SSUSH13A, D & E

Progressivism

Progressivism

Dawn of Progressivism

• The Progressive Era occurred in the U.S. between 1890 and 1920.

• Involving a collection of many different ideas and activities.

• Motivated by the social problems created by Industrialization & Urbanization.

• Partly a reaction to Laissez-Faire Economics and an Unregulated Market.

The Muckrakers

• Investigative Journalists who exposed Corruption and Social Problems.

• Publishing articles in Popular Magazines:

Collier’s Magazine (1888-1957)

Munsey’s Magazine (1889-1929)

McClure’s Magazine (1893-1929)

Progressivism

• 1902-1904: Ida Tarbell targeted John D. Rockefeller and

Standard Oil’s Corporate Practices in her

articles and book entitled the “History of

Standard Oil.”

• 1889-1890: Jacob Riis exposed squalid living conditions

in New York’s East Side Tenement Housing in

his articles and book entitled “How the Other

Half Lives.”

• 1904-1906: Lincoln Steffens reported government graft

and political corruptions in several articles

like “The Shame of the Cities, The Struggle

for Self Government, and Traitor State.”

The Muckrakers

Progressivism

Suffragettes

• Members of the Women’s Movement to obtain Voting Rights (Suffrage).

• 1848: Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Lucretia Mott

organized the First Women’s Right’s

Convention at Seneca Fall, New York.

• Actually began before the Progressive Era and continued thru the 1920’s.

• Often accused of being unfeminine and immoral or physically attacked by men.

Presented a list of women’s

grievances known as the

Declaration of Sentiments.

• 1866-1870: Failure to obtain support from Abolitionists and Republicans to

add “Women” to the Fifteenth Amendment caused a split in the movement.

Progressivism

Suffragettes

• 1869: Elizabeth C. Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

formed the National Woman Suffrage

Association (NWSA) of women opposed to

the wording of the Fifteenth Amendment.

• Lucy Stone and Julie Ward Howe disagreed with the

radical position being taken on the amendment and

formed the American Woman Suffrage Association

(AWSA).

• 1890: The two organizations were eventually merged into the National

American Woman Suffrage Association.

• 1918-1920: The Nineteenth Amendment guaranteeing women the Right to

Vote was passed by Congress and Ratified by 3/4 of the States.

Progressivism

Labor Issues (Children and Women)

• Probably the most emotional issue of the Progressive Era.

• 1906: Muckraker John Sprago publish his book entitled

The Bitter Cry of the Children to provide

detailed evidence on child labor conditions.

• 1900: 1.7 Million American Children between ages 5 to 10

were employed outside of the family home.

• 1904: Labor Reformers established the National Child

Labor Committee to abolish child labor in the U.S.

• 1911: A Terrible Fire swept through New York’s

Triangle Shirtwaist Company killing nearly

150 tapped female workers.

Progressivism Prohibition Movement

• Also known as the Temperance Movement.

• 1893-1900’s: The Anti-Saloon League became the leading organization

lobbying politicians for Prohibition (Laws banning the manufacture, sale,

and consumption of alcohol).

• Advocated the Moderation or Elimination of

alcohol in the United states.

• 1873-1874: Annie Wittenmyer and Frances Willard

led a group of women to form the Women’s Christian

Temperance Union (WCTU) in Cleveland, Ohio.

• 1917-1920: Prohibition took effect in the U.S.

with the passing and ratification of

the Eighteenth Amendment.

Progressivism American Socialists

• 1893-1894: The failure of the Pullman Strike by the American Railway Union

(ARU) caused some progressives to advocate government control

of industry for the good of the community.

• Different ideologies between the

different Socialist Parties prevented

their success during the early 1900’s.

• 1898: ARU Leader, Eugene V. Debs, led the formation

of the Social Democratic Party of America and

ran for President five times from 1900 - 1920.

• 1876-1898: The Socialist Labor Party of America was the

oldest Socialist Political Party in the U.S.

(Formerly called the Workingman’ Party).

Progressivism African Americans

• However, the greatest limit to Progressivism was its failure to timely and

properly address the needs of African Americans.

• 1905 - African American, Civil Rights Leader, W. E. B. Dubois

led 32 other men in a discussion of the challenges

facing Colored People (at Niagara Falls in Canada).

• 1908 - Springfield Race Riot of Illinois:

• Two African Americans were arrested for violent crimes against whites.

• The Sheriff moved the men due to the fear of a possible lynch mob.

• Enraged White citizens responded by burning homes and killing blacks.

• This served as a catalyst for the creation of a new organization.

• 1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People:

• To ensure political, educational, social, and economic equal rights.

