WARMUP #1
Jacob A. Riis was a Danish immigrant. He became a newspaper reporter in New York City at
the end of the 19th Century. Riis wanted to draw attention to the poverty & unhealthy living
conditions in the city’s tenements. Here is an excerpt from Riis’s famous work, How the
Other Half Lives. This book had a great effect on the reform movement of that era.
“Be a little careful, please! The hall is dark, and you might stumble over the
children pitching pennies back there…A flight of stairs. You can feel your way
if you cannot see it. Close (stuffy)? Yes!...All the fresh air that enters comes
from the hall door that is forever slamming…The sinks are in the hallway, that
all the tenants may have access---and all be poisoned alike by their summer
stenches…In summer, when a thousand thirsty throats pant for a cooling drink
in this block, (the pump) is worked in vain…Listen! That short, hacking cough,
that tiny, helpless wail---what do they mean?...The child is dying of measles.
With half a chance it might have lived, but it had none. That dark bedroom killed
it.”
Who are “the other half”?____________________________________________________
Riis is a newspaper reporter. Do news reporters today still work to draw attention to
problems in society? Explain your answer in 1 clear paragraph.
The Progressive Era
“We've got to start to make this world over.” (Thomas Edison, 1912)
Muckraking at its finest (McClure's Magazine: May 1903)
I. Sources of Progressive Reform
A. industrialization, with all its increase in productivity & the
number of consumer goods, created:
1) unemployment & labor unrest
2) wasteful use of natural resources
3) abuses of corporate power
B. growing cities magnified problems of poverty, disease, crime
& corruption
C. influx of immigrants & rise of new managerial class upset
traditional class alignments
D. massive depression (1893-1897) convinced many that equal
opportunity was out of reach for many Americans
II. Who Were the Progressives?
A.
new middle class composed of young professionals
1. sought to apply principles of professions (medicine, law, business, teaching) to
problems of society
2. strong faith in progress & the ability of educated people to overcome problems
3. rise in volunteer organizations organized to address issues (i.e. American Bar
Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, National Municipal League)
4. mainly urban in residence & orientation
B. muckraking journalists attacked corruption in business & government…& scandal with a
sense of moral outrage (“muckrakers” penned by Theodore Roosevelt)
1. Lincoln Steffens exposed political machines in The Shame of the Cities (1904)
2. Ida Tarbell exposed John D. Rockefeller & Standard Oil Trust abuses (History of
Standard Oil)
3. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906) attacked the meat-packing industry
4. Jacob Riis: How The Other Half Lives (immigrant poor)
5. Ida B. Wells: Crisis (lynching of African-Americans)
C. political reformers: many opposed to traditional party politics
D. Socialists: frustrated workers who promised to destroy capitalism. Led by Eugene Debs (who
polled 900,000 votes for president in 1912), Socialists were rejected by most Progressives as too
extreme in their goals & methods
III. Theodore Roosevelt & the Square Deal
A. using the power of the presidency (a "bully pulpit") as no president since Abraham Lincoln,
Theodore Roosevelt loved to lead & to fight those he felt were not acting in America's best
interests (TR = “Trustbuster” of monopolies)
1. Coal Strike: when coal mine owners refused to deal with the union in a 1902
strike, T.R. summonsed them & the head of the mine workers to the White House &
threatened to use army troops to keep the mines open. Owners backed down & T.R.
was credited with ending the strike
2. Northern Securities Case: T.R. used the Sherman Antitrust Act to attack a railroad
monopoly. Supreme Court ordered the company to dissolve.
