section1 the progressive movement · pdf file• the role of african americans, and ... 442...

Section1Section1

PFigure 25Timeline1900-1930

At the turn of the century, widespread poverty and harsh working conditionsled people to become more aware of social and economic problems. Moreand more people looked to the government to help correct problems in soci-ety and the economy. This became known as the progressive movement. The

The ProgressiveMovement

As you read look for:• the effects of the progressive movement,• changes in child labor laws,• the temperance movement,• women’s right to vote,• the role of African Americans, and• vocabulary terms: progressive movement, trust,

temperance movement, referendum, bootlegging,feminist, secret ballot, and demagogue.

1927Charles Lindberg’s firstsolo nonstop flightacross Atlantic Ocean

1926National BroadcastingCompany organized

1906San Francisco destroyed by an

earthquake and fire

1909NAACP

founded

1912Titanic sinks on maiden voyage

1914Panama Canal completed

1919Nationwide prohibition

enacted1922

Lincoln Memorial inWashington, D. C., dedicated

1924The first Winter Olympics held

in Chamonix, France

1922Law limiting work week passed

1921Agricultural depression began in SC

1918World War Iended

1917U.S. entered World War I

1900Industrial School opened

1903First child labor law passed inSouth Carolina

1915Statewide prohibition enacted

1916Anderson Motor Car Company began

production in Rock Hill

1900 1910 1920 1930

442 Chapter 17 The Progressive Era

Above: In South Carolinaand other states, childrenwent to work in the textilemills to add to the familyincome. These children areworking in the spinningroom at Olympia Mill inColumbia.

progressives were concerned with correcting political corruption, poverty,disease, and illiteracy. They also tried to eliminate business abuses.

President Theodore Roosevelt encouraged the federal Department ofJustice to attack trusts, which he thought were hurting both business andthe people. A trust is a combination of firms that control all or nearly all ofthe business in an industry so there is little, if any, competition.

Roosevelt also convinced Congress in 1906 to pass the Pure Food and DrugAct. It established the Food and DrugAdministration, which set health andsanitation regulations for most large in-dustries. The Food and Drug Act waspassed in response to a book written byUpton Sinclair called The Jungle, whichexposed the unsanitary practices of themeat-packing industry in Chicago.

While these two actions on the partof the progressives eventually had animpact on South Carolina, other issuesthey pushed had more direct implica-tions for South Carolina. Those issueswere: ending child labor; outlawing theuse of alcohol; extending suffrage towomen; ensuring the fair treatment ofworkers, especially convicts; and im-proving education. The progressivesalso wanted to make government moreaccessible to the people. Progressives inSouth Carolina did not officially alignwith any of the national parties push-ing these issues but worked within theexisting Democratic party in the state.

Child LaborWith the growth of textile mills and coal mines in the late nineteenth

century, finding a source of cheap labor became more and more importantto the mill and mine owners. The owners found one source of cheap laborin children. In 1880, one-fourth of all southern textile workers were underthe age of sixteen. The progressives questioned whether it was morally rightto allow young children to work long, hard hours. They also knew that suchlabor was affecting the health of young workers. Several states began adopt-ing child labor laws in the mid-1880s. In South Carolina, mill owners ac-cused child labor reformers of trying to destroy their companies.

The first changes in South Carolina’s child labor laws came in 1903. Alaw passed at that time set twelve as the minimum age for children to work

Section 1 The Progressive Movement 443

in factories. A 1917 law raised the minimum age to fourteen. But some peopledid not think fourteen was high enough, and in 1920, the federal govern-ment passed a law that protected children under the age of sixteen. The lawprohibited the shipment across state lines of any goods made with child la-bor. This law affected many industries, states, and people throughout thenation, but especially those in the South. In 1922, the U.S. Supreme Court,however, ruled that the problem of child labor was a state issue and that itwas the responsibility of the states to pass child labor laws.

South Carolina did not address child labor again until 1937. That yearthe minimum age was raised to sixteen, which is the current age at which achild can go to work. However, none of these laws affected children whoworked in family-owned businesses. While child labor was not addressedin the state during the 1920s, other labor-related laws were passed. In 1922,South Carolina passed a law that limited the amount of time a person couldwork in a factory to fifty-five hours a week. Later, in 1938, another lawlowered that time to forty hours a week.

