THE PROGRESSIVE ERA

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

FOUR GOALS OF REFORMERS

1) Protect Social Welfare2) Promote Moral Improvement3) Create Economic Reform4) Foster Efficiency

PROTECT SOCIAL WELFARE

• Industrialization in the late 19th century was largely unregulated

• Employers felt little responsibility toward their workers

• As a result Settlement homes and churches served the community

• Also the YMCA and Salvation Army took on service roles

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)

CREATE ECONOMIC REFORM

• The Panic of 1893 prompted some Americans to question the capitalist economic system

• As a result some workers embraced socialism

• Eugene Debs organized the American Socialist Party in 1901

Debs encouraged workers to reject American Capitalism

FOSTERING EFFICIENCY

• Many Progressive leaders put their faith in scientific principles to make society better

• In Industry, Frederick Taylor began using time & motion studies to improve factory efficiency

• Taylorism became an Industry fad as factories sought to complete each task quickly

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

REGULATING BIG BUSINESS

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

Robert La Follette

PROTECTING WORKING CHILDREN

• As the number of child workers rose, reformers worked to end child labor

• Children were more prone to accidents caused by fatigue

• Nearly every state limited or banned child labor by 1918

EFFORTS TO LIMIT HOURS

• The Supreme Court and the states enacted or strengthened laws reducing women’s hours of work

• Progressives also succeeded in winning worker’s compensation to aid families of injured workers

ELECTION REFORM

• Citizens fought for, and won, such measures as secret ballots, referendum votes, and the recall

• Citizens could petition and get initiatives on the ballot

• In 1899, Minnesota passed the first statewide primary system

DIRECT ELECTION OF SENATORS

• Before 1913, each state’s legislature had chosen its own U.S. senators

• To force senators to be more responsive to the public, progressives pushed for the popular election of senators

• As a result, Congress passed the 17th Amendment (1913)

The Election of 1896

The Election of 1900

McKinley defeats William Jennings Bryan in the Election of 1900. Theodore Roosevelt ran as

McKinley’s Vice-President.

PRESIDENT WILLIAM

MCKINLEY

President McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz as he shook hands and met people at the Pan American Exposition held in Buffalo, NY, during the summer of 1901. His wounds were not considered life-threatening, and although it appeared McKinley was recovering, gangrene developed which eventually caused McKinley to die. McKinley died on September 14, 1901. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt became the new President.

1. Between 1870 and 1920 26 million immigrants came to live in the United States.

2. After 1900, most came from southern and eastern Europe.

IMMIGRATION

Italian Immigrants Eastern Europe

Reasons so many immigrants came to America include political, economic, and religious reasons

Factory jobs were plentiful during America’s Industrial Revolution

Many Irish immigrated because of a potato famine Political turmoil in Germany caused thousands of Germans

to immigrate 300,000 Chinese came to work on the railroads or to seek

gold in California 90,000 Japanese also immigrated to the West coast Canada, Sweden, and France sent thousands of immigrants In big cities, many immigrants ended up in ramshackle

conditions or tenements

IMMIGRATION 1820-1890

The U.S. has a history of racism anddiscrimination against numerous groups ofpeople.

Preamble. Whereas, in the opinion of the Government of

the United States the coming of

Chinese laborers to this country endangers the good order of

certain localities within the

territory thereof:

CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

That from and after the expiration of ninety days next after the passage of this act, and until the expiration of ten years next after the passage of this act, the coming of Chinese laborers to the United States be, and the same is hereby, suspended; and during such suspension it shall not be lawful for any Chinese laborer to come, or, having so come after the expiration of said ninety days, to remain within the United States.

3. Standard Oil owned by John D. Rockefeller controlled 95% of oil refining in the United States.

4. It appeared that industrialization was threatening the future of the nation.

STANDARD OIL

Companies like Standard Oil squeezed out allits competition and became monopolies.

• This law was the first measure passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit abusive monopolies

• A monopoly is a situation in which there is a single supplier or seller of a good or service for which there are no close substitutes

• Monopolies control prices of goods and services• Prices stay higher with no competition-Corporations get

bigger• No President enforced this law until Theodore Roosevelt

became President

SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT OF 1890

The Government is cutting down trusts andcorporations that form monopolies

5. The most well-known woman reformer was Jane Addams who tried to bring the poor and the rich, the immigrant and the native born all under one roof. She established Hull House which provided new comers with English lessons, employment advice, and child care.

6. Progressivism simply meant the quest for progress in problems that were plaguing American society in politics and the economy.

WOMEN TAKE THE LEAD

7. Often, the nation’s poor, especially immigrants, wanted no part in the nation’s progressive reform.

8. Progressives wanted parks and playgrounds to be built while immigrants and workers preferred ball fields and sandlots.

9. Many immigrants also worried that progressive reformers wanted to destroy their ethnic cultures.

A CLASH OF CULTURES

WOMEN IN PUBLIC LIFE

Before the Civil War, American women were expected to devote their time to home and family.By the late 19th and early 20th century, women were visible in the workforce.