Progressivism

Theodore Roosevelt

• 1904 - The President made a promise that became the foundation of his

reform programs:

Control of Corporations

Consumer Protection

Conservation

“I shall see to it that every man has a square deal,

no less and no more.

• His “Square Deal” Reforms targeted three key areas

aimed at helping “Middle Class” Americans:

• 1902 – Prior to his re-election, he threatened to use the Army to put an

end to a strike by the United Mine Workers Union who refused to

use his suggestion of allowing 3rd-party negotiations (or Arbitration).

Progressivism

Theodore Roosevelt

• 1903: He convinced Congress to create a Bureau of Corporations

to investigate trusts and monopolies.

• 1906: Muckraker, Upton Sinclair, published his

book entitled The Jungle.

However, he was fair with everyone, making “Gentlemen’s

Agreements” with companies willing to fix problems instead

of taking them to court.

• 1906: He pushed the Hepburn Act through Congress to strengthen the

Interstate Commerce Commission’s ability to regulate Railroad rates.

Portraying the lives of Immigrants

Exposing problems in the Meat Packing Industry.

Progressivism

Theodore Roosevelt

• The Jungle made many Americans demand government

actions to regulate the food industry.

• 1905: President Roosevelt appointed his friend, Gifford

Pinchot as the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service.

• 1906: The President and Congress responded with the

Meat Inspection Act to require set standards

and inspections by the Agricultural Department.

• The Pure Food and Drug Act prohibited the manufacture, shipment,

and sale of impure or falsely labeled food and drugs in the U.S.

“The Natural Resources must be developed and preserved for the

benefit of the many and not merely for the profit of the few.”

Progressivism

Theodore Roosevelt

• 1906: The President signed the Antiquities Act into law, giving the President

executive power to Protect and Preserve any Public Lands in the U.S.

Devil’s Tower, WY (1906)

Crater Lake, OR (1902) Mesa Verde, CO (1906)

Yosemite, CA (1906)

Grand Canyon, AZ (1908)

Progressivism

William H. Taft

• 1908: President Theodore Roosevelt had endorsed his

Secretary of War for President.

President Taft called a special session of Congress.

Politicians in each house proposed their own version of the tariff bill.

President Taft agreed to a compromised bill.

Law frustrated both tariff supporters & opposes, and progressives.

• However, President Taft was not like his predecessor.

1909 - The Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act.

1909 - The Ballinger-Pinchot Affair.

Taft appointed a Corporate Lawyer as Secretary of the Interior.

Pinchot accused Ballinger of making public lands available to a Syndicate.

Taft angered Republicans by firing Pinchot for Insubordination.

Progressivism

William H. Taft

• Despite the Presidents political problems, be did have

some successes.

Granted them authority to regulate the Telecommunications Industry.

1910 – The Mann-Elkins Act:

Expanded the powers granted to the Interstate Commerce Commission

under the Hepburn Act of 1906.

1912 – The Children’s Bureau:

Created due to a heightened concern over the General Welfare of

America’s Children.

Focused on improving abuse prevention, foster care, and adoptions.

• Yet, his support of an Anti-Trust Lawsuit against U.S. Steel in 1911, caused

his loss of support from the Progressives and former President Roosevelt.

Progressivism

1912 Presidential Election

“My hat is in the ring!”

“The Fight is on.”

“I’m Fit as a Bull

Moose.”

Against Republican President William H. Taft

“If America is not to

have free enterprise,

then she can have

freedom of no sort

whatever”

Theodore Roosevelt for the Progressive “Bull Moose”

Party

Woodrow Wilson for the Democratic Party

Promoted a Program of “New Nationalism”

Trusts were a fact of life that needed greater controls

Promoted a Program of “New Freedom”

Monopolies are an evil that must be destroyed

Federal Trade Commission

Protective Labor Laws

Worker’s Compensation

Same Key Issues Plus

Major Tariff Reforms

Major Banking Reforms

Since Taft & Roosevelt split the Republican Votes, Wilson would win the Election

Progressivism Woodrow Wilson

• During eight years as President, he successfully crafted and passed reforms

affecting Tariffs, Banking, Business, Trusts, Farmers, Labor, and Veterans.

• 1913 – The Federal Reserve Act:

Establishing the Federal Reserve System to address Banking Panics

With a Board of Governors to set Interest Rates to fight inflation

• 1913 – The Underwood Tariff Act:

Establishing the lowest rates since 1857

Reinstitution of a Federal Income Tax (Authorized by the 16th Amendment)

• 1914 – The Federal Trade Act:

Establishing a Bi-Partisan Federal Trade Commission

Empowered to Investigate and Halt Unfair Business Practices (Trusts)

• 1916 – The Federal Farm Loan Act:

Creating 12 Land Banks to provide farmers with low-interest loans