Objective:
 Following the lecture on the Progressive Movement
the students will use a Venn diagram to compare the
accomplishments and limitations of the progressive
movement in effecting social and political reforms in
America.
Definition of Liberalism:
 Although many historians speak of a Progressive
"movement," we should really think of Progressivism
as an umbrella, under which a variety of reform groups
and champions of liberalism gathered. So, any
discussion of Progressivism should begin with the
meaning of "Liberalism" at the beginning of the
twentieth century:
 Government should be more active
 Social problems are susceptible to government
legislation and action
 Throw money at the problem
Definition of Progressivism:
 Progressives, themselves, were never a unified group with a single
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objective or set of objectives. Instead, they had many different, and
sometimes contradictory goals, including:
End to "white slavery" (prostitution and the sweat shops)
Prohibition
"Americanization" of immigrants
Immigration restriction legislation
Anti-trust legislation
Rate regulation of private utilities
Full government ownership of private utilities
Women's suffrage
End to child labor
Destruction of urban political machines
Political reform
Basic Goals of Progressives
 Even though they were not a unified group,
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Progressives shared basic characteristics or beliefs:
They were moralists
Government, once purified, must act
Believed in protecting the weakest members of society
Never challenged capitalism's basic tenets
Origins of Progressive Thought
and Action:
 Discovery" of poverty
 Charity movement
 Emancipation of Women
 The "Social Gospel Movement“
 Social settlement movement
"Discovery" of poverty
 Poverty had always existed in American society, but a
number of urban reformers began to call for new
legislation to help the poor in the late 1870s and early
1880s.
Charity movement

Prior to the late 1870s, there was no systematic method
for social welfare, just individual charity groups
funded by private donors. In 1877, however, reformers
in Buffalo, New York, organized a citywide effort to
coordinate local charities. This type of system
eventually spread to other United States cities.
Emancipation of Women

The 1880s saw the first generation of women--mostly
white and middle- or upper-class--to graduate from
college in large numbers. These women left college full
of enthusiasm, but, for the most part, were shut out of
professions in medicine, law, science, and business. So,
they often used their energies to battle social
injustices.
The "Social Gospel Movement"
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Up until the 1880s, most Protestant ministers had not
concerned themselves with the problems of industrial
society. Rapid urbanization and industrialization,
however, convinced many of them to fight for social
justice. The goal of the Social Gospel movement was to
make Christian churches more responsive to social
problems like poverty and prostitution.
Social settlement movement
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The social settlement movement was formed as a ministry
to immigrants and the urban poor. University-educated
men and women (such as Jane Addams) settled in workingclass neighborhoods to try and help the poor and learn
about the real world. Most settlement houses started with
clubs and classes, then campaigned for housing and labor
reform. As they aided people, settlement houses also tried
to instill middle-class values and often had a paternalistic
attitude toward the poor.
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Theodore
Roosevelt
 Roosevelt was a Progressive reformer who sought to move
the dominant Republican Party into the Progressive camp.
He distrusted wealthy businessmen and dissolved 40
monopolistic corporations as a “trust buster." He was clear,
however, to show that he did not disagree with trusts and
capitalism in principle but was only against their corrupt,
illegal practices. His “Square Deal" promised a fair shake
for both the average citizen (including regulation of
railroad rates and pure foods and drugs) and the
businessmen. As an outdoorsman, he promoted the
conservation movement, emphasizing efficient use of
natural resources. After 1906, he moved left, attacking big
business and suggesting the courts were biased against
labor unions.
Jane
Addams
House. Hull House offered medical care, child care and
 Jane founded a settlement house in Chicago called Hull
legal aid to poor families living in the city. It also provided
classes for immigrants to learn English, vocational skills,
music, art and drama. In 1893 a severe depression
rocked the country. Hull House was serving over two
thousand people a week. As charitable efforts increased, so
too did political ones. Jane realized that there would be no
end to poverty and need if laws were not changed. She
directed her efforts at the root causes of poverty. The
workers joined Jane to lobby the state of Illinois to examine
laws governing child labor, the factory inspection system,
and the juvenile justice system. They worked for legislation
to protect immigrants from exploitation, limit the working
hours of women, mandate schooling for children,
recognize labor unions, and provide for industrial safety.
W.E.B. DU BOIS
 In 1905, Du Bois and a group of pioneering African
American scholars and leaders met to discuss the issue
of civil rights. This group, known as the Niagara
Movement, eventually led to the formation of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) in 1910. He believed that the only
way that African Americans would gain equality was to
fight for it.
Booker T. Washington
 He argued that African Americans should concentrate
on obtaining economic goals rather than legal or
political ones. He believed that if African Americans
achieved economic equality that the political and legal
equality would follow. He argued that it was more
important to have the opportunity to earn a dollar in a
factory that spend one in a opera house.