THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT IN AMERICA Making Progress Through Congress
PROGRESSIVISM MAKES PROGRESS In the beginning of the 1900s, America had 76 million people, mostly in good condition, but before the first decade had passed the US would be witness to a movement of people known as Progressives, who fought against monopoly, corruption, and social injustice. The purpose of the Progressive movement was simple: use the government as an agent of human welfare.
PROGRESSIVISM MAKES PROGRESS The Progressives did not just appear out of thin air, but rather had their roots in the Greenback Labor Party [of the 1870s and 1880s] and the Populist Party [of the 1890s]. So, since Progressive-minded people had been around [in one form or another] throughout the Gilded Age, fighting for social welfare as well as moral improvement and economic reform, what happened that made them effective where their forebears had achieved so little? One possible answer is that the middle class got involved in the movement. No longer was the struggle one between haves and have nots; now the have somes were involved!
PROGRESSIVISM MAKES PROGRESS The message of the Progressive movement was delivered by people that TR dubbed muckrakers. Well, it is kind of a fitting nickname, since they were slinging dirt about The trusts and their abusive business practices And about child labor And about corruption in politics and so on, and so on. Despite the nickname, these were not self-serving mudslingers; muckrakers sincerely believed that more knowledge of the corruption of government and business would lead to reform and thus a better, more democratic, form of government. And really, they were taking a pretty big risk, going after the rich and powerful. I mean, if it s easy to disappear someone today, don t you think it was really easy to do it back then?
PROGRESSIVISM MAKES PROGRESS Almost as if the Progressivism tide had come in, muckraking authors began attacking one injustice after another: Henry Demarest Lloyd Attacked Standard Oil Ida Tarbell Attacked Standard Oil Ray Stannard Baker Exposed Racism Jacob Riis Photographed Poverty Lincoln Steffens Exposed Govt Corruption So, with the tide turning in favor of the Progressives, reforms were seen at a transformative pace, most notably in the political arena. Just imagine what might happen if they managed to get one of their own in the White House. Ahem [spoiler alert]
PROGRESSIVISM MAKES PROGRESS When it came to politics, the Progressives were true believers in giving power to the people. They supported Initiative: Allowed voters to propose legislation directly. Referendum: Allowed voters to vote on laws that affected them. Recall: Allowed voters to kick out ineffective leaders (Ah-nuld!). Clearly, the relationship between the citizen and the government was changing but how so?
PROGRESSIVISM MAKES PROGRESS In many ways, the Progressives were fighting the battles begun in the Gilded Age and they would top their earlier successes by getting even constitutional Amendments passed! The Sixteenth Amendment [1913] Thanks to lower tariff rates, the government had to replace the money those tariffs supplied so, the ratification of this Amendment legalized a graduated federal income tax. The power to tax is said to be the power to destroy. Just saying. The Seventeenth Amendment [1913] Before this Amendment was ratified, each state s legislature chose its US Senators [not the people who elected that state s legislators!] and that led to corruption. With its passage, this Amendment provided for popular election of US Senators. Yay! Now we get to pick our inept or corrupt US Senators!
PROGRESSIVISM MAKES PROGRESS Before we just stampede into the next two Amendments, a little context People like Carrie Nation [the maniac posing with the hatchet and Bible ] had been campaigning for the prohibition of alcohol for decades. Baseball star-turned evangelist Billy Sunday actually said its prohibition would leave Hell forever for rent. Never underestimate the power of a postmenopausal teetotaler with a hatchet.
PROGRESSIVISM MAKES PROGRESS Many Progressives came to believe that alcohol was the source of society s problems. Don t forget their pursuit of moral improvement! The church-led Anti- Saloon League and the Women s Christian Temperance Union both joined in the campaign. Why do you think women in particular were such staunch supporters of Prohibition? Or maybe they were just tired of their drunken husbands cheating on and/or beating them
PROGRESSIVISM MAKES PROGRESS Much as in Lysistrata, this photo [likely a still from a movie spoofing the conservative dry women] shows the lengths to which prohibitionists were willing to go in order to ban booze.
PROGRESSIVISM MAKES PROGRESS Women were clearly instrumental in getting the Eighteenth Amendment ratified [1919], which, when it went into effect, banned the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors. America s women would not stop there, instead continuing another political campaign that also had its roots in the previous century this one, the struggle for suffrage, was a much more personal political one.
PROGRESSIVISM MAKES PROGRESS Thanks in part to tragedies such as the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in NYC in 1911, which burned 146 workers [mostly young women] to death, the nation was confronted with the fact that attention needed to be given to protecting women, too. Just a few of the young women who did not survive the fire, having chosen to jump rather than be burned alive, their exits chained shut and having had no warning until it was too late. [The women, mostly immigrants, worked nine-hour days, plus a seven-hour shift on Saturdays.]
