The Era of Progressive
Reform
Chapter 13
I. The Origins of Progressivism


Problems in the late 1800s:
unemployment, unsafe working
conditions, political corruption, etc.
Progressive Movement – the movement to
solve these and other social problems
I. The Origins of Progressivism

Many Americans believed in socialism –
economic and political philosophy favoring
public or gov’t control of property and
income
-Goals:
1) end the capitalist system
2) distribute wealth more equally
3) nationalize American industries
(gov’t owned)
I. The Origins of Progressivism

Labor Movement: unions focused on
reducing hours, higher wages, and better
working conditions
I. The Origins of Progressivism

Muckrakers: journalists who wrote about
corruption in politics and business –
nicknamed by Teddy Roosevelt – EX:
-Lincoln Steffens – exposed political
corruption in the cities
-Ida Tarbell – exposed the practices of
Standard Oil
-Upton Sinclair – wrote The Jungle (1906)described the meatpacking industry

In spite of the phenomenal success of The
Jungle, Upton Sinclair lamented what he
considered to be its failure when he made
his often-quoted assessment:
“I aimed at the public’s heart and by
accident I hit it in the stomach.”
I. The Origins of Progressivism

1)
2)
State Reforms: introduced by governors
– most famous was Robert “Battling Bob”
LaFollette from Wisconsin
Direct primary – election where party
members select a candidate to run in the
general election
17th Amendment – allowed voters, rather
than state legislators, to choose their
U.S. Senator
I. The Origins of Progressivism
3)
4)
Intiative – allowed citizens to propose
new laws by obtaining a certain % of
voters’ signatures on a petition
-the proposed law is then placed on the
ballot in the next election
Referendum – process in which citizens
may demand, by petition, that a law
passed by the legislature be “referred” to
voters for approval or rejection
I. The Origins of Progressivism
5)
Recall – gave voters the ability to remove
public officials from office before the
next election
I. The Origins of Progressivism

1)
2)
Federal Reforms: led by the Presidents –
esp. Teddy Roosevelt with his “Square
Deal” programs
Sherman Anti-Trust Act – outlawed
monopolies
Hepburn Act – required railroads to get
permission from the U.S. gov’t before
raising rates
I. The Origins of Progressivism
3)
4)
5)
Pure Food and Drug Act – passed in
response to The Jungle – created the
Pure Food and Drug Adm. to protect
consumers
Meat Inspection Act – required federal
inspection of meatpacking companies
16th Amendment – created a federal
income tax
I. The Origins of Progressivism
6)
7)
National Park Service – protected and
ran the national parks
18th Amendment – prohibited the
making, selling, and transportation of
alcohol
II. Progressive Presidents



Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
II. Progressive Presidents

William Howard Taft (Rep.)
-handpicked by Roosevelt to run in the
1908 election
-defeated William Jennings Bryan (Dem.)
who lost for the 3rd time
-never gained full support of the
progressives
II. Progressive Presidents

Election of 1912:
-Taft defeated Roosevelt in the Rep.
convention
-Roosevelt and many progressives formed
a third party and called it the Progressive
Party (“Bull Moose Party”)
-the split in the Rep. party allowed a
Dem., Woodrow Wilson, to win the
election
III. Women’s Suffrage


By 1900 only WY, ID, UT, and CO had
granted voting rights to women
National American Women Suffrage
Association (NAWSA) used protest to force
Pres. Wilson to take action on woman
suffrage
-the group picketed the White House and
went on hunger strikes if arrested
III. Women’s Suffrage

19th Amendment (1920) – guarantees
women the right to vote
STOP
The Origins of Progressivism:



Progressive Era: the era in American
history from about 1890-1920
Progressivism – a collection of different
ideas and activities about how to fix the
problems within American society
All Progressives agreed that the gov’t
should take a more active role in solving
society’s problems caused by urbanization
and industrialization
The Origins of Progressivism:


Progressives believed that first the gov’t
needed to be fixed and made more
responsible to people before other
problems could be addressed
Muckrakers – a group of journalists who
investigated social conditions and political
corruption
-their articles put pressure on gov’ts to
introduce reforms
The Origins of Progressivism:

Examples of muckrakers:
-Ida Tarbell – exposed the practices of the
Standard Oil Company
-Lincoln Steffens – attacked political
machines (buying votes, etc.)
-Jacob Riis – How the Other Half Lives –
poverty, disease, crime
-Upton Sinclair – The Jungle – exposed
the meat-packing industry
The Origins of Progressivism:


Many types of progressivism – often took
opposing sides on issues and how to solve
the problems
One group believed that problems in
society could be solved if government was
efficient
-wanted to replace the existing system
with a commission plan – board of
commissioners with expertise in city services
would select and hire specialists to run city
departments (fire, police, etc.)
The Origins of Progressivism:


