Reform Movement
Immigrants
•Between 1890 and 1914, immigrants and
their children constituted about one-third of
the American population.
•Americanization
•Learning English and understanding the laws
and system of government of the United States
•Nativism
•A policy of favoring native-born individuals over
foreign-born individuals
Urbanization
• Urbanization- a process in which an
increasing proportion of an entire
population lives in cities and the
suburbs of cities
• In 1860 only 20% of the people in the
United States lived in cities with
populations greater than 2,500
Urbanization
Major Reasoning
• Mechanization on the farm
• Rapidly expanding factories
• Luxuries: electricity and indoor
plumbing, grocery stores, retail stores.
• Cities offered a new life and ironically
solitude that small towns did not.
Social Issues
• High Crime
– In 1906 Chicago had an estimated 10,000
prostitutes, many of whom were under the
age of 19. The city also had about 7,000
cocaine addicts
– 2005 - 7,245 prostitutes arrested and
59,051 narcotics violations
– The murder rate increased from 1.2 per
100,000 people in 1900 to 6.8 per 100,000
in 1920
– 2005 – 5.6 : 16,692-total
• Poor infrastructure
• Over crowding
• Poor Sanitation
CAN THE LAW REACH HIM? THE DWARF AND THE GIANT THIEF.
Cartoon by Thomas Nast, c. 1872
Political Corruption
• Spoils system
• Bribery
• Political Machines-sophisticated
organizations established to win votes
• Ward Boss- controlled jobs, contracts, and
favors
• Tammany Hall Machine - New York City
– 1854-1934
– a job, a bag of coal, legal advice
Congressional Action
• In 1903 Congress prohibited individuals
"dangerous to the public welfare," meaning
political radicals, from immigrating
• Dillingham Commission
– 1907-1911
– Concluded that immigrants from eastern and
southern Europe were not assimilating as well as
the immigrants from western and northern Europe
– The commission recommended limiting
immigration from southern and eastern Europe
The Eugenics Movement
• The movement to improve the human
race
– Some state legislatures allowed forced
sterilization of criminals and individuals
who were diagnosed as having severe
mental disabilities
• Charles Darwin
– Wrote On the Origin of Species, and was
the originator of Natural Selection.
• Natural Selection
– The idea that animals reproduce faster
than the food supply, so only the fittest
survive to reproduce.
Populism 1890
• Granger movement
– 1875- had over a million members
– Tired to benefit from an economy of scale
• Farmer’s alliance
– One in the South
– One on the plains
– Controlled 8 state legislatures & had 47
representatives in Congress during the 1890s.
William Jennings Bryan
“Cross of Gold” Speech
Former Democrat
– Three time populist nominee for president
• The People’s Party
“You shall not
press down upon
the brow of
labor this crown
of thorns; you
shall not crucify
mankind upon a
cross of gold”!
Populist - Reform Issues
• Elimination of the gold standard. Populists
supported the Silver Standards which would
have made money cheaper and more
available.
– This would have created inflationary pressure and
raised prices. If a silver standard would not be
accepted they would have settled for bimetallism.
• Passage of a graduated income tax.
• The end of life tenure for Federal Judges.
• The end of the printing of paper currency by
nationally chartered private banks.
• Public ownership of railroads and telegraphs
• Direct election of Senators
• Restriction of undesirable immigration.
• An 8- hour work day for government
employees.
Why Did Populism Decline?
•
The economy experienced rapid change.
•
The era of small producers and
farmers was fading away.
•
Race divided the Populist Party,
especially in the South.
•
The Populists were not able to break
existing party loyalties.
•
Most of their agenda was co-opted by
the Democratic Party.
Progressivism
in
Action
Reforming
State and City Governments
• Direct primaries-All party members could vote on
which candidate a party would support for office
• Initiative-allowed citizens to introduce a bill into the
legislature and required members to take a vote on it
• Referendum-allows voters to vote on purposed laws
• Recall-This measure allows voters to remove an
elected official from office before their term is up
• 17th amendment-provided for the direct election of
senators by the citizens of the state
• Commission form of government
– the mayor/council form is replaced by a
commission of five experts in their field.
Governmental
Regulation of Business
• In 1914 about 35,000 people died on the job;
another 700,000 were injured
• States established commissions to regulate
businesses
– Railroads, electric companies, gas companies
• 1902-Maryland passed the first state law
requiring employers to buy insurance that
would compensate workers injured on the
job.
Governmental
Regulation of Business
• 1916-Congress passed the Workmen's
Compensation Law
• 1903 Oregon passed a law that prohibited
employing women in a factory or a laundry for
more than 10 hours a day
• Muller v. Oregon- the Supreme Court upheld
the right of the state to regulate business to
protect the public interest
• "The overwork of future mothers," Brandeis wrote, "thus
directly attacks the welfare of the nation."
Progressives
Protecting Children
• Juvenile courts
• Public education
–
–
–
–
–
1850 there were 200 high schools
1900 - 6,000
1920 - 14,000
1870 approximately 20% illiteracy rate
1920 only 6% illiteracy rate
• financial assistance to children in homes with
no father by State bases
Progressive
&
Public Interest
• Temperance movement
– Effort to protect women
• Women's Christian Temperance Union
(WCTU), founded in 1874
– Frances Willard
– 1900 300,000 members
– Most states would pass laws restricting
alcohol in various ways
• In order to achieve a nationwide
solution, the temperance movement,
like other progressive reforms, would
have to convince Congress and the
President to take a more active role in
social reform
Women’s Suffrage
• Suffrage-The right to vote
• Seneca Falls, New York 1848
– First major women's rights conference
• By 1890 women had won at least partial
suffrage in 19 states
• The National American Woman Suffrage
Association
– 1893-13,000 members
– 1910-75,000 members
1912 - 9 states, all west of the Mississippi
River, allowed women to vote in all
elections
• 1920-Nineteenth Amendment
– States that no citizen’s right to vote can be
denied due to sex
Industrial Workers of the World
(IWW)
• Formed in Chicago in 1905- Wobblies
• The leader was William D. ("Big Bill")
Haywood
• Socialist organization that wanted to overturn
capitalism
• Blamed competition for all social problems
• Wanted all workers of the world to unite for
the common cause of socialism
• Often conflicted with the progressive
movement even though they had many
common goals
Problems
with the
Progressive Movement
• Many immigrants relied on the political
machines for social services
• Many immigrants relied on the labor of
their children to make ends meet
• Many of these immigrants utilized beer
and wine in their social events and
celebrations.