Bridge to the 20th Century

Industry, Immigration, and Reform- The

Progressive Movement

The Origins of the Progressive Movement

The Progressive MovementWho were they?

Journalists and writers, intellectuals, and political reformers.

How did it start?Began with dissatisfied farmers and spread to middle-class city dwellers.

What did they want to do?Protect social welfarePromote Moral Improvement

Create Economic ReformFoster Efficiency

Protecting Social WelfareSocial Gospel Movement and Settlement House Movement

Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA)

Salvation Army

Promoting Moral Reform

ProhibitionThe legal banning of alcohol was pushed for by reformers

ProhibitionSeen as a way to

Protect women against violence

Uplift immigrants

ProhibitionAttacking saloons

Saloons provided cheap meals, cashed paychecks, and provided meeting places.

Attacks drew negative response from immigrants.

The Vote for WomenSeen as the next step to promoting moral reform in society by women’s groups.

Creating Economic ReformCorruption in business and

government attacked.Muckrakers

DefinitionJournalists who wrote about the corruption of business and politics.

Fostering EfficiencyScientific Management

DefinitionThe effort to improve efficiency in the workplace by applying scientific principles.

Assembly Line and Henry FordFord Motor Company used

assembly line to assemble cars.Increased productionTurned people into machines that exhausted themselves.

To attract workers Ford paid $5 a day and reduced the work day to 8 hours.

Cleaning Up Government

Reforming Local Government

Power had to be taken from the corrupt political machine and given back to the people

City CommissionsCity councils replaced by appointed commissions that ran certain city departments.

City-ManagerAppointed position where a qualified individual ran the city’s departments.

Reforming State Government

Reform of businessStates began passing laws to reform business and industry.

Business had been buying off politicians to protect their industries.

Reforming State Government

Child LaborProblems

Health concernsAccidentsLed hard adult lives

Child LaborStates take on Child Labor

Supreme Court struck down child labor legislation from Congress

States passed laws limiting and banning child labor and cut it in half in a decade.

Limiting Working HoursMuller v. Oregon

Supreme Court ruled a state could limit the working hours of women

Limiting Working HoursResults

Led to other states following suit and soon limits were in place for men.10 hour days

Workers CompensationIn 1902 states began passing laws to pay benefits to injured employees in dangerous occupations.

Reforming ElectionsHow do you reform elections?Give power to the peopleStates adopted the secret ballot

Reforming ElectionsInitiative and ReferendumState gave ordinary people the right to make law through the initiative and referendum.

Initiative - bill created by ordinary people placed on ballotProposition

Referendum- was a vote by the public on the initiative

Reforming ElectionsRecall

Enabled voters to remove elected officials by holding a special election before the end of their term.

Election of Senators17th Amendment- Direct

Election of SenatorsUntil the 17th Amendment Senators were selected by state legislators-and by political machine bosses.

Women in Public Life

Role of WomenOn the Farm

Critical to family success and survival

As Domestic WorkersWomen of all races, but mostly of low economic class, served as domestic servants throughout the United States

Role of WomenIn Industry

At first women did low skill jobs for more than half of what men got paid.

As business expanded women began to fill the roles of secretaries and teachers.

Women as Reform LeadersSuffrage

Women’s groups had united to try and get the vote for women.

3 Part Plan

First- convince state governments to grant the voteWestern states began to do so in 1869

Second- Get Supreme Court to rule on women and voting.Supreme Court did rule that women were citizens, but that did not guarantee the vote.

Third- Push for a constitutional amendmentKept getting rejected.

Teddy Roosevelt and the Square Deal

BackgroundRoosevelt was born into a

wealthy New York familySickly as a child (asthma) he

grew to push himself to excel physically.

Graduate of HarvardMarried TwiceInspiration for the Teddy Bear

Published author and recognized expert on US wildlife

Cattle Rancher

Public ServiceNY State AssemblymanNYC Police CommissionerAsst. Secretary of the US

NavyGovernor of NYVice-President

The Modern PresidencyTR was 1st “modern” president

Used popularity to shape policyInfluenced press and used them to gain influence

Saw presidency as a defender of the people against growing government power.

Using Federal Power

TR sought to see that the people got what he called a “square deal” from government.

Labor Strikes1902 Coal Strikes

5 months into the strike winter was threatened and reserves were low.

TR forced both sides to meet with an arbitration commission which mediated (settled) the dispute

Labor StrikesResult

TR established the right/responsibility of the federal government to intervene in labor disputes.

Showed disputes could be settled in an orderly manner- no violence.