The Progressive Era

Progressivism

Progressivism- movement that believed honest and efficient government could bring about social justice

Areas of Reform- Poverty Working Conditions Government on national, state, and local levels

Their main targets:

Women’s suffrage

City services

Safety

Inequities

Trusts andmonopolies

Corrupt politicalmachines

Muckrakers used investigative reporting to uncover and dramatize societal ills.

Ida TarbellThe History of Standard Oil

Lincoln Steffens The Shame of the Cities

John SpargoThe Bitter Cry of the Children

Jacob Riis exposed the deplorable conditions poor people were forced to live under in How the Other Half Lives.

Christian reformers’ Social Gospel demanded a shorter work day and the end of child labor.

Children’s enrollment in school increased while child labor declined.

The United States Children’s Bureau was created in 1912 by Florence Kelley.

In the 1900s, the U.S. had the world’s worst rate of industrial accidents.

In 1911, 146 workers died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Many young womenjumped to their deathsor burned.

This incident made Americans focus their attention on worker safety.

Housing Reform

Tenement Act of 1901- Landlords had to install lights in public hallways and provide at least one toilet to every two families.

The NAACP or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded to demand voting and civil rights for African Americans.

The NAACP aimed to help African Americans become “physically free from peonage, mentally free from ignorance, politically free from disfranchisement, and socially free from insult.”

In 1911, the Urban League was formed to create a network of local clubs and churches to assist African Americans migrating to northern cities.

While the NAACP focused on political justice, the Urban League helped the poor find jobs, housing, clothing, and schools for their children.

Many ethnic groups formed self-help organizations to combat prejudice and protect their rights.

African Americans

Jews Mexican Americans

Native Americans

NAACP

B’nai Brith Mutualistas

Society of American Indians

In 1913, the Anti-Defamation League was formed to defend against physical and verbal attacks, false statements, and to “secure justiceand fair treatment for all citizens alike.”

(groups that provided legal assistance

and disability insurance)

Despite organized protests, Native Americans

and Japanese lost their ownership of land.

Workplace Reform Fight to abolish child labor

1912 Massachusetts became 1st state to pass minimum wage law– Congress didn’t pass until 1938

Fight to lower working hours http://

www.history.com/topics/child-labor/videos#the-fight-to-end-child-labor

Beginning of Unions International Ladies’ Garment

Workers Union (ILGWU)

ILGWU striked in 1909 and won a shorter workweek & higher wages

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

10 week strike- won higher wages

City Government Reform Commissioners being experts in fields and not party

loyalists

City Councils appointing professional politicians to help run city

Limits on campaign spending

Commissions on regulating railroads, utilities, transportation, civil service, and taxation

In Wisconsin, Governor Robert M. La Follette and other Progressives reformed state government to restore political control to the people.

Election Reforms