3. added Departments of Labor & Commerce to the Cabinet
4. pushed through the Hepburn Act (1906), strengthening the Interstate Commerce
Commission (Meat Inspection Act 1906, in response to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle)
5. urged Congressional approval of the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906), which
forbade impure foods & required labelling of ingredients of foods & drugs
B. conservation reform added massive areas to the national forests (total of 190 million acres)
1. transferred forests to the U.S. Forest Service headed by Gifford Pinchot, who
insisted that trees be planted as well as harvested
2. withdrew millions of acres of public land from sale to protect resources
3. used public land sale revenues to build dams & canal systems
III. City & State Government Reform
A. city government system changed to prevent boss or “political machine" rule
1. city commissions replaced mayors & city councils in some areas
2. city managers (nonpolitical professional managers) were hired to
run small cities
B. state level reform efforts championed by Gov. Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin
1. direct primary to give voters control over candidates
2. competitive civil service & restrictions on lobbying
3. many states passed workmen's compensation laws
4. election reforms to bring direct democracy to voters
a) initiative: allowed 5% of voters to "initiate" laws in state
legislatures (“citizens propose laws”)
b) referendum: in some states voters could then pass
initiatives into laws (“citizens vote on proposed laws”)
c) recall: by petition, voters could force an official to stand for
reelection at any time (“citizens vote out elected officials”)
IV. Major Progressivism Programs
A. education
1. progressive education: John Dewey led movement that focused on personal growth, not
mastery of body of knowledge & learning through experience
2. Charles Eliot of Harvard pioneered elective courses & new teaching techniques (such as
seminars) to make university learning more meaningful
3. women began attending colleges in large numbers…by 1920, 47% of total enrollment was
female
4. believing that more education would help bring an enlightened population, Progressives
pushed enrollments to record levels (86% of children in schools by 1920) without seriously
assessing how schools were doing
B. law: judges opinions needed to be based on factual information, not just oral arguments &
precedents
1. Muller v. Oregon (1908): limited women's working hours
2. not all Progressive legal principles prevailed. In Lochner v. New York (1905), the Supreme
Court overturned a New York law limiting bakers' working hours
C. settlement houses: Jane Addams & others established group homes in city slums to aid poor urban
residents
1. promoted public health reform in cities, chlorinating water & tightening sanitary
regulations
2. developed education & craft programs for residents
3. created neighborhood health clinics & dispensaries
D. racial anti-discrimination efforts for African-Americans
1. Booker T. Washington (Atlanta Compromise) argued for self-help & accommodation
on the part of blacks to white society (…educational & economic equality first…)
2. W.E.B. DuBois (Niagara Movement 1905) urged blacks to assert themselves & agitate
for political & economic rights. Formed NAACP to use legal means to end racial
discrimination (…full political & social equality immediately…)
E. women's rights
1. while the number of employed women stayed constant from 1900-1920 (20%), the type of
work switched from domestic labor (servants, cooks, laundresses) to clerical work (clerks,
typists, bookkeepers), factory work & professionals
2. most women still held the lowest paying & least opportune jobs
3. significant Progressive feminists called for greater reform:
a) Charlotte Perkins Gilman attacked the male monopoly on opportunity &
declared that domesticity was an obsolete value for American women
b) Margaret Sanger led the movement to provide birth control to prevent
unwanted pregnancies among poor women
c) Suffragists (“suffragettes”) urged that women be given the franchise, which
came on the national level with the 19th Amendment (1919) = “women’s
right to vote” (Susan B. Anthony & Alice Paul)
F. child labor laws: most states passed minimum working age laws & prohibited children from working
more than 10 hours per day, but enforcement was difficult to achieve
G. temperance: Anti-Saloon League & Women's Christian Temperance Union (Carrie Nation = “hatchet
woman”) fought alcoholism on the state level through blue laws & on the national level with the 18th
Amendment which prohibited the manufacture, sale & transportation of liquor (prohibition)
V. Presidential Election of 1912
A. Republican successor William Howard Taft proved to be less progressive
than Theodore Roosevelt in the areas of tariff reform & conservation
1. Payne-Aldrich Tariff (heralded by Taft as "the best tariff passed by
the Republican Party") protected industries & kept consumer prices
high
2. a public land sale scandal in Alaska pitted Pinchot against Secretary
of Interior Ballinger. Taft fired Pinchot
B. Theodore Roosevelt organized the National Progressive or "Bull Moose”
Party after Progressive Republicans bolted the Taft-controlled Republican
convention. Party platform included long list of Progressive demands
C. Democratic Party nominated Woodrow Wilson, the scholarly governor of
New Jersey who called for moral revival & reform, including low tariffs, the
breaking up of all monopolies & for the government to be an umpire in
disputes between labor & business
D. Socialists nominated Eugene Debs, who called for public ownership of all
natural resources & major industries
E. Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) won 40/48 states as Republicans split
between William Howard Taft & Theodore Roosevelt. Height of Progressivism
as Wilson, TR & Debs totaled 11 million votes to 3.5 million for Taft.
