The Progressive Era
AMERICAN STUDIES
Problems created by the Industrial Revolution
 Working conditions: Long hours, low wages, unsafe
conditions, and child labor
 Laissez Faire: No regulations on big business
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Companies could treat workers how they wanted, could make
products how they wanted, etc.
 Living conditions: Dirty, crowded, unsanitary, no
help for the poor
 African Americans: Racism and segregation
 Women: Sexism and discrimination
The Progressive Movement
 Reformers: Urban middle class
 Well-educated people who wanted to fix the problems created
by the Industrial Revolution
 Reduce govt corruption and social inequalities
 Promote true democracy where all are protected and
represented
 Not an organized political party/movement, but
change in public opinion or mindset
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Reform = change
 Progress toward being a better society
Practice Question
 What problem arising from U.S. industrialization did
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the progressive reformers of the late 19th and early
20th centuries want the federal government to
address?
A. use of child labor in the workplace
B. unfair taxes on the wealthy
C. restrictions on the use of natural resources
D. lack of capital for railroad expansion
What Progressives Fight For
 Progressives fight to reduce the increasing gap
between rich and poor
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Against child labor
More women enter workforce: stand up for worker’s rights,
health and safety
Help for the poor
Conservation: Save the environment
Equal treatment for all classes, races, and genders
Views on Laissez-Faire and Big Business
 Conservative View: Keep Laissez-Faire; economy
should not be regulated by the govt
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Business should be free to compete in any way
Ignore problems of Industrialization because there are more
benefits for business
Social Darwinism: The rich deserve their money
14th Amendment: Regulations deprive people of “life, liberty,
and property”
 Progressive View: End Laissez-faire; economy should
be regulated by the govt
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Want laws to regulate business’s unfair practices to protect
consumers and promote fair treatment for all
Need to solve problems of Industrialization and end suffering
Newspaper’s Role in Progressive Movement
 Mass Circulation of Newspapers
 Newspaper and magazine industry grows with advances in
technology
 Play a key role in spreading awareness about social
and economic issues
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Sold for a penny
 Yellow Journalism: publish shocking stories of
sensation, corruption and scandal to get more
readers
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Do we have journalists like this today?
Newspaper Rivals
Joseph Pulitzer: New York
World
William Randolph Hearst:
New York Journal
Muckrakers
 Muckrakers: Investigative journalists who uncover
corruption and abuses in society

In newspapers, magazines, novels, etc.
 “Rake up the muck” in society to expose dirty truth
below the surface of business and politics
 Monthly women’s magazine have long articles on
horrible factory conditions and corrupt city officials
Ida Tarbell
 One of the first women in investigative reporting
 McClure Magazine
 1904: Exposes monopolistic methods used by
Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company
 Contributes to US Supreme Court Case that breaks
up the monopoly in 1911
Lincoln Steffens
 1904: Published a collection of McClure articles
into the book The Shame of the Cities
 Uncovers political corruption in the city
governments

Taking bribes, embezzling taxes, using force to remove other
candidates
 Photographer Jacob Riis:
 Book “How the Other Half Lives”
 Shows the hard life of immigrants in the US
Upton Sinclair
 Wrote novel The Jungle: exposes the horrors of the
Chicago meatpacking industry
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No rules/regulations about how to handle meat, sanitation, what can
go in the sausage, etc.
 Public outcry leads to new laws:
 The Meat Inspection Act (1906): Gave US officials the
power to check the quality and healthfulness of meats
shipped in interstate commerce
 Pure Food and Drug Act:
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FDA: Food and Drug Administration established to inspect and
approve quality food
 http://app.discoveryeducation.com/search?Ntt=the+ju
ngle&N=18342&N=18343&N=4294939055
Practice Question
 What was the Muckrakers role during the
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Progressive movement?
A. They were able to work white collar jobs.
B. They uncovered and spread the problems created
during the Industrial Revolution.
C. They used papers to spread the news that the rich
should control the government.
D. They managed the poor at work .
Social Settlement Movement
 Terrible living conditions for immigrants in the city
 Exposed by photographer Jacob Riis
 Encourage efforts to reduce overcrowding and
unsanitary conditions in tenements
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Many women become experts on problems of urban poverty
Use their knowledge to persuade legislators to enact new laws
to protect poor and children
Settlement House
 Building where women and children could go for
help adjusting to life in the US
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Hull House run by Jane Addams in Chicago
Women offered classes in English, art, literature and music
Better supervision to keep kids safe and out of work
Women’s Rights
 Suffrage: the right to vote
 Seneca Falls Convention in NY (1848): Women’s
suffrage movement begins
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First victories for equal rights are on the western frontier states
Men believe women are too emotional, have their husband’s to
represent them, shouldn’t have a voice in the govt
Women want their constitutional rights as a citizen in a
democracy
 Leaders: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone and
Susan B. Anthony
 Civil Disobedience: Break a law to protest it because
it is unjust
Practice Question
 In 1872, as part of a state by state campaign for
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women’s suffrage, Susan B. Anthony knowingly and
deliberately violated New York state law by casting a
ballot in the presidential election. She was tried,
found guilty, and ordered to pay a fine. What was the
purpose of Susan B. Anthony’s act of civil
disobedience?