Many progressives wanted more
democracy in society
Robert La Follette – Wisconsin governor –
criticized how political parties ran their
conventions
-introduced the direct primary – a party
election in which all party members vote
for a candidate to run in the general
election
The Origins of Progressivism:

Other reforms:
-initiative – allowed a group of citizens to
introduce legislation and required the
legislature to vote on it
-referendum – allowed proposed
legislation to be submitted to the voters
for approval
-recall – allowed voters to demand a
special election to remove an elected
official from office
The Origins of Progressivism:
-17th Amendment (1913) – provided for
the direct election of U.S. Senators (rather
than being selected by state legislatures)

The movement for women’s voting rights
was known as the suffrage movement
-many progressives joined the movement
The Origins of Progressivism:

After the Civil War, the Republicans in
Congress introduced the 14th and 15th
Amendments, which protected the voting
rights of African Americans
-the woman suffrage movement had
wanted these amendments to apply to
women as well
-Republicans refused
The Origins of Progressivism:


By 1900 only WY, ID, UT, and CO had
granted voting rights to women
National American Women Suffrage
Association (NAWSA) used protest to force
Pres. Wilson to take action on woman
suffrage
-the group picketed the White House and
went on hunger strikes if arrested
The Origins of Progressivism:


19th Amendment (1920) – guarantees
women the right to vote
Social welfare progressives created
charities to help the poor and
disadvantaged, and pushed for laws to
help fix social problems
The Origins of Progressivism:



1900: over 1.7 million under the age of
16 worked outside the home
The National Child Labor Committee
worked to end child labor
Many adult workers labored in difficult and
dangerous conditions
-building codes, workers’ compensation,
zoning laws, and health codes made the
work environment safer
The Origins of Progressivism:


The temperance movement called for the
moderation or elimination of alcohol
Women’s Christian Temperance Union
(WCTU) was formed in 1874
-worked to reduce alcohol consumption,
but later pushed for prohibition
The Origins of Progressivism:

A group of progressives focused on
regulating big business, but they
disagreed on the solutions
-one side wanted to break up big
companies to restore competition
-the other wanted the creation of gov’t
agencies to regulate big companies
The Origins of Progressivism:



Socialism – the idea that the gov’t should
own and operate industry for the
community as a whole
-an idea shared by only a small minority of
progressives
Eugene Debs – led the American Socialist
Party – ran for Pres. in 1912
Most Americans and most progressives
believed in the American system of freeenterprise (capitalism)
The Origins of Progressivism:

During his second term, Theodore
Roosevelt’s reform program was known as
“Square Deal”
-felt gov’t should try to balance the needs
of all the groups in American society
-believed the U.S. needed progressive
reforms to remain an efficient society and
compete with other nations

By 1905: consumer protection became a
national issue
-patent medicines and food consumption
became serious threats to Americas,
forcing new legislation

1906: Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle
described his observations of Chicago
slaughterhouses
-as a result, federal legislation was passed
-Meat Inspection Act – required federal
inspection of meat sold and set standards
of cleanliness in meatpacking plants
State Reforms:
State Reforms:
3)
4)
Initiative – allowed citizens to propose new
laws by obtaining a certain percentage of
voters’ signatures on a petition – the
proposed law is then placed on the ballot in
the next election for approval or rejection
Referendum – process in which citizens may
demand, by petition, that a law passed by the
legislature be “referred” to voters for their
approval or rejection
State Reforms:
5)
Recall – gave voters the ability to remove
public officials from office before the next
election
Federal Reforms:

1)
2)
Introduced by the Presidents – esp.
Theodore Roosevelt with his “square deal”
programs – federal reforms included:
Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) – outlawed
any combination of companies that attempted
to create a monopoly
Hepburn Act (1906) – required railroads to
get permission from the U.S. gov’t before
raising rates
Federal Reforms:
3)
4)
5)
6)
Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) – passed in
response to The Jungle – created the Pure
Food and Drug Adm. to protect consumers
Meat Inspection Act (1906) – required federal
inspection of meatpacking companies
16th Amendment (1913) – created the federal
income tax
National Park Service (1916) – protected and
ran the national parks
Federal Reforms:
7)
18th Amendment (1919) – prohibited the
making and selling of alcohol
Progressive Presidents:




Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
William Howard Taft (Rep.) – handpicked by
Roosevelt to run in the 1908 election –
defeated William Jennings Bryan (Dem.) who
lost for the 3rd time – never gain the full
support of the progressive republicans
Progressive Presidents:

Election of 1912 – Taft defeated Roosevelt in
the Rep. convention – Roosevelt and many
progressives decided to form a 3rd party and
called it the Progressive Party (nicknamed the
“Bull Moose” Party) – the split in the Republican
Party allowed a Democrat, Woodrow Wilson, to
win the election
Women’s Suffrage:


Suffrage – the right to vote
19th Amendment (1920) – granted women
suffrage