VI. Wilson's New Freedom & Progressivism
A. tariff reform: Underwood Tariff (1913) gave first
significant tariff reduction since 1860s as Woodrow
Wilson personally delivered his goals to Congress
B. currency & banking reform: creation of Federal
Reserve System
1. acted as bankers' banks & prevent "runs" on
bank assets
2. Federal Reserve notes issued a flexible new
currency to the banking system
C. Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) to restrict monopolies &
set up a Federal Trade Commission to stop unfair
practices which may arise (replaces the “vague” Sherman
Antitrust Act)
VII. Evaluation of Progressivism
A.
weaknesses of Progressive reform
1. material progress of Americans weakened zeal of reformers
2. myriad of Progressive goals were often confusing & contradictory
3. opposition to Progressivism apparent as initiatives failed & court struck
down Progressive legislation
4. government remained mainly under the influence of business &
industry
5. outbreak of World War I dampened enthusiasm of attempts to use
governments to create “just societies” on Earth
B. Progressive accomplishments
1. “trust busting” forced “robber baron” industrialists to notice public
opinion
2. legislation gave federal & state governments the tools to protect
consumers
3. income tax helped build government revenues & redistribute wealth
4. progressives successfully challenged traditional institutions &
approaches to domestic problems
WARMUP #2
Around 1900, child labor was often used in American factories &
farms. At the turn of the century, nearly 1 million children under the
age of 15 were working for American industries. Another million
worked on farms. This led to abuses & serious safety issues. About a
decade later, people began to protest for better child labor laws.
What are the child labor laws in your state today? Depending on your
age, are children limited to certain kinds of jobs? Are the hours they
can work each week limited? Do you think these laws are good?
Write a clear paragraph explaining your answer.
American History II: 10/2 Notes
Unit 3: The Progressive Era
3.01: Explain the conditions that led to the rise of Progressivism.
• many of the reform movements of the late 19th & early
20th Century were updated attempts at earlier reform
movements from the early 19th Century.
• reform areas included social reform (sanitation & health),
women’s rights & education.
• religious beliefs often influenced the reformers who saw
the evils of society & sought change. = reform
Discussion Question:
• Discuss why it was the government that received the
most attention from reformers of the Progressive Era.
problems: poor sanitation, crowded cities, unsafe work environments,
government corruption (“Gilded Age”) & general lack of support for the
common man.
• muckrakers: this was the name given to journalists & writers who
investigated many of the problems listed above & brought it to the
public through newspaper articles & books. (Example: Upton Sinclair’s
The Jungle)
• Progressives: people of all ages & backgrounds that believed changes
needed to be made in the following areas: society, economy, morality &
most importantly, politically. (young professionals who seek “progress”)
•
•
•
•
social: horrible living conditions; no services for those in need.
economic: workers being taken advantage of; no protection.
moral: vices such as prostitution, drinking & gambling were widespread.
political: the government of the time was very corrupt & was not
concerned with the people.
“of the people, by the people” vs. the corruption of political machines
T. Roosevelt’s Square Deal (“Trustbuster”)
American History II: 10/2 Notes
Unit 3: The Progressive Era
3.02: Analyze how different groups of Americans
made economic & political gains in the Progressive Period.
• the government was singled out as the first & most important area to
reform.
• politics influences society & the economy & by making progressive change
in the government, both the economy & society should follow.
• all political parties had Progressive candidates. It was not limited to either
Republicans or Democrats.
• problems were so bad that if you did not promise Progressive change, you
were unlikely to get elected.
