The Progressive Era
1898-1920
The Populist Party
1891-1896
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Represented laborers, farmers, and industrial
workers vs. bankers and railroads
Agenda
Unlimited coinage of silver
to make farm prices ; loan repayment easier
Direct election of senators
Term limits—President hold a single term
Graduated income tax—tax wealthy at higher rate
Immigration quotas
Shorter work days—to 8 hours instead of 10-14
William Jennings Bryan
• 1896, Democrats nominated
• Democratic Party adopted many Populist
ideas
“Cross of Gold” speech
Denounced bankers for “crucifying mankind
on a cross of gold”
Defeated in 1896 & 1900 by McKinley
Populist Party
The Populist illustrate a role often played by
third parties—they provide an outlet for
disadvantaged groups to voice grievances
and generate new ideas.
Populist reforms were later enacted by other
political parties.
The Progressive Movement
• Mainly middle-class city dwellers, rather
than farmers and workers
• Believed government should increase its
responsibility for human welfare by taking
an active rile in protecting workers and
consumers
Muckrakers
exposed government corruption & the abuses of industry
Jacob Riis
He photographed and
described the
appalling
conditions of the
urban poor in How
the Other Half
Lives.
Muckrakers
exposed government corruption & the abuses of industry
Ida Tarbell
Her book, History of the
Standard Oil Company
(1902), showed how
Rockefeller’s rise was
based on ruthless
business practices.
Muckrakers
exposed government corruption & the abuses of industry
Lincoln Steffens
He exposed
corruption in city
and state
governments in his
book The Shame of
Cities (1904).
Muckrakers
exposed government corruption & the abuses of industry
Upton Sinclair
His novel, The Jungle
(1906), exposed the
unsanitary conditions
of the meatpacking
industry and led to
passage of the Pure
Food and Drug Act.
Labor Leader
Eugene Debs
Socialist leader of
1894
Led his union of
railway workers in
a strike that shut
down the western
railroads—Pullman
Strike
Anti-Debs Cartoon
Municipal Reforms
• Before, cities were ran by political machines or
“bosses.” They would get immigrants jobs,
housing, and citizenship in exchange for their
vote.
• The machine would steal from the public treasury
through bribes and padded contracts.
• Progressives replaced “bosses” with publicminded mayors and expanded city services.
Boss Tweed
New York City
political “boss” in
the 1850-60s
State Government Reforms
led by Robert LaFollette, governor of Wisconsin
• Secret Ballot—earlier voting was not private, subject to
pressure & intimidation
• Initiatives—allows voters to directly introduce bills in
the state legislature
• Recall—elected officials could be removed by voters in a
special election
• Referendum—voters could compel legislators to place
a bill on the ballot for approval
• Direct Party Primaries—party members decide who
they want to represent them in the general election
Progressive Presidents
Theodore Roosevelt 1901-1909
• Square Deal—proposed new laws to protect
consumer health, to regulate some industries, and
to conserve the nation’s natural resources
• Meat Inspection Act (1906)—after reading The
Jungle
• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)—regulated the
preparation of foods and sale of medicines
• Trust-buster—revived the Sherman Anti-Trust
Act; filed a lawsuit to break of Rockefeller’s
Standard Oil Company
T. Roosevelt with naturalist John Muir at Yosemite
National Park
Bull Moose
Party
Progressive Presidents
William H. Taft 1909-1913
• Antitrust cases
• Set aside a great deal of public
land for conservation
• 16th Amendment—allowed
Congress to tax individual
incomes
• 17th Amendment—direct
election of US Senators instead
of by state legislature
Progressive Presidents
Woodrow Wilson 1913-1921
• “New Freedom”—that would tame big businesses
and allow for more competition
• Lowered tariffs—cheaper goods
• Used the 16th Amendment to introduce a
progressive income tax
• Federal Reserve Act (1913)—reformed the
banking industry by establishing the Federal
Reserve Banks
• Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)—increasing
government’s power to prohibit unfair business
practices and established the Federal Trade
Commission
The Suffrage Movement
1865-1920
• Suffrage = the right to vote
• Susan B. Anthony & Elizabeth Cady
Stanton worked to get women the right to
vote
• 19th Amendment (1920)—no state could
deny a citizen the right to vote on the basis
of gender
Seneca Falls
Role of Women Changes
1870-1914
• Free public school for girls
• Some colleges for women
• Inventions like the sewing machine, typewriter,
and telephone added new jobs for women outside
the home
• New labor-saving devices, such as the washing
machine and vacuum cleaner reduced housework
and provided middle-class women with more
leisure time
Impact of Progressives on the Nation
• Watchdog of Businesses—Americans looked to
government for protection from unfair business practices
• Expansion of Democracy—greater power in the
hands of the people (like direct election of senators and
primaries) in order to keep it from political bosses
• Role of Protector—protect consumers, children,
women and environment not minorities
• New Tax Policies—graduated income tax changed
how government was financed and helped to correct social
inequalities through limited redistribution of wealth