The Progressive Era and World
War I
Major Issues in the History of the
Progressive Era
Issues within the three spheres of society
 Responsibilities within and between the
spheres

Progressivism





Values in question: individualism, moral reform, democracy
Big business versus society and politics
Pluralistic v. uniform movement
Organizational revolution in the face of industrialization,
bureaucratization, differentiation of society
Regional variations
Overview




Landslide victory of the Republican Party (President William
McKinley) ends political quietness and immobilism of the
Gilded Age (1896)
Entry of the U.S. onto the World State (Expansionist foreign
policy) from 1898
Domestic Reforms until 1914
World War One (U.S. entry in 1917)
Progressive Movement
Built upon earlier
reform impulses
 Aim: social and
political reforms
 Reasons:
industrialization and
urbanization

Basic Ideas



primacy of the public interest
over special interests. Solution:
minimum public controls over
business
Politics – the executive and the
legislatures – therefore had the
duty to enact legislation in favor
of society
With the assistance of sciences
and technology, the state and
society could be made more
efficient, rational and just
Membership

Predominantly well-established urban middle
and upper class
Women
 professionals

Concerns





Urbanization
Big Business
Industrialization
Living conditions
in cities
Heterogeneity of
society
Reform Agenda

More: democracy, efficiency,
regulation, social justice









Founding of “settlement houses”
(Jane Addams)
Kindergartens
Public playgrounds
Improvements in housing
Fight against child labor
Promotion of standards with
regard to water and food
Democratization and
professionalization of politics
Public control of utilities
Voting rights for women
Women’s Suffrage Movement:
Precondition

Rise in women’s
employment




Domestic work
Teaching
Nursing
Clerical work
(bookkeeping,
stenographic work etc.)
8
7
6
5
Employed
Women (in
Mio.)
4
3
2
1
0
1880
1890
1900
1910
Politicization of Women


1890: merger of
several women’s
rights group in the
National American
Women Suffrage
Association
Piecemeal progress
(from West to East)
Achievements (Federal Level)








1912: Establishment of Children’s Bureau
1913: 17th Amendment: popular election of senators
1913: 18th Amendment allows Federal Government to raise
income taxes
1914: Clayton Anti-Trust Act: Establishment of Federal Trade
Commission to curb unfair trade practices,
monopolies
1916: railroad employees gain 8 hour working day (until
then: employees work between 10 and 13 hours)
1916: Federal Law prohibits child labor
1920: 19th Amendment: voting rights for women
Hygiene standards for food and food production
Achievements on State and Community Level

Over 1600 laws relating to regulation of work between 1887
and 1897





Insurance against risks at work and old age (pension)
Stricter security regulations at work
Maximum weekly hours of work
Minimum wages in certain branches of industry
Compulsory education
President Theodore Roosevelt

Square Deal

Measures against trusts (sugar trust, railroad
combination, beef trust etc.)
Interpretations





Progressive Historians: some successes
Marxists: no successes
Consensus school: paved the way for modern America
New left: skeptical; others in the 1960s: more positive
My favorite interpretation: The Search for Order (Robert
Wiebe)
Evaluation

Limited achievements




Participation: Increase of influence on local and state level did not
automatically mean more democracy, but more influence for middle
classes and elites
Judiciary: Quite a few reform acts were repealed by the courts.
Reasoning: infringement upon rights of states and/or individuals
Values: White Middle-Class norms
With regard to immigration: in favor of restrictions on immigration



“human garbage”
Gentleman’s Agreement (1907)
Race Relations: promoted segregation and the doctrine of “separate
but equal”. After 1910, race relations received a new urgency, as tens
of thousands of African-Americans migrated to Northern Cities
Entry into World Politics: Preconditions




Population growth and immigration
Boom and bust leads to conviction that economic
prosperity and social order are in part determined by
control of overseas markets
Economic concerns lead to conviction that strong
navy and merchant marine is necessary
Thus: necessity for a plausible grand strategy
The Brain: Alfred Thayer Mahan





Oceans were no longer barriers but
arterial routes of the future
Control of oceans would decide over
destiny of peoples and states
Called for the construction of a canal
between the Atlantic and the Pacific in
Central America (model: Suez Canal of
1869)
Called for construction of large navy,
annexation of Hawaii and further bases
in the Pacific and the Caribbean
= dedicated to the idea of a U.S. global
mission through overseas expansion,
and rationalization of imperialism on
the assumption that countries must
expand or decline
Strategic Realignment:
The Advent of the ‘Special Relationship’



Rapprochement with Great Britain in regard to Latin
America. Great Britain unofficially accepts the
Monroe Doctrine of 1823.
In 1901, Britain renounces right to build canal in
Central America
Final border regulation between the U.S. and
Canada (Alaska, Yukon)
Domestic Factors




