The Progressive
Era
America Seeks Reforms in the
Early 20th Century
Helping the UnfortunateProgressivism
Reform shifts from
the farm to the city
and climbs the
ladder of
government from
the local to the
state and then to
the national level.
Features of Progressive Reform
• Desire to make
society more moral
and more just
• Desire to distribute
income more
equitably
• Desire to broaden
opportunities for
individual
advancement
Excluded
from the melting pot
• “Melting Pot”: immigrants
assimilated into culture through
education and acculturation.
• Does not correspond with reality
of U.S. experience.
• Many immigrant groups
maintained their ethnic identity.
• Melting pot did not take into
account immigrants and ethnic
groups who did not easily blend
into the culture.
• Asians, African Americans,
Native Americans, and others
were excluded from this process
of mixing into society.
Jingoism
• Chinese Exclusion Act
• Extreme chauvinism
1882:
or nationalism marked
• Barred Chinese
especially by a
immigration for 10 years
belligerent foreign
and prevented the
policy
Chinese already in
the the country from
becoming citizens
Citizens
Nativism
• U.S citizens who hate
immigration
Individualism
•
Belief that regardless of
your background, you
could still rise in society
• Philanthropy is providing money to support
humanitarian or social goals.
• They believed that those who profited from society
owed it something in return.
• “Gospel of Wealth” claims that wealthy Americans bore
the responsibility of engaging in philanthropy – using
their great fortunes to further social progress.
Carnegie and Rockefeller??
The Problems of the 1890’s
• Huge Gap between
rich and poor
• Tremendous
economic and political
power of the rich
• Wealthy were
insensitively flaunting
their wealth before a
poorer public
• Little concern for
black America
Streams of Reform
• Washington Gladden
wanted to apply
“Christian Law” to social
problems
• Members worked to
better conditions in cities
through charity and
justice
• Believed competition
was the cause of many
social problems
Social Gospel Movement
YMCA
•They tried to help
industrial workers and the
urban poor by organizing
Bible studies, prayer
meetings and citizenship
training
•Offered libraries, gyms,
pools and low-cost hotel
rooms
The Salvation Army
• Was the combination of
religious faith and
interests in reform.
• It offered practical aid and
religious counseling to
the urban poor.
• It became known as the
Salvation Army in 1878.
Women’s Christian Temperance
Union
• Promoted temperance
movement: elimination
of alcohol
• Believed alcohol was
corrupting society to be
‘un-Christian’
• Later pushed for
prohibition to ban the
manufacture, sale and
consumption of alcohol
Health & Safety Codes
• Thousands of people died or
were injured on the job with no
compensation
• Unions established insurance
funds financed by employees
• Zoning laws created to divide
town into ones for commercial,
residential or other
• Building cods set standards for
light, air, room size and
sanitation
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
•
•
•
•
•
1911 New York City
Locked doors
800 trapped
146 women died
Female labor, bad
working conditions,
immigrant rights,
shop floor laws
Deaths from Fire
Public Education
• Americanization was
key to success of
immigrant children
• City divided students
into eight separate
grades
• Number of colleges
greatly increased
• Morrill Land Grant
Act- gave federal a
land grants to states
to establish
mechanical colleges
• Students in School:
• **1870- 6,500,000
• **1900- 17,300,000
Racial Equality
• National Association for the
Advancement of Colored
People, 1909
• Society for American
Indians, 1911
• League of United Latin
American Citizens, 1929
• Japanese American
Citizens League, 1929
NAACP Formed to Promote Rights
• In 1909 a number of
African Americans and
prominent white reformers
formed the National
Association for the
Advancement of Colored
People.
• The NAACP had 6,000
members by 1914.
• The goal of the
organization was full
equality among the races
through the court system,
a position supported by
W.E.B. Du Bois.
Booker vs. W.E.B
Booker T. Washington
W.E.B Dubois
• Urged fellow African
Americans to concentrate
on achieving economic
goals rather than legal or
political ones
• White Southerners
continued to take away
the civil rights of African
Americans
• Needed to demand their
rights, especially voting
rights to gain full equality
Farmers
1) Sharecroppers: landless farmers
• Had to give the landlord a large share of their crops
to cover their costs for rent and farming supplies
2) Productive Farmers: owned farms
• An idea to expand their farm to employ workers
US Money Supply
• Greenbacks issued as a paper currency that could not
be exchanged for gold or silver
• Rapid increase in money supply = inflation
• Gov. decided to stop producing greenbacks or making
silver coins
• Money increases its value, prices begin to fall
FAMERS SELL THEIR CROPS FOR LESS
Farmers’ Alliance
• Formed in 1877
• Forcing farm prices
up and making loans
to farmers at low
interest rates
• Overextended
themselves by
loaning too much
money that couldn’t
be repaid
Populism
• Members of the
Kansas Alliance
formed the
“People’s Party”
• Push for political
reforms for farmers
• Ensure they do not
go further into debt
DEMANDS:
1)Unlimited coinage of
silver
2)Federal ownership of
railroads
3)Graduated income
tax
4)8 hour work day
5)Immigration
restrictions
6)Denounce the use of
strikebreakers
The
Populist
Legacy
•
•
•
Many of the Populist
ideas were later adopted
by the other parties and
became law.
In the 1900’s, the U.S.
abandoned the gold
standard, adopted an
eight hour work day, and
introduced an income
tax.
Election reforms
achieved the secret ballot
and direct election of
senators.
Making Government More Efficient
• Corrupt political
bosses
• Elections were not
run fairly
• Only those close to
bosses got jobs
• Desperately needed
some kind of
organized system to
make things fair
Socialism
• Economic and political philosophy favoring
public or government control of property and
income
• Wanted to end the capitalist system
• Distribute wealth more equally
• Government ownership of American industries
• Wanted to see reform at the ballot box, not
through a revolution
New Reforms to be Heard
1) Initiative- allowed a group of citizens to
introduce legislation and required a vote
1) Referendum- allowed proposed legislation to
be submitted to the voters for approval
2) Recall- allowed voters to demand a special
election to remove an elected official from
office
Election Reform
• Citizens fought for
and such measures
as secret ballots,
referendums, and
recalls.
• Citizens could
petition and get
initiatives on the
ballot.
• In 1899, Minnesota
passed the first
statewide primary
system.
Cleaning Up Local Government
• Efforts at reforming
local government
stemmed from the
desire to make
government more
efficient and
responsive to
citizens.
• Some believe it also
was meant to limit
immigrants’ influence
on local
governments.
Political Reform
1) Pendleton Act
*Gain government
jobs according to
their performance on
examinations
2) Sherman Anti-Trust
Act
*Made trusts illegal
*Not very effective
initially because
courts did little to
enforce the law
Progressive Journalism
•
•
•
•
Corruption and social injustice
Raise the consciousness of America
Morality, democracy, Christianity
Muckrakers
• Muckrake = pitchfork used to clean manure and
hay out of stables
• Ida B. Wells and lynching
• Ida Tarbell and Standard Oil
• Upton Sinclair and The Jungle, 1906
Muckrakers
• Journalists who
investigated social
conditions and political
corruption
• Publishers were
competing to see who
could expose the most
corruption and scandal
• Popular: McClure’s,
Collier’s and Munsey’s