the progressive era
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AMERICA SEEKS REFORMS IN THE EARLY 20 TH CENTURY. THE PROGRESSIVE ERA. Origins of Progressivism. Middle class reformers addressed social problems Issues: Working conditions, rights for women and children, economic, political, environmental and social reform. Progressive Ideology. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
AMERICA SEEKS REFORMS IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Origins of Progressivism
Middle class reformers addressed social problems
Issues: Working conditions, rights for women and children, economic, political, environmental and social reform
Progressive Ideology
Accepted industrial capitalism Faith in progress; optimism Belief in use of govt. to reform
society Use of Evangelical
Protestantism Faith in New Ideas and
SciencePower of experts
Four Goals of Progressivism
1. Protect Social Welfare
2. Promote Moral Improvement
3. Create Economic Reform
4. Foster Efficiency
1. Protect Social Welfare
Industrialization largely unregulated Employers felt little responsibility
toward workers Settlement homes & churches serve
community YMCA, YWCA & Salvation Army take
service roles
2. Promote Moral Development
Social problems caused by personal behavior
Proposed prohibition Clash of science & religion
3. Create Economic Reform
Americans question the capitalist economic system
Workers embrace socialism Eugene Debs organized the
American Socialist Party in 1901
Debs encouraged workers to reject American
Capitalism
4. Fostering Efficiency
Political leaders start government & electoral reforms to improve efficiency
Industrial leader Frederick Taylor using time & motion studies to improve factory efficiency
Taylorism became an Industry fad – factories complete tasks quickly
Women Lead Reforms
Leading progressive reformers were women
Women reformers improve conditions at work & home
Many women graduated from new women’s colleges
Colleges like Vassar and Smith allowed women to excel
Social Welfare
Women in the Workforce
Women w/o education did domestic work
70% of women servants in 1870 Opportunities for women increased
in the cities 1900: 1 out of 5 women worked Garment trade, office work,
department stores and classrooms had women
Social Welfare
Strategy for Suffrage
Suffragists tried three approaches for suffrage:
1. State legislatures to adopt vote (Succeeded in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Colorado)
2. Challenge the 14th Amendment3. Push for Constitutional
Amendment
Social Welfare
Women Win Suffrage
Native-born, educated, middle-class women grew more and more impatient
Local, state and national organizations, protests and World War I, women finally get the vote in 1920
The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920
Social Welfare
NAACP & Civil Rights
1909: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People founded
Goal: full equality among the races
Means: legal action
1964 Application
Social Welfare
New Roles for Women
Many are now nurses, teachers, librarians, & secretaries Women still earned less than men & kept out of many traditional male jobs
Early 20th Century teachers
Social Welfare
The Flapper New female ideal for some women: the Flapper Flapper: an emancipated young woman who embraced the new fashions and urban attitudes
Social Welfare
The Changing Family
Birthrates decline for years before the 1920s Birth control information widely available 1921: Birth control clinics opened & American Birth Control League founded
Margaret Sanger and other founders of the American Birth Control
League - 1921
Social Welfare
Modern Family
Marriage based on romantic loveWomen manage household and financesChildren developing who need nurturing and education
Social Welfare
Support for Prohibition
Belief that alcohol led to crime, child & wife abuse, and accidents Supporters from the rural south and west Church affiliated Anti-Saloon League & Women’s Christian Temperance Union push for the 18th Amendment
Moral Developme
nt
Speakeasies & Bootleggers
Americans did not believe drinking was a sin Immigrants not willing to give up drinking Drinkers went to hidden saloons - speakeasies People bought liquor from bootleggers
Moral Developme
nt
Organized Crime
Prohibition contributed to the growth of organized crime Al Capone – famous bootlegger Capone controls Chicago liquor business by killing his competition
Al Capone was finally convicted on tax evasion
charges in 1931
Moral Developme
nt
Government Control
