ProgressivismTOPIC 12

Roots of Reform

Muckrakers

Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell, etc.

Political Movements Socialist Movement – Eugene Debs

Populists

Labor Reform and the Supreme Court:

1898: Holden v. Hardy

1905: Lochner v. New York

1908: Muller v. Oregon

Tragic Events: 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Progressivism

Overall goal is reform, but no single platform.

Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson – Progressive Presidents

Four basic features

Democracy

Efficiency

Regulation

Social Justice

Democracy

Initiative

Referendum

Recall

Secret Ballot

Direct Primary

Direct Election of US Senators (17th Amendment)

Women’s Suffrage (19th Amendment)

Efficiency

Use of Experts and Professional administrators

Centralized decision-making

Elimination of Government Corruption

Regulation

Disagreements on the right course of action

Laissez-faire, Regulation, Socialism

Regulations

Interstate Commerce Commission (1887) and the Hepburn Act (1906)

Meat Inspection Act (1906)

Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

Conservation and resource management (1904+)

Federal Reserve Board (1913)

Federal Trade Commission (1914)

Regulation

Trust-Busting Sherman Anti-Trust Act

(1890) Roosevelt (Good vs. Bad)

Taft

Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914) Wilson

Social Justice

Advent of Social Workers

Settlement Houses

Child labor laws

Support for labor protections

Prohibition

Success?

Improvements in working conditions

Protections for consumers and workers

Transparency in government

Continuing restrictions on voting for minorities

End of Republican Reformist agenda

Split in the party: Progressives and Conservatives