Ch. 11 Segregation & Discrimination (1870s – 1960s)

Booker T. Washington Black educator. Believed

African-Americans should learn useful labor skills & prove economic value to society.

Founded Tuskegee University in Alabama.

Favored gradual approach to equality. Financial security first, civil rights later.

W.E.B. Dubois First African-American to

receive a degree from Harvard University.

Strongly disagreed w/ Booker T.

Wanted blacks to seek education & lead their communities in demanding immediate equal rights.

Founded Niagra Movement – later became the NAACP. Used courts & legislature to fight for African-American rights.

Segregation & Discrimination Segregation = separating people on the basis of race. During Reconstruction, African Americans exercised

newly won rights. 14th amendment – all citizens have equal protection

under the law & 15th amendment – right to vote for all males regardless of race.

After the end of Reconstruction in 1877, Southern states began to pass laws to racially discriminate and weaken black political power.

Voting Restrictions All Southern states imposed laws to disenfranchise (deny the

right to vote) African Americans.

Literacy Tests Only people who could read were allowed to vote. Blacks were

often asked more difficult questions then whites. Officials could pass or fail applicants as they wished.

Poll Tax Annual tax that had to be paid before voting. Many blacks (and

some whites) were too poor to pay tax.

Grandfather Clause A man could vote if he, his father, or grandfather had

been eligible to vote before 1867. Date was important because freed slaves did not have the right to vote at the time. Meant all black males could not vote.

Jim Crow Laws Laws passed by southern states to institute segregation

(separate by race). Blacks and whites required to use separate public facilities (schools, restrooms, parks, hospitals, ect.)

Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme court case that tested the legality of

segregation. In 1896, court ruled that separation of races did

not violate 14th amendment. Established doctrine of “separate but equal” – allowed states to have separate facilities of blacks and whites as long as they provided equal service.

Facilities were rarely equal. Decision allowed legal segregation for next 60 years.

Ch.13 – The Progressive Era (1900 - 1920) Progressive Movement Reaction to problems created during the Gilded

Age. Goals of Progressives: 1) Return control of the government to the people 2) Restore economic opportunities 3) Correct injustices in American life. Progressives reformers often lived in cities & had

a college education.

The “Muckrakers” Journalists who sought

to expose political corruption, poor working conditions, or other problems in American society.

Ida Tarbell Muckraker who

exposed John Rockefeller’s ruthless tactics to build his oil monopoly in The History of the Standard Oil Company.

Lincoln Steffens Muckraker who wrote

The Shame of the Cities. Exposed corrupt city politicians and unfair businesses practices.

Upton Sinclair Muckraker who wrote

the bestseller, The Jungle. Exposed horrible & unsanitary conditions of meatpacking industry.

Reform in Government

Reform in Government Progressives wanted to give common people a

greater voice and rid government of corruption.

Initiative Allowed citizens to initiate, or propose, a bill by

collecting the required number of signatures from voters.

Reform in Government Referendum Progressives wanted voters to have a direct say in

the lawmaking process. In a referendum, people could vote to approve or reject a proposed law.

Recall Allowed voters to remove elected officials from

office before their terms were complete. Voters sign a petition for a recall, then a special election takes place to vote a politician out of office.

Reform in Government

Direct Election of Senators Until 1913, state legislatures elected

senators to represent the states in U.S. Congress. Progressives complained that special interests could buy votes by bribing legislators.

17th amendment (1913) - required the direct election of U.S. Senators in all states.

Progressive Reform for States La Follette’s “Wisconsin Idea” Progressive Robert La Follette elected governor

of Wisconsin in 1900. Established direct primaries in state elections, an

income tax, protected natural resources, regulated & taxed big business, etc.

Wisconsin became a national model of progressive reform. Other states soon followed.

Social & Moral Reform

Ban on Child Labor Progressives used

photos & statistics to show plight of working children. Nearly all states banned child labor by 1920 and set maximum working hours.

Social & Moral Reform Temperance Movement (Ban on Alcohol) Some Progressive women felt alcohol was root of many

social problems. Pushed states to pass ban on alcohol. 18 amendment (1919)– Illegal to manufacture, sale,

transport alcohol in U.S.

Social & Moral Reform

Women’s Suffrage (right to vote)

President Woodrow Wilson did not support female suffrage.

Instead, states were pressured to grant women suffrage (pickets, parades, boycotts)

Famous suffragettes included Susan B. Anthony & Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

19th amendment - ratified in 1920 gave all women right to vote.

Health & Environmental Reform Meat Inspection Act (1906) President Theodore Roosevelt

read The Jungle. Ordered a federal investigation into meat industry.

Meat Inspection Act set sanitation standards for meat industry.

Pure Food & Drug Act (1906) Roosevelt & Congress to passed

Pure Food & Drug Act. Banned harmful additives in foods and false advertisements for drugs.

Laws led to creation of the Food and Drug Administration & improved food safety in America.

Health & Environmental Reform Progressives Promote

Conservation Wanted to protect America’s

natural resources from abuses by industries during the Gilded Age.

States & President Roosevelt created millions of acres of national forests & wilderness areas to preserve for future generations of Americans (Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, etc.)

Economic Reform Income Tax

Amendment President William Taft &

Progressives wanted to even out the disparities of wealth in American society & force rich to pay fair share.

16th Amendment (1913) – federal graduated income tax (tax rate rises as income increases).

Economic Reform “Trust-busting” Roosevelt & Taft went after large monopolies by filing

nearly 150 anti-trust lawsuits under the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Dismantled Standard Oil Company & others.

Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) President Woodrow Wilson & Progressives strengthened

Sherman Antitrust Act to allow government to regulate large companies & dismantle monopolies.

Economic Reform Federal Trade

Commission (1914) Wilson & Progressives

wanted to police actions of businesses to preserve fair competition.

FTC has power to order businesses to stop harmful practices & file lawsuits against monopolies.

Impact of Progressive Era Progressive Era reforms helped to “level

the playing field” between the rich and poor & made America more fair, honest, efficient.

Progressive energy eventually faded due to World War I and economic boom of 1920s.