The Temperance MovementOne of the most successful organized at-

tempts at reform during the progressive erawas the temperance movement, which triedto convince people to avoid alcoholic bever-ages. The abuse of alcohol had been an is-sue in South Carolina since the 1880s. In1892, there had been a referendum, or a voteof the people, on total prohibition. Gover-nor Tillman thought that total prohibitionwould cause too many problems and insteadestablished the State Dispensary.

Figure 26Excerpt from the 21st Amendmentto the U.S. Constitution

Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to theConstitution of the United States is hereby repealed.Section 2. The transportation or importation into anyState, Territory, or possession of the United States fordelivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in viola-tion of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Right: Illustrations suchas these were used toshow people the virtues oftemperance.


SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

South Carolina was ahead of therest of the nation in the temperancemovement. In 1908, twenty-twocounties were “dry.” By 1909, all butsix counties were dry. In 1915, state-wide prohibition was enacted. In1918, Congress adopted the Eigh-teenth Amendment, which was rati-fied by the states in 1919. Thisamendment made it illegal to manu-facture, sell, and transport “intoxicat-ing beverages.” For the next fourteenyears, the nation was legally dry. Butthe law was very difficult to enforce.Bootlegging, so called because mencarried illegal whiskey in the legs oftheir tall boots, became a commonpractice in many areas. It is estimatedthat between 25,000 and 40,000South Carolinians were involved inthe illegal alcohol business. Illegal al-cohol led to a crime increase. In 1933,the ratification of the Twenty-FirstAmendment ended national prohibi-tion. South Carolina ended its ownprohibition in 1935. Today, the sale ofalcohol is a local option (choice).Statewide, however, no alcohol can besold on Sunday in grocery stores andother retail outlets, though individualrestaurants are allowed to sell it if thevoters approve.

Women’s SuffrageThe issue of giving women the right to vote is as old as the United States.

In the 1770s, Abigail Adams, wife of later President John Adams, warnedher husband to give women the right to vote or men would regret not doingso. President Adams, however, did not follow his wife’s advice, and a move-ment to extend suffrage to women began in the early 1800s. Susan B. An-thony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were early leaders in the women’s suffragemovement in the 1840s.

South Carolina’s women received little attention in their struggle to gainthe right to vote. The Democratic party in South Carolina refused to evenconsider the right of women to vote. The Grimke sisters had advocated

Rollin Kirby was not in favor of Prohibition and created“Mr. Dry,” the black-coated, sour-faced killjoy who representedthe worst elements of Prohibitionists. This image was quickly

adopted by other cartoonists.


The Art of PoliticsThe Art of Politics

women’s rights at the same time they spokeout against slavery. Mary Boykin Chesnut wasa strong feminist, a person in favor of equalrights for women. She did not lead any pub-lic movements, but her diary is full of com-ments about unequal treatment for women.

The state had an Equal Rights Associationin the 1890s, but it accomplished little, if any-thing, toward achieving equality for women.The movement was revived in 1912 inSpartanburg by Mrs. John Gary Evans, thewife of the former governor. South Carolina

had one leader on the national level, Anita Pollitzer of Charleston. She waschairman of the National Women’s Party.

In 1919, Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment. It stated that theright of a citizen to vote shall not be denied by “the United States or by anystate on account of sex.” By 1920 three-fourths of the states had ratified it,making it part of the Constitution. South Carolina women were then al-lowed to vote. But it was not until 1969 that the South Carolina legislaturevoted to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment!

Convict LeasingConvict leasing began in South Carolina in 1873. The state rented prison-

ers out to private businesses, especially to phosphate mines and railroad build-ers. Since someone else was taking care of the prisoners, the state’s expenseswere reduced while the leasing income was added to the state treasury.

But those who leased the convicts abused them. Within two years, over150 of the leased prisoners had died. When they were not working, theprisoners were kept in small cages. The cages also often housed rats, lice,and other insects that carried diseases. When the public learned of their treat-ment, concerned citizens called for change. About 1895, the state replacedconvict leasing with the chain gang.

