M
u
c
k
r
a
c
k
e
r
s
S
u
f
f
r
a
g
e
t
t
e
s
P
o
p
u
l
i
s
t
s
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
n
c
e
L
a
b
o
r
U
n
i
o
n
s
C
i
v
i
l
R
i
g
h
t
s
The “Culture Wars”:
The Pendulum of Right v. Left
2nd Great
Awakening
Social
Gospel
1920s
Revivalism
1950s
Revivalism
Christian
Evangelical
Movement
C
I
V
I
L
W
A
R
Antebellum
Reforms
[1810s1850s]
Populism
[1870s1890s]
Progressivism
[1890s-1920]
New Deal
[1930s1940s]
Great
Society
&
1960s Social
Movements
C
O
N
S
E
R
V
A
T
I
V
E
R
E
V
O
L
U
T
I
O
N
Progressive Era
• Why it matters: Industrialization,
urbanization, and immigration brought man
benefits to America, but they also produced
challenging social problems.
• In response, a movement called Progressivism
emerged in the 1890’s. Progressives believed that
new ideas and honest, efficient government could
bring about social justice. Progressive ideas
brought lasting reforms that still affect society
today.
Origins of Progressivism
• Multiple walks of
life
– Different political
parties, social
classes, ethnic
groups, religions
– A lot of them were
from the middle
class or dissatisfied
industrial workers.
Origins of Progressivism
• Common beliefs
– Industrialization and
urbanization had created
troubling social and
political problems.
– Progressives wanted to
bring about reforms that
would correct these
problems and injustices.
– They encouraged their
state legislatures and the
federal gov’t. to enact
laws to address the issues
faced by the poor.
– Wanted to use logic and
reason to make society
work in a more efficient
and orderly way.
Progressivism v. Populism
• Similarities
– Both wanted political reform to get rid of corrupt gov’t.
officials and make gov’t. more responsive to people’s needs.
– Both sought to eliminate the abuses of big business.
• Differences
– Progressive
• Middle class
• Believed in highly educated leaders that should use modern ideas
and scientific techniques to improve society.
– Populism
• Consisted mostly of farmers and workers.
Target a variety of problems
• Women
– Gaining the right to vote= # 1
priority
• Reformers targeted city officials
who built corrupt organizations,
called political machines.
– The bosses of these political
machines used bribery and
violence to influence voters and
win elections.
– They counted on the loyalty of city
workers who looked the other way
when they took money for
themselves.
• People living in crowded cities
needed paved streets, safe
drinking H2O, decent housing.
Trust busting
• Some worried about big business
– Wealthy industrialists took over
businesses and built huge trusts
that limited competition and raised
prices.
– Middle class wanted the gov’t. to
bust the trusts and therefore create
more economic opportunities for
small businesses.
• Closing the gap
– Some wanted to close the gap
between rich and poor.
– Mostly motivated by religion.
– Attacked the harsh conditions of
miners, factory workers.
– They wanted better living
conditions for inner cities.
– Strived for social welfare laws to
help children.
Muckrakers
• Socially conscious journalists and other writers dramatized
the need for reform
– Sensational investigative reporting uncovered a wide range of
problems.
• Teddy Roosevelt nicknamed these journalists muckrakers
because they were too fascinated with the ugly side of
things.
– A muckraker is a tool used to clean manure and hay out of
animal’s stables.
Novelists Defend
• Fiction writers put a human face on social problems.
– They portrayed human misery and developed a new genrenaturalism.
• The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
– Related the despair of immigrants working in Chicago’s
stockyards and revealed the unsanitary conditions.
Settlement Houses
• Settlement House= a community
center that provided social
services to the urban poor.
– Gave mothers classes in child care
and taught English to immigrants.
– The ran nursery schools and
kindergartens.
– They provided theater, art, and
dance programs for adults.
• Jane Addams became the leading
figure in the settlement house.
– Opened Hull House near Chicago.
– Included 13 buildings.
– By 1911, the country had more
than 400 settlement houses.
Improving Education
• Florence Kelley
– Lawyer that helped convince the state of
Illinois to ban child labor, and other
states soon followed.
– 1902- Kelley formed the National Child
Labor Committee which led the federal
gov’t. to create the U.S. Children’s
Bureau.
• Congress banned child labor officially in
1916.
– Keating-Owens Act
– Required children to attend school until a
certain age.
• Some argued they should only be taught
work skills.
• Some argued they should learn literature
and music.
• Some argued girls should learn different
content than boys.
Work Hazards
• Each year, about 30,000
workers died on the job
due to hazards.
– 500,000 were injured
each year
• Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory, NYC
– A factory fire
– Workers had little chance
to escape the fire because
managers had locked most
of the exits.
– 146 died, most of them
young Jewish women.
– Many jumped from the
windows in desperation.
Government
• 1900, Galveston, TX was torn apart by a hurricane.
– Killed more than 8,000 people.
– Galveston replaced the mayor and also put in a 5 person
committee.
• This form of gov’t. proved very efficient and carried out reform
and rebuilt the city.
• Known as the Galveston Plan, 500 other cities adopted this
example for their own cities.
• Party leaders traditionally picked
candidates for state and local offices.
•
•
•
•
– Wisconsin established a direct primary, an
election in which citizens themselves vote
to select nominees for upcoming elections.
– By 1916, all but four states had direct
primaries.
Initiative- gave people the power to put a
proposed new law directly on the ballot
in the next election by collecting citizen’s
signatures on a petition.
Referendum- allowed citizens to approve
or reject laws passed by a legislature.
Recall- gave voters the power to remove
public servants from office before
their terms ended.
17th Amendment- 1913, direct election of
senators by voters, not state legislatures.
Election
Reform
Progressive Politicians
• Theodore RooseveltNew York Governor
– Roosevelt worked to
develop a fair system
for hiring state workers
and made some
corporations pay taxes.
– Wanted wildlife
reform.
• Woodrow Wilson- New
Jersey Governor
– Wilson reduced the
railroad’s power and
pushed for a direct
primary law.
• Both will bring
Progressive reform to
the White House during
their presidency.