PROGRESSIVE ERA
1889-1920
Muckrakers
•Name applied in 1906 by Pres.
Theodore Roosevelt to a group of
journalists who exposed the abuses of
power and corruption in American
political and business life.
•They were largely responsible for
mobilizing public opinion in favor of
the progressive reform of the period.
Upton Sinclair - The Jungle
IDA TARBELL - HISTORY OF THE
STANDARD OIL CO.
FRANK NORRIS - THE OCTOPUS
Lincoln Steffens - The Shame of
the Cities
Jacob Riis - How the Other Half
Lives
Ida B Wells Barnett - The Color Line
Goals of Progressivism
1. Protecting Social Welfare
a. Worked to soften some of the harsh conditions of
industrialization
b. Social gospel – preached salvation through service to the
poor
c. Settlement house movement – community centers in
slum neighborhoods that provided assistance to people
in the area
1. Health care
2. Education
3. Jobs
4. Language classes
5. Etc.
2. Promoting Moral Improvement:
•
Wanted people to uplift themselves by improving their
personal behaviors
• Ex. Prohibition Movement (ban alcoholic beverages)
• 1872 WCTU – spearheaded the movement
• By 1911 - 245,000 members
• Group did much more than fight for prohibition:
a. Worked for suffrage
b. Visited prisoners and asylums
c. Opened Kindergartens for immigrants
3. Creating Economic Reform
•Big business often received favorable treatment
from government officials and could use its
economic power to limit competition.
4. Fostering Efficiency
•
•
Put their faith into experts and scientific
principles to make society and the workplace
more efficient.
• Ex. Muller v Oregon
Justice Brandeis used data produced by social
scientists to show how working long hours
affected women and thus cost society.
•Scientific management - time and motion studies to
improve efficiency by breaking manufacturing tasks
into simple parts “Taylorism”
Reforms for Children, Workers, and Voters
1. Movement for Social Justice
a. Settlement House Movement - located in immigrant
neighborhoods
• Provided services to those in the community
• Taught English
• Arts
• Music
• Children’s activities
• Health care
• Help with finding jobs
• Etc.
•
Jane Adams – 1889 – Hull House - Chicago
Jane Adams
Hull House
Lillian Wald
Henry Street Library
b. Child labor laws by 1914 every state had laws
“on the books”
•
1916 – Keating Owen Act – prohibited the
shipment of products made with child labor,
Ruled unconstitutional in 1918.
•
1924 – child labor amendment was approved
by Congress but was not ratified by the
required three-fourths states
•
1938 – Fair Labor Standards Act - abolished
child labor in interstate industries.
2. Movement to Regulate Business and Labor
A. Lochner v. New York (1905)
A New York state law ruled that bakery workers could not
work more than 60 hours a week including overtime.
Court declared the law illegal – denied businesses due
process.
B. Muller v. Oregon (1908)
An Oregon law prevented women from working more
than 10 hours a day.
Court declared the law constitutional.
Used scientific studies for first time to help make decision.
3. Reforms in the Election Process
a. Initiative
b. Referendum
c. Recall
d. Primaries
e. Secret Ballot
Many of these reforms were the results of the Populists
platform.
Wisconsin became known as the “Progressive State” and
Governor Robert LaFollette was known as the “father of
Progressivism”.
President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
Roosevelt was a conservative, but did not hesitate to
use the power of the presidency to deal directly with
social and economic problems.
Saw his job as one of stewardship - responsible for the
welfare of all.
Domestic policy became know as the
“Square Deal”
Reforms fell into three categories:
1. Regulating Business:
A. Reputation as a “trust buster”
Broke up over 40 trusts during his administration.
Saw a difference in a “good trust” and a “bad trust”
Felt that size did not immediately make a business bad.
B. Northern Securities v. U.S.
Northern Securities was a holding company – controlled
the railroad system of the Pacific Northwest in 1904.
Supreme Court ruled that the holding company had to
be dissolved because it was in restraint of trade.
C. Coal Strike:
•
Roosevelt called labor members and owners to a
meeting to settle the strike
D. Court cases
•
Lochner v. New York - 1905
• Muller v. Oregon – 1908
E. Legislation
•
• Elkins Act – 1903 - barred rebates
Hepburn Act – 1906 – gave Interstate Commerce
Commission power to nullify unreasonable
railroad rates.
•Commerce Dept. founded – 1903
2. Protecting the Consumer
•
•
Meat Inspection Act – 1906 - est. health and
sanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry.
Pure Food and Drug Act – 1906 - banned harmful
additives in food and misleading advertisement.
3. Conserving Natural Resources
•
Newlands Reclamation Act – 1902 – provided that
money from the sale of desert land in the West be
used to finance irrigation projects.
•Forest Homestead Act – 1906 – opened up certain
forest lands for agricultural use.
•Inland Waterways Act – 1907 – provided for the
appointment of a commission to study the use of the
nation’s major rivers
•National Park System - established with Gifford
Pinchot as the head.
•Antiquities Act – 1906 – Provided that sites of historic
and/or scientific interest be placed under national
protection
•1907 – barred the cutting of trees on 150million acres
•Of government timberland
William Howard Taft - 1909-1912
Broke up over 90 trusts while he was President.
Most significant case was –
Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v U.S. (1911)
- court ruled that monopoly should be
dissolved.
Mann-Elkins Act – 1910
gave the ICC the power to regulate
communication by telephone and telegraph.
Sixteenth Amendment - gave power to Congress
to impose a graduated income tax.
Taft managed to alienate most Progressives
when he did the following:
1. Payne-Aldrich Act of 1909 - raised
the tariff to a higher rate. He did not back
this – but he did not stand up to
Congress in order to defeat it.
2. Fired Gifford Pinchot - Pinchot was
ahead of the Forest Service. The Sec’t.
of the Interior had illegally allowed
business interests to have protected land
in Alaska. Pinchott complained and was
fired.
Election of 1908
Republican - William Howard Taft
Democrat - Woodrow Wilson
Progressive - Theodore Roosevelt
With Roosevelt running on a third party the
Republican Party’s votes were split and that
allowed for Wilson to win the election.
Woodrow Wilson - 1912-1920
Domestic Policy was call “New Freedom”
Financial Reforms:
1. Graduated Income Tax - 16th Amend.
2. Federal Reserve System - a national
banking system.
Country is divided into 12 districts with
each having a Federal Reserve bank.
Federal Reserve Districts
Federal Government could now:
1. issue new, sound currency
2. control the amount of money in
circulation and the interest rates
3. shift money from one bank to another
as needed
By raising the interest rates the Gov’t. can
Stimulate consumer spending in times of
recession or raise interest rates to control
inflation.
Business Regulation:
1. Federal Trade Commission Act - 1914
-aimed at preventing unfair competition.
ex. Investigate false advertising and mislabeling.
2. Clayton Antitrust Act - 1914
-strengthened the gov’t’s power to control
business practices that threatened
competition.
ex. Prohibits companies from price fixing
or buying stocks in competing companies.
Other Reforms under Wilson:
1. The Adamson Act - 1916 - 8 hr. workday for railroad workers.
2. Federal Farm Loan Act for Farmers 1916
-low-interest loans for farmers
3. Keating-Owen Child Labor Act - 1916
4. 18th Amendment - 1919
-prohibited the manufacturing, transporting,
and selling of alcohol.
5. 19th Amendment - 1920
-gave women the right to vote.
Progressive Era ended with the beginning of
WWI.