DOMESTIC WORKERS

Before the turn-of-the-century, women without formal education contributed to the economic welfare of their families by doing domestic work.Altogether, 70% of women employed in 1870 were servants.

WOMEN IN THE WORK FORCE

• Opportunities for women increased especially in the cities

• By 1900, one out of five women worked

• The garment trade was popular as was office work, department stores, and classrooms

WOMEN LEAD REFORM

• Many of the leading progressive reformers were women

• Middle and upper class women also entered the public sphere as reformers

• Many of these women had graduated from new women’s colleges

Colleges like Vassar and Smith allowed women to excel

WOMEN AND REFORM

• Women reformers strove to improve conditions at work and home

• In 1896, black women formed the National Association of Colored Women (NACW)

• Suffrage was another important issue for women

THREE-PART STRATEGY FOR WINNING SUFFRAGE

Suffragists tried three approaches to winning the vote:

1) Convince state legislatures to adopt vote (Succeeded in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Colorado)

2) Pursue court cases to test 14th Amendment

3) Push for national constitutional Amendment

JANE ADDAMS

Jane Addams is remembered primarily as a founder of the Settlement House Movement. She and her friend Ellen Starr founded Hull House in the slums of Chicago in 1889. She is also remembered as the first American Woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

HULL HOUSE

Hull House, located on Chicago’swest side helped thousands of immigrantsand poor live decent lives.

A nursery at Hull House

TEDDY ROOSEVELT’S SQUARE DEAL

When President William McKinley was assassinated 6 months into his second term, Theodore Roosevelt became the nation’s 26th president. He promised a “square deal” for all Americans.

McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist in Buffalo in September

of 1901

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.

ROOSEVELT AND THE ROUGH RIDERS

• 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

Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders

1902 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

• Roosevelt called in both sides and settled the dispute

• Thereafter, when a strike threatened public welfare, the federal government was expected to step in and help

10. Muckrakers were journalists who exposed the waste and greed of the modern United States.

11. Their investigations began in the slums and led upward to urban political bosses who took bribes for city construction contracts or awarded them to their friends.

MUCKRAKERS & BOSSES

FAMOUS MUCKRAKERS

Upton Sinclair wrote the book The Jungle, exposing the underbelly of the Meatpacking industry of early 1900’s America. This book led to the Passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

Ida Tarbell published The Rise of the Standard Oil Company in 1902, providing insight into the manipulation of trusts.

ELECTION OF 1904

In the election of 1904, Theodore Roosevelt promised the American people that he never run for re-election again. That was a promise he would regret in 1912.

12. Bosses also provided valuable services to immigrants. In turn, the immigrant was expected to vote for the boss and his party.

13. Progressives attempted to limit the power of bosses but failed to oust them; however, it did lead to laws about how elections should be handled. The secret ballot was introduced to keep bosses from knowing who voted

for them.

14. Voter registration laws prevented bosses from stuffing ballot boxes with invented names or paying people to vote multiple times. New laws required cities to award police, fire, and teaching jobs according to merit.

POLITICAL BOSSES

• A person who wields the power over a particular political region or constituency

• May dictate voting patterns• May dictate appointments• Wield influence over the region• May not hold political office

POLITICAL BOSSES

TRUSTBUSTING

• By 1900, Trusts – legal bodies created to hold stock in many companies – controlled 80% of U.S. industries

• Roosevelt filed 44 antitrust suits under the Sherman Antitrust Act

15. A trust is a large business working in one sector of the economy. People wanted to bust trusts because they were causing prices to go up.

FIGHTING THE TRUSTS

Examples of Trusts• Standard Oil Company (95% of oil

industry)• American Sugar Refining Company

(98% of sugar industry• Northern Securities Company

(Railroad company)

A trust is a legal body that has stock in many companies, often in 1 industry

17. Another progressive reform for workers was Workers’ Compensation to help workers who were injured on the job.

WORKMAN’S COMPENSATION

Workman’s Comp helps peoplewho have been hurt while on the job.

16. Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, exposed the gruesome filth in the meat-packing industry in the United States.

THE JUNGLE

THE JUNGLE LEADS TO FOOD REGULATION

• After reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Roosevelt pushed for passage of the Meat Inspection Act of 1906

• The Act mandated cleaner conditions for meatpacking plants

18. President Roosevelt backed two important reform bills in The Meat Inspection Act which required refrigeration and other health precautions in the meat industry and the Pure Food and Drug Act which banned false labeling on packages.

MEAT INSPECTION ACT

After President Theodore Roosevelt read Upton Sinclair’s Book The Jungle,he immediately began legislation to regulate and purify America’s food supply.

PURE FOOD AND DRUG ACT

• 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 Pure Food and Drug Act took medicines with cocaine and other

harmful ingredients off the market

19. Roosevelt also added more than 100 million acres to the national forest system.

ROOSEVELT, THE CONSERVATIONIST

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

The Grand Canyon

The Petrified Forest in Arizona

Sequoia National Park

Yellowstone National Park

ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK, ND

PELICAN ISLAND, FL

FIRST WILDLIFE REFUGE IN U.S.

