7-3: progressive era: wilson’s administration · wilson’s progressive program “new freedom”...
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7-3: Progressive Era: Wilson’s Administration1913-1921
Wilson’s Progressive Program“New Freedom”◦ Vigorous reforms
◦ Assault on tariffs, banks, and trusts
◦ Big business immoral—break up rather than regulate
Tariff Reduction◦ Less fear of foreign competition
Income Tax
Wilson’s Progressive ProgramBanking Reform◦ Federal Reserve Board created
◦ Central banking structure
◦ Regulates money in circulation
◦ Adjusts interest rates
◦ Federal Reserve notes backed by commercial paper and gold◦ Currency would expand and contract with
the volume of business activity
Wilson’s Progressive ProgramBusiness Regulation◦ Clayton Anti-trust Act
◦ No investments in competing corporations
◦ Outlawed price-fixing
◦ Exempted unions
◦ Federal Trade Commission◦ Prevents unfair business practices
◦ Keating-Owens Act◦ Child labor laws
African Americans in the Progressive EraTwo Approaches◦ Booker T. Washington—Economics
◦ Seek economic opportunities
◦ Accommodation to white society
◦ Self-help and industrial education
◦ W.E.B. DuBois—Civil Rights◦ Full political and social equality
◦ Focus on integration rather than separatism
◦ Development of “talented tenth”
Civil Rights Organizations◦ Niagara Movement and NAACP
◦ Use of courts to achieve equality
African Americans in the Progressive EraResurgence of the Ku Klux Klan◦ The Birth of a Nation--depicted as
heroic
◦ Favored white supremacy and immigration restriction
Outcome◦ Civil rights not a part of
progressivism
◦ Wilson segregated executive branch
Women, Suffrage, and ProgressivismThe Campaign for Women’s Suffrage◦ Strong leadership (Anthony, Paul)
◦ State gains
◦ 19th Amendment (1920)
Other Issues◦ Family
◦ Parents more supportive, less authoritative
◦ Public aid to mothers in some states
◦ Work◦ Most women still worked in the home
Assessing the Progressive EraWeaknesses and Disappearance◦ Material progress weakened zeal
◦ Courts struck down legislation
◦ Continued business influence
◦ Outbreak of World War I
Heritage◦ Trust-busting
◦ Role of government to act for the people’s welfare (“modern” president)
◦ Regulation instead of laissez-faire