PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT:
1900 - 1920
INTRODUCTION
• Flourished between 1900 & WW1
• Name from belief in Progress
• Progressives borrowed ideas from the
Populists and the labor movement, but
they differed in important ways
• Middle Class
• City Dwellers
• Activities reflected the rising influence
of the middle class
• Writers, Lawyers, Ministers, and College
Professors
ROOTS
• Arose out of: Protestant Evangelicalism,
Journalism, Populism, and reaction of the
middle class to the abuse of industry and
government.
• Acted out of a sense of moral
responsibility
• Confidence in the ability to use science to
solve problems
• Rather than accept corruption and
poverty- they wanted the government to
make positive steps to identify and
correct the problems
SOCIAL GOSPEL
MOVEMENT
• Late 19th Century
• Spearheaded by Protestant Clergymen
• Called for Social Reform (abolition of child
labor and safer working conditions)
• Objected to unregulated free enterprise
• Each man is his brother’s keeper
• Did not accept the existence of social
problems as God’s will• Salvation Army – emphasized the
Christian duty to help those who were
less fortunate
TEMPERANCE
MOVEMENT
• Aligned itself closely with those in
the Social Gospel Movement
• Aimed to Ban Alcoholic
beverages
• Eighteenth Amendment (1919)
• Banned the sale of alcoholic
beverages
SOCIALISM
• Some critics demanded an end to free
enterprise
• Free Enterprise System = Capitalism
• Believed government should take over
basic industries
• Argued that some reforms were necessary
if a social revolution was to be avoided.
THE MUCKRAKERS
• Writers that raked up “muck” or dirt of American Life.
• Jacob Riis: How The Other Half Lives
• Photographed conditions of the urban poor. His book
examined the conditions of the poor in America’s cities.
• Ida Tarbell: History of the Standard Oil Company
• Showed how John Rockefeller’s rise was based on ruthless
business practices
• Lincoln Steffens: The Shame of the Cities
• Exposed corruption in city and state governments
• Frank Norris: The Octopus
• Fictional book that depicted the stranglehold of railroads over
California farmers.
• Upton Sinclair: The Jungle
• Described the unsanitary practices of the meatpacking
industry
• Led to Theodore Roosevelt pushing to pass the Meat
Inspection Act (1906) & the Pure Food & Drug Act (1906)
Nothing more or less than
the truthful treatment of
material
Leading the Literary
Fashion
Realists described life with
as much detail as they
could.
Realism provided an
opportunity to show the
impact of industrialization
and social change on
people.
REALISM