the progressive era 1898-1920

The Progressive Era1898-1920

The Populist Party1891-1896

Represented laborers, farmers, and industrial workers vs. bankers and railroads

Agenda• Unlimited coinage of silver

to make farm prices ; loan repayment easier• Direct election of senators• Term limits—President hold a single term• Graduated income tax—tax wealthy at higher rate• Immigration quotas• Shorter work days—to 8 hours instead of 10-14

William Jennings Bryan

• 1896, Democrats nominated• Democratic Party adopted many Populist

ideas

“Cross of Gold” speechDenounced bankers for “crucifying mankind

on a cross of gold”Defeated in 1896 & 1900 by McKinley

Populist Party

The Populist illustrate a role often played by third parties—they provide an outlet for disadvantaged groups to voice grievances and generate new ideas.

Populist reforms were later enacted by other political parties.

The Progressive Movement

• Mainly middle-class city dwellers, rather than farmers and workers

• Believed government should increase its responsibility for human welfare by taking an active rile in protecting workers and consumers

Muckrakersexposed government corruption & the abuses of industry

Jacob Riis

He photographed and described the appalling conditions of the urban poor in How the Other Half Lives.

Ida Tarbell

Her book, History of the Standard Oil Company (1902), showed how Rockefeller’s rise was based on ruthless business practices.

Muckrakersexposed government corruption & the abuses of industry

Lincoln Steffens

He exposed corruption in city and state governments in his book The Shame of Cities (1904).

Muckrakersexposed government corruption & the abuses of industry

Upton Sinclair

His novel, The Jungle (1906), exposed the unsanitary conditions of the meatpacking industry and led to passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act.

Muckrakersexposed government corruption & the abuses of industry

Eugene DebsSocialist leader of

1894Led his union of

railway workers in a strike that shut down the western railroads—Pullman Strike

Anti-Debs Cartoon

Labor Leader

Municipal Reforms

• Before, cities were ran by political machines or “bosses.” They would get immigrants jobs, housing, and citizenship in exchange for their vote.

• The machine would steal from the public treasury through bribes and padded contracts.

• Progressives replaced “bosses” with public-minded mayors and expanded city services.

Boss Tweed

New York City political “boss” in the 1850-60s

State Government Reformsled by Robert LaFollette, governor of Wisconsin

• Secret Ballot—earlier voting was not private, subject to pressure & intimidation

• Initiatives—allows voters to directly introduce bills in the state legislature

• Recall—elected officials could be removed by voters in a special election

• Referendum—voters could compel legislators to place a bill on the ballot for approval

• Direct Party Primaries—party members decide who they want to represent them in the general election

Progressive PresidentsTheodore Roosevelt 1901-1909

• Square Deal—proposed new laws to protect consumer health, to regulate some industries, and to conserve the nation’s natural resources

• Meat Inspection Act (1906)—after reading The Jungle

• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)—regulated the preparation of foods and sale of medicines

• Trust-buster—revived the Sherman Anti-Trust Act; filed a lawsuit to break of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company

T. Roosevelt with naturalist John Muir at Yosemite National Park

Bull Moose Party

Progressive PresidentsWilliam H. Taft 1909-1913

• Antitrust cases• Set aside a great deal of public

land for conservation• 16th Amendment—allowed

Congress to tax individual incomes

• 17th Amendment—direct election of US Senators instead of by state legislature

Progressive PresidentsWoodrow Wilson 1913-1921

• “New Freedom”—that would tame big businesses and allow for more competition

• Lowered tariffs—cheaper goods• Used the 16th Amendment to introduce a progressive

income tax• Federal Reserve Act (1913)—reformed the banking

industry by establishing the Federal Reserve Banks• Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)—increasing

government’s power to prohibit unfair business practices and established the Federal Trade Commission

The Suffrage Movement1865-1920

• Suffrage = the right to vote

• Susan B. Anthony & Elizabeth Cady Stanton worked to get women the right to vote

• 19th Amendment (1920)—no state could deny a citizen the right to vote on the basis of gender

Seneca Falls

Role of Women Changes1870-1914

• Free public school for girls• Some colleges for women• Inventions like the sewing machine, typewriter,

and telephone added new jobs for women outside the home

• New labor-saving devices, such as the washing machine and vacuum cleaner reduced housework and provided middle-class women with more leisure time

Impact of Progressives on the Nation• Watchdog of Businesses—Americans looked to

government for protection from unfair business practices

• Expansion of Democracy—greater power in the hands of the people (like direct election of senators and primaries) in order to keep it from political bosses

• Role of Protector—protect consumers, children, women and environment not minorities

• New Tax Policies—graduated income tax changed how government was financed and helped to correct social inequalities through limited redistribution of wealth