Chapter 11

The Progressive Reform Era

The Origins of Progressivism

• The Big Idea– Beginning in the late 1800’s, reformers known as

Progressive worked to try to solve the problems of American society.

– Progressive Era: The period from abut 1890 to 1920, during which a variety of reforms were enacted at the local, state, and federal levels.

Origins of Progressivism• During the Progressive Era, the period from about 1890 to 1920, reformers tried to

alleviate the effects of industrialization, immigration, and urbanization. Their goals were to make government responsive to its citizens’ needs; curb the power of wealthy interests; expand the power of government; and make government more efficient and less corrupt. Among reformers were leading journalists and writers, whose work influenced public opinion. Sometimes called muckrakers because they dug up “muck” about wrongdoing among businesses and politicians, they investigated terrible conditions in slums and sweatshops. Upton Sinclair exposed the filthy conditions in the meatpacking industry. Ida Tarbell revealed the abuses of the Standard Oil Company. Many outraged readers joined reform groups and demanded government action.

• Reform organizations included many socialists who favored public control of property and income. They hoped to bring about economic and political reform by ending the capitalist system. Unlike socialists, Progressives did not support ending the capitalists system. Instead they sought to reform it. Women and women’s groups played an active role in the Progressive movement. Florence Kelley’s efforts helped limit child labor and regulate sweatshop conditions. Mary Harris “Mother” Jones fought for unions and child labor laws, campaigning naitonwide for these things in the mining industry. She helped found the International Workers of the World (IWW) in 1905.

The Origins of Progressivism

1. In the early twentieth century, reform movements start to spread throughout America in reaction to problems created by rapid industrialization, immigration, and urbanization.

2. Progressivism is the term applied to this era of social reform, and it encompasses movements with reform goals in social, moral, economic, and political spheres.

Igniting Reform: Writers and New Ideas

1. Muckraking writers and journalists, such as Henry George and Lincoln Steffens, write powerful pieces about the corruption of business and politics, while reformers create the Socialist Party in 1901.

2. Unions fight for better working conditions, and women create and join reform groups in large numbers.

3. Women are especially active in working to develop child labor laws and improve working conditions.

4. Two notable women in this cause are Florence Kelley and Mary Harris Jones, or Mother Jones.

Progressive Reform Organizations

1. Despite Progressives’ efforts, some of the Americans they seek to help actually oppose their efforts.

2. Some poor families, for example, resist child labor laws because they need the income, and Progressives are sometimes perceived as insensitive to the poor.

Progressive Legislation

• The Big Idea– Important progressive reforms were made by city,

state, and federal governments during the early 1900s.

Progressive Legislation• Progressives sought an expanded role for government through social welfare

programs. These programs would include unemployment benefits, health benefits, and social security. Many of the first reforms occurred at the municipal, or city level. The reformers were successful in getting many cities to take over utilities from monopolies and provide better and more affordable service. Many cities also began to provide welfare services. On the state level, Progressives helped push through laws giving voters more power. The direct primary, in which citizens rather than political leaders choose political candidates, was the result of Progressive efforts. Other Progressive successes at the state level included the initiative, the referendum, and recall. An initiative allowed voters to put a law they wanted on the ballot by petition; through a referendum, citizens could approve or reject a state law; and recall allowed them to remove public officials from office before an election. Many state governments were also persuaded to make reforms in the workplace. Led by Wisconsin governor Robert M. La Follette, states began to adopt a public-academic alliance to improve government. On the federal level, President Roosevelt helped the workers by pushing for a “square deal” in a mine strike. This slogan became reflective of the progressive legislation passed during the Roosevelt presidency. His presidency pushed through laws to break up monopolies, to protect the environment and public health, and to improve working conditions. Amendments to the Constitution authorized a federal income tax, direct election of senators, and prohibited production and sale of alcoholic beverages.

An Expanded Role for Government

1. Progressives begin to make important reforms at the municipal level working with politicians to register voters, improve city services, establish public health programs, enforce tenement housing codes, and produce workplace improvements.

2. In some cities, reformers succeed in regulating or removing the monopolies that controlled water, gas, and electricity.

3. Some mayors institute city-supported services such as public parks and housing.

State Reforms1. At the state level reformers institute direct primaries,

initiatives, referendums, and recalls, all of which give voters more political power and direct influence in lawmaking and choosing candidates.

2. Progressives also work to curb workplace hazards and develop accident insurance and compensation systems.

3. However, most business owners resist workplace reforms, and the courts support this opposition.

4. Child labor laws are one area of major reform success; by 1907 nearly two thirds of the states outlaw child labor by children younger than 14.

