The Progressive Era

The Progressive EraChapter 21The Progressive EraEra in the United States between 1900-1917 in which important movements challenged traditional relationships and attitudes

Goal was to change things for the better

Used new techniques such as lobbying and demonstrationsWanted people to notice!Main goal of the Progressives#1 priority was gaining the vote for women

Brought Groups TogetherProgressives came from all areas of life and society

Crossed all lines of class, education, occupation, geography, gender, and at times race and ethnicity

Big BusinessBusinesses and Corporations were continuing to grow

This took opportunities away from small firms and workers

This caused social tensions to risePeople were upsetEmployer Safety Still an IssueWages remained smallSouthern cotton mills employed children as young as 7

Triangle Shirtwaist Company

Triangle Shirtwaist Company1911: Located in New York City

Fire killed 146 workers, mostly women

Were trapped due to locked exits and narrow walkways

Found burnt skeletons huddled over sewing machines

ImmigrationImmigration was still rising

Immigrants and their children comprised more than 70% of the population of New York, Chicago, and Buffalo in 1910QuoteThe immigrant newcomers of recent years are men of the lowest class from the South of Italy, and men of the meaner sort out of Hungary and Poland, men out of the ranks where there was neither skill nor energy, nor any initiative or quick intelligence

Guess who said this?Old WoodrowFuture President Woodrow WilsonWas President of Princeton University when comment was made

Social Gospel MovementProtestant ministers

Wanted to introduce religious ethics into industrial relations

Appealed to churches to meet their social responsibilitiesWashington GladdenWas upset that powerful members of his congregation were able to stop a strikeBegan ministry of helping working class people and neighborhoodsSupported unions and called for profit sharing

MuckrakersSamuel McClure sent his reporters to uncover political and corporate corruption

MuckrakersTerm came from Teddy Roosevelt

This caught on and more people started to take this approach to journalismLabors Demand for RightsWanted laws to compensate workers injured on the job, curb child labor, and regulate the employment of women

Members of the IWW were known as Wobblies used sit down strikes, sit-ins, civil rights movement of the 1960s would adopt these same tactics

Skewed PerceptionRespectable people viewed them as violent revolutionaries, despite the fact that most of the violence was directed towards the Wobblies

Expanding the Womans SphereBy early 20th century more women than ever before were working outside the home

Women were becoming Social housekeepers

Would focus on crime and disease, and supported kindergartens, foster home programs, juvenile courts, and compulsory school attendance

Transatlantic InfluenceAmerica was becoming more and more influenced by what was happening in European nations

European reformers were working to solve many of the same problems that existed in the United States, and they were succeeding

Americans wanted to follow the lead of EuropeSocialismMany who fought for these reforms in the United States also considered themselves to be Socialists

American socialists condemned social and economic inequities, criticized limited government, and demanded public ownership of railroads, utilities, and communications

Upton Sinclair was a SocialistSocialism Scared ManyEugene Debs helped organize the Socialist Party of America

Won many elections in Wisconsin and New York

Most progressives considered Socialism to be too drastic and extremeOpponents of ReformNot all Americans supported progressive reforms, and many people regarded as progressives on some issues opposed change in other areas

For instance, many Social Gospelers opposed womens rights

Protestant FundamentalistsProtestant Fundamentalists disagreed with those in the Social Gospel Movement

Stressed personal salvation rather than social reform

Believed in the literal accuracy and divine inspiration of the Bible

Protestant QuoteTo attempt reform in the black depths of the great city would be as useless as trying to purify the ocean by pouring into it a few gallons of spring water

Billy Sunday

Billy SundayMost famous Protestant Fundamentalistsagainst all reforms but prohibition and denounced labor unions, womens rights, and business regulation interfering with traditional values

Reforming SocietySettlement workers eventually concluded that only government power could achieve social justice and demanded that state and federal governments protect the weak and disadvantaged

Efforts to secure a child labor law were first and foremost

Protective legislation for women was also a goal for reformers

Minimum WageThe first minimum wage laws were passed, but they were below the poverty line

All these laws did was assure not economic independence but rather continued dependence on husbands and fathers

Proposals for health insurance and old age pensions went nowhere, and the US continued to lag behind Western Europe

Reshaping Public EducationAttendance laws, kindergartens, age-graded elementary schools, professional training for teachers, PTA associations, and school nurses became standard

Jacob Riis: The kindergartner would rediscover the natural feelings that the tenement had smothered

Stronger Education in NorthThe South lagged behind in education

The Southern education system remained segregated and wasted resources

Spent 12x as much per white student as opposed to black students in South Carolina

Challenging Gender Restrictions

Margaret SangerRadically changed social ideas of women

Was concerned about poor women who were worn out from repeated pregnancies

Also concerned about how easily it was to injure or kill yourself with a self induced (Knitting needle abortions) abortionBirth ControlDespite federal laws preventing it, Sanger promoted birth control

Enforced MotherhoodA womans body belongs to herself alone. It does not belong to the United States of America or any other government on the face of the earthWomen cannot be on an equal footing with men until they have full and complete control over their reproductive function

Very ControversialWould be indicted for distributing information about contraception and would flee to Europe

Unpopular Progressive ReformsThere were Progressive movements that were not so positive, one was the restriction of immigration

Japanese and Mexicans were restricted in California

Others demanded the Americanization of immigrants already in the country

Prohibition

ProhibitionProhibition was closely linked to worries about immigrants

Wanted to destroy immigrants old country ties and impose an American culture

Saw liquor as a cause of crime, poverty, and family violence

Prohibition and ImmigrantsImmigrants viewed liquor and the neighborhood saloon as vital parts of daily life

Prohibition became an example of Americanization pressures

Narcotics and prostitution was also a focus, but not as much as alcohol

Other New LawsHarrison Act 1914, prohibited the distribution and use of narcotics except for medical purposes

Mann Act of 1910 banned the interstate transport of women for immoral purposes

Racism in Progressive EraVery Common

Lynching was defended on the floor of the U.S. Senate by a Southern Progressive

Anti-black race riots were becoming more and more common in the north, New York in 1900, and in Springfield, Illinois in 1908

Black Women Involvement

Getting ActiveBlack women created progressive organizations and established settlement houses, kindergartens, and day care centers in Atlanta

Remember Him?

Niagara MovementFounded by W.E.B. DuBois

organized in 1905 to promote racial integration, civil and political rights, and equal access to economic opportunity

Organized the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Womens Suffrage

Voting RightsRather than insisting on the justice of women suffrage or emphasizing equal rights, they spoke of the special moral and maternal instincts women could bring to politics if allowed to vote

Made it seem less radical

Washington became the first state to approve women suffrage

19th Amendmentconstitutional revision in 1920 that established womens right to vote

Voting Reform

Australian Ballotsecret voting and the use of official ballots rather than party tickets

Listed all candidates

Led to quiet, orderly elections

What we use today