PROGRESSIVE ERA��1890s-1920

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9.2.13

Progressivism

WHO? “Progressives”

• urban middle-class: managers & professionals; women

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WHY? Address the problems arising from:

• industrialization (big business, labor strife)
• urbanization (slums, political machines, corruption)
• immigration (ethnic diversity)
• inequality & social injustice (women & racism)

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1920s

1890s

1901

1917

WHEN? “Progressive Reform Era”

Origins of Progressivism

• As America entered the 20^th century, middle class reformers at the municipal, state, and national levels addressed the problems of the Gilded Age, including:
• Economic inequities
• Environmental issues
• Social welfare
• Working conditions
• Rights for women and children

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Four Goals of Reformers

1. Protect social welfare
2. Promote moral development
3. Secure economic reform
4. Foster efficiency

Temperance Movement

• Some reformers felt that the answer to society’s problems was personal behavior.
• They proposed such reforms as prohibition of alcohol.
• Groups wishing to ban alcohol included the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

Muckrakers Criticize Big Business

• Though most Progressives did not embrace socialism, many writers saw the truth in Debs’ criticism.
• Investigative journalists, known as “Muckrakers,” exposed corruption in business. For example, Ida Tarbell exposed Standard Oil Company’s cut-throat methods of eliminating competition.

Fostering Efficiency

• Many Progressive leaders put their faith in scientific principles to make society better.

Election Reform

• Citizens fought for and secured such measures as secret ballots, referendums, and recalls. Citizens could petition and get initiatives on the ballot.

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Women Progressives

• Organizations
• WCTU
• GFWC
• WTUL
• Feminists Alliance
• Issues
• Women’s rights
• Poverty
• Alcoholism
• Child Labor
• Public Education

Women Win Suffrage

• Native-born, educated, middle-class women grew more and more impatient. Through local, state, and national organization, as well as vigorous protests, women finally realized their dream in 1920.

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Direct Election Of Senators

• Before 1913, each state’s legislature had chosen U.S. senators. To force senators to be more responsive to the public, Progressives pushed for the popular election of senators.
• As a result, Congress passed the 17^th Amendment in 1913.

Women in Public Life

• Before the Civil War, American women were expected to devote their time to home and family.
• By the late 19^th and early 20^th century, women were visible in the workforce.

Domestic Workers

• Before the turn-of-the-century women without formal education contributed to the economic welfare of their families by doing domestic work.
• Altogether, 70% of women employed in 1870 were servants.

Women in the Work Force

• Opportunities for women increased especially in the cities. By 1900, one out of five women worked.
• The garment industry was popular as were office work, retail, and education.

Women and Reform

• Women reformers strove to improve conditions at work and home.
• In 1896, black women formed the National Association of Colored Women (NACW).
• Suffrage was another important issue for women.

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Three-Part Strategy for �Winning Suffrage

• Suffragettes tried three approaches to winning the vote:
1. Convincing state legislatures to adopt the vote.
2. Pursuing court cases to test 14^th Amendment.
3. Pushing for national Constitutional amendment.

“The Jungle” Leads to �Food Regulation

• After reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Roosevelt pushed for passage of the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.
• The act mandated cleaner conditions for meatpacking plants.

Consumer Protection

• Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle
• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)
• Meat Inspection Act (1906)

Chicago Meatpacking Workers, 1905

"A nauseating job, but it must be done"

Pure Food and Drug Act

• In response to unsubstantiated claims and unwholesome products, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. The Act halted the sale of contaminated foods and medicines and called for truth in labeling.

Roosevelt and Civil Rights

• Roosevelt failed to support Civil Rights for African Americans. He did, however, support a few individuals such as Booker T. Washington, who founded the Tuskegee Institute to provide a technical education for African Americans.

NAACP Formed to Promote Rights

• In 1909 a number of African Americans and prominent white reformers formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP had 6,000 members by 1914.
• The goal of the organization was full equality among the races through the court system, a position supported by W.E.B. Du Bois.

Progressivism & Eugenics

• A science that tries to improve the human race by controlling which people become parents
• Produce superior races of people
• Anti-immigration
• Control & organize races
• Racial purity
• “Intelligence”
• Sterilization

“Fitter families & better babies”

Limits of Progressivism

• While the Progressive era was responsible for many important reforms, it failed to make gains for African Americans. Like Roosevelt and Taft, Wilson retreated on Civil Rights when he entered office.

The KKK reached a membership �of 4.5 million in the 1920s