Chapter 21 – The Progressive Spirit of Reform

Section Notes The Gilded Age and the

Progressive Movement Reforming the Workplace The Rights of Women and

Minorities The Progressive Presidents

Video The Impact of Women’s

Suffrage

History Close-up Working Conditions for

Children, Early 1900s Images Primary Source: The Tammany

Ring Primary Source: The Other Half Child Labor Suffragettes Standardized Test Practice Photo

Quick Facts Gilded Age Presidents Expanding Democracy The Progressive Amendments,

1909-1920 Chapter 21 Visual Summary

Maps Election of 1912

The Gilded Age and the Progressive Movement

The Big Idea

From the late 1800s through the early 1900s, the Progressive movement addressed problems in American

society.

Main Ideas

• Political corruption was common during the Gilded Age.

• Progressives pushed for reforms to improve living conditions.

• Progressive reforms expanded the voting power of citizens.

Main Idea 1: Political corruption was common

during the Gilded Age.

• Gilded Age- Highlighted the inequality between wealthy business owners, and workers who labored under terrible conditions for low pay.

• Many believe that the gov’t should help fix this inequality.

Main Idea 1: Political corruption was common

during the Gilded Age.

• Political machines strongly influenced city, county, and even federal politics in the late 1800s.

• Political machines used both legal and illegal means to get their candidates elected to public office.

– Stuffed ballot boxes with votes for their candidates

– Paid people to vote with bribes, or bribed vote counters

• Supporters of political machines were often rewarded with government jobs.

Main Idea 1: Political corruption was common

during the Gilded Age.

• The most notorious political machine was New York City’s Tammany Hall, headed by William Marcy Tweed.

• Rewarded supporters with 12,000 jobs.

• Tweed may have stolen $200 million from the city.

Corruption in Washington

• The administration of Ulysses S. Grant, who was elected in 1868 and reelected in 1872, was charged with corruption.

• In Grant’s second term, federal officials were jailed for taking bribes from whiskey distillers.

• The scandal caused many Americans to question the honesty of national leaders.

Corruption in Washington

• Americans wanted Changes in Civil Service, the gov’t job system.

• Wanted to get rid of Spoils System, giving jobs to supporters.

• Many supporters were unqualified and untrained and this led to corruption in gov’t.

• Rutherford B. Hayes (1877–1881) promised radical and complete changes in government and made some minor reforms.

• James B. Garfield (1881) attempted reforms, but was assassinated by a disgruntled federal-office seeker early in his term.

• Chester A. Arthur (1881–1885), Garfield’s vice president, became president. Backed the Pendleton Civil Service Act passed in 1883. Pass an exam before they were hired.

Cleaning Up Political Corruption

Cleaning Up Political Corruption

• Grover Cleveland (1885–1889, 1893–1897), a Democrat, worked hard to hire and fire people based on merit, not party loyalty.

• Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893) helped control inflation and passed the Sherman Antitrust Act.

• William McKinley (1897–1901) avoided scandal and helped win back public trust in the government.

Main Idea 2: Progressives pushed for reforms to improve

living conditions.

• Progressives were reformers who worked to solve problems caused by rapid industrial and urban growth.

– Eliminate causes of crime, disease, and poverty – Ease overcrowding in cities – Advocate for better education – Promote better working conditions and less child labor – Fight corruption in business and government

Main Idea 2: Progressives pushed for reforms to improve

living conditions.

• Muckrakers were journalists who wrote about child labor, racial discrimination, slum housing, and corruption in business.

– Influenced voters, causing them to pressure government officials

– Lincoln Steffens- Wrote about city corruption.

– Ida B. Tarbell- Wrote about unfair business practice (Standard Oil Company)

– Upton Sinclair- Wrote about Meat processing in the book The Jungle.

Reforms and Reformers

• Progressives started settlement houses, such as Jane Addams’s Hull House.

• City planners

– Helped design safer building codes – Opened new public parks

• Civil and sanitation engineers

– Improved transportation – Addressed pollution and sanitation issues, including waste

disposal and clean water

• Death rates dropped in cities where city planners and civil engineers addressed urban ills.

Reform Successes

Social Reforms

• Education reform included the enacting of school attendance laws.

• Susan Blow opened the first American public kindergarten.

• John Dewey advocated new teaching methods designed to help children learn problem-solving skills, not just memorize facts.

• Joseph McCormack led the American Medical Association in supporting public health laws.

Main Idea 2: Progressive reformers expanded the voting

power of citizens.

• Progressives worked to reduce the power of the political machines by

– Ending corrupt ballot practices

– Adopting the secret ballot

– Adopting the direct primary, which allowed voters to choose party candidates rather than having it done by party bosses

• The Seventeenth Amendment allowed Americans to vote directly for U.S. senators.

Recall

• Some states and cities adopted the recall.

• It was a special vote that gave citizens the opportunity to remove an elected official from office.

Initiative

• Some states adopted the initiative.

• It allowed voters to propose a new law and vote on it.

Recall, Initiative, and Referendum

Referendum

• Some states adopted the referendum.

• It permitted voters to directly approve or reject a proposed or enacted law.

The Cities

• Some cities adopted a council-manager form of government, in which a professional manager runs the city.

• Other cities adopted a commission form of government, in which a group of elected officials runs the city.

Government Reforms

Government Reforms The States

• Governor Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin challenged the power of the political bosses.

• He began a series of reforms called the Wisconsin Idea.

• His reforms decreased the power of the political machine.

• Use University professors and other experts to write new laws.

• Made available to public information on how politicians voted.

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