Era of Progressive Reform

Section 1 – Origins of Progressivism

ProgressivismTerm for 1890-1920 era of various reform

movements working to bring “progress”– Roots in earlier movements (prohibitionists, social gospel mov’t,

charity reformers, settlement houses)

Goals:– Increased gov’t regulation of businesses

• Not gov’t takeover, but protection of workers’ rights

– Decreased gov’t corruption• Get rid of political machines & keep the people’s needs a priority

– Increased gov’t responsibility for welfare of American citizens• Social welfare programs – unemployment, health insurance, social

security

• Moral issues (e.g. Prohibition)

Problems of Industrialized Cities

Rapid industrialization led to:– Unemployment– Unsafe working conditions– Political corruption (political machines)

Private efforts weren’t enough pressure on government to help

Muckrakers

• Investigated one area of concern in depth

• Publicized findings through writing (books, newspapers, magazines)

• American public would put pressure on legislators to make changes

• Ex: Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” (1906)

Women as Reformers

• Took on various issues– Alcohol, workplace conditions, corruption– Most agreed that suffrage was a priority– Labor issues – ending child labor, limiting

hours, regulating workplace conditions

Resistance to Reform

• Usually from the very people Progressives were trying to help:– Immigrants– Impoverished families

• Ex: Progressives pushed for child labor laws, but many poor families could not survive without sending their children to work, so they objected.

Urban Reforms• Attacking the bosses

– Political machines were getting criticism from reformers

• Took bribes and made businesses pay them fees• Stole government money for themselves

– Efforts to:• Make gov’t more efficient• Cut down on corruption & graft

– Sometimes political machines cooperated with citizens for improvements

• Registering voters, improving infrastructure

Urban Reforms– Utilities

• Electric, water, gas• Cities try to dislodge monopolies who owned

utilities• City control = more affordable & stable

– Providing Welfare Services• Public baths, parks, work-relief, lodging houses,

playground, free kindergarten• Pingree (Detroit) & Tom Johnson (Cleveland) =

pioneering mayors• What changes did each make? (pg. 310)

Labor Reforms• Increased use of unions

– Tools: • Negotiations, strikes, boycotts, lobbying

– Goals:• Shorter hrs, better pay (min. wage & equal pay), restrictions

on child labor, better/safer working conditions

• Women were often leaders in labor reform– Florence Kelley– Mary Harris Jones– Alice Stokes Paul– Frances Perkins

Labor Reforms• Frances Perkins

– Served as NY state Industrial Commissioner

– 1st woman to hold a Cabinet post• Secretary of Labor (in FDR’s admin.)

– Fought for min. wage, unemployment, Social Security, the right to unionize, and limits on working hrs for women & children

Frances Perkins with Eleanor Roosevelt

And with Franklin Roosevelt

Can you find her?

Labor Reforms• Florence Kelley

– investigated labor conditions as a factory inspector in Chicago

– Pushed to create Bureau of Labor Statistics

– Worked to restrict child labor• By 1907, the NCLC (National Child

Labor Committee) had convinced 30 states to outlaw child labor under age 14

– Secretary of the NCL (Nat’l Consumers League)

“For more than 100 years, the National Consumers League has followed these founding principles: That the working conditions we accept for our fellow citizens should be reflected by our purchases, and that consumers should demand safety and reliability from the goods and services they buy.”

State Reforms

• More power to voters– Initiative = process by which people could

propose new laws by petition– Referendum = laws are “referred” to public –

they have the power to vote on it– Recall = power to remove politicians from

office BEFORE next election

State Reforms

• More Power to Voters– Direct primary = public can vote on party

nominees for gov’t positions• Initiated by Minnesota in 1899• By 1915, about 2/3 of the states used this

– 17th Amendment (1913) = voters can elect senators

• Used to be chosen by the State legislature

T. Roosevelt – Progressive President

• Early background– Wealthy family

– Sickly child (overcame w/ sports)

– Became a well-rounded athlete & attended Harvard

• Political history & other positions– Age 26: served in NY state legislature

– 1884: left politics, went out west – bought a ranch & started a hunting club (became interested in conservation)

– Returned to work in Civil Service Commission

– NYC police commissioner

– Asst. Secretary of the Navy (quit so he could fight in the Spanish-American War – 1898)

– Gov. of NY

• Rise to Presidency

– Served as McKinley’s VP– Became President when McKinley

was assassinated in 1901

William H. Taft• T. Roosevelt’s Secretary of War• Easily won election of 1908 (Rep.)• Progressive, not aggressive

– Continued some of T.R.’s reform efforts• Trustbusting, child labor laws, 17th Amend.

