politics & progressives in the gilded age 1877-1920
TRANSCRIPT
Politics & Progressivesin the Gilded Age
1877-1920
The Gilded Age
• Mark Twain• Superficial glitter & new wealth
• “forgettable presidents”• Causes of inaction
– Laissez Faire, campaign tactics, party patronage
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Campaign Strategy
• Close elections led to moderate cautious positions on issues
• Campaigns = brass bands, parades, free beer, but LITTLE SUBSTANCE
• Voter loyalty – ethnicity, religions, regional ties
Political Machines
•NYC Boss Tweed – Tweed Gang = Democratic machine
•Republican NYS Senator Roscoe Conklin = “The Stalwarts”
Who were the Progressives?
•The Populist Party•Suffragists•Muckrakers
– Journalists, Novelists, Cartoonists, Photographers
•Temperance•Anti-Imperialists
Names to Know
Upton Sinclair – The JungleIda Tarbell – History of Standard Oil
Jacob Riis – How the Other Half Lives
Teddy RooseveltJane Adams – Settlement House Movement
Eugene Debs – Socialist Party
Goals of Progressivism
• End child labor• Safe food & drugs• Peace? • Women’s rights, suffrage• Limit power of trusts• Aid for the poor• Political Reform
Jane Addams 1860 - 1935
Jane Addams at Hull-House, 1927.
IDA M. TARBELL, 1857-1944
Upton Sinclair
Victories for Progressives
• Pure Food & Drug Act = FDA• 16th Amendment = Congress can collect taxes on income
• 17th Amendment = Direct Election of Senators
• 18th Amendment = Prohibition of alcohol
• 19th Amendment – Gave Women the Right to Vote
Other important vocabulary
• Recall – can vote to remove state officials
• Referendum – citizens can vote directly for or against laws
• Initiative – citizens can introduce bills to the legislatures
• Primary Election – citizens vote for their party’s candidate