The Origins of Progressivism

SAT Question of the Day

September 10, 2012

How would you describe life at the end of the

19th/beginning of the 20th Centuries?

Do Now

What can you tell me about it? Some living with great with and some living in

extreme poverty Monopolies Businesses taking advantage of labor force Corruption in government

Remember the Gilded Age?

Movement whose goal was to restore

economic opportunities and correct injustices in American life.

Progressives wanted the US gov’t to make progress by reforming society’s problems

Progressivism

Poor Housing Areas Transportation Issues Unsafe Drinking Water Poor Sanitation Standards Excessive Crime Fire Hazards

Problems Facing Urban Areas

Jacob Riis Photographer Muckraking

How the Other Half Lives

Housing Options:

Buy house on outskirts of town (tough commute)

Rent cramped room in urban center Row houses develop:

Single family homes that share a wall Tenements become common:

Overcrowded apartment buildings

Housing

NYC attempts Reform

Minimum plumbing and ventilation Landlords add airshafts

Dumbbell Apartments Every room has a window Tenants dump trash between buildings

Attempts to Reform

No easy way to get to work Mass Transit develops

Move large numbers of people 1873: Street cars in San Francisco 1897: Electric subways in Boston

Transportation

Drinking water usually unsafe NY & Cleveland built public waterworks

Most still didn’t have indoor plumbing Water allowed spread of disease

Cholera, Typhoid Fever, Dysentery 1870’s: Cities begin using water filtration 1908: Cities begin chlorinating water

Water Problems

Drinking water usually unsafe NY & Cleveland built public waterworks

Most still didn’t have indoor plumbing Water allowed spread of disease

Cholera, Typhoid Fever, Dysentery 1870’s: Cities begin using water filtration 1908: Cities begin chlorinating water

Water Problems

Open sewers ran along sides of streets Horse manure piled up on streets Factories sent dangerous chemicals into air Garbage dumped on streets

No garbage trucks Pigs

1900: Underground sewer lines developed

Sanitation Problems

As population increased, crime increased NYC, 1844

First full time police force Other cities followed

Too small to impact crime

Crime

Contstant danger

No water supply Wooden buildings Candles and kerosene heaters Fires spread quickly and were deadly

Cities turned to brick & stone buildings Cincinatti, OH

First full time fire department

Fire

The

Progressives

Not a unified movement

Different people/groups had different goals Each movement had at least one of the

following goals Promoting social welfare Promoting moral improvement Economic reform Creating and supporting efficiency

Progressivism

Make life better for those negatively affected

by industrialization Help the poor YMCA* Salvation Army*

Slum brigades taught hard work and temperance Florence Kelly

Illinois Factory Act - 1893

Social Welfare

Many felt that the PEOPLE

needed to change, not the workplace.

This would be the key to helping poor people

Moral Improvement

Carrie Nation

1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1895 1900 1905 1910 19150

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Year

Gallon

s p

er

Cap

ita

Total Alcohol Consumed

Prohibition

Banning of alcoholic beverages Anti-Saloon League* Women’s Christian Temperance Union*

Went into bars and preached Became very popular, particularly among

women Grew to a national group of 245,000 members

by 1911 Largest Women’s group in US History(at that

time)

Moral Improvement

What is going on in these pictures?

Describe this photo

From 1900-1917, half of the states prohibit the sale, production, and use of alcohol. Many individual towns do the same

Do you Think the WCTU was successful?

Why was prohibition appealing to so many

women?How do you think

immigrants felt about the prohibition movements?

More than just “anti booze”

Opened kindergartens for immigrants Visited inmates in prisons & asylums Worked for suffrage

Impact of the WCTU Expanded the public role of women, justifying

giving them voting rights (but that doesn’t happen yet)

WCTU con’t

“I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.”

Economic Reform

Panic of 1893 (this SHOULD be review…)

15,000 businesses & 500 banks closed 3 million lost their jobs 20% of workforce was unemployed

Made some Americans question capitalism What IS capitalism? Many embraced socialism

Economic Reform

Eugene V. Debs

Founds American Socialist Party* in 1901 Ordinary people had no power against the

government and big business. Most progressives did not join his party, but

agreed with some of what he said Big business DID get favorable treatment from

government, but they also ______________________

Economic Reform

Muckrakers

Journalists who exposed corruption

How do you think they contributed to reform movements?

Economic Reform

Reforming

Government

Cities were controlled by political leaders

Tammany Hall in NYC Reformers wanted to make gov’t more

responsible

Some mayors made changes to taxes, public transportation, corruption, unemployemnt assistance, parks, schools

Cleaning up Local Gov’t

Some Governors wanted change Robert LaFollette (WI)*

Regulated big business

Protecting Child Workers Why hire children? National Child Labor Committee*

Investigated child labor conditions Supported by labor unions Eventually, child labor band & max hours set in

nearly every state

Reform at the State Level

Limiting hours

Muller v. Oregon* Limited workday for women to 10 hours

What happens if you get hurt on the job? Workers compensation

Reform at the State Level

Oregon leads the way

Initiative A bill that comes from the people, not lawmakers Citizens vote on the initiative. This is called a

referendum Recall

Voters can remove public officials by making them have another election.

20 states have at least ONE of these procedures by 1920

Reforming Elections

Old way of choosing candidates = Politicians

nominated their friends/allies

1899, MN has the people choose candidates (direct primary election)

By 1915, 2/3 of states have this process

Primary Elections

What is a Senator? Who are YOUR 2 Senators?

Frank Lautenberg & Robert Menendez

Before 1913 You vote for state legislators, and they choose

Senators What is bad about this?

Who are the Senators REALLY working for? 1917, 17th Amendment passes.

The people now vote for their own Senators

Direct Election of Senators