Gilded Age – Progressive Era
Gilded Age
• Gilded – cheap center covered w/
thin layer of gold (Mark Twain)
• Gov’t followed Laissez – Faire
policies
• 1877-1900
Political Party Differences
Republican
• Gold based $
• High Tariffs
• $ for Union soldiers
• Aid to RR
• Limits on
Immigrants
• Enforce Blue Laws
Democrat
• Silver based $
• Lower Tariffs
• High farm prices
• Less aid to RR
• Fewer Blue Laws
Lewes, Delaware:
• It is illegal to wear pants that are “firm fitting”
around the waist.
Rehoboth Beach
• No person shall change clothes in his or her
vehicle.
• No person shall pretend to sleep on a bench on
the boardwalk.
• Changing into or out of a bathing suit in a public
restroom is prohibited.
• Six-year-old girls may not run around without
being fully clothed.
• Alcohol may not be served in nightclubs if
dancing is occurring on the premises at the
same time.
Maine
• It is illegal to stroll down the street and play a
violin at the same time.
• Advertisements may not be placed in
cemeteries.
North Carolina:
• Elephants may not be used to plow cotton fields.
• In cemeteries, no one may visit their departed
loved ones late at night.
• Women must have their bodies covered by at
least 16 yards of cloth at all times. (Charlotte)
Presidents of the Gilded Age
Rutherford Hayes
• Republican
• Ended
Reconstruction
• Reformed Spoils
System
Presidents of the Gilded Age
James A Garfield
• Republican
• Killed by a
lawyer, Charles
Guiteau
Presidents of the Gilded Age
Chester Arthur
• Republican
• Created Civil
Service
Commission
• Check
qualifications
Presidents of the Gilded Age
Grover Cleveland
• Democrat
• Gov’t control
over RR
Presidents of the Gilded Age
Benjamin
Harrison
• Republican
• Sherman Anti
Trust Act
• Country begins a
Depression
Presidents of the Gilded Age
Grover Cleveland
• Democrat
• Stops Pullman
Strike
• Only Prez
elected twice not
in a row!
Presidents of the Gilded Age
William McKinley
• Republican
• Increases US
Tariffs
• Supported the
Gold Standard
Presidents of the Gilded Age
William McKinley
• Spanish –
American War
• Annexation of
Hawaii
• Killed during 2nd
term – Leon
Czolgosz
Progressive Era
• 1890-1920
• A variety of reforms were enacted at
all levels
• Many Progressives believed that
political action and reform were
required for progress in society.
The Progressives: Their Goals and Beliefs
Progressives were not a single unified
movement. Their efforts fell into four
categories:
Social
Reform
Moral Economic Political
Reform Reform Reform
Social Reform
Government should be given
expanded powers so that it could
become more active in improving
the lives of its citizens.
Social Reform Examples
1.Women’s rights
–Suffrage (voting)
–Owning Property
–Divorce
–Clothing
–Birth Control
Women’s Reform Leaders
• Susan B Anthony – activist who
worked towards gaining suffrage for
women
– Created National
American Woman
Suffrage Association
(NAWSA)
Women’s Reform Leaders
• Florence Kelley
– activist who
worked towards
gaining better
working
conditions
Women’s Reform Leaders
• Alice Paul – radical activist who
worked towards gaining suffrage for
women
– Created Congressional
Union (CU): wanted an
Amendment giving
Women right to vote
19th Amendment
• 1919 Congress passes the
19th Amendment granting
women the right to vote.
Social Reform Examples
2. Protection of the Environment
– Antiquities Act of 1906
» Allows President to designate National
Monuments
» Protect and Preserve Wildlife Areas
Social Reform Examples
3. Tenement Life



Over
Crowding of
the Cities
Poor Living
Conditions
Unsanitary
Conditions
Social Reform Examples
4. Unsafe working conditions and Child
Labor
– Fewer
Hours
– Higher
Wages
– Safer
Factories
– Unions
• The Triangle
Shirtwaist
Factory
operated on
the top 3
floors of the
10 story Asch
Building in
New York City
• In 1911, Unsafe
working
conditions lead
to a deadly fire
• Notice that the
tallest ladders
owned by the
fire department
only reach the
6th floor
• Rather than burn alive in the swift moving
fire, many women jump from windows
• This is actually
a photo of the
building after
the fire! Note
how there is
very little
damage on the
outside of the
building
•
Eight months after the fire,
a jury acquitted the factory
owners, of any wrong
doing.
• Twenty-three individual civil
suits were brought against
the owners of the Asch
building. On March 11,
1913, three years after the
fire, the owners settled.
They paid 75 dollars per life
lost.
• This tragedy led to a push
for comprehensive safety
and workers compensation
laws.
Social Reform
Examples
5. Safer Medicines
– Restriction of Harmful
Drugs
– Proper Labeling
– Government Approval of
Future Drugs/Medicines
Patent
Medicines
• Medicines at the turn of the
century did not require a
prescription.
• Making exaggerated claims, they were
used for a variety of ailments.
• Many contained dangerous ingredients.
Cocaine was a common ingredient – even for
children's medicines
Notice it's from the makers of
Bayer Aspirin...
Social Reform Examples
6. Safer Food
– Government Inspection of
Food
– Proper Labeling
– Cleanliness
Have you read “The Jungle”?
yuck.
The Jungle
• Written by Upton
Sinclair
• Talks about the
horrors of the
meat packing
industry
Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906
Created Food and Drug Administration,
responsibility of testing all foods and
drugs destined for human
consumption
 The requirement for prescriptions from
licensed physicians before a patient
could purchase certain drugs
 The requirement of label warnings on
habit-forming drugs.

