THE AMERICAN JOURNEY A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Brief Sixth Edition Chapter 21 The Progressive Era 1900-1917
The Progressive Era 1900-1917 The Ferment of Reform Reforming Society Reforming Politics and Government Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Presidency Woodrow Wilson and Progressive Reform Conclusion
Women march in support of Mother Jones
Learning Objectives What values and beliefs bound progressives together? How did progressives respond to the social challenges of industrializing America? How did progressives change American politics and government? How did Theodore Roosevelt envision the power of the president?
Learning Objectives (cont'd) How did Woodrow Wilson s vision of reform differ from Theodore Roosevelt s?
Introduction Important movements challenged traditional relationships and attitudes, but met strong resistance and found only limited success. Progressive Era - The period of the twentieth century before World War I when many groups sought to reshape the nation s government and society in response to the pressures of industrialization and urbanization.
The Ferment of Reform
The Context of Reform: Industrial and Urban Tensions The origins of progressivism lay in the crisis of the new urban-industrial order as America began questioning the responsibilities of government and themselves for social order and betterment. By 1900, prosperity was returning and easing the threat of social violence.
The Context of Reform: Industrial and Urban Tensions (cont'd) Underlying problems included the trend to ever-larger corporations, working conditions, and social problems connected to immigration.
Major Progressive Organizations and Groups
Overcome with grief, families of the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire
Church and Campus Reform-minded ministers launched the Social Gospel movement that wanted to introduce religious ethics into industrial relations and appealed to churches to meet social obligations. Social Gospel movement - An effort by leading Protestants to apply religious ethics to industrial conditions and thereby alleviate poverty, slums, and labor exploitation.
Muckrakers Journalists developed a new form of investigative reporting known as muckraking that published exposes of societal ills. Muckraking - Journalism exposing economic, social, and political evils, so named by Theodore Roosevelt for its raking the muck of American society.
The Gospel of Efficiency Business leaders supported order, organization, and efficiency, especially the scientific management ideas of Frederick Taylor.
Labor Demands Its Rights Workers formed unions to pursue social and economic reforms that spanned a large spectrum from conservative wage increases to radicalism. Wobblies - Popular name for the members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Here two girls, wearing Abolish Child Slavery banners
Extending the Woman s Sphere The growing importance of women in the workforce, the growth of women s clubs, and the creation of other organizations showed the growing activism of women for reform and equal rights.
Transatlantic Influences European ideas and practices were a major source of America s progressive movement.
Socialism The growing influence of socialism promoted progressivism. Reformers increasingly examined socialist criticism of industrial society. Eugene Debs founded the Socialist Party of America in 1901. Most progressives believed socialist ideas were too drastic.
Opponents of Reform Protestant fundamentalists stressed personal salvation over social reform. Business interests attacked muckrakers and labor unions while government often resisted progressive reforms. Fundamentalists - Religious conservatives who believe in the literal accuracy and divine inspiration of the Bible; the name derives from an influential series of pamphlets, The Fundamentals (1909 1914).
Reforming Society
Settlement Houses and Urban Reform Settlement houses were spearheads for social reform. Largely modeled after Hull House in Chicago, reformers created 400 settlement houses that were mostly led and staffed by young, middle-class women.
Settlement Houses and Urban Reform (cont'd) Settlement workers tried to help immigrants adjust to American society and campaigned for housing reform, better sanitation systems, parks, and laws to protect women and children.
Major Laws and Constitutional Amendments of the Progressive Era
Mother America uses corrective legislation to clean the dirty laundry of industrialization and injustice.
Protective Legislation for Women and Children The National Child Labor Committee was organized in 1904 and led the campaign to curb child labor. In 1900, most states had no minimum working age but by 1914, every state had such a law. Manufacturers, conservatives, and some poor parents opposed government action on child labor.
Protective Legislation for Women and Children (cont d) Laws regulating the conditions under which women worked were also passed. Pensions and workers compensation programs were also enacted by many states.
FIGURE 21 1 Child Labor, 1870 1930
Julia Lathrop, Jane Addams, and Mary McDowell in Washington, D.C.
Reshaping Public Education The modern urban public school system emerged between 1880 and 1900. Compulsory school attendance, kindergartens, age-graded elementary schools, professional training for teachers, vocational training, parent-teacher associations, and school nurses all became standard elements of American education.
