The Progressive Era

Reform shifts from the farm to the city and climbs the ladder of

government from the local to the state and then to the national level.

I. The Problems of the 1890’s

• Huge Gap between rich and poor

• Tremendous economic and political power of the rich

• Wealthy were insensitively flaunting their wealth before a poorer public

I. Problems of the 1890’s (cont.)

• Industrial workers hideously poor, living in squalor and working in dangerous conditions

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

• Little concern for Black America

II. Progressive Reformers

A. Streams of Reform

• The “Social Gospel” movement

--Walter Rauschenbusch: Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907)

• Settlement House Workers

--Jane Addams, Hull House in Chicago (1889)

• Americans of “Old Wealth”

A. Streams of Reform (cont.)

• Young, socially-conscious lawyers

• Investigative Journalists-- “Muckrakers”--Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, and Upton Sinclair

• Small businessmen

B. Features of Progressive Reform

• Desire to remedy problems through government initiative

• Reliance on “experts”-- Robert Lafollette’s “Wisconsin Idea”

• Wanted reform not revolution

• Stressed the importance of efficiency in reform--Frederick W. Taylor

B. Features of Progressive Reform (cont.)

• Want to bring order out of chaos

--Creation of NCAA in 1910

--Federal Budget (1921)

• Desire to make politics more democratic

• Desire to make businessmen more responsible for problems

B. Features of Progressive Reform (cont.)

• Desire to make society more moral and more just

• Desire to distribute income more equitably

• Desire to broaden opportunities for individual advancement

• Women were active in progressivism--Suffragettes like Susan B. Anthony

B. Features of Progressive Reform (cont.)

• Infiltrated both political parties

-- Republican “insurgents”

• Middle-class reform movement

• Operated on all three levels of government

III. Sample Progressive Reforms

A. Political Reforms

• Tried to put more power into the hands of the people

• Innovative changes in city government--city managers and commission model

• The Direct Primary• Initiative, Referendum and Recall• The Secret Ballot• Direct Election of Senators and the Vote for

Women

B. Social Reforms

• Child labor laws

• Ten-hour work days

--The “Brandeis brief”

--Muller v. Oregon (1908)

--Bunting v. Oregon (1917)

• Prohibition initiatives

• Moral Purity campaigns

--Mann Act (1910)

B. Social Reforms (cont.)

• Minimum safety standards on the job

• Minimum standards for housing codes

• “City Beautification” movement

• Immigration Restriction• Eugenics

--Buck v. Bell (1927)• Little Help for Blacks

--NAACP (1909)-- “Birth of a Nation”

IV. Progressive Amendments to the Constitution

• Progressive reliance on the law

• 16th Amendment (1913)—federal income tax

• 17th Amendment (1913)—direct election of senators

• 18th Amendment (1919)—prohibition

• 19th Amendment (1920)—vote for women

V. Presidential Progressivism: Theodore Roosevelt

• Great drive, energy and exciting personality

• TR’s interests and early years

• NYC police commissioner• Spanish-American War

experience-- “Rough Riders”

• Political Rise from NY Governor to Vice-President

A. First Term as President (1901-1904)

• McKinley’s assassination

• Offered energetic national leadership

• Cast every issue in moral and patriotic terms

--The “Bully Pulpit”

• Master Politician

• Modest goals for his “accidental” presidency

B. “Trust-Buster”?

• TR’s attitude toward Big Business

• Wants to regulate in order to get businesses to act right

• The “Square Deal” (1902)• Making an example of the

Northern Securities Co.• The Elkins Act (1903) and

the Bureau of Corporations

C. Second Term as President (1905-1909)

• More vigorous progressivism

• Hepburn Act (1906)

• Federal Meat Inspection Act (1906)

• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

• Conservation Policy

--Preservation vs. Conservation

VI. “A Tough Act to Follow”: The Presidency of William Howard Taft

(1909-1913)• The Election of 1908• Taft’s political

experience• Taft’s weight• Not a dynamic

politician• Never completely

comfortable as President

VI. Presidency of Taft (cont.)

• Controversy over the Tariff

• More conservative than TR, but also more trust suits

• The “Ballinger-Pinchot” Affair

• Growing tension with Teddy Roosevelt

VII. The Election of 1912

• Growing split within the Republican Party

• Creation of the “Bull Moose” Party

• Progressive Party Platform: “New Nationalism”

• Democrats drafted Woodrow Wilson

• Results of the Election

VIII. Democratic Progressivism: The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson (1913-

1921)• Wilson’s early life and

political career• True progressive and

dynamic speaker• Sympathetic to small

businessmen• Could be a stubborn,

moral crusader and ideologue

A. “New Freedom”

• Wilson’s brand of progressivism

• Wants to recreate the “golden age” of small American businesses

• Wilson wants to open channels for free and fair competition

• Historic Jeffersonian approach to federal power

B. Key Wilsonian Legislation

• Underwood Tariff Act (1913)

• Federal Reserve Act (1913)

• Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914)

• Federal Trade Commission (1914)

C. Congressional Progressivism After 1914

• Wilson was not a strong progressive when it came to social reform

• Congress takes over the progressive agenda

• Appointment of Brandeis to Supreme Court

• Examples of congressional progressive legislation after 1914--Federal Highways Act (1916)

IX. The Waning of the Progressive Movement

• Progressive movement peaks by 1917• Success of the movement led to its decline• Advent of World War I also hurt progressive

activism• Progressives themselves began to weary of their

reform zeal—as did the nation as a whole• Ironically, voter participation has steadily declined

since the election of 1912