PROGRESSIVISM MAKES PROGRESS Women in America, already having helped to bring about Prohibition, weren t about to stop there. The suffrage movement would eventually see its own success with the passage of the 19 th Amendment. But it wasn t without opposition that it was passed, as you ll see Oh, and Tennessee was the perfect 36, or the 36 th state to ratify it, thus making it law. So there. So, to what sort of stereotypes were the antisuffragists appealing?
TENNESSEE TIMEOUT Obviously, women nationwide were interested in getting the Nineteenth Amendment passed, which, when ratified in 1920, gave women the right to vote. But it didn t just happen in a vacuum [nothing in history does], with the baton being passed from Susan B. Anthony and others in the 1860s to Carrie Chapman Catt and Alice Paul in the 1900s. Amazingly, some women [such as Tennessee s own Josephine Pearson, the president of the Tennessee State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage] worked against it! Why did they? With thirty-five other states already having voted in favor of the Amendment, it was up to Tennessee. Tennessee s Governor, Albert Roberts, called a special legislative session into session to vote on the Amendment, with Representative Harry Burn changing his mind about his No vote to cast the decisive Yes vote and thus passing the Nineteenth Amendment into law.
TENNESSEE TIMEOUT Tennessee suffragettes such as Anne Dallas Dudley [shown here with her kids] would surely celebrate the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. By the way, this picture was circulated in Tennessee to show that not all suffragettes were mannish psychos.
A PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENT It s one thing to change the conscience of a nation, but it s quite another to change its laws for that, the Progressives would find a friend in a man who would put the executive branch front and center, in America and abroad. That man was none other than Teddy Roosevelt. They see me rollin they hatin.
A PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENT Teddy Roosevelt was truly a larger than life character, putting not only the presidency but also America back on the map. His presidency embraced Progressive ideals, as shown in the Square Deal he made with Americans. With it, he offered the 3 C s. Control of the corporations Consumer protection Conservation of the US s land and resources Notice the reporters furiously trying to write down what TR was saying.
TR TAKES ON THE CORPORATIONS The youngest President the US has ever had, TR would waste no time in fulfilling the terms of the Square Deal he d made with the nation. In 1902, when striking miners and owners in Pennsylvania failed to negotiate a settlement [which created a coal shortage that threatened schools, hospitals, and factories dependent on that coal], TR threatened to staff the mines with federal troops. With both groups facing the prospect of getting no money, they stopped screwing around and managed to work things out! With railroad companies still cheating the system [and consumers], TR passed two bills sent to him by Congress that beefed up the Interstate Commerce Commission: The Elkins Act imposed fines on railroads that gave special rates. The Hepburn Act gave the government authority to set and limit shipping costs, as well as limiting the distribution of free railroad passes [essentially a form of bribery].
TR TAKES ON THE CORPORATIONS TR had interesting views on trusts, feeling that some were good and others were bad. So, he set out to control bad trusts like the Northern Securities Company [organized by James Hill and J.P. Morgan]. Remember him? The guy that Cleveland asked to, you know, save the country from economic ruin?
TR TAKES ON THE CORPORATIONS TR did crack down on trusts, tackling over 40 of them. But he wasn t quite the trustbuster as he has been portrayed. TR s successor, William Howard Taft, was a much more prolific trustbuster than TR. While President, Taft would bring 90 suits against trusts. When Taft went after US Steel [which TR had allowed to absorb the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company!], the reaction from TR was none too happy. From this point onward, Taft and TR would be increasingly more at loggerheads. This is important! But we re getting ahead of ourselves. Back to the Square Deal!
CONSUMER CARE IN THE SQUARE DEAL In 1906, significant improvements in the meat industry were passed, especially the Meat Inspection Act, which said that the preparation of meat to be shipped over state lines would be subject to federal inspection from corral to can [that s Grade A reform!] Upton Sinclair s The Jungle helped hasten this reform, having exposed Americans to the horrors of the meatpacking industry. Upton Sinclair himself, the man likely responsible for millions of people choosing to be vegetarians.
CONSUMER CARE IN THE SQUARE DEAL The Pure Food and Drug Act was passed to prevent the adulteration and mislabeling of foods and pharmaceuticals proffered to the public. Another benefit of these acts was to make the Europeans a bit more trusting of American beef and meat. No mad cow for Marco! And more money for our beef barons! Yay! The infomercial of yesteryear.
