defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan to win the 1908 presidential election

• Was Roosevelt hand picked successor

• Taft never really liked being President

Taft’s Activities

• Taft break ups twice as many trusts in half the time of Roosevelt

• Split 90 trusts in 4 years• Tried to lower the tariffs• Failed because Senate

because their own tariff• Payne-Aldrich- increased

Tariffs

Ballinger-Pinchot Affair

• Taft angers Conservationists• Appoints Richard Ballinger Secretary of

Interior• Removed 1 million acres off protected list and

sold it to private business• Pinchot complains and he was fired (Director

of Forest Service)

Taft angered conservationists by appointing as his Secretary of the

Interior Richard A. Ballinger, a wealthy lawyer from Seattle. Ballinger, who disapproved of

conservationist controls on western lands, removed 1 million acres of forest and mining lands from the

reserved list and returned it to the public domain.

When a Department of the Interior official was fired for protesting

Ballinger’s actions, the fired worker published a muckraking article

against Ballinger. President Taft sided with Ballinger, and he fired

other protestors from the U.S. Forest Service.

Taft Struggles

• Progressive and conservative parts of Republican Party begin to fight

• Speaker Joe Cannon conservative begins to clash with Progressives

• Conservatives don’t want change and begin to ignore Progressive bills

• Republicans argue over goals and leaders

• Cannon is removed as Speaker

Taft Struggles

• Republicans lose control of the House of Reps

• Split in the party caused loses in voter support

• Roosevelt decides to run for a third term

• Both Taft and Roosevelt compete for the 1912 party nomination

Once Roosevelt returned from safari in Africa, he wanted to

run for a third term as President. Therefore,

Roosevelt and Taft were fighting to gain the nomination from the

Republican Party, which can only nominate one candidate

for President.

Causes of the Split of the Republicans in Election of 1912

• Taft’s anti-trust suit against U.S. Steel• Taft’s alliance with Conservative Speaker of

House Joe Cannon• Payne- Aldrich Tariff• Ballinger-Pinchot Affair

Bull Moose Party

• Republicans want Roosevelt but Taft controls the convention and wins the nomination

• Progressives form their own party and nominate Roosevelt

• Bull Moose Party is the nickname

• New Nationalism- federal power should be expanded to protect the public

Roosevelt’s Progressive Party was often called the “Bull Moose” party. Supporters started this nickname after Roosevelt was shot in the shoulder during one of his speeches, yet continued his speech until he finished. One onlooker said, “Look at Roosevelt, standing there like a bull moose!” The

Bull Moose Party influenced the election of 1912 by taking votes away from the countering Republicans, and leaving more percentage of votes for

Democrats. How do you think this affected the overall election?

New Freedom• Democrats nominated

reform minded governor Woodrow Wilson

• New Freedom- Wants to attack the Triple

Wall of Privilege: trusts, tariffs, and high finance

- Wants to make America affordable for citizens

- Believed monopolies were evil

Election of 1912• Voters had a choice between

conservatism, socialism, New Nationalism and New Freedom

• Taft, Debs, Roosevelt, or Wilson

• Socialist Debs received nearly 1 million votes

• Roosevelt and Taft split the Republican vote

• Wilson wins the election with only 42% of the popular vote

• Democrat Wilson becomes president because of the split of the Republican vote

Republican vote/Bull Moose vote =

Democratic Victory in 1912

Don’t interfere when your enemy is destroying himself.”

~Woodrow Wilson

William Howard Taft never wanted to be President. After serving one term, Taft left the White House, which he called “the lonesomest place in the world,” and taught constitutional law at Yale for 8 years. In 1921, President Harding named

Taft chief justice of the Supreme Court. The man whose family had nicknamed him “Big Lub” called this appointment the highest honor he had ever received. As

chief justice, Taft wrote that “in my present life I don’t remember that I ever was President.” However, Americans remember Taft for many things, especially the Presidential custom of throwing out the first ball of the major league baseball

season.

“Freedom today is something more than being

let alone. Without the watchful…resolute interference of the

government, there can be no fair play between individuals and such

powerful institutions as the trust.”

~ Woodrow Wilson

NCSCOS Goal #7

Woodrow Wilson spent his youth in the South during the Civil War and

Reconstruction. The son, grandson, and nephew of Presbyterian

ministers, he received a strict upbringing. Before entering politics, Wilson worked as a lawyer, a history professor, and later as president of

Princeton University. In 1910, Wilson became the governor of New Jersey.

As governor, he supported progressive legislation programs such as a direct primary, worker’s

compensation, and the regulation of public utilities and railroads.

As America’s newly elected president, Wilson moved to enact his

program, the “New Freedom,” and planned his attack on what he called

the triple wall of privilege.

Wilson’s New Freedom

• As America’s newly elected president, Wilson moved to enact his program, the “New Freedom”

• He planned his attack on what he called the triple wall of privilege: trusts, tariffs, and high finance

According to Wilson, most Americans were trapped

inside a Triple Wall of Privilege, fighting high tariffs, trusts, and high

finance.

Wilson wants to break down these walls with his “New Freedom” plan, and he wants to make America

more affordable for ALL Americans.

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High Finance: people in America did not have the money to pay for the interest

rates on loans and borrowing.

