A Call For Change – Progressivism
Progressivism: movement that attempted to
change society politically & socially.
• Anti-Monopoly
1. Monopolies had too much power
2. Government needs to be involved
Who were the Progressives?
 It was an urban movement led by social
workers, newspaper reporters, teachers,
professionals, and business people.
 Urban version of populism
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Progressive Amendments
1. 16th Amendment- Federal
Income Tax
2. 17th Amendment- election of
senators by the people
3. 18th Amendment- prohibition
th
4. 19 Amendment- gave women
the right to vote
What did they want?
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***wanted reforms for society***
List of threats to society were:
1) Most of country's wealth in a few hands
2) Control of immigrants' votes in cities by politicians
3) passage of laws improving working conditions
4) passage of laws ending child labor
5) passage of laws improving food industry
6) passage of laws improving slum housing
7) regulation of the monopolies
8) stricter standards of morality
9) political reform
Roosevelt and Muckrakers

Muckraker- Person who
looks for corruption on the
part of public officials or
business and exposes it to
the public.
 Wrote about corruption
in America
 Teddy Roosevelt gave
them their name
Ida Tarbell

She became best
known for The History
of the Standard Oil
Company (1904).
Written about how
Rockefeller’s oil
company put small
businesses under.
Upton Sinclair: The Jungle
During the Industrial Revolution in America we
increased our beef output because of refrigerated
railcars.
Initial Goal: observe immigrant workers in
meatpacking industry
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Wanted to show the filth and corruption of the meat
packing industry.
He told how dead rats were shoveled into sausagegrinding machines.
How bribed inspectors looked the other way when
diseased cows were slaughtered for beef, and how
filth and guts were swept off the floor and packaged
as "potted ham."
Advances for Workers
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***reform came after industrialization***
Working conditions were harsh & there was no
unemployment insurance, disability pay, or retirement
pensions.
Meat Inspection Act- created a federal meat
inspection program.
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Response to The Jungle
Women Reform: Pre-Civil War- “cult of domesticity”
 Farm Women: South and Midwest
 Gender roles stayed the same
 Domestic Workers: Northeast
 Poverty causes women to work
 Maids, cooks, servants
Women Suffrage

Define: the right to vote
a. 14th and 15th amendment split women
reformers
b. Susan B. Anthony
– Opposed amendments
because they excluded
Women.
– “Suzy B’s”
3.
Suffrage for Women
a. Women become impatient
 Male immigrants immediately
granted citizenship
E. Women’s Rights
1. WWI plays huge
role in voting
rights for women.
2. 19th Amendment:
gave women the
right to vote.
Labor unions tried to improve these things by
bargaining, striking, or boycotting
 progressive reformers didn't care for labor
union leaders
**Accomplishments of the progressive reformers:
 passage of minimum wage laws for women in
12 states
 industrial accident insurance in 30 states
 child labor laws in some states
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
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sometimes it took tragedy to bring reform
fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in NY
City in 1911 is a good example
resulted in creation of the NY State Factory
Commission
it created laws regulating working & safety
conditions, wages, and hours
became a model of progressive reform for
other states
Reforming Society
- four areas were targeted
1) City Life
 garbage collection
 better housing
 improvements in public education
 funding for hospitals to treat tuberculosis
 building of playgrounds
 city planning (city beautiful movement)
2) Moral Reform
 wanted to clean up “immoral behavior”
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Drinking on Sunday
called for prohibition: manufacture, import
transportation, export, and sale of alcoholic
beverages is restricted or illegal.
led to passage of 18th Amendment (1918)
censorship of movies
3) Racial Discrimination
 Reformers overlooked the nation's 10 million
African Americans
 Whites believed they were superior to
minorities
 Most minorities were ignored
 Muckrakers continued to expose discrimination
& other racial problems continue
NAACP was formed in 1909
 purpose was to protect the rights of African Americans
 used the legal system to attack racial oppression
 defended African Americans arrested on questionable
evidence
 investigated race riots & lynchings
 fought for a federal anti-lynching law
National Urban League
 worked to improve job opportunities & housing
***Two black leaders emerged***
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Booker T. Washington
W.E.B. Du Bois
Booker T. Washington

