Progressive Movement Mr. Junko 3 Problems Progressives Address Social Problems Political Corruption Industrial Disorder Social Problems Living Conditions Sanitation Crime Political Corruption Political Machines Ward Bosses Big Business Influence Industrial Disorder Trusts Working Conditions 3 Fears of the Middle Class that brought about Progressivism Traditional Values being eroded Trusts squeezing out small business Radical Revolutions were appealing to the working class Progressives wanted a return to the following 4 traditional values: Religious Morality Economic Opportunity Political Honesty Social Stability Religious Morality 1. (Social Gospel Movement) -Church should improve life on earth (not just get people into Heaven) -Walter Rauschenbusch (Church Leader) -Believed that environmental conditions such as poverty, and not individual depravity, caused the ills in society -Blamed fierce competition for many social ills
Economic Opportunity Lester Ward (Sociologist) -Studied social phenomena much like natural phenomena -Anti Social Darwinist -Argued that people should be able to control and change their social environment-the laws customs, and relationships among people-for their own benefit ISSUES: Regulating Big Business Caring for Injured Workers Limiting the Workday Political Honesty Muckrakers worked to expose and bring attention to big business and political abuses. Upton Sinclair The Jungle Thomas Nast Tammany Hall Charles Edward Russell (US Senators) Social Stability Educating Children Protecting Women Goals of Progressive Reformers and Reform Organizations Evoke emotional response Move citizens to action Provide aid to the poor Government makes legislative changes Restore Democratic Values Prevent Radical Change
Progressives Reform Government Local Level Political Reforms 9/8/00 Deadly Hurricane 10,000 Dead Galveston rebuilt the city and city government Commissioner System 5 Commissioners (2 elected, 3 appointed by Gov.) Within 20 yrs. 500 cities adopted the commissioner system City Manager System City council would hire a professional manager (an expert) to manage all the daily affairs of the city State Government Progressive governor Robert La Follette created the Wisconsin Ideas, which wanted: Direct primary elections; limited campaign spending Commissions to regulate railroads and oversee transportation, civil service, and taxation Election Reforms Progressives wanted fairer elections and to make politicians more accountable to voters. (Robert La Follette) Proposed a direct primary, or an election in which voters choose candidates to run in a general election, which most states adopted. Backed the Seventeenth Amendment, which gave voters, not state legislatures, the power to elect their U.S. senators. Some measures Progressives fought for include: Direct primary: voters select a party s candidate for public office initiative: allows citizens to propose new laws 17th Amendment: voters elect their senators directly referendum: allows citizens to vote on a proposed or existing law secret ballot: people vote privately without fear of coercion recall: allows voters to remove an elected official from office Prohibition Progressive women also fought in the Prohibition movement, which called for a ban on making, selling, and distributing alcoholic beverages. Reformers thought alcohol was responsible for crime, poverty, and violence. Two major national organizations led the crusade against alcohol. The Anti-Saloon League The Women s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), headed by Frances Willard, which was a powerful force for both temperance and women s rights Evangelists like Carry Nation preached against alcohol, and Nation smashed up saloons with a hatchet while holding a Bible.
