The Progressive Reform Era
Chapter 28 - 29
The Origins of Progressivism
(2/10)
Goals of Progressives
• Improve working conditions
• Improve sanitation
• End corruption of government
“use the government as an agent for human
welfare “
Why did we need to be reformed?
In other words, what was wrong with
turn-of-the-century America?
The Progressive Era (1890 - 1920)
 Industrial
1909 Ford Model T
revolution led to
new industries and
products everything from
automobiles to
skyscrapers
Flat Iron Building
 Located at
Broadway, 23rd, and
5th Avenues
 Built in 1902
 Designed by Daniel
Burnham
 It is the oldest
surviving skyscraper
in NYC
Industrial Revolution also led to:
 Great social changes
–
–
–
 Foreign policy
–
–
The Progressive Era
 ______________ economics – Little or no
government interference in business
–
– Few labor laws for safety, child labor, minimum
wage
 The gap between the rich and the poor
widened
 The top _____of the population controlled
_____ of the nation’s wealth
Labor
 Coal miners, textile, steel and railroad
workers were underpaid for dangerous,
difficult work
 Unions met with resistance from _________
_________________, as well as owners
 Wages were below _______________
Progressive Reform Organizations
The Labor Movement
– ___________________was goal
– organized and used strikes
– owners often able to get
______________ to stop strikes
Anthracite Coal Miner Strike
May 12 – October 23, 1902
Families were evicted from their companyowned housing.
Coal miners and their families attempted to
survive on dandelion soup and by picking
waste coal for heat. Many did not
survive.
_____________ – a 3rd party listens to
both sides and makes a decision on a
settlement
Owners refused to go to arbitration until
President Roosevelt threatened to
_______________ the coal mines if they
refused.
The coal miners won improved wages
and hours but the owners refused to
recognize their union.
Coal Miners Salary
1902
 According to the Citizen’s Voice (Wilkes-Barre)
Coal miners earned ______a year
 Expenses for housing and first aid were deducted
 Varied by location of mine, method of payment, and
company expenses
 Result of strike was______raise
 Reduced hours to ___ hours a day, ___ days a week,
52 weeks a year
• (2011 ) Approximately ___________a year when
adjusted for inflation
• (2011 ) Poverty level for family of 4 – $22, 350
_________________
Popular belief that by helping
the disadvantaged, you hurt
society as a whole.
_______________
True Christianity requires a
commitment to social justice
and responsibility for your
fellow man.
What types of people were
“Progressive”?
 Belonged to all political parties, including
Republican, Democrat, and Socialist
 Tended to be:
___________________
 Person that ‘mucks’ stalls
 Journalists, authors, and
photographers that exposed the
corruption in society
 Worried about being sued, Muckraking
Magazines like ___________ spent up
to $3,000 verifying its stories
 Examples:
– Upton Sinclair – The Jungle
– Ida Tarbell – History of the Standard
Oil Company
– Lincoln Steffens – The Shame of
Cities
“….the form of our government from
one that is representative of the
people to an oligarchy, representative
of special interests.”
Review of economic systems:
 ____________ – Private ownership of the
means of production
– Motivation is_________
– Requires ___________________
 Socialism – _______________ownership of the
means of production
– Motivation “To each what he needs”
– _______________, usually through elections
 _______________ – Socialism by force if
necessary
Progressive Reform Organizations
 Socialist Party
– formed in __________
– many people thought only through government
owned industry would workers ever get better
conditions
– ____________most famous member
– not a popular movement then or now
– many of Debs’ positions were adopted by other
parties, such as the minimum wage
– _____________ – Labor union of Socialists
Progressive Reform Organizations
 Women’s Movement
– worked for:
• better working conditions for women and children
• right to vote
• Prohibition
– _____________– founder of Hull House in Chicago
– _____________– state of IL 1st chief factory
inspector (former resident of Hull House)
– ____________– led coal miners on strike in PA
Progressive Legislation
Reforms are often a result of
tragedy
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
 Saturday afternoon - 500 workers in the 10
story building.
 Fire began on the 9th floor - quickly erupted
into an inferno
 Service elevator became an inferno
 Crowded a fire escape, which tore away from
the side of the building and collapsed.
 Went to the roof and found they were trapped
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
 Many of the stairways and exits were
blocked or locked.
 The NYFD did not have the equipment to
rescue the women
 In desperation, many jumped to their deaths
Justice?
Eight months after the fire, a
jury acquitted Blanck and
Harris, the factory owners, of
any wrong doing. The task of
the jurors had been to
determine whether the
owners knew that the doors
were locked at the time of the
fire.
Justice?
Instead of enacting building
regulations, many cities
responded by passing
legislation restricting work
for women in the garment
industry
Galveston Hurricane - 1900
Unnamed
hurricane hit
Galveston Island
Sept. 8, 1900
Category 4 winds
and a 15 foot
storm surge
_____________
people died
Wind speeds were estimated at
between 131 and 155 mph.
Galveston Hurricane - 1900
 Local government unprepared
–
–
–
–
 Started a new municipal government
with a city council and business manager
 Model was later picked up throughout
the country
Government Reform
 State reform:
 Several states passed laws setting
minimum wages, child labor restrictions,
and fair business practices
 Most of them were found
Theodore Roosevelt
 Gave a ‘______________’ to miners in 1902
 Became his campaign slogan in 1904
Accomplishments:
– _______________
• Believed trusts made production more efficient and
were here to stay
• Broke up illegal trusts that used collusion to gain
market shares
– _________________
• Elkins Act 1903 & Hepburn Act of 1906
• Ended rebates and set min. & max. rates
Theodore Roosevelt
– 1906 __________________
• Inspections of meat
• Prevention of mislabeled pharmaceuticals
– _________________established
– Added _______________acres to our
national parks ands forests
_________________________

