PROGRESSIVE AMERICAPROGRESSIVE AMERICA
Unit VCUnit VC
AP United States HistoryAP United States History
Fundamental Question
►To what extent was the progressive movement “progressive”?
Development of ProgressivesProblems and Solutions
► Industrialization► Urbanization► Commercialism and
Consumerism► Laissez-faire Policies► Radicalism► Upper-Class► Lower-Class► Social Darwinism
► Middle Class► Social Gospel► Populism► Education and
Academics► Journalism and
Literature
Muckrakers► Purpose
Exposure of urban problems and political and economic corruption and exploitation
Targets► monopolies/trusts/corporations (steel, oil,
railroads)► political bosses and machines► poor living and working conditions (tenements)
► Mainstream Mass media (newspapers, magazines)
► Journalists and Authors Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle
► meat-packing industry Jacob Riis’s How the Other Half Lives
► Tenement living Ida Tarbell’s Mother of Trusts
► Rockefeller and Standard Oil Trust Lincoln Steffens’s The Shame of the Cities
► Municipal corruption
Progressive Social Reforms
► Educational Reforms Establishment of comprehensive and compulsory education Merit-based and college-educated teachers
► Professional Reforms Social Work
► Movement to professional and educated reformers and therapists Medicine and Health
► National standards and practices American Bar Association (1900)
► Families Eugenics
► Improved and limited population through selective breeding► State laws forbidding marriage and allowing sterilization
Applied primarily to disabled and immigrants
Progressive Social ReformTemperance to Prohibition
► Anti-Saloon League (1895) “the Church in action against the
saloon” Pressure politics
► Grassroots campaigning and mass media
► Coalition included Democrats, Republicans, suffragists, KKK, industrialists, IWW, NAACP, Progressives, Populists, Protestants, American Catholics
► Eighteenth Amendment (1919) Prohibited the manufacturing, sale,
and transportation of alcohol Volstead Act
Progressive Labor ReformsLabor Unions
► American Federation of Labor (AFL)
► Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) (1905) aka The Wobblies Mother Jones, “Big Bill” Haywood “one big union” Platform
► “an injury to one is an injury to all”► Industrial unionism► All inclusive membership► Direct Action
Strikes, boycotts, propaganda, violence
► Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) Labor not commodity or commerce Limited court injunctions and
applying antitrust to unions
Labor Union Membership, 1897-1920
Progressive Labor ReformsLabor Strikes
► Anthracite Coal Strike (1902) 147,000 miners strike President Theodore Roosevelt
mediates Victory for union and
membership soared
► Lawrence Textile Strike (1912) IWW organized 23,000 worker
strike Media used to appeal to public
sympathies
► Ludlow Massacre (1914) Led to political, corporate, and
public support for labor unions and worker demands
Progressive Labor ReformsLabor - Working Hours
► Lochner v. New York (1905) 10-hour day/60-hour week
unconstitutional in violation of right to contract per 14th Amendment
► Muller v. Oregon (1908) Limited working hours for women
based on health and maternity
► Ford Motor Company Doubled pay to $5/day and 8-hour
work days► Profits and productivity increased
► Adamson Act (1916) Established 8-hour work day and
overtime pay for railroad workers
Progressive Labor ReformsLabor - Working Conditions
► National Consumers League (1899) Opposed sweatshops, child
labor Promoted food inspection
and consumer safety► Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
(1911) 146 garment workers killed Led to massive push for
worker/factory safety regulations and accident insurance
Progressive Labor ReformsChild Labor
► By 1900, 1.7 million 5-10 year olds (1 in 6) were wage earners
► National Child Labor Committee (1904)
► Keating-Owen Act (1916) Prohibited interstate shipment of
goods manufactured or processed by child labor
► Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918) Federal regulation of child labor
not within Congress’s interstate commerce power
Only states could establish child labor laws through intrastate commerce
Progressive Social ReformsBlacks in America
► Supreme Court Civil Rights Cases of 1883
► Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional► Segregation may be practiced by private
individuals and businesses Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
► Established “separate but equal”
► Jim Crow Laws Established by white Redeemer state
governments Legitimized by Plessy v. Ferguson Segregated public facilities and
accommodations► Disenfranchisement
Grandfather clauses Poll taxes Literacy tests
Progressive Social ReformsBlack Americans - Booker T. Washington
► Advocated economic progress to secure civil rights
► Tuskegee Institute (1881-1915) Vocational institution, primarily teaching
► Atlanta Compromise (1895) In the South, blacks would submit to white
political rule in exchange for education and due process of law
► Up From Slavery (1901) Depicted his struggle and rise from slavery to
educational leader► White House Dinner
First black person ever invited to a White House dinner with Theodore Roosevelt
White reaction and backlash► "I am just as much opposed to Booker T.
