17.2 Reforming the New Industrial
Order
Objs
1. Explain how the Progressives tried to reform the
workplace.
2. Discuss how the Supreme Court responded to
social legislation.
3. Discuss how labor organizations represented
workers in the Progressive Era and how they
differed.
Bellringer
Read the passage:
 “This is not the first time girls have been burned alive in the
city. Each week I must learn of the untimely death of one of
my sister workers. Every year thousands of us are maimed.
The life of men and women is so cheap and property is so
sacred. There are so many of us for one job it matters little if
143 of us are burned to death.”
Look at the Question
 What societal problems are exposed in this piece?
Reread the passage and look for the answer
Copy HW
 Read and outline p. 522-529 using one of the methods– be
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sure to address moral issues in the urban problems.
Questions
1. What advances/reforms did the Progressives make in the
field of child labor?
2. In what ways did the Progressives hope to reform society?
3. How did the strikes of 1886 weaken the labor movement?
4. What was the Supreme Court’s decision in Dred Scott v.
Sanford?
Compare and Share HW
 What types of political and social evils did muckrakers
expose through their writings? (Give a specific
example)
 What problems did American industrial workers and
farmers face in the 1800s?
 How did the Populist Party represent the interests of
farmers, laborers, and political reformers?
 How did Congress’ plan for Reconstruction differ
from Lincoln’s?
Intro
 Should children be allowed to work? Quick write.
 Be sure to define children…
Industrial Problems
 10 hour average workday
 6 day work week
 $1.50 = average daily wage
 Women and children paid less
 1/3 of employed Americans lived in poverty
 Unsafe working conditions – ex: fire traps
In the mills…
In the bowling alleys….
In the mines…
In the streets….
And at home…. Kids worked!
Proposed Legislation
 Child Labor Laws
 Florence Kelley
 IL limits hours
 National Child Labor Committee
 1912 – 39 states had laws
 Poor enforcement
Working Hours
 Limits for women at the state level gained by Florence Kelley
 Wages
1/3 of workers lived in poverty
Mass. = 1st state to adopt a minimum wage law
1938 – 1str national minimum wage law
Safer Working Conditions
 One cause =Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
 Effect = NY adopts the strictest fire safety code in nation
The Court’s Response
 Sided with business
 Declared early social legislation
unconstitutional
 Violated workers freedom of contract –
Lochner v. NewYork
 Muller v. Oregon – used social research to
prove negative effects of long hours on
women’s health
Labor Unions
 Increased in membership 1900-1920
 Closed Shops – only union members hired
 Some supported SOCIALISM – gov. owns means of
production
 AFL –
 Samuel Gompers increased membership
 Bread and butter unionism
 Excluded unskilled workers
 International Ladies Garment Workers Union – mixed succcess
 IWW – wanted to overthrow capitalism
 Used unscrupulous methods
 1912 strike successful
Closure
 Are unions still necessary today?