Upheld Oregon law limiting work hours based
on the frailty of women

Helped women by limiting work hours to ___
per day

Hurt them by reinforcing the stereotype that
women were
*Lobbied for by Florence Kelley & Louis
Brandeis
Government Reform
 Federal reforms:
– 16th –
•
•
•
– 17th – direct election of senators
– 18th – prohibition
– 19th – women’s suffrage
President Taft
Taft’s Presidency
Mistakes:
– Did not appoint a __________ cabinet
– Did not _______ non-progressive
legislation
– Did not use the justice department to
enforce environmental laws
Taft’s Presidency
Tariffs
– Ran on a platform of _____________
• House passed some reductions
• Republicans added some protective
increases
• Result –
Taft’s Presidency
 ____________________
– Pinchot
• Head of US Forest Service
• Major Conservationist at the
time
– Ballinger
• Secretary of the Interior
• Allowed Businesses to
acquire several million acres
of land in Alaska
Taft’s Presidency
 Pinchot
– Protested against Ballinger to Taft
 Taft
Republican Party
 Midterm Elections
– Roosevelt
• Returns from safari
– Begins to campaign for the Progressives
» Business regulations
» Welfare laws
» Workplace protection
» Voting reform
NEW
» Income and inheritance taxes
NATIONALISM
 Progressive Republicans elected
 “Old Guard” less political power
The Elections of 1912
 Taft wins the Republican nomination
 Progressive Republicans leave, vowing to
create their own party.
 August 1912, The Progressive Party
nominates Roosevelt
– Nickname the ___________________
The Election of 1912
 Bull Moose Party
– Platform
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tariff Reduction
Women’s Suffrage
Regulation of Business
Child Labor Ban
8-hour work day
Workman’s Compensation
Direct Election of Senators
The Election of 1912
 Taft
– Followed many
Progressive Reforms
– Still very unpopular
with Progressive
Republicans
 Wilson
– Democrat
– Ran on a Reform
platform
– Criticized both Big
Business and Big
Government
*3 “Progressives” running against each other
Popular Vote:
1912 Election
Taft –
Roosevelt –
Wilson –
Other –
President Wilson
Wilson Presidency
Southern Democrat
_________________________
Advocated small business and small
government
Opinionated and not given to compromise
Appealed directly to the public when
Congress failed to support his initiatives
Won re-election in 1916 with the promise to
keep Americans out of World War I.
Wilson Presidency
Tariffs and Taxes
– Underwood Tariff Act of 1913
• Reduced Tariffs from
– 16th Amendment
• Progressive tax
• Income tax legislation signed in 1913
Wilson’s Presidency
 Federal Reserve System
– Federal Reserve Act of 1913
• Divided the country into 12 Districts of Banking
• Member banks could borrow money from the
FRB to meet short term demands
• Chairperson “The Fed”
• Authorized to issue paper money and
increase/decrease circulation
Wilson Presidency
– Federal Trade Commission
•
• Ability to order firms to cease and
desist unfair business tactics
Wilson Presidency
Clayton Anti-Trust Act
– Strengthened _____________________
– ______________ were not illegal trusts
– Legalized
Wilson Presidency
Workingmen’s Compensation Act of 1916
– Gave federal
___________________________worker’s
compensation benefits
 Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916
– Gave farmers low-interest loans
Wilson’s Presidency
 Louis D. Brandeis
– Appointed to the Supreme Court
• Many thought Brandeis was too radical
• First Jewish person on Supreme Court
• Upheld many progressive laws
Limits of Progressivism
 Limited to certain sectors of society
– Municipal Problems
• Did little to aid tenant and migrant farmers and
nonunion workers
• Many Progressives supported
Limits to Progressivism
 Social Justice
– ____________in federal offices
– Wilson initially opposed ________________
– African Americans ignored
• Small group of Progressives helped form the
 End of Progressivism
• The preparation of war stopped much of the
reform movements