Populism = only the farmers in the West
Progressivism = industrial workers everywhere
Discussion Question:
• Discuss the importance of the 16th, 17th & 19th Amendments passed during
the Progressive Era.
Reformer Presidents
Progressives
Theodore Roosevelt
(1901-09) Republican
Reforms
→
→
known as the “Trustbuster,” Roosevelt enforced the
Sherman Antitrust Act by breaking up monopolies.
Pure Food & Drug Act (FDA) → The Jungle
Hepburn Act (railroads)
William Howard Taft
→
continued trust-busting
(1909-13) Republican
→
16th Amendment: income tax (promoted)
17th Amendment: direct election of Senators
Underwood Tariff Act (reduce tariffs)
Woodrow Wilson
→
16th Amendment (ratified)
(1913-21) Democrat
→
17th Amendment (ratified)
Clayton Antitrust Act (Sherman upgrade)
Federal Trade Commission → Federal Reserve
Congress promoted 19th Amendment
(women’s suffrage)
16th Amendment: graduated income tax (as income $ rises, tax % rises…favors poor)
17th Amendment: direct election of senators (…instead of state legislatures)
18th Amendment: prohibition of alcohol (Carrie Nation: Women’s Christian Temperance Union)
19th Amendment: women’s suffrage
•
•
•
•
American History II: 10/2 Notes
Unit 3: The Progressive Era
3.03: Evaluate the effects of racial segregation
on different regions & segments of U.S. society.
slavery officially ended at the end of the Civil War with the passage of
the 13th, 14th & 15th Amendments.
these amendments in order gave former slaves freedom, citizenship
& equal rights.
the Southern states & even many people in the North did not respect
these laws & therefore did not treat African-Americans fairly.
conditions did not improve & many people did not try to change this
until the turn of the century (over 30 years after the war).
Discussion Question:
• Explain how even though laws to outlaw discrimination in the U.S.
were passed after the Civil War, many Southern states found ways
around these federal laws.
post-Civil War restrictive laws:
Jim Crow: segregation of public services
black codes: laws that restricted freedmen’s rights
1) grandfather clause: helped illiterate whites vote but not blacks
2) literacy tests: if you could not pass, you could not vote
3) poll taxes
Ku Klux Klan (KKK): white supremacist secret society that used fear &
intimidation to keep black people from realizing their equal rights (mostly
Southern)
Plessy v. Ferguson: Supreme Court case that rendered “separate but equal”
decision (segregation = constitutional)
Booker T. Washington: promoted growth within African-American society
separate from whites. Economic success should come before social &
political (educational equality: self-help for African-Americans)
W.E.B. Dubois: promoted social & political growth from the best &
brightest of the African-American community in white-dominated society
(NAACP…full equality: politically, socially, economically & educationally)
Marcus Garvey: “Back to Africa” movement
American History II: 10/2 Notes
Unit 3: The Progressive Era
3.04: Examine the impact of technological changes
on economics, social & cultural life in the U.S.
The Industrial Revolution allowed for the mass production
of consumer goods that had a profound effect on U.S.
society & the economy. This movement in the U.S. allowed
for growth so rapid that the U.S. became a world power
almost overnight due to resources, innovation &
entrepreneurial leadership. (industrialization, specialization
& urbanization)
Discussion Question:
• Describe how any of these innovations could have helped
contribute to the increased role of women in society that
was also taking place during the early 20th Century.
• the list below indicates several turn of the century inventions that not only
increased the wealth of the nation but also made the lives of the people
much easier.
