chapt. 22
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Chapter 22
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The Progressive Era
Why did it start?
fix a range of social ills made by industrialism
redeeming traditional American values as democracy,
Christian ethics, individual opportunity, and the spirit of
voluntary public service.
Pragmatism- looking to what worked and relying on
modern techniques of research, analysis, diagnosis, and
prescription.
Protecting Social Welfare
Promoting moral improvement
Creating economic reform
Fostering efficiency
controlling environment
impartial experts began to investigate and regulate
society.
Social Welfare
YMCA, Salvation Army
Florence Kelly: improve lives of women and children.
Illinois Factory Act 1893- limit women’s working hours
and prohibited child labor.
poverty as the social consequence of deprivation, not
the consequence of personal failure or immorality.
Settlement houses helped to produce a new
profession, social work, which applied scientific
approaches to helping the poor and troubled.
Women became leaders
Birth control, housing reform, child labor, consumer
issues: All were promoted by women and other
reformers as matters of social welfare and social justice.
For many progressives, woman suffrage promised to
help clean up society and, just as important, politics as
well.
Moral Reform
Improve personal behavior
pressed for immigration restriction, prohibition of
alcohol, and an end to urban vice.
Prohibition: ban alcoholic beverages
Women’s Christian temperance union- promoted
temperance.
Suffrage, setting up kindergartens, visiting prisons
Concentrated on closing saloons
Economic reform
Criticize laissez-faire into socialism
Muckrakers- journalists writing about corrupt business.
Fostering Efficiency
Scientific management- easier and simple tasks
Assembly line- Ford Motor Company
Increase in production
High worker turn over- injuries and exhaustion
Initiative- bill originated by citizens
Referendum- voters instead of
legislature accepted or rejected it.
Recall enabled voters to remove public
officials by forcing them to face another
election.
WI- first for direct primary.
17th amendment- direct election for
senators
Local and State Reform
Increase power of Federal
Government
1902 Coal Strike- arbitration
1901-1909
Square Deal-big
government ensure fair
results
Teddy Roosevelt
Busting “Bad” Trustsregulating
Conservation- Gifford
Pinchot
Preservation- 17 mil. Acres
of national forest
Pure Food and drug act
Meat inspection act
(Muckraking)
US vs ED Knight- Sherman Antitrust
act applied only to commerce not
manufacturing
Picked by TR
Angered conservationists
Hired Richard Ballinger
Fired Pinchot
Biggest trust buster
Child labor laws
Pushed for 16th Amendment- graduated income tax
Republican party splits from Progressives
Progressive party – called “Bull Moose Party”
Teddy Roosevelt “New Nationalism”
For: direct election of senators, women’s suffrage, workers
comp., 8hr day, min. wage for women, federal law against
child labor and regulation of business
Taft
1909-1913
New Freedom
Triple wall
Lower tariffs-they weakened competition
Underwood-Simmons Tariff resulted in 16th Amendment passed 1913 (only affected
those who made more $4000)
17th Amendment direct election of senators
Federal Reserve Act-12 national banks, regulate credit and money supply be setting
interest rates, buying or selling govt. bonds, issue paper currency= stabilization for
credit and money supply
Transfer funds and protect consumers from closing banks
Federal Trade Commission
1- Trusts
2- tariffs
3- high finance
Enforce orderly competition- oversee business activity
Investigate violations
Clayton Antitrust Act
no monopolies!
Legal to strike, picket, and boycott
Illegal to
Price discrimination
Holding companies
Interlocking directorates
Woodrow Wilson 1913-1921
Denied equality for minorities
Voting restrictions: poll tax, grandfather clause,
literacy tests
Discrimination (Plessy v. Ferguson)
Cripples some industry by the regulations
Govt. agencies captured by industry
Limitations