Reshaping Public Education (cont'd) Public education lagged in the South and African American suffered most. Native American education was affected by racism that changed the emphasis in schools to vocational education.
Challenging Gender Restrictions Margaret Sanger challenged conventional ideas on the social role of women, promoting birth control.
Reforming Country Life Rural reformers worked to improve rural health and sanitation, modernize schools, and to extend roads and communication services into more rural areas. The county agent system established by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and business groups sought to teach farmers new techniques and encourage changes in the rural social order.
Moral Crusades and Social Control The movement toward social control mixed with conservative efforts to restrict certain groups and control behavior. Racism stimulated drives to limit immigration of Japanese, Mexicans, and eastern and southern Europeans. Some nativists demanded the Americanization of immigrants in the United States.
Moral Crusades and Social Control (cont'd) Working through the Anti-Saloon League, Protestant fundamentalists campaigned for local and state laws prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcohol. Reformers also attacked prostitution. Prohibition - A ban on the production, sale, and consumption of liquor, achieved temporarily through state laws and the Eighteenth Amendment.
Moral Crusades and Social Control (cont'd) Eighteenth Amendment - Constitutional revision, ratified in 1919 and repealed in 1933, that prohibited the manufacture or sale of alcohol in the United States.
For Whites Only? Racism was a major theme of the Progressive Era. In the South, progressivism was based on black segregation and disfranchisement. In the North, race relations also deteriorated.
For Whites Only? (cont d) In the South, African Americans worked to realize progressive reforms, creating black kindergartens, settlement houses, and day care centers.
For Whites Only? (cont d) Northern African Americans actively fought discrimination. Ida Wells fought against racial injustice while W. E. B. DuBois and other reformers founded the Niagara Movement that later created the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
For Whites Only? (cont d) Niagara Movement - African-American group organized in 1905 to promote racial integration, civil and political rights, and equal access to economic opportunity.
The Flanner House, a black settlement house
Reforming Politics and Government
Woman Suffrage Woman suffrage was a major achievement of the Progressive Era. In the early 1900s, suffragists adopted activist tactics such as parades, mass meetings, and automobile suffrage tours. Some suffrage leaders argued for the vote using traditional ideas about women. By 1919, 39 states had established full or partial woman suffrage.
Woman Suffrage (cont'd) The Nineteenth Amendment passed in 1920 gave women the right to vote. Nineteenth Amendment - Constitutional revision that in 1920 established women citizens right to vote.
MAP 21 1 Woman Suffrage in the United States before the Ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment
Carrying ballot boxes on a stretcher, these activists marched
Electoral Reform Electoral reforms included the secret ballot, public regulation of the voting process, and direct primaries that weakened the influence of political parties. Voter participation fell and nonpartisan organizations and pressure groups gained influence promoting narrower objectives. Australian ballot - Secret voting and the use of official ballots rather than party tickets.
Municipal Reform Urban reformers changed the structure of urban government and introduced the city commission and city manager systems.
Progressive State Government Progressives reformed state government through the initiative and referendum. The Seventeenth Amendment passed in 1913 provided for the direct popular election of U.S. senators. Ten states adopted the recall. Dynamic governors pushed progressive reforms.
Progressive State Government (cont'd) Initiative - Procedure by which citizens can introduce a subject for legislation, usually through a petition signed by a specific number of voters. Referendum - Submission of a law, proposed or already in effect, to a direct popular vote for approval or rejection. Seventeenth Amendment - Constitutional change that in 1913 established the direct popular election of U.S. senators.
Progressive State Government (cont'd) Recall - The process of removing an official from office by popular vote, usually after using petitions to call for such a vote.
Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Presidency
TR and the Modern Presidency Theodore Roosevelt rejected the limited role of late 19th century presidents. He sought to broaden executive power by exerting legislative leadership, reorganizing the executive branch, and encouraging the development of a personal presidency.
Fearing that Roosevelt was expanding presidential power and usurping Congressional authority, critics depicted him as assuming a monarchical role.
Roosevelt and Labor Roosevelt was actively involved in the 1902 coal strike. After White House negotiations between miners and the mining owners stalled, Roosevelt threatened to have the army operate the mines, leading to a negotiated solution.
Roosevelt and Labor (cont d) Roosevelt s intervention set a precedent of active government involvement in labor disputes.
Managing Natural Resources Reckless exploitation of natural resources spawned a conservation movement. Roosevelt made conservation a cornerstone of his presidency. He tripled the size of federal forest reserves, set aside land for mineral and petroleum, and established dozens of wildlife reserves. Some naturalists favored setting aside permanent wilderness areas.