Washington as a voter as I am to the cocoanut-headed, chocolate-colored typical little coon who blacks my shoes every morning. Neither is fit to perform the supreme function of citizenship." – Mississippi Governor James K. Vardaman
Progressive Social ReformBlack Americans - W.E.B. Du Bois
► Advocated social and political equality to secure economic progress
► Niagara Movement (1905) Opposed disenfranchisement and
segregation Dismissed accommodation and pursued
more direct action and struggle
► National Association for the Advancement for Colored People (NAACP) (1909) A group of blacks and whites, males and
females established an effective civil rights organization
Progressive Social ReformsBlacks in America
► Lynchings Typically occurred during economic recessions
due to financial stress and poor lifestyle Ida B. Wells
► Muckraking articles and pamphlets to expose lynchings against blacks in the South
“We of the South have never recognized the right of the negro to govern white men, and we never will. We have never believed him to be the equal of the white man, and we will not submit to his gratifying his lust on our wives and daughters without lynching him.” - Senator Ben Tillman (D-SC), 1900
► Great Migration (1910-1930) Escape segregation, disenfranchisement,
lynchings 1.6 million Southern blacks migrated to
Northeast and Midwest cities
The Great Migration
Progressive Social ReformsWomen
► Women and the Workplace Careers
► Domestic servants, garment workers, teachers, secretaries, operators
Reforms► Less working hours► Child labor laws
Women’s Trade Union League (1903)
► Temperance Moral responsibility to improve
society Women’s Christian Temperance
Union (WCTU)
Progressive Social ReformsWomen Suffrage
► Supporters Young women Inspiration from female social
reformers and 19th century leaders► Political Progress
Frontier life promoted equality among women
Western states fuel suffrage movement
Jeanette Ranking (R-MT) – first woman elected to U.S. House (1916)
► Organizations National American Woman
Suffrage Association (NAWSA) (1900)
► Carrie Chapman Catt National Women’s Party (1916)
► Stronger Tactics Alice Paul and Lucy Burns Picketing, parades, hunger strikes Silent Sentinels
Suffrage by States
Nineteenth Amendment
► The right to vote cannot be denied based on sex/gender
► Ratified August 18, 1920 9 southern states did not ratify until
1941-1984 after originally rejecting it
► Legacy League of Women Voters
► Develop political efficacy among women
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)► Equal opportunity, pay, recognition,
and benefits
Progressive Social ReformsImmigration
► Gilded Age Legislation Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 Immigration Act of 1882
► Excluded lunatics, idiots, convicts, disabled► Progressive Era Legislation
Anarchist Exclusion Act (1903) Gentleman’s Agreement (1905)
► Desegregate California schools for Japanese children► Japan prevents further emigration of unskilled laborers
Naturalization Act of 1906► Required English for citizenship
Dillingham Commission (1907-1911)► Southern and Eastern Europeans threatened American character► Recommended literacy requirements
Immigration Act of 1917► Extended list of “undesirables” (homosexuals, alcoholics, illiterate)► Asiatic Barred Zone
Asiatic Barred Zone
Migration
Progressive Political ReformDirect Democracy
► Purpose Limit the corruption and influence of
patronage, political machines, and big business
► Secret ballots (Australian ballot) Polling places inundated with
corrupt tactics All candidates printed on ballots Vote in privacy at assigned polling
place Established in all states by 1891
► Direct primaries Eliminate practice of electing
candidates through political bosses► Government of the People
Initiatives► Petition of enough voter signatures
to force an election Referendums
► Legislative proposals determined by electorate
Recalls► Remove elected officials through
local/state elections
Seventeenth Amendment► Issues
State legislature corruption Electoral deadlocks
► Direct Election of Senators