Government doesn’t budget money to enforce law Enforcing Prohibition fell to 1,500 poorly paid federal agents --- clearly an impossible task
Federal agents pour wine down a sewer
Moral Developme
nt
Prohibition Repealed
Mid-20s 19% of Americans supported Prohibition Many felt Prohibition caused more problems than it solved 1933: 21st Amendment repeals Prohibition
Moral Developme
nt
Science & Religion Clash
Battle b/w fundamentalist religious groups & secular thinkers Fundamentalists found literal truth in the bible
Moral Developme
nt
Scopes Trial
1925, Tennessee passes a law making criminalizing evolution in schoolsACLU promises to defend any teacher who challenges the law: John Scopes
Scopes was a biology teacher who dared to teach his students that man
derived from lower species
Moral Developme
nt
ACLU hires Clarence Darrow, most famous trial lawyer of the era, for Scopes Prosecution hires William Jennings Bryan, the 3-time presidential nominee
Darrow
Bryan
Scopes TrialMoral
Development
Opens on July 10,1925 Darrow calls Bryan as a Bible expert: Should the bible be interpreted literally? Bryan admits the Bible can be interpreted in different ways Scopes still was found guilty and fined $100
Bryan
Darrow
Scopes TrialMoral
Development
Criticizing Big Business
“Muckrakers” exposed corruption in business
Ida Tarbell exposed Standard Oil Company’s cut-throat methods of eliminating competition
Michael Moore?
Ida Tarbell
Some view Michael
Moore as a modern
muckraker
Economic
Efficiency
“The Jungle” Leads to Reforms
1906: Roosevelt pushed for the Meat Inspection Act after reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
The Act mandates clean meatpacking plants
Economic
Efficiency
Protecting Working Children
As the number of child workers rose, reformers worked to end child labor
Children more accident prone
Nearly every state banned child labor by 1918
Economic
Efficiency
Limiting Working Hours
Supreme Court enacted or strengthened laws reducing worker hours
Progressives also won worker’s compensation
Economic
Efficiency
Triangle Shirtwaist FireEconom
ic Efficien
cy
Cleaning Up Government
Desire to make government more efficient & responsive to citizens
Some believe it also was meant to limit immigrants influence in local governments
Political Efficien
cy
Reform Mayors
Tom L. Johnson, Cleveland, OHExpanded social services and brought about
public ownership of the waterworks, gas and electric utilities, and public transportation
Samuel “Golden Rule” Jones, Toledo, OHProvided free social services and reformed the
police department Hazen S. Pingree, Detroit, MI
Expanded public welfare programs, initiated public works programs for the unemployed, and fought privately owned utility monopolies.
Political Efficien
cy
Election Reforms
Won secret ballots, referendum votes, and the recall
Could petition and get initiatives on the ballot
Political Efficien
cy
Election Reforms
Each state assembly chose U.S. senators
Force senators to be more responsive to the public popular election of senators was pushed
1913: 17th Amendment ratified for direct election of Senators
Political Efficien
cy
Progressive Presidents & Laws
Roosevelt establishes himself as a modern president
Wilson enacts his “New Freedom”
Planned to attack privilege: trusts, tariffs, and high finance
1902 Coal Strike
PA coal miners strike for increased wages, a 9-hour work day, and the right to unionize
Management refuse to bargain Roosevelt settled the dispute Precedent: when strikes
threaten public welfare federal government expected to step in
Pure Food & Drug Act
1906: passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act
Act halts sale of contaminated foods and medicines and called for truth in labeling
The Pure Food and Drug Act took medicines with cocaine and other
harmful ingredients off the market
Clayton Antitrust Act
1914: passage of the Clayton Antitrust Act strengthens the Sherman Act
Clayton Act prevents companies from buying stock from other companies - antimonopoly
Act supported unions
Federal Trade Commission
1914: FTC serves as “watchdog” agency – end unfair business practices
The FTC protects consumers from business fraud
Today the FTC has been working on protecting consumers from ID theft
Federal Income Tax
1913: 16th Amendment ratified legalizing a graduated federal income tax
Progressive Movement Wanes
Progressive movement peaks by 1917 Success of the movement led to its decline Advent of World War I also hurt
progressive activism Progressives themselves weary of their
reform zeal; as did the nation