warm up: what are major problems facing our country today?

Warm Up:

What are major problems facing our country today?

Work in Pairs

Create a list of possible ways that: • you could help address/expose these

problems• The government could help address these

problems

Chapter 6 Section 1

Progressivism

Progressivism

• Progressivism was a reform movement that arose to address the many social problems that industrialization had created

Goals:• Improved living conditions for urban poor• Challenge the power of big business• Called for government to be more honest and

responsive to people’s needs

Progressivism

• Muckrakers – journalist who “raked up” or exposed the filth of society

• Used books and magazines to expose social ills that progressives targeted

• Helped prepare the way for many reforms in the United States

Document Study

Muckrakers

Muckrakers

• Jacob Riis - exposed the unsanitary and overcrowded conditions in NYC tenements

• Upton Sinclair - exposed unsafe work conditions and unsanitary manufacturing practices in the meatpacking industry

• Ida Tarbell – condemned the business practices of Standard Oil

• Frank Norris - described the power of a monopolistic railroad, The Octopus, a Story of California (1901)

• Lincoln Steffens – exposed corruption in city governments , Shame of the Cities (1904)

Warm Up:

How did Muckrakers try to reform American society?

Reforming Cities

• By 1920, ½ of Americans lived in cities• Lacked basic services such as:• Garbage collection, safe housing, police and

fire protection

Housing Reform

As a result of the outrage caused by How the Other Half Lives, the New York passed the

• Tenement Act of 1901• Forced landlords to install lighting in public

hallways• One bathroom for every two families

Housing Reform

• Outhouses were eventually banned from NYC slums

• Lillian Wald worked to expand public health services for the poor

• Within 15 years, NYC death rate dropped dramatically

• Others cities adopted similar reforms

Health Reforms

• As a result of the outrage caused by The Jungle, the federal government passed the

• Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act.

• These laws provided for inspection of food to insure that it was safe to eat.

Fight for Civil Rights

• Progressives fought prejudice• National Association for the Advancement of

Colored People (NAACP) fought for rights of African Americans

• Anti-Defamation League (ADL) fought prejudice against Jews

Reforming the Workplace

• Progressive reformers took up the cause of working women and children

• 1893 Florence Kelley helped persuade Illinois to end child labor and limit number of hours women were forced to work.

National Child Labor Committee 1904• Founded by Kelley to ban child labor in every

state


• Oregon limited workdays in laundries to 10 hours

• Utah limited workday in “women's” occupations to 8 hours


• Unskilled workers paid extremely low wages• In 1900, 40% of working class families lived in

poverty• Unions and Progressives worked to secure a

minimum wage for workers • In 1912, Massachusetts became the first state to pass

a minimum wage• Congressed passed a national minimum wage in

1938

Minimum Wage Today

• California: $8.00• National: $7.25

Courts and Labor Laws

• Business owners fought these labor laws in courts

Lochner v. New York 1905• Court refused 10-hour workday law• Denied workers right to make contracts with

employers


Muller v. Oregon 1908• Court upheld state law for 10-hour workday

for women in laundries and factories• Brandeis Brief - argued that concrete

evidence showed that working long hours harmed the health of women

• Court found that 10-hour workday hurt the health of workers


Bunting v. Oregon 1917• Brandeis Brief used as a model• Court upheld law extending the 10-hour

workday for men

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

• Exit doors locked to prevent theft• Workers crowded tightly together• Elevators could only accommodate 10 people• Factory contained large amounts of scrap

fabric, added fuel to fire

The Fire • 8th floor burned

quickly• Fire spread to two

adjacent floors• Fire escape broke

under weight of panicked workers


• City Fire Ladders, hoses could not reach the eight floor

• Workers jumped to their death out of windows

• 140 people died• Mostly 15-16 year old

immigrant girls

The Ruins


• Turning Point for Reform• Cities passed fire-safety laws

Click on the window to start video

Unions

• International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) founded in 1900

• Organized unskilled workers• In 1909, successfully held strike for shorter

work week and higher wages

Unions

• Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) founded in 1905

• Led by William “Big Bill” Haywood• Organized unskilled workers• Members known as “wooblies”

Read: You Are the IWW

Complete: Membership Questions

Share Monologues

• What big changes have occurred in the workplace?• How were tools owned before? How are they

owned in the workplace now?• What is a craft union?• What change has taken place in the ownership of

industry?• What do IWW members think the goal of a union

should be? (What kind of society do they want to create?)

“Too long have the workers of the world waited for some Moses to lead them out of bondage. He has not come; he never will come. I would not lead you out if I could; for if you could be led out, you could be led back again. I would have you make up your minds that there is nothing that you cannot do for yourselves.” Eugene Debs, IWW Founder

• What would people have to believe about themselves in order to accept that paragraph?

Read: “Lawrence,1912—Part 1” and “Lawrence Problem-

Solving #1”

Form a circle

• As a democratic union, it is up the members to determine how to best solve these issues

• Deliberate these issues and determine what course the union will take

How did the strikers actually solve their problems?

“Lawrence, 1912—Part 2.”

Warm Up:

• What was good about how the class conducted the “union meeting”?

• What difficulties did you have? Why?• How might the organizational meeting have

gone better?

• Review, Lawrence Problem Solving #2• “Can We Win” #5-8

Read: “Lawrence, 1912—Part 3”

The Outcome

Reforming City Government

Reform MayorsTom Johnson of Cleveland OH• Set new rules for police, released debtors

from prison, created a more fair tax systemSamuel M. Jones Toledo OH• Overhauled police force, improved city

services, set minimum wage opened kindergartens


New Forms of City Government• 1900 Hurricane struck Galveston TX• City government unable to cope with disaster• A five member commission was established to run

city• Made up of experts, not party loyalist• By 1918, 500 cities adopted the commission plan of

government


New Forms of City GovernmentCouncil-Manger Model• First adopted in Staunton, Virginia 1908• City council appoints a professional manger to

run the city

Reforming State Government

• Pushed by Robert La Follete governor of Wisconsin

Wisconsin Idea • Limit campaign spending• State commission to regulate railroads and

utilities • Commissions to oversee transportation, civil

service and taxation

Election Reforms

Progressives wanted to make elections fairer • Direct Primary - voters choose candidates for

general election- First used in Mississippi in 1903• 17th Amendment (1913) gave voters, rather

than state legislatures the power to elect Senators.

Election Reforms

• Australian Ballot - secret ballot that contains all the candidates names.

• Previously political parties printed their own ballots on colored paper

• making it easy for them to pressure voters

• By 1900, almost all states had adopted the secret ballot

Election Reforms

• Initiative - allows voters to put a proposed law on the ballot for public approval.

• Referendum- allows citizens to place a previously passed law on the ballot, allowing voters to approve or reject the measure

• Recall - enables citizens to remove an elected official from office.

warm up: what are major problems facing our country today?

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