Wilson’s New Freedom:

Fighting the Triple Wall of Privilege

Tariff and Taxes

-Wilson addressed Congress in person

-1st to do so since Madison’s 1812 War message

Underwood Tariff

• Greatly reduces tariffs, 1st time since Civil War

-Income tax provision was included

• Needed revenue for the federal government

Allowed by 16th Amendment

• Graduated tax on personal and cooperate income

Wilson lobbied hard in 1913 for the Underwood Act, which would

substantially reduce tariff rates for the first time since the Civil War. He

summoned Congress to a special session to plead his case, and established a

precedent of delivering the State-of-the-Union Address in person. Because of the new President’s use of the bully pulpit, Congress voted to cut tariffs in the face

of strong opposition.

Federal Reserve

• set up system of 12 national banks

• Gave federal govt. the ability to control money supply

• Issue money, transfer funds

• Bank for Banks

• Protects banks and overall economy

Federal Trade Commission

• FTC, 1914

• Federal Trade Commission

• “Watchdog” agency of businesses

• -FTC could investigate corporate practices and regulate them if needed

• 400 companies stopped in illegal activity

Clayton Anti-Trust Act• In 1914 Congress enacted

the Clayton Antitrust Act which strengthened the Sherman Act

• The Clayton Act prevented companies from acquiring stock from another company (Anti-monopoly)

• The Act also supported workers unions

• Strikes, peaceful picketing, boycotting legal

• Injunctions against strikers not allowed

Women’s Suffrage• one of the Progressive reforms

• Right to vote for women

• -Carrie Chapman Catt

- a leader of the modern suffrage movement

• Invited Wilson to convention

• Wilson told women to wait

• -some women moved to more militant efforts

• Picketing, hunger strikes

• -women’s support in WW I eventually guaranteed success

• Very instrumental in WWI

Progressive Results

-laissez-faire policy fades

•Government becomes involved in the lives of its citizens

-social reforms help many

-Women have the right to vote, 19th Amendment

•1920, 70 years after they started the fight

-African Americans still ignored

•Still segregated

•No anti-lynching laws

-World War I seems to end reforms

•Focus on world problems rather than home

Women celebrate as the 19th Amendment is ratified, which officially gave women the

right to vote in all federal elections, in 1920. This result was the capstone of the

Progressive Movement.

“There is no chance of progress and reform in an administration in which war

plays the principal part.”

~Woodrow Wilson

LIMITS OF PROGRESSIVISM

• While the Progressive era was responsible for many important reforms, it failed to make gains for African Americans

• Like Roosevelt and Taft, Wilson retreated on Civil Rights once in office

The KKK reached a membership of 4.5 million in the 1920s

Page 39

NCSCOS Goal 7

Voter Discrimination• Democrats limit blacks’

rights

• -literacy tests

• Limit the vote to those who could read (black and white)

• Would ask blacks harder questions than whites

• -poll taxes

• An annual tax to be paid before qualifying to vote

• Too poor to pay tax

• -grandfather clause

• To reinstate white voters

• Could vote if your grandfather could in 1867 (no blacks)

Segregation

• De jure segregation- created by law• De facto segregation – a result of custom and

culture, it is in fact not law

Segregation• -Jim Crow laws

• Laws passed to segregate whites and blacks in public

• -segregation

• Legal separation of the races

• -Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896

• separate but equal doctrine

• Institutionalized and legalized segregation

• 60 years of legal segregation (in North and South

“We consider the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff's argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this be so, it is not by reason of anything found in the

act, but solely because the colored race chooses to put that construction upon it… Legislation is powerless to eradicate racial instincts or to abolish distinctions

based upon physical differences, and the attempt to do so can only result in accentuating the difficulties of the present situation. If the civil and political rights of

both races be equal one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically.”

- Plessy v. Ferguson Majority Opinion -

“The present decision...will not only stimulate aggressions, more or less brutal and irritating, upon the admitted rights of colored citizens, but will encourage the belief that it is possible, by means of state enactments, to defeat the beneficent purposes

which the people of the United States had in view when they adopted the recent amendments of the Constitution.”

-Plessy v. Ferguson Dissenting Opinion -

Race Relations

-racial etiquette

• Informal rules and customs between blacks and whites

• Blacks must show deference to whites

-lynching

• Mob killing without fair trial

Ida B. Wells

• Fought nationwide struggle to end lynching and racial inequality

Between 1885 and 1900, more than 2500 African American men and women were

shot, burned, or hanged without a trial in the South.

Discrimination in the North

• Usually de facto• Great Migration- many African Americans

moved North a) Why? Better jobs and social equality

- Forced into segregated neighborhoods- Competition for jobs led to violence- Usually last hired and first fired

Booker T. Washington

• Chief spokesmen for black middle class that emerged in the New South

• Founder of Tuskegee Institute• Urged blacks to receive a technical rather

than classical education• Adopt white middle class standards

speech, dress, habits• Work hard and gain economic security

was the key to equality• Atlanta Compromise- pursuit of

economic gains for blacks as a step towards the attainment of social equality

W.E.B. DuBois

• Disagreed with Washington• Felt blacks should lead the fight for

immediate equality• 1905 started the Niagara Movement• Demanded immediate end to

segregation• Wanted the black elite to gain liberal arts

education lead the fight• Establishment of black political power

and cooperation with whites

NAACP

• DuBois laid the groundwork for NAACP

• Established in 1909• National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People• Goal- attainment of equal rights

for blacks through the use of lawsuits in federal court