Meat Inspection Act of 1906

All animals were required to pass an
inspection by the FDA prior to
slaughter

All carcasses were subject to a postmortem inspection

Cleanliness standards were established
for slaughterhouses and processing
plants.
Social Reform Examples
7. Civil Rights Movement
African Americans were still fighting for
basic rights guaranteed
them in the Constitution
Problems African Americans fought
Against
• Voter Restrictions
– Poll Tax – Pay a fee to vote
– Literacy Test – prove you could read &
write to vote
– Grandfather Clause – exempts a group
of people from obeying a law provided
they met certain conditions before law
was passed
Problems African Americans fought
Against
• Jim Crow Laws – System of laws that
segregated public services by race
Problems African Americans fought
Against
• Plessy v. Ferguson – “Separate but
Equal”
– Supreme Court ruled
against Homer Plessy
saying segregation
was legal as long as
separate facilities
were equal
Problems African Americans fought
Against
• Lynching – mob’s illegal seizure &
execution of a person, usually by
hanging
African American Leaders
• Booker T.
Washington –
encouraged
African Am. To
become
educated & learn
a trade
African American Leaders
• WEB DuBois –
encouraged
African Am. To
attend college &
become leaders;
Also started
NAACP
African American Leaders
• NAACP – National Association for
the Advancement of Colored
People
–Worked through courts to gain
equal rights for African Am.
Moral Reform
Many felt the Morals of our society were at the
root of many turn of the century problems.
- Moral Reformers sought to promote Moral
Improvements:
•
•
•
•
•
End Prostitution
End Gambling
End Drunkenness
Education for Children
Americanization and
Restriction of
Immigrants
Economic Reform
Economic Reformers sought to curb
the power and influence of
wealthy interests.
» Monopolies
» Trusts
» Gap between Rich
and Poor
Political Reform
•
Governments should become more
efficient and less corrupt so that they can
competently handle an expanded role.
Political Reformers demanded Political Honesty
and Accountability
»
»
»
»
»
»
Patronage/Spoils System
Only Politicians can introduce bills
Only Legislatures can pass laws
Only Courts can remove corrupt officials
Political Machines
Bribery
Patronage
• The giving of jobs or other
political favors to supporters –
even if they are not qualified
• Even Presidents did it!
…until…
Progressive Political Reforms
BEFORE
• Party leaders
chose candidates
for state & local
offices
AFTER
• Direct Primaries –
Voters select their
party’s candidates
Progressive Political Reforms
BEFORE
AFTER
• State legislature
• 17th Amendment –
chose US Senators
US Senators are
elected by popular
vote
Progressive Political Reforms
BEFORE
• Only members of
state legislature
can introduce bills
AFTER
• Initiative – Voters
can put bills before
the legislation
Progressive Political Reforms
BEFORE
• Only legislatures
pass laws
AFTER
• Referendum –
voters can vote on
bills directly
• DE voters control
raising school
taxes
Progressive Political Reforms
BEFORE
• Only courts or
legislature can
remove corrupt
officials
AFTER
• Recall – voters can
remove elected
officials from office
Progressive Political Reforms
MUCKRAKERS
• Journalists that exposed turn of the
century problems such as illegal business
activities, putrid food, quack medicines,
squalid living conditions, dangerous
working conditions, etc.
• The uncovering of these awful
truths led progressives to demand
changes.
• Ida
Tarbell
• Jacob Riis
•• History
Lincoln
• How of
the
Standard
Oil
Steffens
• Upton
Other
Half
• Shame
of
Lives
Sinclair
SOME FAMOUS
MUCKRAKERS
• Exposed the
• the
Exposed
Citiesthe
• The
Jungle
ruthless
practices
shameful
livingof
big
business
•• Exposed
the
horrors
conditions
in
Exposed Big City
of the
meatpacking
city
tenements
Political
industry
Corruption
Progressive Presidents
Theodore
Roosevelt
• Republican
• Youngest Prez
• Took office after
McKinley is shot
Progressive Presidents
• Led the fight to dissolve 40 monopolies as
a “trust buster“
• “Square Deal" promised a fair shake for
the average citizen, including:
– regulation of railroad rates and pure foods
and drugs.
– promotion of the conservation movement,
emphasizing efficient use of natural
resources.
Progressive Presidents
William H Taft
• Republican
• Promised to
continue TR’s
ideas
• Tried but lacked
TR’s energy
Progressive Presidents
• Initiated 80 antitrust suits
• Submitted to the states amendments for a
Federal income tax and the direct election
of Senators.
Progressive Presidents
• Progressive Republicans are upset w/ Taft
& want TR back
• TR loses in the primaries so he creates his
own political party
• Progressive Party aka Bull Moose Party
Election of 1912
• Rep – William
Taft
• Dem – Woodrow
Wilson
• Prog – Teddy
Roosevelt
Wilson Wins!!!!
Candidate
Popular Vote
Electoral Vote
Wilson
6,296, 547
435
Roosevelt
4,118,571
88
Taft
3,486,720
8
Other
1,135,637
None
Progressive Presidents
Woodrow Wilson
• Democrat
• Continued
Progressivism
• Prez during WWI
Progressive Presidents
Clayton Antitrust Act
• Strengthened the Sherman Antitrust
Act of 1890
• Spelled out specific activities
businesses could NOT do
• Aide to Union Strikes now Legal!
Progressive Presidents
Federal Reserve System
• Central bank of the US
• Divided nation into 12 regions each
w/ its own Federal Reserve Bank
Progressive Presidents
Federal Reserve System
• Regulates Amount of money in
circulation
• Sets interest rates
• Regulates how
much a bank can
lend
Progressive Presidents
• 16th Amendment – Congress can levy
income taxes
• 17th Amendment – Direct Election of
Senators
• 18th Amendment – Prohibition of Alcohol
• 19th Amendment – Women’s Suffrage