Washington advocated blacks accepting their
inferior social status
 supported vocational training &
economic self-reliance to raise their
economic status
 believed political & social equality would
come after economic equality was achieved
 believed Americans should learn to be “one
as the hand but separate as the fingers”

was president of the Tuskegee Institute
 provided agricultural & industrial training
Du Bois
Advocated fighting for complete equal rights
 was a founder of the NAACP
 wanted to use the legal system to fight &
achieve immediate political, social, & economic
equality
 was a more militant leader than Washington
•4) Immigrants
•Tried to help immigrants get out from under
the control of political bosses
Progressivism Assignment
1.
2.
3.
4.
What was T.R.’s Square Deal? Why did Roosevelt
believe a Square Deal was necessary?
Discuss the actions of T.R. during the Coal Strike
of 1902. How did he facilitate action during the
strike?
Define: Progressivism, muckraker, direct primary,
initiative, referendum, recall, suffrage,
temperance, prohibition, socialism, arbitration,
syndicate, income tax. (13 Total)
Identify Significance: Robert La Follete, Alice
Paul, Hepburn Act, Upton Sinclair, Payne-Aldrich
Tariff, Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade
Commission, Mann-Elkins Act, William H. Taft,
Theodore Roosevelt, Children’s Bureau, Newlands
Reclamation Act, Pure Food and Drug Act, Meat
Inspection Act, Eugene Debs, NAWSA, Ida Tarbell,
Jacob Riis. (18 total)
Government Reform
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Progressives had 2 approaches to removing govt.
corruption
1) give common people a greater voice in govt.
2) hire experts to make govt. more efficient
Reforms in Wisconsin under Robert La Follette
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Initiative: bill initiated by the people
Referendum: a vote on the initiative
Recall Election: voters can remove public officials
w/election
Laws resulting from progressive ideas
 16th Amendment – graduated personal income tax
 17th Amendment – direct election of U.S. Senators
 18th Amendment – Prohibition
Government Regulate Business?
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T.R. believed in the free enterprise system
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welcomed the growth of industry
believed many large businesses made good
economic sense
T.R. was called a “trust buster”
Opposed only what he considered “bad” trusts
Believed trusts limited fair competition by their
conduct, not size
Went after Beef, Oil, Tobacco, and Railroad
1900: trusts controlled 80% of the industries
in U.S.
T.R.’s Square Deal
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Square Deal: progressive reforms designed
to protect people from big businesses.
Based on a strong federal government.
1902 Coal Strike: 140,000 workers strike
 George Baer refused to meet
 Commission by federal government grants
miners 10% pay increase, shorter days
Roosevelt’s actions proved…
 Federal gov’t will intervene
 Disputes could be settled via
commission
Congressional Action
T.R. read The Jungle
 Remembered that during the Spanish-American War
hundreds of soldiers died from eating tainted meat
 he called for a federal investigation of the
meatpacking plants
Meat Inspection Act of 1906: set health & sanitary
standards for all phases of the interstate meatpacking
industry
 Investigations in other industries found that harmful
dyes, chemicals, & filth were contaminating canned
goods
 Misleading advertising in the drug industry was
pointed out
Pure Food & Drug Act in 1906: barred the use of
harmful additives in foods & banned false
advertisement for drugs
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T.R. The Reformer
Many demanded stricter regulation of RR's
 Elkins Act: RR officials could not give shippers
rebates for using particular railroads.
 Hepburn Act: was passed in 1906 that allowed the
ICC to block unreasonable freight rates
Roosevelt and the Environment
 T.R. was involved in the conservation movement
 Recognized U.S. lands being abused by businesses
 As president, he committed the U.S. govt. to
conservation
 Congress created national parks & wildlife sanctuaries
 Congress provided $ for reclamation of damaged
lands
Election of 1908
 Taft became T.R.’s successor as president
 Continued T.R.’s progressive reforms
 Broke up twice the number of trusts as T.R.
 Appeared too weak toward conservation
 Taft generally was not the politician T.R. was
1910- T.R. returned from a safari trip to promote his
own ideas
 New idea was called New Nationalism

