Goal 7 The Progressive Movement (1890-

1914) • The learner will analyze the economic, political, and

social reforms of the Progressive Period.

Generalizations:• Innovation designed to solve problems may result

in the creation of new problems.• Coordinated action by groups or individuals may

result in economic, political, and social changes to a nation.

• The perceptions and actions of individuals can be influenced by the economic priorities of a nation.

Urban Reform During the Progressive Era (1890-

1920) From 1890 to 1920, reformers tried to

clean up problems (“progress”) created during the Gilded Age:• Cities were plagued by slums, crime, disease, tenements

• City, state, & national gov’ts were seen as corrupt & unresponsive to the needs of Americans

• Corporate monopolies limited competition & workers’ wages

The Social Gospel Movement

In the 1880s, many middle-class Protestant Christians embraced the Social Gospel movement:• To honor God, people

must put aside their own desires & help other people, especially the poor

• These ideas helped inspire Progressive reform in U.S. cities

Urban Progressive Reformers

One of the earliest progressive reforms was the settlement house movement led by Jane Addams• Addams’ Hull House in Chicago offered baths,

cheap food, child care, job training, health care to poor citizens in the slums

• Her efforts inspired reformers in other cities to build settlement houses to assist the poor

Urban Slums

Jane Addams’ Hull House in Chicago

Urban Progressive Reformers Urban reformers tried to

improve the lives of poor workers & children• YMCA created

libraries & gyms for young men & children

• The Salvation Army created soup kitchens & nurseries

• Florence Kelley fought to create child labor laws & laws limiting work hours for women

Urban Progressive Reformers Many reformers saw alcohol abuse as

serious urban problem:• Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) worked to end alcohol consumption

• Reformers gained prohibition laws in most states & outlawed alcohol throughout the USA with the 18th Amendment in 1919

• Hoped prohibition would end corruption, domestic violence, & help “Americanize” immigrants

Frances Willard

Carrie Nation

Prohibition of alcohol in the states prior to 1920

Muckrakers In addition to the Social Gospel, progressive reformers were aided by a new, investigative journalism:•Muckrakers were journalists who exposed problems like poverty, corruption, monopolization (“Investigate, Educate, Legislate”)

• Popular monthly magazines, like McClure’s & Colliers, used investigative journalism & photos

What did Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives (1890) expose?

Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives (1890) exposed

urban poverty & life in the slums

What did Ida Tarbell’s The History of Standard Oil (1904) expose?

Ida Tarbell’s The History of Standard Oil (1904) revealed

Rockefeller’s ruthless business practices & called

for the break-up of large monopolies

What did Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906) expose?

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906)

revealed the unsanitary

conditions of slaughterhouses

& led to gov’t regulation of

food industries

Conclusions The Progressive movement began as an attempt to fix urban problems•Reformers lacked unity & were dedicated to their own causes

•But their efforts led to a shift: gov’t began to take responsibility for citizens & intervene in their lives