The Progressive Era
What kinds of actions can
bring about social change?
The Origins of Progressivism
Main Idea
Political, economic, and social change
in the 19th century America led to
broad progressive reforms.
What it Matter Now
Progressive reforms such as labor and
voting rights have helped to make
life in America what it is today.
The Origins of Progressivism
 What
were the four goals that
various progressive reform
movements struggled to achieve?
– Protecting social welfare, promoting
moral reform, creating economic
reform, and fostering efficiency.
Four Goals of Progressivism
Four Goals
Of Progressivism
Protecting
Social Welfare
Promoting
Moral
Improvements
Creating
Economic
Reform
Fostering
Efficiency
YMCA
Salvation Army
Florence Kelly
Illinois Factory Act
Prohibition
WCTU
Frances Willard
Carrie Nation
Eugene V. Debs
American Socialist
Party
Muckrakers
Louis D. Brandeis
Fredrick Winslow Taylo
Scientific
Management
Cleaning Up Local Government
 How
did government change during
the Progressive Era? How were
these changes important?
– Government became more responsive to
the people, elections were reformed,
Senators directly elected and the public
had more voice in law-making.
Democracy was expanded.
Cleaning Up Local Government

Reforming Local Government
– 1900- Hurricane in Galveston, TX
– TX legislature appointed a 5 member commission to
take over the clean-up.

Each member takes charge of a different city depart.
– By 1917- 500 cities adopted what Galveston did.
– City Managers were created


City Councils were elected by the people
Reform Mayors
– Hazen Pingree (Detroit)- instituted a fairer tax
structure, set up work relief.
– Tom Johnson (Cleveland)- dismissing corrupt and
greedy private owners of utilities.
Reform at the State Level
Reform Gov.
Robert La Follette
James S. Hogg
Direct Election of
Working Children
Senators
Keating-Owen Act
th
Reform
17 Amendment
At the
State Level
Limited
Reforming Elections
Working
Initiative, Referendum,
Hours
Recall
Muller v Oregon
Women in Public Life
Main Idea
As a result of social and economic
change, many women entered public
life as workers and reformers.
Why it Matters Now
Women won new opportunities in labor
and education that are enjoyed
today.
One American’s Story
 Sussette
La Fleshe- 1879, helped
translate for Chief Standing Bear
(Ponca tribe) into English.
– She testified before Congress and
helped win the passage of the Dawes
Act of 1887.
Women in the Work Force
Women in the
Work Force
Farm
Women
Cooking, Cleaning,
Making clothes
Women in
Industry
Domestic
Workers
Telephone Operators
Office work
Factories
Maids
Cooks
Laundresses
Women Lead Reform

Dangerous conditions, low wages, and
long hours led many female industrial
workers to push reform.
Women &
Reform
Josephine Ruffin
Susan B. Anthony
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Julia Ward Howe
NACW
NWSA
NAWSA
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Three-Part Strategy for Suffrage

Convince Legislatures to grant women the
right to vote.
– Wyoming-1st (1869)

Pursue Court Cases to test the 14th
Amendment and threaten to lose
congressional representation. Aren’t
women citizens too?
– 1875- Supreme Court rule that women were
citizens, but denied them to vote.

Push for a constitutional amendment for
women to vote.
– 41 years women lobbied to have it.
Final Thoughts
 Describe
the growing presence of
women in the workforce at the turn
of the 20th century.
 Identify leaders of the woman
suffrage movement. Explain how
woman suffrage was achieved.
Teddy Roosevelt’s
Square Deal
Main Idea
As president, Theodore Roosevelt
worked to give citizens a Square
Deal through progressive reforms.
Why it Matters Now
As part of his Square Deal, Roosevelt’s
conservation efforts made a
permanent impact on environmental
resources.
A Rough-Riding President

Controlling Roosevelt
– Gov. of N.Y.
– McKinley’s V.P.


Roosevelt’s Rise
–
–
–
–
Adventurer
Harvard- Boxing and Wrestled
Rough Riders (1898)
San Juan Hill in Cuba
–
–
–
–
1901- became president (42 yrs old)
Sportsman
“Bully Pulpit”- influence media, shape legislation
SQUARE DEAL- progressive reforms sponsored by
Roosevelt
The Modern Presidency
Using Federal Power

Roosevelt was convinced that modern
America required a powerful federal
government.
Federal Power
Trustbusting
1902 Coal Strike
Railroad Regulation
Northern Securities
Company
Invitation to
White House
Hepburn Act
1906
One American’s Story

Upton Sinclairmuckraker
– “The Jungle” (1906)
– Exposed the meatpacking
industry in Chicago.