Pelican Island, FL

20. Roosevelt’s handpicked successor to the White House,

William Howard Taft broke up more trusts than Roosevelt.

ROOSEVELT AND WILSON

WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT(1909-13)

Taft busted up more trusts thanRoosevelt, but he failed to carryout all of Roosevelt’s progressivepolicies which created a rift betweenthe two once good friends. As a result,Roosevelt went back on his promiseto never run for President again. He made that pledge to the Americanpeople when he ran for his own termof office in 1904.

Taft is the only President who later became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

PROGRESSIVISM UNDER PRESIDENT TAFT

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

• Among his accomplishments, Taft “busted” 90 trusts during his 4 years in office

Taft, right, was Roosevelt’s War Secretary

Taft once got stuck in the White House bathtub and had to have a specially made tub. It was large enough for 4 men to sit in it.

TAFT AND HIS TUB

TAFT’S BATHTUB

A Replica of the Taft Bathtub

TAFT LOSES POWER

• Taft was not popular with the American public nor reform minded Republicans.

• By 1910, Democrats had regained control of the House of Representatives.

Taft called the Presidency, “The lonesomest job in the world”

21. Roosevelt felt betrayed by Taft when he failed to support certain progressive programs, resulting in Roosevelt’s decision to recapture the White House in 1912. Roosevelt ran under the Progressive Party.

1912 ELECTION

• Republicans split in 1912 between Taft and Teddy Roosevelt (who returned after a long trip to Africa)

• Convention delegates nominated Taft

• Some Republicans formed a third party – The Bull Moose Party and nominated Roosevelt

• The Democrats put forward a reform - minded New Jersey Governor, Woodrow Wilson

Republicans split in 1912

22. Although it was a three person race for the 1912 election, the real race was between Theodore Roosevelt and the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson.

23. Wilson promised to free the nation of trusts and bring back the nation of small businesses.

ELECTION OF 1912

Woodrow Theodore Wm. Howard Wilson Roosevelt Taft

• Set up a federal banking system through the Federal Reserve Act

• Passed the Clayton Anti-Trust Act to reign in big business

• Set up Federal Trade Commission to stop unfair trade practices

• Was President when the 16 Amendment place an income tax on Americans

• Led the United States through World War I

WOODROW WILSON(1913-1921)

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 financeW. Wilson U.S. President

1913-1921

24. Wilson ordered the segregation of black Americans in federal buildings.

FREEDOM? WHOSE FREEDOM?

• Many historians consider Wilson a racist• He put segregationist white southerners in charge of

many executive departments• He reduced the number of African-American appointees

to political positions• He segregated Federal buildings• He imposed full segregation in the nation’s capital

25. Between 1885-1907, more Americans were lynched in the US than were legally executed, most of whom were black.

VIOLENCE CONTINUES

The Tuskegee Institute has recorded 3,446 blacks and 1,297 whites were lynched between 1882 and 1968.

26. Two black Americans, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois, viewed America’s race problem in different ways: Washington, President of Tuskegee Institute, believed that blacks should develop vocational skills. Du Bois demanded immediate and equal rights for African Americans in schools, housing, and employment.

WASHINGTON AND DUBOIS

• He was the dominant leader in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915

• He was born into slavery and not highly educated• In 1881 he became the first leader of the Tuskegee

Institute in Alabama which was a school for African-Americans to learn different trades

• Washington believed if black people could learn a trade or a skill that they could live peacefully in mostly segregated America

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

• Graduated from Harvard where he was the first African-American to earn a doctorate

• He became a professor of history, sociology, and economics at Atlanta University

• He founded the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

• Fought for full equal rights for blacks

W.E.B. DUBOIS

NAACP FORMED TO PROMOTE RIGHTS

• In 1909 a number of African Americans and prominent white reformers formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

• The NAACP had 6,000 members by 1914

• The goal of the organization was full equality among the races

• The means to achieve this was the court system1964 Application

27. Socialists believed that American workers not their bosses should own the nation’s industries.

28. Law enforcement authorities tried to silence the Socialists by jailing them.

29. Socialist Presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs was jailed and sentenced to prison for opposing the draft during World War I.

SOCIALISM IN AMERICA

• A socialist economic system consists of a system of production and distribution organized to directly satisfy economic demands and human needs, so that goods and services would be produced directly for use instead of for private profit driven by the accumulation of capital

• Socialism calls for public ownership of all major industries such as manufacturing, banking, energy companies, media services, transportation services, and medical services

• It tries to take power from those who hold the wealth of a country

WHAT IS SOCIALISM?

30. Suffragists were women who worked for women’s right to vote.

WOMEN SUFFRAGISTS

The 19th Amendment to the Constitution outlawed denyingthe right to vote based on gender. Passed in 1920, women finally achieved a precious right that had been denied for a long time.