Congress eventually proposed the Eighteenth Amendment in 1917, prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcohol. It was ratified in 1919, but was so unpopular that it was repealed in 1933. Rise of the Women s Suffrage Movement NWSA National Woman Suffrage Association, founded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. (NWSA) Campaigned for a constitutional amendment letting women vote Dealt with other women s issues like labor reform and supported Victoria Woodhull, the first woman presidential candidate Anti-Suffrage Arguments Social Some believed women were too frail to handle the turmoil of polling places on Election Day. Some believed voting would interfere with a woman s duties at home or destroy families. Some claimed that women did not have the education or experience to be competent voters. Others believed that most women did not want to vote, and that it was unfair for suffragists to force the vote on unwilling women. Economic The liquor industry feared that giving the women the vote would lead to Prohibition. As women became active in other reform movements, such as food and drug safety and child labor, business owners feared women would vote for regulations that would drive up costs. Religious Churches and clergy members preached that marriage was a sacred bond and the entire family was represented by the husband s vote. Women Gain the Vote During Wilson s presidency, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) favored a state-by-state approach to win the vote. By 1901, just four western states gave women full voting rights and, frustrated, Alice Paul broke from NAWSA to form the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage. Renamed the National Woman s Party in 1916, the group focused on passing a federal constitutional amendment giving women the vote. Paul and Burns used British suffrage tactics like picketing the White House and hunger strikes, bringing renewed attention to the cause. Meanwhile, several eastern states held referendums on suffrage and, though none of the motions passed, the NAWSA grew to nearly 2 million. The NAWSA finally started to campaign on both state and federal levels, and the participation of women in the World War I efforts helped weaken opposition to suffrage. The Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the vote, was proposed by Congress in 1918 and passed in 1920 with support from President Wilson
Teddy Roosevelt Progressive President Vice President Roosevelt s rise to governor of New York upset the Republican political machine. To get rid of the progressive Roosevelt, party bosses got him elected as vice president, a position with little power at that time. Unlikely President President William McKinley was shot and killed in 1901, leaving the office to Roosevelt. At 42 years old he was the youngest president and an avid reformer. View of Office Roosevelt saw the presidency as a bully pulpit, or a platform to publicize important issues and seek support for his policies on reform. The Coal Strike of 1902 Soon after Roosevelt took office, some 150,000 Pennsylvania coal miners went on strike for higher wages, shorter hours, and recognition of their union. As winter neared, Roosevelt feared what might happen if the strike was not resolved, since Eastern cities depended upon Pennsylvania coal for heating. Roosevelt urged mine owners and the striking workers to accept arbitration, and though the workers accepted, the owners refused. Winter drew closer, and Roosevelt threatened to take over the mines if the owners didn t agree to arbitration, marking the first time the federal government had intervened in a strike to protect the interests of the public. After a three-month investigation, the arbitrators decided to give the workers a shorter workday and higher pay but did not require the mining companies to recognize the union. Satisfied, Roosevelt pronounced the compromise a square deal. The Square Deal The Square Deal became Roosevelt s 1904 campaign slogan and the framework for his entire presidency. He promised to see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less. Roosevelt s promise revealed his belief that the needs of workers, business, and consumers should be balanced. Roosevelt s square deal called for limiting the power of trusts, promoting public health and safety, and improving working conditions.
Woodrow Wilson Wilson s New Freedom Wilson, former governor of New Jersey, was a zealous reformer who had fought political machines, approved of direct primaries, and enacted a compensation program for injured workers. During his presidential campaign, Wilson proposed an ambitious plan of reform called the New Freedom, which called for tariff reductions, banking reform, and stronger antitrust legislation. Wilson s first priority as president was to lower tariffs, and he even appeared at a joint session of Congress to campaign for this, which no president had done since John Adams. In October 1913, Congress passed the Underwood Tariff Act, which lowered taxes to their lowest level in 50 years. Tariff reduction meant the government had less income, so to make up for it, the act also introduced a graduated income tax. The income tax taxed people according to their income, and wealthy people paid more than poor or middle-class people. Banking Reform President Wilson s next target was the banking system. At that time, banking failures were common, and banks collapsed when too many people withdrew their deposits at the same time. People needed access to their money without fear of bank failure. Wilson s answer was the 1913 Federal Reserve Act, which created a central fund from which banks could borrow to prevent collapse during a financial panic. The Act created a three-tier banking system. 1. At the top, the president- appointed Federal Reserve Board members ran the system. 2. On this level, 12 Federal Reserve banks served other banks instead of individuals. 3. On the last level, private banks served people and borrowed from the Federal Reserve as needed. The Federal Reserve Act put the nation s banking system under the supervision of the federal government for the first time.
Stronger Antitrust Laws Though Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890 to limit the power of monopolies, lax enforcement and loopholes allowed many unfair business practices to go on. Wilson had two solutions to these problems. Clayton Antitrust Act Passed in 1914 Clarified and extended the Sherman Antitrust Act Prohibited companies from buying stock in competing companies in order to form a monopoly Supported workers by making strikes, boycotts, and peaceful picketing legal for the first time The FTC The Federal Trade Commission, created by Congress in 1915 and supported by Wilson Enforced antitrust laws and was tough on companies that used deceptive advertising Could undertake special investigations of businesses