Theodore Roosevelt
– Appalled by the account
– Promised to help
Health and the Environment
Meat
Inspection
Act
(1906)
John Muir
Gifford Pinchot
Newlands Act
Health
Environment
Conservation
&
Natural Resources
Pure Food
& Drug
Act
(1906)
Roosevelt and Civil Rights
 Roosevelt
appointed African
Americans to government positions
 Invited African Americans to the
White House
 NAACP- W.E.B. Du Bois
Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal
Review
 What
scandalous practices did Upton
Sinclair expose in his novel The
Jungle? How did the American public,
Roosevelt, and Congress respond?
– Sinclair’s descriptions of the
meatpacking industry’s corrupt practices
disgusted both the public and Roosevelt,
who pushed Congress to pass the Meat
Inspection Act.
Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal
Review
 How
did Roosevelt earn his
reputation as a trustbuster?
– Roosevelt filed suits under the Sherman
Anti-Trust Act, thus breaking up some of
the trusts. He also ordered the Justice
department to sue the Northern
Securities Company which, until the
Supreme Court dissolved the company,
held a monopoly over northwestern
railroads.
Progressivism Under Taft
Main Idea
Taft’s ambivalent approach to
progressive reform led to a split in
the Republican Party and the loss of
the presidency to the Democrats.
Why it Matters Now
Third-party candidates continue to
wrestle with how to become viable
candidates.
One American’s Story

Gifford Pinchot- head of the U.S. Forest
Service under Roosevelt.
Taft Becomes President
1904- Roosevelt pledged not to run for
reelection in 1908.
 William Howard Taft- Secretary of War under
Roosevelt

Taft
Taft Stumbles
Payne-Aldrich
Tariff
Disputing Public
Lands
Tariffs & Conservation
Became problems
Payne Bill-lowered
Aldrich Bill-raised
Richard A. Ballinger
Progressivism Under Taft
 What
did Taft do that angered
progressive Republicans?
– He agreed to the Payne-Aldrich Tariff,
that raised tariffs and sided with Richard
Ballinger, when he removed 1 million
acres of forest and mining lands from
the reserve list.
The Republican Party Splits

Problems within the Party
– Progressives were split on those who sought
change and conservatives who did not.
– Taft sides with Joseph Cannon
– Cannon ignored progressive bills
– Cannon stripped of his power.
– Democrats gain control of the House of Rep.

Bull Moose Party
– “New Nationalism”
– 1912- Roosevelt decides to run again
– Progressive Party AKA “Bull Moose Party”

Woodrow Wilson wins because of the split
Democrats Win in 1912
Taft called Roosevelt a “dangerous egotist”
 Roosevelt called Taft a “fathead” with a
brain of a “guinea pig”
 The election offered voters several
choices:

–
–
–
–
Wilson- New Freedom
Roosevelt- Progressivism
Taft’s- Conservatism
Eugene V. Debs- Socialism
Evaluating
 Both
Roosevelt and Taft resorted to
mudslinging during the 1912
presidential campaign. Do you
approve or disapprove of negative
campaign tactics? Support your
answer.
Wilson’s New Freedom
Main Idea
Woodrow Wilson established a strong
reform agenda as a progressive
leader.
Why it Matter Now
The passage of the Nineteenth
Amendment during Wilson’s
administration granted women the
right to vote
One American’s Story

Carrie Chapman Catt- President of the
NWSA
Wilson Wins Financial Reforms
Like Roosevelt,
Wilson claimed
progressive ideals,
but a different idea
about federal
government.
 Wilson’s “New
Freedom”
 Triple wall of
privilege:

– Trusts, tariffs, high
finance
Antitrust
Measures
Clayton
Antitrust Act
Federal Trade
Commission (FTC)
A New Tax System
Wilson worked to lower tariffs, to control
big business.
 Underwood Act- lower tariffs for the 1st
time since the Civil War.

Financial
Reform
Federal Income
Tax
Federal Reserve
System
16th Amendment
Graduated Income Tax
Federal Reserve Act-1913
12 Districts
Women Win Suffrage
Women push for the right to vote
 Three developments made it possible:

– Increase activism
– Built enthusiasm for the movement
– Rebirth of movement under Carrie Chatman
Catt
Women Win Suffrage
By 1912, only 5 states had suffrage for
women
 Local Suffrage Battles

–
–
–
–

Educated women
Used door-to-door campaign
Women go to England
Emmeline Pankhurst- British suffragist
Catt and the National Movement
– Carrie Chapman Catt-1900-1904 (NWSA)
– Five tactics of Catt
Five Tactics of Catt
Organization
Ladylike
behavior
Ties w/ local,
State, & national workers
Tactics
Continuous
Lobbying
Establishing
Support
Catt & National Movement
 Lucy
Burns & Alice Paul
– National Women’s Party
 1919-
19th Amendment
– 72 years after women meet.
The Limits of Progressivism
Wilson wouldn’t support social reform as
much.
 Wilson and Civil Rights

– Wilson retreated once in the White House on
civil rights.
– He appointed Southerners who extended
segregation.

The Twilight of Progressivism
– War in Europe would put progressive ideas on
hold.
Final Thoughts


How did the Clayton Antitrust Act benefit labor?
– It recognized the legality of labor unions,
strikes, peaceful picketing, boycotts, and strike
benefits; it limited the use of injunctions in
court disputes.
Cite two examples of social welfare legislation
that Wilson opposed during his presidency and
the arguments he used to defend his position.
– Child labor laws, because he felt they were
unconstitutional; federal antilynching laws,
because he believed such crimes fell under
state jurisdictions.