The Progressive Era
Chapter 17
Section 1
The progressive movement
was a series of reform
efforts which aimed to
return control of the gov’t
to the people, restore
economic opportunities,
and correct social
injustices.
Every progressive
reform movement
had at least one of
the following
goals:
1. Protecting Social Welfare
• Purpose of these reforms was to
relieve urban problems
–YMCA
–Salvation Army
–settlement houses
–Jane Addams’s Hull House
–Florence Kelley
http://www.history.com/shows/ame
rica-the-story-ofus/videos/playlists/exclusivevideo#jacob-riis
2. Promoting Moral Reform
• Some reformers felt that morality
held the key to improving the lives
of the poor
–Prohibition
–WCTU
–“demon rum”
–Anti-Saloon League (1895)
3. Creating Economic Reform
• Panic of 1893 causes some to
question capitalism
• many criticize laissez-faire policy
• many workers embrace socialism
–Eugene V. Debs
–American Socialist Party (1900)
–muckrakers
–Ida Tarbell
4. Fostering Efficiency
•Some reformers tried to
increase the efficiency of
American society
–scientific management
–Ford assembly line (1913)
http://www.history.com/shows/ame
rica-the-story-ofus/videos/playlists/exclusivevideo#henry-ford-and-the-model-t
5. Reforming Government
• Natural disasters lead to local
government reform
–Galveston, TX (1900)
–Dayton, OH (1913)
• Council-managers and commissions
take over the jobs of the city council
• Robert La Follette (WI) led the way in
regulating big business
6. Protecting Workers
• Movement to end child labor
successful at state level
• Reformers are successful in
limiting the workday to 10 hours
for women
• Soon afterward, men’s workday
also limited to 10 hours
7. Reforming Elections
• In some cases, ordinary citizens,
rather than legislators or governors,
won state reforms
–initiative, referendum, recall
• Wisconsin first state to use the direct
primary
–paved the way for the 17th Amendment,
which calls for the direct election of
senators (1913)
The progressive
movement came to
an end when the US
entered World War
I in 1917.
Teddy Roosevelt’s
Square Deal
Chapter 17, Section 3
The Life of Theodore
“Teddy” Roosevelt
• 1858: born into wealthy family in New
York
• Served 3 terms in the New York State
Assembly
• Became New York City’s police
commissioner
• Became assistant secretary of the US
Navy
Life of Teddy (cont’d)
• Teddy grabbed national attention
during the war with Spain in 1898 (we
will discuss this further in Ch. 18)
• Returned a hero and became
Governor of New York
• Chosen as William McKinley’s vice
president
Life of Teddy (cont’d)
• Became President in 1901 after
McKinley is assassinated
–he is 42, the youngest ever to be
president
• As president, Teddy’s leadership
and publicity campaigns help
create the modern presidency
Life of Teddy (cont’d)
• Teddy used his dynamic personality
and popularity to advance his
programs (“bully pulpit”)
• Teddy saw to it that the common
people received what he called a
Square Deal, a term used to describe
the various progressive reforms of his
presidency
Life of Teddy (cont’d)
• Teddy used the power of the federal gov’t
to break up the “bad” trusts that caused a
“restraint of trade”
• Teddy set the precedent of the federal
government sending a commission to
negotiate labor disputes (Coal Miner’s
Strike of 1902)
• Teddy regulated Big Business, especially
the railroads
Life of Teddy (cont’d)
• Teddy was a celebrated conservationist,
setting aside federal lands that could not
be developed
• True to his pledge not to seek re-election
in 1908, Teddy picked William Howard
Taft as his successor, who won the
election
• Teddy goes to Africa to hunt big game
Life of Teddy (cont’d)
• Returns to US to run once again for
president, this time as a 3rd party
candidate (the Progressive or Bull Moose
Party)
• A split in the Republican Party allowed
Woodrow Wilson (Dem.) to win the
election of 1912
• Teddy retreats from public life and dies in
his sleep in 1919
Progressivism Under Taft
Chapter 17, Section 4
• Taft continued many of
Roosevelt’s progressive policies,
but because of his dull personality,
was often criticized.
• During Teddy’s 7 years in office,
he busted 44 trusts. During Taft’s
4 years in office, he busted 90
trusts.
• Taft gave in to the “old” guard that
resisted many progressive
programs.
• One such issue was tariff
reduction, a favorite cause of the
progressives because tariffs helped
big business and hurt consumers.
• Taft’s failure to reduce the tariff
angered many in his own party.
• It was during Taft’s administration
that the 16th Amendment was
passed, which permitted the
imposition of a graduated income
tax.
• The 16th Amendment was not
ratified until 1913, during
Wilson’s administration.
Wilson’s New Freedom
Chapter 17, Section 5
• Woodrow Wilson was raised
in the South during the Civil
War and Reconstruction.
• Before becoming president, he
was President of Princeton
University and the governor of
New Jersey.
• As President, Wilson didn’t think that
trusts should be regulated, he thought
that they should be broken up.
• He didn’t think that gov’t should get
bigger; he thought that business
should get smaller.
• Wilson attacked large concentrations
of power in an effort to give greater
freedom to average citizens.
• Wilson helped pass the Clayton
Antitrust Act, which declared
certain business practices illegal
and declared for the first time that
labor unions had the legal right to
exist.
• This made strikes, picketing, and
boycotts legal.
• The Federal Trade Act (1914) set up a 5member “watchdog” agency called the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
• The commission was authorized to advise
and regulate industries engaged in
interstate and foreign trade.
• The FTC handed down almost 400 “cease
and desist” orders to corporations
engaged in illegal activities.
• Wilson helped secure passage of the
Underwood Tariff of 1913, which
decreased tariff rates for the 1st time
since the Civil War.
• While this meant lower prices for
consumers, it also meant that the gov’t
now had less money.
• To make up the difference, the gov’t took
advantage of the powers granted to it by
the 16th Amendment and began
collecting income taxes.
• Wilson then tackled financial reform
by creating the Federal Reserve
System, which overhauled the
banking system by creating 12
Federal Reserve districts, each with a
Federal Reserve Bank.
• Under this banking system, weak
banks can be helped in time of need
and the money supply can be
controlled.