Federal Reforms

1. Important progressive federal reforms are enforcement of antitrust laws, strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission, and passing food and drug inspection and labeling legislation.

2. the Department of Labor and new U.S. Forest Service are founded.

3. The Sixteenth Amendment is passed, enabling the federal government to collect income taxes, and the Seventeenth Amendment, allowing for direct election of senators.

Progressivism Under Taft and Wilson• When William Howard Taft was elected President in 1908, he promised to continue

progressive policies, but he also sided with big business. Taft favored lowering tariffs and angered conservationists, who worked to protect natural resources, by supporting business interests that wanted to develop public lands. Progressives in the Republican party rebelled against Taft, and former President Roosevelt turned against him, calling for more reforms in business regulation, welfare laws, workplace protection for women and children, and voting reforms. Roosevelt called his program the New Nationalism. Roosevelt and Progressives formed the Progressive party, nicknamed the Bull Moose Party, and in 1912 Roosevelt ran for President. His candidacy split the Republican party, and the election went to Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Wilson supported many progressive reforms. Tariffs were lowered, and the Clayton Antitrust Act strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act by stating that labor unions were not monopolies, thereby legalizing unions and preventing courts from issuing injunctions. Wilson established the Federal Trade Commission to enforce regulation on businesses. To regulate the supply of credit, Wilson created the Federal Reserve System, a network of federal banks that hold money deposits from national banks and use the money to increase the credit supply when necessary. But Wilson took little action to pursue social justice reform. Reform was of less interest in America as World War I approached, and Progressivism began to die out. However, the voice for women’s suffrage only grew stronger.

Progressivism Under Taft and Wilson

Taft’s Presidency…1. In 1908 Republican William Howard Taft is

elected, and his compromises over tariffs and conflicts over conservation issues anger Progressives.

2. They break with Taft, form the Bull Moose Party, and persuade Roosevelt to run again.

Taft and Wilson Continued

Turmoil in Republican Party Election of 19121. Even though Progressives feel betrayed by

Taft, he does reserve large tracts of public lands, pursue antitrust suits, and support passage of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments.

2. the Republican vote splits between him and Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, is elected.

Wilson’s Policies as President

1. Wilson is seen as a dedicated reformer, and he passes tariff reductions and the Clayton Antitrust Act, strengthening antitrust efforts and legalizing unions.

2. But little is done for tenant and migrant farmers and non-union workers.

3. The rights of African Americans remain ignored.4. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson all allow

discrimination in the political process and government.

Limits of Progressivism

1. By the end of 1916, America’s potential involvement in World War I smothers reform efforts.

2. the only reform movement that continues to strengthen is the women’s suffrage movement.

Suffrage at Last• Women first demanded the right to vote in the mid-nineteenth century. Among the

early leaders were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who supported civil disobedience, the nonviolent refusal to obey a law to change it. Another strategy was to press for a constitutional amendment to give women the vote and pressuring individual states to grant voting rights. In 1890 Anthony and other veteran leaders of the movement joined with younger leaders to form the National American Womens Suffrage Association. Women were gaining more rights, including owning their own property, and many more were demanding the right to vote. However, the two main leaders, Anthony and Stanton, died before their movement was realized. A new generation of women suffragists, under the leadership of Alice Paul, formed the Congressional Union, which called for radical change and staged militant protests for a suffrage amendment. NAWSA also continued its efforts through the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt. The CU split from NAWSA and staged a massive protest in front of the White House. They were all arrested and suffered terrible conditions in Jail. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, women committed themselves to the war effort, and arguments that women were not politically equal to men were forgotten. In 1918 Congress proposed the Nineteenth Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Ratified in 1920, the amendment was the last great reform of the Progressive Era.

Suffragists Strategies1. Two key players in the suffrage movement are Elizabeth

Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.2. Suffragists use two strategies to obtain the right to vote:

through a constitutional amendment and by getting individual states to give women the vote.

3. both efforts are hard fought but fail repeatedly.4. By 1900, however, growing numbers of women are

demanding the vote, and a campaign by the Congressional Union focuses public attention on the issue.

5. World War I temporarily interrupts the effort, but 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment, giving women the right to vote, is ratified.

Women’s SuffrageEfforts by Individuals

Alice Paul

Susan B. Anthony

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Carrie Chapman Catt

Lucy Burns

Strategies

Lecturing & writing

Civil Disobedience

Passage at state level

Seek a constitutional amendment

militancy

Hunger strikes

Women’s Suffrage

Efforts by Organizations

National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

American Equal Rights Association

National Woman Suffrage Association

American Women Suffrage Association

Congressional Union