Progressive Era Reform

Changing the Nation1890s-1917

Who were the Progressives?”

• Those who wanted “progress” – Defined as reform or change– In politics, economics & in society

• Those who believed it was their job to push for changes

• Those who believed it was/is the government’s duty was to make the changes last

• Many were former Populists or current members of the Socialist or Communist party

• Upton Sinclair• Ida Tarbell• Lincoln Steffans• Theodore Dreiser• Frank Norris• David Graham Phillips• Herbert Croly• William Allen White

Writers (a.k.a.Muckrakers)

Social Reformers• Booker T. Washington• W.E.B. Dubois• Jane Addams• Florence Kelly• Lillian Wald• John Dewey• Charlotte Perkins Gilman• Kate Chopin• Carrie Chapman Catt/NAWSA• Alice Paul/NWP• WCTU/Frances Willard• Anti-Saloon League• Carrie Nation• Walter Rauschenbusch

Political Reformers• Samuel M. Jones• Eugene Debs• Hazen Pingree• Hiram Johnson• Tom Johnson• Gifford Pinchot• John Muir• Robert LaFollette

Progressive Presidents…

Trustbuster Teddy Roosevelt

• Regulation– Coal Miner’s Strike, 1901– Trustbusting

• Consumer Protection– Neill-Reynolds Report

• Meat Inspection Act 1906• Pure Food & Drug Act 1906

• Transportation/Communication– Northern Securities Case– Elkins Act 1903– Hepburn Act 1906

• Conservation– Land Revision Act & Forest Reserve Act 1890

– Nat. Reclamation Act 1902– Nat. Monuments Act 1908

Progressive Presidents…

The Honorable William Howard Taft

• Regulation– More trustbusting– Parcel & Postal Savings Banks– Dept of Commerce and Labor divided

• Transportation/Communication– Mann-Elkins Act, 1910

• Conservation– Added 1 million forest acres to national reserve

• Disappointment to Progressives?– Sale of Alaska land, 1909– Payne-Aldrich Tariff, 1909

Progressive Presidents…

Making the World Safe for Democracy Woodrow Wilson

• Regulation– Fed. Reserve Act 1913– Clayton Antitrust Act 1914– Fed. Trade Commission 1913– Sheppard-Towner Act 1921

• Consumer Protection– Narcotics Act 1914

• Conservation– More National Parks & Monuments

– National Park Service Act 1916– Federal Water Power Act 1920

• Disappointment to Progressives?– Underwood-Simmons Tariff 1913

Local & State Accomplishments• Direct primaries• Secret Ballot• Initiative, referendum & recall

• Commissioner & City Managers

• Women’s Labor Laws• Child Labor Laws• Workmen’s Compensation Laws

National Accomplishments

• Federal Income Tax– 16th Amendment

• Direct Election of US Senators– 17th Amendment

• Prohibition– 18th Amendment

• National Women’s Suffrage– 19th Amendment

Evaluation of the Progressive Era• Uneven Pattern of reform

– Reform follows “hot” and “cold” pattern

• Court Roadblocks– SC ruled some reforms unconstitutional

• Machine Politics Survived– Big businesses & bosses still control the political process

• Gov’t Intervention = anti-democracy?– Enlightened despotism or goals of socialism & communism

• Reformers’ Dark Sides– Eugenics, Racism, Moral Control

• Interests turned toward WWI– World events took center stage

Reflection Qs: discuss with your table partner, then write

your answers:1. Who was the most significant

reformer of the era? Explain your choice.

2. Which reform do you think had the greatest and most significant impact on American society today? Explain.

3. List two things that you learned that were interesting &/or that you will remember easily a month from now.