The Progressive Movement
Time Period: 1880s – 1920s
Progressive Introduction
Test Date: 20-October-2014
Homework Questions – Due Thursday, 16-Oct-2014
Each answer must:
• Be a minimum of 1 page.
• Answered in complete sentences
1. How did farmers respond to the problems
they faced in the late nineteenth century?
2. How did muckrakers and other Progressives
reform American society?
3. How was the move toward realism
reflected in American art and literature?
Notecard Spirals are DUE!!!
THIS FRIDAY!!!
10-OCTOBER-2014
Must:
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Be Numbered
Be Colored with at LEAST 3 colors
Have the Vocabulary Word
Have the correct definition in your own words
Be Stamped PRIOR to the due date
NO EXCUSES… GET IT DONE. A 0 FOR A TEST GRADE WILL KILL YOUR CHANCE AT PASSING
Overview
Overview / Key People
Reformers
You will learn how Americans adopted
important reforms to meet the new problems
posed by industrialization and urbanization.
Progressive reformers sought to remedy the
social problems caused by industrialization.
The Progressive Presidents introduced
Progressive reforms at the national level.
http://youtu.be/z-ztBdclkYU
Key People
Key People
Key People
Key People
Key People
William Jennings Bryan
Lincoln Steffens
President Garfield
Horatio Alger
Thomas Eakins
William McKinley
Frank Norris
Theodore Roosevelt
Mark Twain
Jack London
Muckrakers
Jane Addams
William Taft
William Dean Howells
Henry James
Ida Tarbell
Ida B. Wells
Woodrow Wilson
Henry Ossawa Tanner
Katie Chopin
Jacob Riis
W.E.B. DuBois
Susan B. Anthony
Frederick Remington
Winslow Homer
Upton Sinclair
Booker T. Washington
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
James McNeill Whistler
Charles Russell
The Agrarian Movement
Grange / Populist
Farmer Problems
• Today, less than 2% of Americans live on farms!
• 1870s: a majority of Americans live on farms.
• Farmer Problems :
• Agricultural Overproduction: Opening of the west greatly increased the amount of
land cultivated. Machinery & improved farming techniques increased productivity per
acre. As farmers produced more crops, food prices fell GREATLY!
• High Costs: Farmers had to ship their crops to market. Railroads often took
advantage of the lack of competition on local routes by charging higher rates for
shorter distances.
• Farmer Indebtedness: They borrowed to make improvements or to by machinery.
During a poor harvest, farmers also borrowed, using their farms as security. Banks
viewed farmers as poor credit risks and charged them VERY high interest rates.
• Periodic Natural Disasters: Farms were subject to droughts, insect invasions, and
floods. One bad year to their crops could wipe out a family’s savings from many
good years.
The Agrarian Movement
Grange / Populist
The Grange Movement
• Think Home on the Range… Just add a G!
• Founded in 1867 as a social club for farmers to help them overcome isolation and to spread
information about new techniques.
• By 1877, the Grangers had 1.5 MILLION members and began urging economic and political
reforms.
• Granger Cooperatives: To eliminate the middleman. Can buy and sell in large numbers for
discounts.
• Buy Machinery, Fertilizers, Manufactured Goods
• Sold Crops Directly to City Markets
• Failed because of lack of business experience
• The Granger Laws: Famers blamed the railroads for their problems.
• In several Midwestern States, Grangers elected candidates to state legislatures who promised
reforms. These states passed laws regulating railroad and grain storage.
• Munn v. Illinois: 1877 : The Supreme Court upheld the right of a state to regulate businesses that
affected the public interest within the state. However, in 1886, the Supreme Court reversed itself in
a case involving the state regulation of railroad rates. The Court ruled that only Congress could
regulate rates on interstate commerce (Interstate Commerce Act).
The Agrarian Movement
Grange / Populist
The Populist Party : 1891 - 1896
• 1892: Farmers gave their support to the Populist Party
• A new national political party representing the “common man”- Farmers, Industrial Workers,
Miners- in a battle against banking and railroad interests.
• Women played a prominent role in the Populist Movement as speakers and organizers.
• Convinced that rich industrialists and bankers had a stranglehold on government
• Wanted government to take a larger role
• National Convention in Omaha, Nebraska to choose a Presidential Candidate.
• Party Platform (had several innovative proposals)
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Unlimited Coinage of Silver: To raise farm prices & make loan repayment easier
Direct Election of Senators: Instead of by state legislatures
Term Limits for President: Permitting only a single term in office
Secret Ballot: To protect voters from intimidation
Government Ownership: of railroads, telegraphs, and telephones
Graduated Income Tax: To tax Wealthy individuals at a higher rate
Immigration Restrictions: With Quotas
Shorter Work Day: Of 8 hours