– More cautious than T.R.

• Unpopular issues– Did not lower tariffs (Payne-Aldrich Tariff)– Ballinger-Pinchot Affair (1910)

• Ballinger, Sec. of Interior, put 1 mil. acres of gov’t-protected land back into the public domain, open for private investors

• Pinchot (head of Forest Service) protested; Taft sided w/ Ballinger & fired Pinchot

• Split in the Republican Party– Progressives vs. Conservatives (“old guard”)– Lost control of the House in 1910

• 1910 – Roosevelt returned to politics– Announced plan of “new nationalism” (fed. gov’t

would be more active in exerting power for the public good)

• 1912 Rep. Convention• Many Republicans wanted T.R. as their nominee, but

Taft was the incumbent• Progressives split off, formed their own party, &

nominated Roosevelt– “I feel fit as a bull moose!” The Bull Moose Party

The Progressive Party• Platform:

– Increased voter rights– Women’s suffrage– Labor reforms (worker’s comp., min. wage, 8-hr day,

FED. child labor law)– Reg. of business

• Roosevelt was a likeable, energetic candidate– Was shot during a campaign speech in Milwaukee…and

finished the speech– Won the support of Progressives and women

Election of 1912• The line-up:

– Republican = William Taft (conservative)– Progressive = Theodore Roosevelt – Socialist = Eugene Debs– Democrat = Woodrow Wilson

• The competition– Turned ugly; Roosevelt & Taft resorted to name-calling– T.R., Debs & Wilson all offered reform, but diff. forms

• The winner: Woodrow Wilson– Former Gov. of NJ (put several reforms in place)– Ran for Pres. on platform of “New Freedom”

• Supported bank reform, trustbusting, and lower tariffs

Woodrow Wilson• Regulating business

– Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)• Prohibited monopolies from forming

– Federal Trade Commission (FTC)• Watchdog agency to monitor corporations

• Economics– Lowered tariffs– 16th Amendment – federal income tax– Federal Reserve System

• Created a system of 12 regional fed. reserve banks• These banks could issue paper money & transfer funds to

banks in their regions

Minorities & Social Reform• Main groups impacted:

– African Americans, Native Americans– Immigrants from Mexico & Asian countries

• Common issues:– Discrimination & prejudice– Violence– Segregation – Damaging legislation

• Solutions:– Band together– Fight cases in court– Protest/demonstrate

Minorities & Social Reform• African Americans

– Jim Crow laws & segregation– Violence– Discrimination & unequal treatment (housing, pay, etc.)– Lacked support from several Presidents (Roosevelt, Taft,

Wilson)– Reformers:

• Booker T. Washington – patient, gradual harmony• W.E.B. Du Bois – actively fight discrimination• NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People)– Black & white leaders; goal = to ensure the rights & equality of all

U.S. citizens

• Black institutions (banks, colleges, companies, churches)

Minorities & Social Reform• Mexican Americans

– Lived mostly in the SW & W; agricultural jobs

– Paid less than white workers

– Created barrios (ethnic communities) & mutualistas (mutual aid groups)

• Asian Americans– Agricultural work – West coast & Hawaii

– Chinese Exclusion Act

– Gentlemen’s Agreement

– Segregation (schools,

communities)

Minorities & Social Reform• Native Americans

– Dawes Act (1887) divided reservations into family plots– Land was unsuitable; many N. Americans sold it– Society of American Indians

• Goal = social justice, education about Native life• Problem = it encouraged Natives to assimilate to American life• Ended in 1925

• Overall, not very “Progressive” in this area as a country– Small groups & private organizations had to work to

fight discrimination and get justice or fair treatment