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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.
Def.: reform mov’t seeking to return control of the gov’t to the
people, restore economic opportunities, and to correct injustices in American life.
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
• Origins: Greenbacks, Populist Party
• The “Social Gospel” movement
--Walter Rauschenbusch: Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907)
• Settlement House Workers
--Jane Addams, Hull House in Chicago (1889)
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
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.)
• Middle-class reform movement
• Operated on all three levels of government
III. Sample Progressive Reforms
Progressive Goals1. Protect social welfare
2. Promote moral improvement3. Create Economic reform4. Foster efficiency at work
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)-(Lochner vs. N.Y.)--Bunting v. Oregon (1917)
• Prohibition initiatives• Moral Purity campaigns
--Mann Act (1910)*Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
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
• 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
• Cast every issue in moral and patriotic terms
--The “Bully Pulpit”
• Square Deal: control corporations, consumer protection, conservation, reform railroads
• Coal Miner Strike- threatened seizure of mine
B. “Trust-Buster”?
• Wants to regulate in order to get businesses to act right
• Making an example of the Northern Securities Co.
• The Elkins Act (1903) and the Hepburn Act- regulation of the RR
C. Second Term as President (1905-1909)
• More vigorous progressivism
• 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• Dollar Diplomacy-use
foreign policy to protect Wall Street Dollars
• Mann-Elkins Act (1910)- increased power of ICC; control of telegraph and telephone
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
VIII. Democratic Progressivism: The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson (1913-
1921)
• True progressive and dynamic speaker
• Sympathetic to small businessmen
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
B. Key Wilsonian Legislation
• Underwood Tariff Act (1913)
• Federal Reserve Act (1913)
• Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914)
• Federal Trade Commission (1914)
Other Wilson Laws
• Federal Farm Loan Act• Child Labor Act• Minimum Wage
C. Congressional Progressivism After 1914
• Wilson was not a strong progressive when it came to social reform
• Congress takes over the progressive agenda
• Examples of congressional progressive legislation after 1914--Federal Highways Act (1916)
Prohibition, Suffrage, Civil Rights
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• Schenck v U.S. (1919)- clear and present danger
Wilson’s Foreign Policy
• Anti-imperialistic• Jones Acts (1916,17)- independence for the
Philippines and citizenship for Puerto Rico• Sent troops to Nicaragua, Haiti, Dominican
Republic• Mexican Revolution let to U.S. involvement
in Mexico; Pancho Villa and Gen. John Pershing
Areas of the Progressive Era
• Expansion of democracy• Efficiency- Frederick W. Taylor(Scientific
Management), Robert M. La Follette • Regulation- trusts• Social Justice- settlement house mov't, labor
legislation• Prohibition