The chain gang put prisoners back under state supervision. Prisoners worean iron ring around each ankle; the rings were connected by heavy chains.They did public work, especially taking care of roads. At the end of the workday, they returned to camps or farms. Living conditions in these camps wereunsanitary, and treatment was harsh.

When the progressives found out how the prisoners were treated, they calledfor changes. In 1900, the Industrial School was established to separate youngoffenders from older criminals. The school operated until 1911, when thelegislature said that the school was punishing more than it was reforming.Chain gangs remained part of the prison system until the mid-1960s, whenthey were abolished. In 1995, however, work crews returned to prison life,with some prisoners working on farms and road clean-up details by choice.

Above: South CarolinianAnita Pollitzer was one of theleaders in the nationalwomen’s suffrage movement.

Figure 27The 19th Amendment to theU.S. Constitution

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall notbe denied or abridged by the United States or by any Stateon account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforcethis article by appropriate legislation.


Top: This early 1900sclassroom was in a Barnwellschool. Above: The ChinaSprings school was a typicalone-room schoolhouse.Today it is on display at theAiken County Museum.

EducationUnder the 1895 constitution, South Carolina was to provide

separate schools for blacks and for whites. In no way, however,did the state provide equal funding for the two systems. In fact,the state made little effort to get students—white or black—to at-tend school. Governor Coleman L. Blease, speaking in January1911, stated, “In my opinion, compulsory education in the handsof the State means disrupting the home, for it dethrones the au-thority of the parents and places paid agents of the State in controlof the children and destroys family government.” Blease and otherstate leaders feared that a compulsory attendance law would robthe textile industry and other industries of cheap labor. The atti-tude toward state support for education is best seen in the amountof money spent per pupil. Throughout the state, funding waslow for both white and black students. White students were fundedat about $380 per student (in 2004 dollars) and black students werefunded at about $31 per student. In addition to low funding, studentattendance requirements were essentially non-existent for students over ten.

But as the Progressive Era moved forward, many educated South Caro-linians—especially women—began to push the state to improve its educa-tional system. The election of Richard I. Manning as governor in 1914signaled a wholesale reform of many South Carolina laws affecting educa-tion. Manning pushed through a compulsory attendance law and increasedschool funding.


Top: Coleman LivingstonBlease served as governorfrom 1911 to 1915. Above:Governor Robert Coopersupported raising taxes toincrease spending on publiceducation.

Manning’s successor, Robert Cooper, supported raising taxes tofurther increase spending on public education. In 1920, South Caro-lina had the lowest per pupil expenditure in the country. One wayto address the funding problem was to increase the amount of timestudents spent in school. In 1924, the legislature passed the “6-0-1”law, which required all white children to attend school for at leastseven months a year. The state paid for six months; the local schooldistricts paid for one month. The law also established minimumstandards and salaries for teachers.

The increased funding had an impact on both white and blackstudents. In 1920, 745 diplomas were awarded to white students.That number increased to over 3,000 by 1925 and to over 5,000 in1930. In 1940, 10,717 diplomas were issued to white students.

Black students eventually benefited also. Though several excel-lent black high schools like Booker T. Washington High in Co-lumbia existed, no black student earned a South Carolina diplomauntil 1930. That year, 104 black students received a state diplomaafter the South Carolina State Department of Education recognizedthree black high schools. By 1940, the number of diplomas climbedto 1,009.

PoliticsThe Progressive Era also saw changes in many areas of poli-

tics. Political parties began to hold direct primaries to choose theparty’s candidates for office. Many states submitted proposed leg-islation to voters by means of the referendum. Several statesadopted the recall election, by which voters could remove anelected official from office.

In many states, people voted openly in front of others. As a result,many workers voted for candidates they did not want because theycould lose their jobs by not voting for the candidates the owner sup-ported. To solve this problem, all states adopted the secret ballot.

In South Carolina, the Democratic party controlled theGovernor’s Mansion, the state legislature, and local governmentsduring the Progressive Era. The governors who immediately fol-lowed Benjamin Tillman continued his policies and shared many

of his attitudes regarding race and state government responsibilities.Coleman L. Blease of Newberry was the most colorful of the governors

to follow Tillman. Blease served from 1911 to 1915 and was elected prima-rily by speaking out against blacks. Blease was a demagogue, someone whostirred up the people with his speeches. The most progressive of SouthCarolina’s governors during the period was probably Richard I. Manningfrom Sumter. He served from 1915 to 1919 and improved many of SouthCarolina’s roads.


