Social Welfare and Prohibition Chris Perez, Alex Polidoro, Peter McFarren Key Players ● ● ● ● Theodore Roosevelt Woodrow Wilson Florence Kelly Frances Willard Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt ● Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States ● Born October 27th, 1858 ● He was president from 1901-1909 ● Fought for better working conditions/ worker’s rights ● Wilson was the 28th president of the United States ● Born December 28th 1856 ● Tried to keep America out of WWI and founded League of Nations ● Was opposed to 18th Amendment and Volstead Act. ● Congress overrode Wilson’s veto Florence Kelly ● In 1891 Florence joins Jane Addams, Julia Lathrop, Ellen Gates Starr, and other women at the Hull House ● Her job was to observe the area and its working conditions ● She took notice to the very young children working in the tenement sweatshops. ● She conducted a survey that was presented to the state ● As a result the Illinois State Legislature created the 1st factory law prohibiting employment of children under the age of 14 ● Appointed as first woman chief factory inspector Frances Willard ● ● Born September 28,1839 ● Woman Suffragist ● President of Woman’s Christian Temperance Union ● Rallied support for Temperance and many other social reforms ● She was also involved in: -Work relief for the poor -Anti-rape laws -Federal aid to education Key Groups and Events ● ● ● ● ● ● YMCA Social Gospel and Settlement House Salvation Army WCTU Anti-Saloon League The 18th Amendment YMCA ● AKA Young Men’s Christian Association ● Founded on June 6th, 1844 by George Williams ● Established to provide safe housing in a Christian environment for young men ● BY 1851, there were YMCA’s in the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States Social Gospel ● Religious social reform movement ● Focused on applying moral principles to the improvement and industrialized society ● Including Abolition of: ○ Child Labor ○ A shorter workweek ○ Factory regulation Settlement House ● In 1886 Stanton Coit founded America’s first Settlement House ● Provides services and activities designed to identify and reinforce the strengths of individuals, families, and communities ● The houses may include: ■ Job training ■ Employment programs ■ Early childhood education ■ Youth and art programs ■ Literacy education Salvation Army ● In 1985 William Booth and his wife Catherine Booth saw how the Church was looking down upon the poor people and street people ● Decided to create the Salvation Army to tend to the poor and street peoples needs ● Provides shelters to the homeless, disaster relief, and clothes drives WCTU ● AKA Women’s Christian Temperance Union ● Founded in Cleveland, Ohio in November of 1874 ● Movement to ban alcohol ● In 3 months had driven liquor out of 250 communities ● Annie Wittenmyer was President from 18741879 ● 1879 Frances Willard becomes President of organization Anti-Saloon League ● Formed in Oberlin, Ohio on May 24th, 1893 ○ Ohio Anti-Saloon League ● Became Anti-Saloon League on December 18th, 1895 in Washington D.C. ● Primary goal was to unify and focus on anti-alcohol sentiments effectively ● Secondary goal was to increase anti-alcohol sentiment ● Purley Bake was the superintendent (For Ohio) ● William H. Anderson was the superintendent (For New York) The 18th Amendment ● Ratified in January 16th, 1919 ● Repealed in 1933 by 21st Amendment ● Volstead Act - Banned manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol ● Gave government means of enforcing 18th Amendment Viewpoints on Prohibition ● Prohibition only drives drunkenness behind doors and into dark places, and does not cure it, or even diminish it. Mark Twain: Letter from New York to the Alta Californian, May 28, 1867. http://home.earthlink.net/~ynot/Prohibit.html Reasons for Prohibition ● The Prohibition movement gained momentum because alcohol was made the scapegoat for problems in America ● Problems included unemployment, absence in the workplace and violence in the home Why Prohibition Failed ● Prohibition failed due to the vast expense of enforcing it as well as an increase in organized crime whose purpose was to distribute alcohol illegally ● Cops also took bribes from underground saloons in order to stay out of their business which defeated the purpose of trying to enforce Prohibition Reasons for Social Welfare ● Social Welfare came about as the result of poor working conditions and poor wages ● Workers were given no benefits and often had to work long hours to support their families ● Children were sent to work dangerous jobs to help support the family Why Social Welfare Succeeded ● Social Welfare was clearly successful as we established a minimum age that children can work at as well as minimum wage and working condition standards