Increasing nationalism (North-South reconciliation)
Interpretation of History: Manifest Destiny and
American mission to export ‘civilization’
Social Darwinism
‘Yellow Press’ (tabloids promote expansion)
“A Splendid Little War”
John Hay, Secretary of State



Cuban revolution against Spain
Explosion of the ‘Maine’
Treaty of Paris (December 1898)




Cuba becomes independent, but is
controlled by U.S.
Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam
become U.S. colonies or territories.
Spain receives 20 million Dollars
Hawaii is seized by U.S. sugar planters
and becomes a U.S. territory in 1900
“Speak softly, but carry a big stick”
President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)




Fascinated by Mahan
Creation of the state of Panama – formerly territory of
Columbia - and construction of canal (shortening of
route between east and west coast by 8000 miles)
Construction of large navy: U.S. navy becomes second
largest in 1907
Panama Canal, Monroe Doctrine and control of Cuba
turn Caribbean into American “lake” or “backyard”




(Platt Amendment: Cuba has to ask U.S. for permission
to sign international treaties; U.S. are allowed to
intervene if U.S. deems necessary; U.S. Navy occupies
Guantanamo).
Roosevelt corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1904):
U.S. unilaterally assumes ‘international police power’
in cases of flagrant misbehavior of Latin American
governments
East Asia: brutal suppression of Philippine national
movement (up to 200.000 casualties) and colonization
of the islands
East Asia: U.S. demand ‘open door’ policy in China
“Politics, when I am in it, makes me sick”
President William Howard Taft (1909-1913)

“Dollar Diplomacy”

Heavy interference in
Latin American affairs on
behalf of U.S. companies
(Rockefeller in Brazil,
United Fruit Company in
Central America). Result:
creation of “banana
republics”
The American Empire in 1914




Mix of securing of ‘national interest’, military
strategy, economic motives and specific notions of
America as harbinger of modernity and progress
Limited successes in modernizing Latin American
economies and societies (sound budget policies,
infrastructure, education and public health)
Hegemony in the Western hemisphere
Collection of indirectly controlled territories and one
colony
The U.S. and the First World War


Declaration of neutrality. President
Woodrow Wilson: neutral in act and in
thought
Perception of belligerents:


Great Britain: since the turn of the century
rapprochement. Most important foreign
investor, principle trade partner in peace
and war
Germany: perceived as militaristic and as
potential threat to security, important
trading partner, but since the beginning of
war rapidly diminishing importance (allied
blockade)
Political and Social Implications

Basic problems for U.S. policies:




Allied blockade
German submarine warfare (sinking of ‘Lusitania’ in May
1915)
Inter-allied economic conference of May 1916 challenges
‘open door’
Domestic debate



Broad peace movement and widespread anti-war
sentiments
Smaller group of ‘interventionists’ headed by Theodore
Roosevelt
Wilson 1916: ‘preparedness’ campaign
Entry into War






German proclamation of unrestricted U-boat warfare in
February 1917
break-off of relations with Germany in February 1917
‘Zimmermann Telegram’
Sinking of U.S. merchant ships by German submarines
American declaration of war on Germany (April 2, 1917). U.S.
becomes “associated power” of Allies
Wilson declares a “crusade for democracy and a “war to end
all wars”
The U.S. as Belligerent






Introduction of draft
Economic mobilization
Entry of hundreds of thousands of women into the labor force.
African American migration to the industrial centers in the
North (‘Great Migration’)
Gross National Product increased from 40 billion in 1914 to 90
billion in 1920 (after inflation: increase of 10 billion).
Psychological rearmament of ‘home front’ and suppression of
dissent.
Sudden death of ‘Sauerkraut’
Woodrow Wilson:
Blueprint of a New World Order – The 14 Points







Return of territory occupied by Central Powers
Public diplomacy instead of secret deals
Freedom of the seas and unrestricted world trade
Limitations on armaments and general disarmament
Compromise on colonial territories
Principle of national self-determination
Establishment of a ‘general association of nations’
(the League of Nations)
Problems of Peace-Making
Conflicting aims of U.S. and Allies
 Internal contradictions of U.S. peace aims:
self-determination and continuation of
colonialism
 Increasing threat posed by Russian
communism

U.S. Debate on the Treaty




ratification debate took place in a climate of
disillusionment, economic problems (readjustment
of the economy from wartime to peace) and anticommunist hysteria (Red Scare)
democratic and progressive Senators: league of
nations is a lobby group for imperialism
Republicans: league limits American sovereignty and
freedom of action
Wilson: suffers stroke and becomes highly unpopular
Legacy of Wilson
Vision of a New World Order
 came to be identified – inappropriately – as
embodiment of ‘idealist notions’ or idealism
in U.S. foreign policy
 Wilson as founder of ‘internationalist’ school
of American foreign relations