A. to gain support for a particular candidate
B. to use propaganda to influence public opinion
C. to call attention to a perceived injustice
D. to show that unjust laws could not be enforced
Iron Jawed Angels
 Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiZRUoqWKB0
 Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fXpob-C5po
 Part 8:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZwoEn5bNug
 Part 9:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwcFlhtlfe8
 Part 10:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx9iSnmdTZA
 Part 11:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HAjqFJTz8w
Suffragists
 They present the amendment to Congress every year
for 40 years, but men shoot it down
 Progressive Movement supports women’s rights
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New Leaders: Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt
 Protest using marches and picketing, writing
editorials, serving jail time and going on hunger strike
 Passed in Congress in 1919, then must be ratified by
the states
 1920: 19th Amendment gives women the right to vote
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYQhRCs9IHM&l
ist=PLPzx_JMdsdg1DhvwhI6mkGdINq5FeH1L&index=4
Practice Question
Fight for Birth Control
 Many women suffer and risk their health living in
poverty with frequent pregnancies
 Margaret Sanger: Nurse who believed women should
have info on ways to prevent pregnancy
 1914: Published magazine and opened first clinic in
Brooklyn, NY
 Launched movement for planned parenthood that
gained support in later decades
Temperance Movement
 Many progressives (mostly women) wanted to fight
alcohol abuse
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Increases poverty and crime rates
 Reformers: Carrie Nation would walk into a saloon
and destroy alcohol bottles with an axe
 Prohibition:18th Amendment passed in 1919
prohibits sale and manufacture of alcohol (until
1933)
Practice Question
 Prohibition was a political attempt to regulate
 A. Destruction of families caused by alcohol.
 B. Low wages due to monopolies and big business.
 C. Injuries caused by organized crime.
 D. Poverty caused by illegal drugs.
The Black Movement
 Plessey vs. Ferguson: Segregation is legal
 Allows Jim Crow Laws in the South to segregate and
discriminate
 Progressive Black leaders challenge laws and try to
win support from white reformers
 Many blacks in the south being lynched by mobs of
whites
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Lynched: To be hung in public to make a statement
Ida B. Wells: Muckraker who writes about racial injustice and
lynching
http://app.discoveryeducation.com/search?Ntt=naacp
Practice Question
 What was the effect of the passage of Jim Crow laws
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in the United States in the late 19th century?
A. Racial segregation was required by law in
southern states.
B. Native Americans were moved onto reservations.
C. Restrictions were placed on business monopolies.
D. Women were denied the right to vote in national
elections.
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)
 Former slave turned Progressive pacifist
 Many white leaders agree with him about
education and training blacks for skilled jobs
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Advisor to Teddy Roosevelt
 Accepts white supremacy and segregation
 Wants economic and educational opportunities,
and fair treatment in court
W.E.B. Dubois (1868-1963)
 African American scholar and activist
 Chief leader: Organizes Niagara Movement to focus
on publicizing and protesting acts of injustice against
African Americans
 Criticizes Booker T. and does not accept inferiority;
wants total equality
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Conservative view vs. Radical view
 Extreme Radical: Marcus Garvey leads “back to
Africa” movement for black independence
NAACP
 1909: Dubois’ movement helps found the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People
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Jane Addams was also one of the founders
Fights for civil rights: Raise awareness through media, fight
against laws in court
1915-1917: Supreme Court:
Desegregates housing
 Allows blacks on juries
 Run for office in party primaries
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Practice Question
 What was one perspective of African-Americans that was
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reflected in the founding of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)?
A. the hope of encouraging widespread emigration to
Africa
B. the belief that racial segregation was justified in all
circumstances
C. the goal of forming a new political party to represent
African-Americans
D. the desire to bring about legal and social equality for
African-Americans
Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
 President after the death of McKinley at World’s fair
 Square Deal: Teddy’s campaign promises fair treatment
for all groups in the US
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Poor and rich, laborers and big business, etc.
Works for reform of Laissez-faire system
The Presidents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTqUKRJk7dQ
Before Roosevelt
 Laissez Faire: Govt keeps their hands off the economy
and big business
 Stewardship Theory: New idea that presidents had an
obligation to guide the nation’s economic and
political affairs to create better conditions for the
majority
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Previous presidents had intervened on the behalf of big
business instead of the people
Teddy wants regulation to help the people
Brought 44 anti-trust cases to court
Teddy Trust Buster
Practice Question
 As a result of industrialization in the United States in
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the late 19th and early 20th centuries, progressive
reformers sought government regulation of business
in order to
A. control economic cycles of inflation and recession.
B. provide money for public services such as schools
and libraries.
C. restore competition by limiting the power of
monopolies and trusts.
D. prevent companies from moving their factories to
other countries.
Reform Local Government
 Progressives focus on issues in urban areas
 Problems: Cities controlled by corrupt bosses and
political machines
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Only provide aid to the poor who will vote for them
Take bribes and charge high taxes
 Reform/Solutions: Remove politicians associated
with political machines
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Reduce cost of govt, lower taxes, end corruption
Provide better city services like transportation, police, etc.
