The Progressives
CHAPTER 16
SECTION 1
What were you doing when you were 8 years old?
Think about it…
 What laws are in place for workers that are under the
age of 18?
 What if I told you that women
can not vote?
Information?
 If you wanted to find out about Hurricane Irene, how
would you do that?
 If I asked you when the Steelers play the Ravens,
what would you do?
 How did people in the 1900’s get their information?
 Was the majority of the population LITERATE?
 Could people in Pittsburgh know what was
happening in Chicago? New York? Somerset?
This was the norm, not the exception…
Who were the Progressives?
(Ch. 16, Section 1, pg. 522)
 Progressives focused on three areas of reform:
 1. Easing the suffering of the urban poor
 2. Improving unfair and dangerous working conditions
 3. Reforming government at the national, state, and local levels.
 The people who wanted these changes were called
progressives.
 Why do you think they were called progressives?
Muckrakers
 Writers were the first to expose many of the social
ills that Progressives (or the reformers) targeted.
 Magazines were very popular at this time
 Popular magazines printed journalist’s firsthand
accounts of injustices and horrors they had
witnessed.
 They were called muckrakers because they “raked
up” or exposed the filth of society.
Primary Sources: Ida Tarbell (pg. 523)
 Who was Ida Tarbell?
 Questions to think about:
 What did she do?
 How did she describe the leaders
Of Standard Oil?
What do you think she hoped to
Achieve by publishing her articles?

Ida Tarbell
 Reported on the corrupt practices of the Standard




Oil Company
SOC pressured independent oil companies to give up
their lawsuits against SOC.
1880 victory withdrew all of the lawsuits
Made it fair, not a monopoly
Why do you think she published her articles?
Muckrakers Video
 Discovery Ed Video
Issue #1: Reforming Society
 By 1920, more than half of Americans lived in cities.
 Why?
 Tenenment Act of 1901:
 Forced Landlords to install lighting in public hallways
 Provide at least 1 toilet for every two families!

Think about it!!!
 How can something like this Act contribute to a drop
in the death rate?
Civil Rights –
Major Organizations formed at this time….
 NAACP
 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
 Fought for equal rights
 Protested segregated government
 W.E. B. Du Boise and Jane Addams were strong activists
 ADL
 Anti-Defamation League
 Sigmund Livingston, Jewish man living in Chicago
 Goal: Fight Anti-Semitism, or hostility towards Jews
What challenges did these
activists face?
Is it easy to stand for what
you believe in?
#2: Reforming the Workplace
 Progressives wanted to improve the working
conditions for women & children
 40% of Americans were living in poverty
 Progressives and Labor Unions fought to secure laws
ensuring workers a minimum wage.
 What is a union?

A union is an organized group of workers who come together
to make decisions about the conditions of their work. Through
union membership, workers can impact wages, work hours,
benefits, workplace health and safety, and other work-related
issues.
What is considered poverty today?
 2011:
2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines
Persons
in Family
48
Contiguous
States and
D.C.
Alaska
Hawaii
1
$10,890
$13,600
$12,540
2
14,710
18,380
16,930
3
18,530
23,160
21,320
4
22,350
27,940
25,710
The state or condition of having
little or no money, goods, or means
of support; condition of being poor.
Synonyms: privation, neediness,
destitution, indigence, pauperism,
penury.
Antonyms: riches, wealth, plenty.
14.3% (or 1 in 7 Americans)
Graphic Organizer
Problems in
the workplace
Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire
 Tragic event in NYC that killed 154 women and children
 Turning point for reform in factories
 What safety precautions are in place in our high school
that stemmed from this event?
 http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/triangle/t
rianglenewsaccounts.html
 http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/
 Discovery Education Video
#3: Reforming Government
 Progressives wanted to eliminate political corruption
and make government more efficient.
 Think: Mafia (Discuss)
 Reforms were made at the city, state, and federal
level.
 CITY LEVEL:


Development of commission plan (Commissioners were
experts in their field rather than party loyalists).
http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/cp/html/planning_commiss
ion.html
State Level
 Robert M. La Follette
 Use your textbook to answer the following:
 1. What was the Wisconsin Idea?
 2. Why would it be important to limit campaign spending?
 3. Why were railroads so important to regulate at this time?
Robert M. La Follette
 1. Wisconsin Idea:
 Ambitious agenda of reforms (He was the governor of
WI)
 2. Limit on Campaign spending?
 Important because it created an even playing field for
those running for office. If there was no limit, only
those with money and power would be elected.
 3. Importance of Railroads?
 Only means of transportation throughout the nation
at this time. Carried people and goods.
Vocabulary