► Ratified May 1913► Most southern states did not
ratify► Impact
Favored Democrats Progressive reforms passed
easier
Progressive Political ReformLocal/Municipalities
► Assert more control and regulation of public utilities and services To limit political machine control and
corruption Built public parks and playgrounds,
sanitation services, municipal services, public schools
Zoning laws (industrial, commercial, residential)
Social laws and reforms against red-light districts
► Local Governments Galveston Plan
► Commissioners and councils directly elected
Dayton Plan► City managers hired as non-partisan
administrators
Lincoln SteffensThe Shame of the CitiesInspired social and municipal reform
Progressive Political ReformStates
► Reforms Direct primaries Business regulations Tax reforms Suffrage Temperance State wages Insurance plans Child labor laws
► “Wisconsin Idea” Robert LaFollette Influence and Application
of Education on Politics►Primary elections►Progressive taxes►Workers’ compensation►Regulation of railroads►Limit or eliminate monopolies
and trusts►Supported direct election of
senators
Fourth Party System (1896-1932)► Republicans
Dominated the federal government
Coalition► Industrialists, corporations,
upper-class, fundamentalists, Northeast
Assumed progressive reforms Nationalists and Imperialists
► Bull Moose Party aka Progressive Party New Nationalism
► Democrats Coalition
► Solid South, western farmers, urban immigrants, working class
Laissez-faire policies Spearheaded progressive reforms New Freedom
► Socialist Party of America Coalition
► German and Jewish immigrants, unionists, former Populist farmers, Progressive social reformers
Elections► Two members of U.S. House► Dozens of state legislators,
mayors, council members Eugene V. Debs
► Ran in 1904. 1908, 1912, 1920► Received over 900,000 votes in
1912 and 1920
William McKinley (R)(1897-1901)
► Economy Klondike Gold Rush (1896-1899) Economic expansion Gold Standard Act/Currency Act (1900)
► Established gold standard, ending bimetallism
► Foreign Affairs Annexation of Hawaii (1898) Spanish-American War (1898) China
► Open Door Policy► Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901)
► Assassination September 6, 1901 in Buffalo, NY Leon Czolgosz - anarchist Died September 14
Election of 1900► A rematch of the
Election of 1896► Republicans
William McKinley Booming economy,
Spanish-American War victory, overseas territories
Theodore Roosevelt as VP; very popular choice
► Democrats William Jennings Bryan Campaigned on
bimetallism and anti-imperialism
Theodore Roosevelt (R)(1901-1909)
► Assumes office after McKinley assassination
► Square Deal Trustbuster Business Regulation Conservation
► Coal Strike of 1902► Panic of 1907► Big Stick Policy
Panama Canal Roosevelt Corollary
Election of 1904
► Republicans Theodore
Roosevelt
► Democrats Alton B. Parker
►Conservative Democrat
► Socialist Party Eugene V. Debs
Roosevelt: Trustbuster► Good Trusts & Bad Trusts
A Stronger ICC► Elkins Act (1903)
Prohibited rebates ► Hepburn Act (1906)
Standardized railroad accounting Northern Securities Co. v. United
States (1904)► Broke up a railroad holding
company financed by J.P. Morgan► Would have monopolized the
railroad industry► Department of Commerce and
Labor (1903)► Consumer Protection
Strengthened and publicly supported by muckraking investigations
Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)► Prohibited impure and falsely
labeled foods and drugs Meat Inspection Act (1906)
► Prohibited misleading labels► Prohibited harmful chemicals
Roosevelt: Conservationist► 230,000,000 acres under
protection during Roosevelt’s administration
► Gifford Pinchot U.S. Forest Service
► Newlands Reclamation Act (1902) Federal promotion of irrigation in
western states
► Antiquities Act (1906)► National Conservation
Commission (1908)► National Park Service (1916)► Preservationists
John Muir and Sierra Club
National Parks
Election of 1908
► Republicans William Howard
Taft►Hand-picked by
Roosevelt
► Democrats William
Jennings Bryan► “Shall the
People rule?”