• Innovation + Mass Production = Higher Quality of Life (Technology)
Inventor
Innovation
Thomas Alva Edison
light bulb (amongst many others)
Alexander Graham Bell
telephone (helped start AT&T)
Henry Ford
assembly line (automobiles)
Isaac Singer
sewing machine
George Westinghouse
electrical transformer (home electricity)
Wilbur & Orville Wright Bros. airplane (not immediate)
Kitty Hawk, NC
Christopher Sholes
typewriter (recordkeeping & communication)
Joseph Glidden
barbed wire (cattle industry)
Samuel Morse
telegraph/telegram (Morse Code)
Margaret Sanger
birth control/contraception
Susan B. Anthony & Alice Paul women’s suffrage movement
WARMUP #3
The following graphs show the three largest cities in the United States at 2
different points in time: 1820 & 1900:
1820
1900
Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Baltimore
Baltimore
Chicago
Chicago
New York City
New York City
1. Which cities can be found in both graphs? Has anything changed about their
relative order? Write 1-2 sentences to explain your answer.
2. Which city appears in 1820 but not in 1900? Which city appears in 1900 but
not in 1820? Can you think of any reason for this? Write 2-3 sentences to
explain your answer.
3. What other observations can you make based on these graphs? Write 2-3
sentences to explain your answer.
1)
Progressive reform: the direct election of senators
a.
17th Amendment
b. 18th Amendment
c.
19th Amendment
d. 16th Amendment
2) Which of the following accurately describes the term “muckraker”?
a.
banning the sale, manufacture & use of alcohol
b. favoring native-born Americans over foreigners
c.
journalists who investigated wrongdoing in business & corruption in government
d. proposing a law on a ballot & allowing people to vote yes/no
3) Leader in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union:
a.
Ida Tarbell
b. Carrie Chapman Catt
c.
Susan B. Anthony
d. Carrie Nation
4) The “real” “trust busting” president, who turned out to be an “enemy” of the Progressives:
a.
William Howard Taft
b. Theodore Roosevelt
c.
Woodrow Wilson
d. William McKinley
1) Favoring native-born Americans over foreigners:
a. muckrakers
b. prohibition
c. recall
d. nativism
2) Progressive reform: the prohibition of alcohol
a. 17th Amendment
b. 18th Amendment
c. 19th Amendment
d. 16th Amendment
3) Muckraker, who wrote about business abuses at Standard Oil:
a. Ida Tarbell
b. Mother Jones
c. Carrie Chapman Catt
d. Susan B. Anthony
4) His domestic agenda offered people a “square deal” to protect workers & consumers from
big businesses:
a. William Howard Taft
b. Theodore Roosevelt
c. Woodrow Wilson
d. William McKinley
(1) Progressivism was sometimes referred to as “__________ brought to the city”.
a.
socialism
b.
government
c.
primary
d.
populism
(2) A basic belief of Progressivism is that ________ should play a bigger role in
people’s lives.
a.
socialism
b.
initiative
c.
government
d.
populism
(3) Muckraking novel that led to reforms in food processing:
a.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)
b.
The Jungle (1906)
c.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
d.
How the Other Half Lives (1890)
(4) Theodore Roosevelt’s progressive domestic agenda was called:
a.
Bull Moose Party
b.
Socialist Party
c.
bully pulpit
d.
New Freedom
e.
Square Deal
(1) Law passed to strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890):
a. Meat Inspection Act (1906)
b. Pure Food & Drug Act (1906)
c. Federal Reserve System (1913)
d. Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)
(2) Event that signaled the end of Progressivism:
a. Meat Inspection Act (1906)
b. Pure Food & Drug Act (1906)
c. Federal Reserve System (1913)
d. World War I (1914-1918)
(3) The “bank for banks”:
a. Meat Inspection Act (1906)
b. Pure Food & Drug Act (1906)
c. Federal Reserve System (1913)
d. Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)
e. World War I (1914-1918)
Unit 3 Topics: Muckraking Newspapers
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
(14)
(15)
Election of 1912 (William Howard Taft v. Theodore Roosevelt v. Woodrow Wilson)
Political Reform (local, state, federal)
Amendments (13-19 + 21)
Inventions & Innovations
Civil Rights & Leaders Involved
Women’s Suffrage & Suffragettes
Temperance (alcohol)
Education Reform
Big Business: “Trust busting”
Progressive Presidents
Who Are The Progressives?
Poor & Immigrant Care
Muckraking Novels
Progressivism v. Populism
Child Labor Reform