the progressive era

THE PROGRESSIVE ERA

THE BASICS

Progressive Movement = “Aimed to return control of the government to the people, restore economic opportunities, and correct injustices in American life”

4 Goals 1. Protect Social Welfare2. Promote Moral Improvement3. Create Economic Reform4. Create Political Reforms

IDENTIFYING REFORM MOVEMENTS

1. Get into your group and look through the documents on your table.

2. On the 4th page in your Progressive Packet, fill out the web that has social, moral, political and economic in four different boxes.

You will use the documents to help you decide where the reform should be placed.

Some may be placed in more than one box

Moral Reforms- Strove to improve peoples personal behavior.

Social Reforms- Strove to relieve urban problems. Wanted to soften some of the harsh effects of industrialization

Economic Reforms- Prompted some Americans to question the capitalist economic system. Economic reformers looked at the industry/business.

Political Reforms- Strove to come up with acts that were more responsive to what citizens wanted.

PROHIBITION The banning of alcoholic

beverages.

Moral Reform

WCTU (Women’s Christian Temperance Union) Most influential temperance

org. HUGE membership.

Carrie Nation- walked into saloons with a hatchet and destroyed them!

http://www.history.com/videos/prohibition-raid#prohibition-raid

SOCIAL GOSPEL

Social or Moral reform

Social reform to apply to “christian ethics”

“What would Jesus do?”

Backed Prohibition

FLORENCE KELLEY Social reformer

Secretary of the National Consumers’ League Lobbied to improve factory conditions Promote a fair marketplace for workers and consumers

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

Improve efficiency in work place by applying scientific principles to work.

Make tasks simpler and easier = More Productivity!

Followers started seeing how quickly each task could be performed.

HENRY FORD

Model T.

Assembly Line.

Reduced workday to eight hours and paid workers $5 a day.

Created a car many could afford.

ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE

“Fighting Bob”

Regulated big business

Reform governor for 3 terms then entered U.S. Senate.

Targeted railroads – regulated rates

INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM, RECALL

Initiative- A bill originated by the people (not law makers).

Referendum- A vote on the initiative. Citizen can accept or reject the initiative.

Recall- Voters can remove public officials from elected positions by forcing them to face another election before the end of their term

SEVENTEENTH AMENDMENT

Allowed voters to nominate senators in direct primaries.

The people vote, instead of state legislatures choosing

This gave Americans more of a voice.

WOMEN IN THE WORK PLACE

WOMEN IN THE WORK FORCE Farm labor

Domestic work

Industry work

Once business expanded, so did opportunities for women Offices Stores Classrooms

WOMEN AND REFORM

Suffrage The right to vote

Susan B Anthony A leader in the

suffrage movement Aggressive Campaigned across

the country to get women the right to vote

http://www.history.com/shows/the-people-speak/videos/the-people-speak-3#the-people-speak-3

STRATEGY FOR SUFFRAGE THREE-PRONGED STRATEGY

1. Tried convincing state legislatures to grant women the right to vote.

2. Women tested the Fourteenth Amendment in courts.

“Aren’t women citizens, too?”

3. Women pushed for a national constitutional amendment to grant women the vote.

Overall, the campaign for women achieved very little success.

TO SUM IT UP…

4 goals (or platforms) of Progressive reformers– Moral, Social, Political, Economic.

Suffrage movement not making much leeway, but gained a little.

Some gains in treatment of workers and child labor.

Many reforms movements still to come!