Progressivism Notes
PROGRESSIVISM
THE GILDED AGE
After the Civil War cities were no longer equipped to handle the problems existing in the cities.
These problems included crime, inadequate water supplies, poor sanitation, and lack of professionals.
The solution to these problems often lay in the hands of a political machine such as Tammany Hall
The biggest problem on relying on these political machines is the often corrupt measures employed by the machines to get work done.
The political machines contained a group of informal professional politicians to control the local government and their actions.
THE MACHINES
Pros
Made special effort to reach out to new immigrants by providing jobs, housing, coal for winter, and turkeys for holidays.
Helped immigrants become naturalized citizens of the United
States
Cons
Sometimes dominated entire counties
Used illegal tactics to maintain their position within government.
Used jobs as payouts to maintain control over voters.
Bribes and payoffs were a regular part of business.
FEDERAL CORRUPTION
Ulysses S Grant’s administration in 1869 became marred with corruption.
Many of these deals were performed in the back rooms of clubs and parlors.
THE SCHEMES
Crédit Moblier Scandal-1872
Union Pacific Railroad setup
Crédit Moblier company to build a part of the transcontinental railroad.
Taxpayers were charged 23 million dollars more than it cost to build.
The money went into the bank accounts of the directors of Union Pacific and stockholders
The Whiskey Ring - 1875
Tax collections were being moved into private hands.
They bribed officials to keep millions of tax dollars from liquor taxes.
The people involved:
Grant’s private secretary, whiskey distillers, distributors, and government officials.
THE PANIC OF 1893
In May of 1893 one of the leading railroad companies failed.
As a result investors pulled out of the stock market and thousands of businesses collapsed. 3 million people lost their jobs.
This is compounded by the fact a world wide financial slump was going on as well.
MAIN IDEA
Progressives focused on three areas of reform: easing the suffering of the urban poor, improving unfair and dangerous working conditions, and reforming the government at the national, state, and local levels.
FOCUS QUESTIONS
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What issues did progressives focus on, and what helped to motivate their cause?
How did progressives try to reform society?
How did progressives try to change the work place?
What changes did progressives make to reform government on a local, state, and national level?
PROGRESSIVISM, WHAT IS IT?
Progressivism is a movement started in the late
1800s as a reform movement to address many of the social problems industrialization created.
In particular they focused on:
Improving living conditions for the urban poor
Questioned the power of big business
Called for the government to be more honest.
THE MUCKRAKERS
Muckrakers are reform minded individuals working to expose many of the social ills in society.
Due to the nature of the materials they expose to the public, the nick name muckrakers were given to them. They “raked up” or exposed the filth of society.
Most focused on exposing business and political corruption
EXAMPLES
Ida Tarbell- Exposed Standard Oil in McClure’s
Magizine
Lincoln Steffens – corruption of city governments in The Shame of Cities.
Frank Norris – monopolistic railroads in The
Octopus: A Story of California.
Upton Sinclair – meatpacking industries in The
Jungle
QUESTIONS
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5.
What is this article focusing on?
Why would this be considered muckraking?
Does this fall into the main goals of progressivism?
Who would be affected by changes made by the articles?
What changes may need to be made after reading the article?
HOUSING REFORMS
In 1901 activists like Lillian Wald fought for public health service for the poor.
The Tenement act of 1901 passed in New York forcing the installation of lights in public hallways and 1 toilet for every two families.
Eventually outhouses would be completely banned.
Within 15 years the death rate in New York dropped dramatically.
WORK PLACE REFORMS
The Progressives took up the cause of women and children in the work place
In a couple of situations they would take cases on the court system.
Other situations would see the creation of committees and societies to further the causes of the Progressives.
LOCHNER V NEW YORK - 1905
This case concerned the rights of limiting the workday.
The Supreme Court sided with the business owners.
- By limiting bakers to a 10 hour work day, this would interfere with and deny the right of workers to make contracts with their employers.
MULLER V. OREGON - 1908
This case focused on the issues of work hours for women in factories and laundries.
The case was argued by Louis D. Brandeis on the basis of concrete evidence
“Working long hours harmed the health of Women”
The cases was decided in favor of Muller establishing a max of a 10 hour workday for women.
BUNTING V. OREGON - 1917
The main issue was considering a 10 hour workday for men in mills and factories.
The evidence in this case used a model known as the Brandeis Brief.
This style maintained using concrete evidence.
The court upheld the law extending protections of a 10 hour workday to men in mills and factories.
TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FIRE
500 women worked for the Triangle Shirtwaist company.
On the end of the 6 day work week a fire erupted, most likely from a discarded match.
The whole eighth floor set ablaze quickly and spread to 2 other floors.
The only choice left was to jump out of the windows since the exit doors were locked.
More than 140 men and women died.
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As a result the fire the toughest fire safety laws were passed in the Nation
CHILD LABOR
IN 1904 Florence Kelly formed the National
Child Labor Committee.
Their mission was to ban child labor.
However many employers still used child labor as a cheap source of labor.
REFORMING GOVERNMENT - LOCAL
Most often the way to clean up the government was to win control of it.
Once in control changes to the police and tax systems would help in the process. They would change the structure of government.
Commissioner system- Experts in their field would be elected to various position to handle situations
Council Manager- Council appoints a professional politition to fill the needed spots.
REFORMING GOVERNMENT - STATE
Robert M La Follette pushed changes known as the Wisconsin idea.
Limits on Campaign spending
State Commission limiting railroad/utilities
Commissions for transportation/ civil service/ taxation
These changes spread to other states in similar reforms.
REFORMING GOVERNMENT - ELECTIONS
Primaries were adopted due to Progressive pressure
The 17 th amendment creating direct election of senators was passed as well.
The Use of secret ballot was implemented along with the following:
Initiative- add ideas to be put as laws
Referendum – ask citizens to vote on laws
Recall – allows citizens to remove an elected official through voting.
REVIEW
What did the political Machines do good and bad?
What are the details of the two scandals/schemes from President Grant’s administration?
What are the three main goals of Progressivism?
What are some of the things that Progressive published about? How could they impact everyday life?
What are the three court cases Progressives tried? What were each of their results?
What parts of city government were rearranged?
What Changes were made to the election process and how would that help Americans?
