The Progressive Age 1901-1917
Chapter 28-29
What was the Progressive
Movement ?
• To use the
Government as an
agency to improve
human welfare by
attacking:
– Monopolies
– Child Labor
– Corruption
– Social Injustices
The Muckrakers
• Investigative
Reporters &
Journalists who
wrote about the
abuses happening
in American society.
• Roosevelt gave
them their nickname
Jacob Riis’s – How the Other
Half Lives
•Photographer that showed
urban poverty
• Upton Sinclair
• Wrote “The Jungle” 1906
• Exposed Chicago Meat
Packing industries &
Gruesome working
conditions
Frank Norris – Wrote the
Octopus 1901
•Exposed Corrupt politicians
conspiring with SO Pacific
railroad to exploit CA Farmers
• Ida Tarbell 1904
– History of the Standard
Oil Company
– Targeted its abuses
Lincoln Steffens
- The Shame of the
Cities 1904
- Exposed municipal
corruption (political
machines)
Social Gospel
• Combining of Protestant
Religion & Humanitarian
work to
• Urban areas
• Help with poverty &
immigrants (Jane
Adams)
– Settlement Houses
– Salvation Army
Reforming Local & State Politics
• Home rule Charters – Cities got more power from
the states
• National Municipal League – carried out
investigations to help w/Urban problems
• City Manager System – placed executive &
legislative powers in the hands of a few non
partisan basis
• Cities pressed for ownership of Utilities (Water &
Gas)
• Minimum & Maximum Wage wk hours set some
provided recreational & daycare facilities
State Level Reforms
•
•
•
•
Attempts to ban child labor
Minimum & maximum hour wage laws for women
Workers Comp. to protect them on the Job
Pensions for women & children if dad or husband
was killed on the job
• Building Codes, State Inspection Acts why? All due
to the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
• Business like Railroads, insurance companies, food
Industries begin to be regulated
Triangle
Shirtwaist Fire
• New York 1911
• Killed around 150 workers
mainly young women
• Many jumped to their deaths
• Weak Fire Escapes
• Managers locked the doors
Best State Reformer: Senator
Robert La Follette from Wisconsin
• Model Progressive State
• Corrupt Practices Act –
political figures liable for
wrongdoing
• Limited Campaign funds
• Focused on:
–
–
–
–
–
Conservation
Taxes
Education
Highway Construction
Politics
Progressive
Women
• Charlotte Perkins –
Wanted female financial
independence
• Margaret Sanger –
wanted Legalized Birth
Control set up 1st Clinic
1916
• Alice Paul – Civil
disobedience wanted the
vote
• Jeannette Rankin – 1st
women to congress 1917
Progressive Amendments
• 16th Amendment 1913 – Instituted an
Income Tax
• 17th Amendment 1913 – Direct Elections of
Senators
• 18th Amendment 1919 – Banned the
making, selling, and transportation of Alcohol
• 19th Amendment 1920 – Granted Women
the right to vote
TR’s Square / Fair Deal 1901-1908
• 3 C’s (Control
of:
–Corporations
–Consumer
Protection
–Conservation
There are Good & Bad Trust
• 1902 United Mine Workers went on Strike in PA
their demands were
– 20% higher wages, 9 hr workday, recognition as a union
Tr’s Reaction:
-In fear of winter approaching invited both the UMW & Coal
operators to the Whitehouse to negotiate but the operators
refused to try & negotiate so TR threatened to send in the
U.S. Army to work the mines
-The Operators gave in quickly and met some demands
-10% wage increase & 9 hr workday
Attacking Corporations & Helping
Consumers
Created the Dep. Of Commerce & Labor 1903
Elkins Act 1903 – Railroad Companies to charge only
Published Rates
Bureau of Corporations – investigate antitrust violators
Example: Northern Securities v. U.S. 1904 = the court
ordered the company to be dissolved (they controlled all long
distance railroads west of Chicago)
The Hepburn Act 1906 – Empowered the Interstate
Commerce Commission by setting railroads rates & regulations
Pure Food & Drug Act 1906 – Federally inspected meat &
Medicine
Conservationism
• Newlands Reclamation
Act Bill + 150 mill acres to
national forest
• Estab. The Conservation
Congress
• Appt. Gifford Pinchot to
head the Dept. of
Agriculture’s Division of
Forestry
• Boy Scouts
• Sierra Club
Roosevelt Panic 1907
• 1904 TR decides not to run
again
• 1907 Panic on wall Street
Broke Out
• The Blame was put on TR
– 1908 Congress passed
Aldrich Vreeland Act – let
banks issue emergency
currency backed by various
kinds of collateral
• Taft was
groomed to take
over after TR
since he was he
VP
• But . . . Taft will
turn out very
differently and to
a degree Taft
and TR will
become enemies
Taft’s Dollar
Diplomacy
• Urged Americans to invest
money abroad
• Improve U.S. Foreign
Policy
• Help Stabilize foreign
countries
• Wanted to inject in
Manchuria, China & help,
prevent Japan & Russia
from monopolizing the
railroads
• Pumped money into
Honduras & Haiti
• Also sent troops &
money to:
–Cuba
–Dominican Republic
–Nicaragua – U.S. sent
2500 marines & left
them for 13 yrs
–All part of the Monroe
Doctrine
Taft the Trustbuster
• Brought 90 suits
a/g trusts in 4 yrs
compared to TR’s
44 in 7 ½ yrs
• 1911 Supreme
Court dissolved
the Standard Oil
Company why?