Cleveland and Toledo had very Progressive leaders
State Government Reform
 Problems: The people have very little say in the govt
 Big business has too much power
 Solutions:
 The secret ballot voting system
 Direct Primary: Voters nominate candidates by direct popular
election
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Not chosen by political party officials (17th amendment)
Initiative: People can sign a petition to force state legislature to
consider a proposed law
Referendum: Proposed law could be submitted directly to the
people to be voted on
Recall: People could vote on whether to remove an elected
official from office
Social Welfare Reform
 Problems:
 Child labor
 Unsanitary and unsafe streets
 Poor quality housing
 Lack of education of the poor
 Solutions:
 Regulation of child labor
 Urban planning for better sanitation and police force
 Construction of safer housing
 Mandatory public education requirements
Economic/Business Reform
 Roosevelt is the first president to make a serious
effort to break up the trusts
 Problems: Monopolies cause high prices, less
choice, and low quality goods
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http://www.history.com/topics/labor/videos#jp-morganbattles-coal-miners-in-1902
 Solutions:
 Elkins Act: Punishes railroads for giving rebates
 Hepburn Act: Interstate Commerce Commission can fix rates
charged by railroads and limits discounts
 Enforce the Sherman Antitrust Act: Prosecute and break up
trusts/monopolies
Teddy Roosevelt: Trust Buster
Environmental Reform
 Problems: Industrialization causes…
 Factory pollution in cities
 Lumber and mining companies destroy land out West
 Solutions: Conservation to manage use of land and
protect wilderness areas
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Conservationist = Environmentalist
The Newlands Reclamation Act (1902): Provided money from
sale of desert lands to be used to finance irrigation projects
The Inland Waterways Act (1907): Appoints a commission to
study use of nation’s rivers
TR establishes 149 national forests/parks
National Parks
 Gifford Pinchot: Forces lumbering companies to
replant trees
 John Muir: Supports laws to create national parks
like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon
Practice Question
 The 1890 U.S. Census led some people to conclude
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that there was no longer a frontier line in the West.
Early in the 20th century, President Theodore
Roosevelt advocated the conservation of the nation’s
natural resources. These events signaled a change in
how people perceived
A. farmland.
B. urban areas.
C. wilderness areas.
D. centers of industry and technology.
William H. Taft (1909-1913)
 Progressives like: Takes over 90 trusts to court to
break up monopolies
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A former member of Teddy’s cabinet who would carry on his
Progressive beliefs
 Progressives dislike: Helps business with high tariffs
but doesn’t help the environment
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Payne-Aldrich Tariff (1909): Raises prices on imports instead
of lowering them like Progressives wanted
Taft fires Gifford Pinchot and focuses more on business than
the environment
The Presidents:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTqUKRJk7dQ
Child Labor Legislation under Taft
 Taft establishes Children’s Bureau to investigate
“welfare of children in all classes”
 Keating-Owen Act (1916): Forbids transport of goods
made by factories that employ children
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1918: Supreme Court declares it unconstitutional
Tried taxing them extra and passing amendment against it but
failed
1938: Fair Labor Standards Act outlaws child labor and sets
and minimum wage
Election of 1912
 Republican Taft runs for re-election
 Conservative reformer, moderate Progressive
 Breaks up monopolies but still helps big business
 Teddy runs as Progressive “Bull-Moose” party
 Independent 3rd party candidate, anti-big business
 Democrats nominate Woodrow Wilson
 Progressive, anti-big business
Election of 1912
 Socialist Party: 4th candidate Eugene Debs
 Fights for unions and wants govt ownership of all companies
 Wilson wins landslide victory: Republican party was
too divided
 All candidates were reformers
 Wilson promises New Freedom:
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Lower tariffs, regulation of big business, and reform of the
banking system
Reform under Woodrow Wilson
 Underwood Tariff Law (1913): Lowers tariffs, which
lowers prices of consumer goods
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No more discounts for big business
 Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914): Strengthens Sherman Act
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Businesses must allow competition to exist
Lists specific monopolist practices that are illegal
Same people can’t sit on Board of Directors for several companies (no
interlocking dictatorships)
 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 1914: Govt has power to
investigate and punish unfair business practices
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Issue orders for monopolies to “cease and desist” anti-competitive
practices
Federal Reserve System
 Before Wilson there was no system in control of
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increasing/decreasing nation’s supply of currency
Organized system of central banks
Two functions: Promote banking stability
1. Control money supply according to changing needs
of business/economy
2. Provide private banks with reserve money in case to
many people withdrawal money, they can still stay
open
Inflation
 Rise in general price of goods and services
 Money has less purchasing power
 Federal Reserve Bank must adjust interest rate to
avoid recession
 http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
Practice Question
 What was a key reason for the creation of the Federal
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Reserve System?
A. to encourage exports
B. to increase tax revenues
C. to reduce budget deficits
D. to promote banking stability
History of Halloween
 http://www.history.com/topics/halloween/videos#b
et-you-didnt-know-halloween