Managing Natural Resources (cont'd) Westerners favored the Bureau of Reclamation that helped shape the modern West. Conservation - The efficient management and use of natural resources, such as forests, grasslands, and rivers, as opposed to preservation or uncontrolled exploitation.
Managing Natural Resources (cont'd) Preservation - Protecting forests, land, and other features of the natural environment from development or destruction, often for aesthetic appreciation. Bureau of Reclamation - Federal agency established in 1902 providing public funds for irrigation projects in arid regions; played a major role in the development of the West by constructing dams, reservoirs, and irrigation systems, especially beginning in the 1930s.
MAP 21 2 The Growth of Federal Reserves, Including Leading National Parks and National Forests
Corporate Regulation Roosevelt became known as a trustbuster, because of his attempts to regulate large trusts. The 1902 antitrust suit against the Northern Securities Company led to the company s dissolution.
Corporate Regulation (cont d) After his election in 1904, Roosevelt pushed through the Hepburn Act, the Pure Food and Drug Act, and the Meat Inspection Act.
Taft and the Insurgents William Howard Taft was Roosevelt s hand-picked successor. Taft pursued a more active antitrust program than Roosevelt and supported the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910. He also supported the Sixteenth Amendment that established the income tax.
Taft and the Insurgents (cont'd) Taft alienated progressives and became involved in a political morass because of divisions among Republican reformers, attempts to restrict the power of the obstructionist Speaker of the House, and his failure to support tariff reform legislation.
Taft and the Insurgents (cont'd) The 1912 election pitted Taft as the Republican candidate against Roosevelt on the Progressive Party ticket and Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic candidate. Sixteenth Amendment - Constitutional revision that in 1913 authorized a federal income tax.
Woodrow Wilson and Progressive Reform
The Election of 1912 Southern Democrats more consistently supported reform measures in Congress than Republicans did. In the election of 1912, Roosevelt s New Nationalism stressed a strong government to promote economic and social order, defending big business as inevitable and healthy if controlled by the government.
The Election of 1912 (cont'd) Wilson s New Freedom called for regulated competition with the government breaking up monopolies and removing tariffs. Wilson also opposed social welfare legislation. Wilson won an easy victory and Democrats gained control of Congress.
The Election of 1912 (cont'd) New Nationalism - Theodore Roosevelt s 1912 program calling for a strong national government to foster, regulate, and protect business, industry, workers, and consumers. New Freedom - Woodrow Wilson s 1912 program for limited government intervention in the economy to restore competition by curtailing the restrictive influences of trusts and protective tariffs, thereby providing opportunities for individual achievement.
MAP 21 3 The Election of 1912
Implementing the New Freedom Wilson proposed a full legislative program. The Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act of 1913 was the first substantial reduction in duties since the Civil War. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 reformed the nation s banking and currency system.
Implementing the New Freedom (cont d) The creation of the Federal Trade Commission promised government oversight of business activity to prevent monopolies. Wilson did not support woman suffrage and introduced segregation into the federal government.
Implementing the New Freedom (cont d) Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act - The 1913 reform law that lowered tariff rates and levied the first regular federal income tax. Federal Reserve Act - The 1913 law that revised banking and currency by extending limited government regulation through the creation of the Federal Reserve System. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - Government agency established in 1914 to provide regulatory oversight of business activity.
A portrait of Woodrow Wilson
The Expansion of Reform As the 1916 election approached and the Republicans had settled their differences, Wilson supported more reform measures. The Federal Farm Loan Act assisted farmers. The Keating-Owen Act prohibited interstate shipment of goods made by child labor.
The Expansion of Reform (cont'd) The Adamson Act established the eighthour day for railroad workers and the Kern-McGillicuddy Act set up a workers compensation system for federal employees. Wilson also appointed Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court.
Former Vice President Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping direct attention to the dangers of global warming.
Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, here on a 1903 camping trip in Yosemite
Conclusion
Conclusion In the early 1900s, progressive reformers responded to the tensions of the emerging urban industrial order by seeking to change society and government. Progressives promoted social change and an interventionist state.
Conclusion (cont'd) Racism created ironies and paradoxes in progressive activities as democratic reform helped disfranchise southern African Americans and northern immigrants. During the Progressive Era, the nature of politics and government changed significantly.