promoted laws to protect workers, ensure public health, &
regulate business
1912- T.R. had decided to run for president again
 Formed his own party called the Progressive Party
or Bull Moose Party
Election of 1912: four major candidates
 Taft (R), T.R. (BM/P), Wilson (D), Debs (S)
 Democrats were nearly guaranteed victory w/
split in Republican party
 Wilson promoted reforms: New Freedom
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Promoted laws to help small businesses
Called for a return to an America free from the
domination of big business and govt.
Wilson won the election overwhelmingly
Election was a defeat for the Progressive Party
but not for reform—still at the top of the
nation's agenda
Wilson’s Reforms: Based on New Freedom ideas.
Priorities were banking reform & anti-trust legislation
1. Banking Reform: Recession in 1907
 Disagreement about whether banks should be
controlled by private owners or by the govt.
 Compromise resulted in the Federal Reserve Act of
1913
 Divided the nation into 12 districts
 A federal reserve bank was in each district
 Local banks owned the federal reserve banks &
deposited a percentage of their money in them
 Federal Reserve Board was created to oversee
banking nationwide
Controlled the banking system by setting interest
rates on loans made by the fed. reserve banks to
member banks
 Interest rates could expand the money supply or
cause it to shrink
 Helped businesses to thrive & the economy to grow
2. Big Business
 Wilson wanted to further regulate big businesses
 Wanted to primarily limit power of monopolies
 Led to passage of the Clayton Anti-trust Act (1914)
 Extension of the Sherman Anti-trust Act
 Stated more clearly what corporations could and could
not do as legal business practices
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Suffrage for Women
 Women become impatient
 Male immigrants immediately granted
citizenship
1. WWI plays huge
role in voting
rights for women.
1. Work in factories
2. Taking care of the
home
3. Deserve Equality
2. Women are
demanding rights.
The Final Social Frontier
Women's Suffrage
 The last major reform of the Progressive
Movement was the
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19th Amendment (approved in 1919)
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officially gave women the right to vote throughout
the nation in 1920
72 yrs. after the first women's rights
convention, women had achieved equal rights
as citizens of the U.S.
The End of an Era
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1900--1920, progressives had accomplished much
Made politics less corrupt & more democratic
Economic justice for all types of workers
Govt. had turned away from its laissez-faire attitude
Congress built an impressive record of legislation
Women gained the right to vote
Although gains were made in many areas, all of the
problems were not totally gone– specifically racial
issues.
1917, war in Europe replaced everything else as the
focus of public life
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Specific Question: What role should the U.S. play????
Progressivism EQ’s #2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Explain the significance of the Triangle
Shirtwaist Fire.
Discuss City Reform and Moral Reform during
Progressivism.
Discuss the issue of Labor Reform during
Progressivism.
Define Suffrage. Explain why women such as
Susan B. Anthony were so upset during
Progressivism.
In terms of labor, discuss specific reforms that
were made during Progressivism. Discuss the
Meat Inspection Act.
Progressivism EQ #1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Define Progressivism. Describe 2 Progressive
beliefs towards monopolies.
List and Describe 4 Progressive Amendments.
List 5 threats to society that Progressives
were concerned with.
What is a muckraker? Who gave them their
name?
Why is Ida Tarbell a well known muckraker?
How did the Industrial Revolution impact the
meatpacking industry?
What was the initial goal of The Jungle?
Explain how that goal changed.
T.R. Essential Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
How did the government under T.R. handle
corruption issues with the railroads?
Explain T.R.’s response to reading The Jungle.
Discuss results.
Explain the role of T.R. in the conservation
effort.
What was T.R.’s “Square Deal?” How is he
considered to be a populist?
Describe the events of the 1902 Coal Strike.
What did this event prove about T.R.?
Discuss why we say that T.R. is considered to
be the first “Modern President?”