– It violated the
Sherman Anti-trust
Act 1890
Issues that Divide the Republican
Party
• Payne Aldrich Tariff 1909 – 40% tax on
imports (went a/g his parties beliefs)
• The Ballinger-Pinchot Controversy 1910 –
Sided with Conservative Ballinger (Sec. of the
Interior) & opened up 1 mill acres of land that
TR had set aside for conservation
• Brought an Anti-Trust Suit a/g the U.S. Steel
Corp. after TR promised the Govt. would not
So . . .TR Runs Again
Chapter 29: 1912-1916 Wilson
as President
Wilsonian Progressivism: 1912 Candidates
1. Dr. Woodrow Wilson – Democrat Party
–
New Freedom Program – called for; stronger antitrust
legislation, banking reform, tariff reductions, favored
small businesses
2. TR Roosevelt – Bull Moose Party
–
New Nationalism – Gov. should control the bad trust
leaving the good trust alone, female suffrage, social
welfare,
3. William Taft – Republican Party
Wilson Tackles
the Triple Wall
of Privilege
• Tariffs'
• Banks
• Trusts
Tariff
• Passed the
Underwood
Tariff – lowered
tariffs on
imported goods
& created the
16th amendment
Income Tax
Bankers
•Wanted to fix our National
Banking & Currency systems
(due to the Panic of 1907)
•Federals Reserve Act 1913
– oversaw a system of 12
regional reserve districts each
with its on central bank. Each
has the power to issue paper
money
•Helped us get through WW 1
Taming the Trusts
• Federal Trade Commission Act –
investigate trusts activities & stop unfair trade
practices (unlawful competition, false
advertising, adulteration, & bribery)
• Clayton Anti-Trust Act – exempted labor
unions from being called Trusts and legalized
strikes & peaceful picketing for labor unions
Other Legislation
• Federal Farm Loan Act 1916 & the
Warehouse Act of 1916 both helped get
farmers loans w/ low interest
• Adamson Act – gave 8hr work day w/
overtime pay
• Also worked on legislation to help improve
the treatment of our sailors
Foreign Policy: A new Direction
• Isolationist
• Stopped Dollar Diplomacy
• Made Congress repeal the Panama Canal
Tolls act of 1912 (Which had previously
kept Americans from having to pay a toll)
• Jones Act1916 - gave Philippines territorial
status & promised Indep. As soon as they
could reach a stable govt.
• Diffused tension between
Japan in 1913 when CA
banned Japanese land
ownership (Sec. of state
W.J. Bryan smoothed things
over.
• Tension in Haiti 1915 &
Dominican Republic1916
broke out – sent marines in
• 1917 bought Virgin Islands
from Denmark
Trouble in Mexico?
• 1913 Mexico Revolted sick of
the poverty ‘
• New political group with the
help of the U.S. ambassador
murdered the president & put
General Victoriano Huerta as
President of Mexico
• This led to massive
immigration to U.S.
• This bloodshed attacked
Americans in Mexico
• Wilson refused to get involved
he did allow guns to flow to
Huerta’s enemies
Huerta
– Venustiano Carranza
– Francisco “Pancho” Villa
• Violence Escalated in
1914 when American
Sailors were arrested in
Tampico, Mexico
• Wilson used the Navy to
seize port of Vera Cruz
wanted to get rid of
Huerta (stop a German
ship from delivering guns
and arms to his men)
• Argentina, Brazil, & Chile
stepped in to put down
Huerta regime and in July
1914 eh falls from power
Villa the
Freedom
Fighter
Robin Hood or Murderer ?
• Pancho Villa - Rival to
President Carranza begin
challenging his authority &
U.S.’s
– Killed 16 miners in N.
Mexico
– Columbus NM– murdered
another 19 Americans
– RESPONSE: Wilson sent
General John J. Pershing
to put down this bandit but
failed to capture Villa
Causes of WW 1
• The Rise of Nationalism
• The growth of Imperialism
• The formation of sometimes-secret
military alliances
• Increased Militarism
World War 1 Starts 1914
• A Serbian patriot killed
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
(Austro-Hungarian heir)
• Wilson did not want to get
involved in this DRAMA
remember (isolationists)
issued a neutrality
proclamation quickly
Central Powers
•Germany
•Austria-Hungary
•Turkey
•Bulgaria
Allied Powers
•France
•Britain
•Russia
•Japan
•Italy
•America
Can America Maintain Neutrality? Hmmm
probably not!!!!!
Why . . . .. ?
From the start we don’t like Germany or their ruler
Kaiser Wilhelm II because he resorted to
violence in our factories & ports (Briefcase
incident NY 1915 sabotage) The Blockade
begins………………
Economics of War:
• At the start U.S. was in a business recession but
. . .as war progressed we started producing
mass amounts of trade with the British & French
which needed supplies etc. . .
• Also J.P Morgan loaned 2.3 billion to the allied
powers to help their cause
• Germany hated this prosperity “trade” due to the
British blockade Germany and its central powers
were having a hard time getting around them to
trade with America (what can you do?)
• In retaliation German U-Boats 1915 would start sinking
ships around the British West Isles
• Warned Wilson mistakes may happened so be aware
• Wilson’s reply. . .Strict Accountability (were watching you
Germany)
• Sadly a British passenger
ship Lusitania was
torpedoed May 7, 1915
• 1,198 (128 Americans) died
• Americans were FURIOUS
• 4, 200 cases of weapons
•
Wilson’s Response:
 Strong letters we mean business stop
sinking unarmed ships = Germany agreed
to the Sussex Pledge = would no longer
attack merchant ships without warning
(that’s better) if America agreed to make
Britain stop their illegal blockade !!! Hmm
………… OK
 Wilson still CLUNG to neutrality going in to
his 2nd term but it was getting harder &
harder he knew
The last straw . . . . . . .
• The Zimmerman
Telegraph
- Arthur Zimmerman
wrote a letter to
Germany asking
them to ally
themselves with
Germany, in return
Germany would give
Texas & other lost
land back back to
Mexico