William Howard Taft (R)(1909-1913)
► Sixteenth Amendment (1913) Federal graduated income tax
► Progressive Legislation Mann-Elkins Act (1910)
► ICC adds regulation over communication utilities Department of Labor (1911)
► Standard Oil Company of New Jersey v. United States (1911) Supreme Court ruled trust in violation of
Sherman Antitrust Act Broken up into 33 companies and trust dissolved
► Ballinger-Pinchot Affair (1909)► Conservative Policies
Payne-Aldrich Tariff (1909) U.S. Chamber of Commerce (1912)
► Dollar Diplomacy
Election of 1912► Republicans
William Howard Taft Conservative Republicans
and Progressive Republicans (Insurgents)
► Bull Moose Party Theodore Roosevelt New Nationalism
► executive regulations of industries and social justice
► Democrats Woodrow Wilson New Freedom
► regulate business to promote competition and small businesses
► Socialist Party of America Eugene V. Debs
Woodrow Wilson (D)(1913-1921)
► Progressive Amendments Seventeenth Amendment – direct election of Senators Eighteenth Amendment - Prohibition Nineteenth Amendment – Women’s suffrage
► Progressive Legislation and Policies Underwood Tariff (1913)
► Reduced tariff rates and increased progressive tax rates Federal Reserve Act (1913)
► Central banking system and regulation of monetary policy Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (1914)
► Prevent and eliminate trusts and monopolies Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)
► Strengthened Sherman Act by preventing mergers Adamson Act (1916)
► Eight-hour workday and overtime pay for railroad workers Federal Farm Loan Act (1916)
► Competitive low-interest loans for farmers
► World War I Fourteen Points and League of Nations
Progressive Business Regulation► Pujo Committee and Louis
Brandeis “Other People’s Money”
► Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (1914) Demand annual reports Investigate complaints
► Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) Prohibited interlocking
directorates Prohibited monopolistic pricing
policies Held corporate officers
personally responsible for anti-trust violations
Unions not subject to anti-trust laws and court injunctions
Federal Reserve System and Central Banking► Reasons
Panic of 1907 Pujo Committee
► Federal Reserve Act (1913) “The Fed”
► Decentralized national banking system
Banks’ Bank Federal Reserve Board
► President appointed with Senate consent
► Monetary Policy Expansionary and
Contractionary Open-Market Operations Reserve
Requirement/Ratio Discount rates
12 national financial districts Sound and flexible currency
Election of 1916► Republicans
Charles Evan Hughes
►Only Supreme Court Justice nominated as presidential candidate
► Democrats Woodrow
Wilson►First Democrat
to be elected to consecutive term since Jackson
Progressive Era Culture► Commercialism and Consumerism
On advertising, firms spent $95 million in 1900 to $500 million in 1920
Market research and sampling Standard clothes sizes and styles
► Yellow Journalism► Leisure Time
Causes► Decreased working hours► Higher average wages► Convenience and Infrastructure
Entertainment► Jazz
Evolution of blues and ragtime Improvization Louis Armstrong
► Records► Dance halls► Movie theaters
Birth of a Nation (1915) Recreation
► Baseball Attendance doubled between 1903 to 1920
► Football National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (1910)