CONSERVATIONISM IN THE SQUARE DEAL TR and the Sierra Club founder himself, John Muir, enjoying the view in Yosemite NP. An avid outdoorsman, TR would endorse the views of Gifford Pinchot, who advocated setting land aside so that, among other benefits, future generations of Americans could enjoy the incredible vistas offered in various parts of the country. And now we have our national parks. Thanks, TR [and Gifford, too]!
THE ROUGH RIDER RIDES INTO THE SUNSET TR was terribly popular, but conservatives were a bit afraid of him and his Progressive leanings. In 1904, TR announced he would not seek the presidency in 1908 [he would have served two terms by then]. And he would be leaving some big shoes to fill In the 1908 campaign, TR chose William Howard Taft as his successor, thinking Taft would continue his politics. With TR s support, Taft easily defeated William Jennings Bryan. Taft posing with telephones, for some reason.
TAFT DOES A SPLIT [WELL, NOT REALLY] Let s just get the dumb jokes about Taft s being quite so corpulent out of the way, shall we? Yeah, everyone knows that Taft had to have a specially designed bathtub installed in the White House because he d gotten stuck in the previous one. But did you know that James Garfield was ambidextrous and multilingual? And that he could write Greek with one hand while writing in Latin with the other?
TAFT DOES A SPLIT [WELL, NOT REALLY] Thanks to some rather boneheaded moves, Taft effectively split the Republican Party. Specifically, he signed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff [ironically thinking doing so would preserve party unity, but instead pushing Progressive Republicans away] and He was involved in the Ballinger-Pinchot Affair [yes, it s the same Pinchot that TR liked so much], in which he fired Pinchot for drawing attention to Ballinger s malfeasance. So, you ve got half of the Republicans the Progressive Republicans rooting for TR and the other half the Old Guards rooting for Taft. With that split in the Republican Party, the Democrats won big in the midterm elections of 1910. What did you expect? A house divided against itself cannot stand.
TAFT DOES A SPLIT [WELL, NOT REALLY] In 1911, the National Progressive Republican League was formed. At the time, reform-minded governor Robert La Follette and was its leader. La Follette made a name for himself as Governor of Wisconsin, most notably for having established the direct primary there. The direct primary system lets citizens vote to select their own nominees for upcoming elections. But TR eventually said he wouldn t mind a nomination, so being uber popular, TR became the presidential candidate on the progressive ticket [sorry, La Follette]. So, it s TR vs Taft vs whoever the Democrats decided to put up as their presidential candidate.
WHAT A LOAD OF BULL MOOSE With the Republican Party split between TR and Taft, the Democrats smelled a chance to get back into the White House. But who to nominate? One possibility was William Jennings Bryan [remember him?], but he gave his support to none other than Woodrow Wilson Wilson was a Progressive politician [and former president of Princeton University] who made a name for himself as Governor of New Jersey by attacking trusts and avoiding being handled by political bosses. Wilson had what was called the New Freedom platform, which offered many Progressive reforms.
WHAT A LOAD OF BULL MOOSE At the Republican convention, TR spoke so eloquently that he whipped the crowd into a near-religious frenzy. He then called upon his supporters to bolt from the hall, which they did, leaving the Old Guard people behind to nominate Taft which they did. Upon entering the race, TR said he felt as strong as a bull moose, and the name stuck, becoming his party s unofficial name. Looks like Teddy knows a thing or two about the ol bull moose.
WHAT A LOAD OF BULL MOOSE In contrast to Wilson s New Freedom, TR had a New Nationalism platform. New Nationalism centered around tackling bad trusts, women s suffrage, and a broad social welfare program. New Freedom favored small enterprise, aimed at tackling all trusts, and didn t give too much attention to social welfare proposals. In case you were wondering, this is an X- ray. Specifically, it s an X-ray of TR s chest. While in Milwaukee, someone shot him before he was to give a speech. He. Still. Gave. The. Speech.
WHAT A LOAD OF BULL MOOSE With TR and Taft tearing each other apart, all Wilson had to do was sit back and watch. And he did, winning the election with 435 electoral votes [but only 41% of the popular vote]. Wilson would continue the Progressive agenda, tho, continuing to make the federal government more and more powerful, in part with: The Underwood Tariff [1913] Greatly reduced import fees and enacted a graduated income tax. The Federal Reserve Act [1913] Created a federal network of banks and the Federal Reserve Board, which indirectly controls interest rates and the amount of money in circulation. The Clayton Antitrust Act [1914] Expanded the Sherman Antitrust Act, exempting labor unions from being called trusts, and allowing strikes and peaceful picketing.
WHAT A LOAD OF BULL MOOSE It was a development across the Atlantic for which Wilson is best remembered, however.