Progressive Era 1876-1920
Gilded Age
Greed and Political Corruption
Concerns over the power of the rich
Worries about corruption Spoils System Patronage
Attempts to reform the Spoils System
Rutherford B. Hayes 1st to try reform
James Garfield › Merit
Assassination of Garfield by Charles J. Guiteau 1881
1883 Pendleton Act = Civil Service
Big Business
Regulation of Business and Railroads
Interstate Commerce Act (Commission)› Pools and Rebates
1890 Sherman Antitrust Act
Corruption in the City
Political Bosses Boss Tweed
› $100 million Thomas Nast
› Exposed Tweed To Spain and back
Muckrakers Jacob Riis
› Photos of Slums Ida Tarbell
› Targeted Big BusinessStandard Oil
Upton Sinclair › The Jungle
Progressives
Not Single Group No Single Goal Public Interest John Dewey
› Education› Democratic Values
re
Progressive Political Reform
Reforms Robert La Follette
› Wisconsin Idea› Ex. Lowered railroad rates
Lower Tariffs› Help Consumers
Graduated Income Tax› 16th Amendment
Direct Election of Senators› 17th Amendment
Theodore Roosevelt Not against trusts Good trusts v. Bad trusts Brought suits against
› Northern Securities Company (railroad)› Standard Oil› American Tobacco Company
Trustbuster Pennsylvania Coal Miners Strike
› 1st President to side with Labor
Square Deal Election of 1904 Equal Opportunity to Succeed Businesses
› 1906 Railroad rates set by ICC Consumers
› The Jungle Pure Food and Drug Act
› List of Ingredients› End False Advertising
Conservation › National Parks
William Howard Taft Roosevelt did not run for reelection Supported Taft Taft as President
› Broke up more trusts› Supported shorter work day
Trouble with progressives› Supported Higher Tariffs› Fired a Forest Service Official
Election of 1912 Roosevelt runs against Taft Republicans supported Taft Progressive Rep. stormed out Set up new party called Bull Moose Party
› Nominated Roosevelt to run Democrats nominate Woodrow Wilson Republican candidates got more votes
› But Taft and Roosevelt split vote Wilson wins the election
Woodrow Wilson New Freedom
› Break up trusts into smaller comp. Lower Tariffs Federal Reserve Act
› System of Federal Banks Federal Trade Commission Clayton Antitrust Act
› More against Trusts› Can’t be used against Unions
Woman Suffrage Movement 1869 Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady
Stanton set up National Woman Suffrage Association
Late 1800’s women in some western states get suffrage
In the Early 1900’s Carrie Chapman Catt took over with a detailed plan› Suffragists
Alice Paul met with President Wilson Paul and Rose Winslow started Picketing
the White House
Woman Suffrage Movement
Wilson finally agreed to support
Constitutional Amendment 19th Amendment
› Passed Congress in 1919› Gets ¾ states ratification by 1920
Women’s Right to Vote
Crusade against Alcohol Temperance Movement Women opposed because:
› Ruined families› Prevented political discussion by women
Bars wouldn’t admit women WCTU
› Frances Willard-President Carrie Nation
› Hatchet
Prohibition By 1917 Congress passed the Prohibition
Amendment › 18th Amendment› Ratified by ¾ states in 1919
Cannot:› Possess › Consume› Transport› Sell› Distribute
Minorities during Progressive Era
Progressives did little to help Jim Crow Laws
› Segregation Prejudice Discrimination
African Americans during Progressive Age
Lynching› Ida B. Wells
Proposed Boycotts Booker T. Washington
› Races live in Harmony› Tuskegee Institute› Learn a trade
WEB Dubois› Agreed with Washington› But need to fight discrimination› NAACP
Jane Adams and Lincoln Steffens
Mexican Americans during the Progressive Age
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Gadsden Purchase Famine forces Mexicans to US Barrios Mutualistas
Asian Americans during the Progressive Era
Gold Rush and Railroads Chinese Exclusion Act Immigrants came from other Asian
nations Discrimination Gentlemen’s Agreement with Japan California banned Asian immigrants
from owning land
Native Americans during Progressive Age
Dawes Act› Small Family Farms
Failure› Land not suitable› No tradition› Sold to speculators
Society of American Indians› Teach America about Natives› Mainstream Natives› Abolish Reservations› Opposed by most Natives