Progressive Era (1901-1914) Chapter 28 Objective #1 Discuss the origins and nature of the progressive movement. Objective #2 Examine the responses of the Progressives associated with industrialization and urbanization as seen in: Settlement house movement Muckraker journalism Increased regulation Reform of government. 1
Objective #3 Explain the critical role that women played in progressive social reform. The Culture Wars : The Pendulum of Right v. Left 2 nd Great Awakening C I V I L W A R Social Gospel 1920s Revivalism 1950s Revivalism Christian Evangelical Movement C O N S E R V A T I V E Antebellum Reforms [1810s-185 0s] Populism [1870s-1890 s] Progressivism [1890s-1920] New Deal Great [1930s-194 Society 0s] & 1960s Social Movements R E V O L U T I O N Progressivism Often called the first modern reform movement Influenced by Social Gospel Movement Upset over laissez-faire idealists and corruption of government and business Driven by the forgotten middle class stuck between corporations and working class Progressives in all parties and all levels of government 2
3 M u c k r a c k e r s E n vi r o n m e n t al is t s T e m p e r a n c e S u f f r a g e t t e s P o p u l i s t s M i d c l a s s W o m e n L a b o r U n i o n s C i v i l R i g h t s Environmentalism Your environment, not your heredity, was most important factor in human development Improve environment=improve life Better schools, homes, etc. = better society Teach middle class values to everyone Strong Government Progressives wanted strong government regulation Government should be agents of human welfare Government should fight trusts Return power to the people and out of hands of corrupt David Phillips: The Treason of the Senate (1906) 75 out of 90 Senators represented Big Business rather than constituents
Progressive Government Reform 17th Amendment (1913): Direct election of Senators Referendum Recall Election spending reform Pro-suffrage: women fight corruption Increase social spending to help poor Keep them from voting Socialist Curb power of big business in politics Urban Reform Rapid urbanization continued to cause problems Immigration seemed to threaten American way of life to Progressives Progressives try to wrestle control from Party Bosses Non-partisan commissioners City Manager system Progressives, like Robert LaFollette began to shift control away from corporations back to government (through regulation) Progressive Muckrakers Journalists drove Progressivism Given nickname by TR due to their investigative zeal Competed for audiences American, McClures, Cosmo Revolutionized journalism and exposed corruption 4
Major Muckraker Works David Phillips: The Treason of the Senate Upton Sinclair: The Jungle Jacob Riis: How the Other Half Lives Ida Tarbell s expose of John D. Rockefeller Child Labor Florence Kelley: Illinois first chief factory inspector and advocate for improved factor conditions 1905-1907: 2/3 of states passed child labor law 1912: Children s Bureau created by Dept. of Labor Success limited because wanted cheap labor and poor needed to work Compulsory school attendance laws increase Working Women Muller v. Oregon: Supreme Court ruled in favor of 10-hr. work day for women Took some control of working conditions away from employer Needed to protect women from disease and danger Progressives also argued women were weaker than men and needed extra protection 5
Women s Suffrage Progressives were pro-women s suffrage Needed to offset immigrant vote, protect family, social reform Will gain suffrage in 1920 (19th Amendment) Progressives and Birth Control Comstock Law (1873) Margaret Sanger: opened information centers and fled country Returned in 1921 to found American Birth Control League (later Planned Parenthood) More Women Jane Addams continues settlement house movement Exposed women to the plight of impoverished, working conditions, etc. Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Women form activist organizations and women s clubs such as Women s Trade Union League and National Consumers League Extension of woman s place in the home, not a rejection of this concept 6
Home and School Better housing and schools would transform lives of poor Jacob Riis John Dewey: Better schools=better citizens Prohibition Progressives opposed alcohol It contradicted concept of healthy, educated citizens (some called it sin) Women s Christian Temperance Union Anti-Saloon League 1906-1912: 7 States passed temperance laws By WWI: 50% of U.S. territory was dry (usually rural areas) 1917: 18th Amendment--full Prohibition Brothels and Movie Houses Progressives believed dance halls and movie houses threatened the morals of people (especially women) Linked prostitution to movie houses and saloons Mann Act (1910): Prohibited the interstate transportation of women for immoral purposes First motion picture: 1889 First full length motion picture: Birth of a Nation--1915 7
Progressives and Workers Progressives sympathized with industrial workers but had little understanding of their plight Supported unions attempt to improve working conditions but opposed strikes Pushed legislation to protect workers Scientific Management Many innovations, high supply of workers, laissezfaire government meant low pay, unsafe working conditions, lack of union success Factories stressed efficiency and profit Frederick Taylor: Scientific management Progressives supported efficiency Union Movements Unions were against Scientific management because it reduced importance of worker 2 million unionized by 1904 (75% in AFL) AFL represented skilled craftsmen and ignored unskilled and women Companies continued to win battles in early 20th c. 8
Danbury Hatters Case (1908) Supreme Court stated that unions were subject to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act Unions could be held financially liable to businesses during a strike Number of strikes dip Progressives did little to help unions but did help workers Tried to improve working conditions Women in Workplace 5 million by 1900, 8.5 million by 1920 Ignored by most unions (1.5% in unions in 1920) Women s Trade Union League founded in 1903 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Many women in NYC garment industry 16-25 yrs old, of Italian or Jewish descent 56-hr weeks $6/week Over 600 shirtwaist factories employed 30,000 workers Stress on scientific management led to overcrowding, women renting machines, paying for electricity, breaks minimized, safety shortcuts due to costs 9
Women strike! 1909: Women want better pay, working conditions, don t want to costs Mass strike in 1909 Strikers fired, arrested, etc. Government support of factories meant they did very little to improve working conditions Rosa Schneiderman, Garment Worker Child Labor 10
Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910 Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910 Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910 11
Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910 Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910 Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910 12
Women Voting for a Strike! Public Fear of Unions/Anarchists Arresting the Girl Strikers for Picketing 13
Scabs Hired The Shirtwaist Kings Max Blanck and Isaac Harris 14
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Asch Building, 8 th and 10 th Floors Inside the Building After the Fire 15
Most Doors Were Locked Crumpled Fire Escape, 26 Died 16
10 th Floor After the Fire Dead Bodies on the Sidewalk Scene at the Morgue 17
Relatives Review Bodies 145 Dead Out of the Ashes Ô Union membership surged. Ô NYC created a Bureau of Fire Prevention. Ô New strict building codes were passed. Ô Tougher fire inspection of sweatshops. Ô Growing momentum of support for women s suffrage. Ludlow Massacre Strike for better working conditions in Colorado in 1913 Colorado Fuel and Iron Industries owned by John D. Rockefeller Strikebreakers and national guard fired on strikers killing 13 women and children Shift to protect workers and reform working conditions because of events like these. 18