Above: W. E. B. Bubois wasthe first African American toreceive a Ph.D. from HarvardUniversity in 1896. Du Boisbelieved that people ofAfrican descent should,because of their commoninterests, work together tobattle prejudice andinequality. He became oneof the most importantprotest leaders in the UnitedStates during the first half ofthe 20th century, and hehelped create the NationalAssociation for theAdvancement of ColoredPeople (NAACP) in 1909.

African Americans in the Progressive EraBy 1900, there was an almost unbridgeable gap between

blacks and whites in South Carolina. Opinions varied onthe solutions, but most agreed on at least one major cause:misunderstandings caused by lack of communication be-tween the races.

When slavery was abolished, contact between the racesbecame almost nonexistent. The races grew fearful andsuspicious of each other. George T. Winston, president ofthe North Carolina College of Agricultural and Mechani-cal Arts, wrote:

The two races are drifting apart. They were closer togetherin slavery than they have been since. Old time sympathies,friendships, and affections created by two centuries of sla-very, are rapidly passing away. A single generation of free-dom has almost destroyed them. Unless a change is made,coming generations will be separated by active hatred andhostility.

Winston believed that training should be provided forblacks so that they could become an important part of thelabor force.

William Wells Brown, a novelist and dramatist, had a different attitude.During Reconstruction, he called on blacks to unite and to gain confidence inthemselves and one another. Brown called on blacks to take charge of theirown well-being and destiny. “The time for the Negro to work out his destinyhas arrived. Now let him show himself equal to the hour. . . . Black men, don’tbe ashamed to show your colors and to own them.” Brown realized that edu-cation was important and encouraged blacks to get an education. He alsoencouraged blacks to leave the South and its oppression.

W. E. B. DuBois (pronounced “Du Boyce”) was a professor at AtlantaUniversity and one of the founders of the National Association for theAdvancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. DuBois believed thatblacks needed to take responsibility for improving their economic and so-cial position. He did not think the white leaders would act to change thesituation, so the blacks needed to do it themselves.

We must accept some of the race prejudice in the South as a fact. . . . Wecannot hope then in this generation, or for several generations, that the massof whites can be brought to assume that close sympathetic and self-sacrific-ing leadership of the blacks which their present situation so eloquently de-mands. Such leadership, such social teaching and example, must come fromthe blacks themselves. . . . If this be true, then here is the path out of the


1. What social conditions in the early 1900s changed people’sminds about government involvement in their lives?

2. There were groups who favored child labor and those whoopposed it. What were the arguments of each side?

3. How did chain gangs contribute to the state? What were theproblems associated with chain gangs?

It’s Your TurnIt’s Your Turn

economic situation, and here is the imperative demand for trained Negroleaders of character and intelligence, men of skill, men of light and leading,college-bred men, black captains of industry and missionaries of culture.

Booker T. Washington had been born a slave, was educated at HamptonInstitute in Virginia, and founded Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He becamea national spokesperson for race relations. At the Cotton States Expositionheld in Atlanta in 1895, Washington made a famous speech. Washingtonencouraged blacks to begin where they were rather than to flee the South.

To those of my race who depend upon bettering their condition in a foreignland, or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relationswith the Southern white man who is their next-door neighbor, I would say:“Cast down your bucket where you are”—cast it down in making friends,in every manly way, of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded.

He offered whites the same advice.

Casting down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging themas you are doing on these grounds, and, with education of head, hand, andheart, you will find that they will buy your surplus land, make blossom thewaste places in your fields, and run your factories. While doing this, youcan be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will besurrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and unresentful peoplethat the world has seen.

Unlike DuBois who advocated complete mixing of the races, Washing-ton did not promote social mixing. He said, “In all things that are purelysocial we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all thingsessential to mutual progress.”

Nationally the NAACP worked to improve race relations. And while therewere South Carolinians who supported the positions of the NAACP, activelocal chapters of the organization did not form until after World War I.

Above: Booker T. Washing-ton urged southern blacksto remain in the South andrebuild the region ratherthan migrate to northerncities to seek factory jobs.


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