The
Progressive
Era
Warm Up:
From what you learned about
conditions in the United States during the late 1800s,
think about areas that needed the greatest reform.
Hint: What were the women wanting to change in the
United States during this time?
The Progressives
 Theodore Roosevelt
became the first
Progressive Party
President when
McKinley was shot.
 Campaigned in
second term on
“Square Deal”
platform.
 Tried to balance
interests of business,
consumers and labor.
The Muckraking Process
 Muckraker was a name
applied to American
journalists, novelists, and
critics in the first decade of the
20th century.
 Attempted to expose the
abuses of business and the
corruption in politics.
 The term "Muckrakers" was
coined by Theodore
Roosevelt in reference to
their ability to uncover "dirt."
 Muckrakers looked only at
the filth in the cesspool and
never at anything good.
The Farmers
Oliver Hudson Kelly
 The Problem:
pages 259 -261, 317
1. As the urban population grew, so did the demand for food. Farmers
planted more crops, causing a surplus.
2. Prices fell and farm profits plunged.
3. At the same time, expenses, such as railroad freight charges and the
price of new machinery, continued to rise.
4. Most farmers borrowed money against their land to buy new equipment
and when they could not pay back their loans, the banks seized their
property and put them out of business.
 The Solution:
1. The National Grange – Farmers formed cooperatives. They purchased
large ticket items - grain silos, tractors - as a group. Each farmer paid
less and shared the machinery. They planted fewer acres and got better
prices. They pushed for better laws and control of harmful railroad
pricing practices.
2. The Interstate Commerce Act (1887) – Railroad prices and practices
regulated.
3. Federal Farm Loan Act (1916) – Low interest loans to farmers.
The Immigrants

The Problem:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
From 1800 to 1880, 10 million immigrants to U.S.
From 1891 and 1910, 12 million immigrants to U.S.
Massive immigration swelled the populations of the cities.
Immigrants were resented and distrusted by citizens.
Jobs, housing, education and medical care were difficult to find.
Tenements sprang up. Housing poorly lit and ventilated.
Children went to work in factories.

The Solution:
1.
Compulsory education laws were passed. John Dewey believed
that curriculum should be tied to real world experiences.
Keeting Owen Child Labor Act. (page 281, 318) Outlawed
interstate sale of products made by children.
Americanization was stressed. (page 292)
Immigration quotas were established.
2.
3.
4.
The Cities
pages 286 – 287

The Problem:
1.
2.
Massive immigration swelled the populations of the cities.
Housing was scarce. Tenements sprang up that were
crowded, dirty, poorly lit and poorly ventilated.
Smoke from factories and factory runoff polluted the air
and water.
Tuberculosis became epidemic.
3.
4.

The Solution:
1.
New York State Tenement House Act (1901) – Any new
tenements had to be built around open courtyards to allow
in light and air. Had to have one bathroom for each
apartment.
National Tuberculosis Association (1915) – Funding for
hospitals
City parks and playgrounds built.
First National Conference on City Planning (1909) – Plans
for future city growth.
2.
3.
4.
The Urban Poor

The Problem:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Massive immigration swelled the populations of the cities.
Scarce jobs for unskilled labor forced many into poverty.
Sweatshops were common.
Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire brought the problem to the
public eye.

The Solution:
1.
Jane Addams and Hull House – Private relief agencies were at
first the only relief available to the poor. (pages 231-232)
This was based upon the idea of a “Social Gospel.” which
called for people to apply Christian principles to social
problems.
Labor unions sprang up.
Labor laws enacted in many states, addressing working
conditions.
Muller vs. Oregon – 10 hour workday upheld.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Labor Unions

Solution: The New Unions
1. AFL (American Federation of Labor - 1900) –
Skilled workers only. Lead by Samuel Gompers
2. ILGWU (International Ladies Garment Workers
Union – 1909) Unionized workers employed in
sewing shops in an attempt to end sweatshops.
“Uprising of 20,000” Union not largely successful
until Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire.
3. IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) Called
Wobblies. Wanted to end Capitalism. Americans
feared their Socialist agenda. Soon faded.
The Labor Unions

1.
2.
3.
4.

1.
2.
3.
The Problem:
Labor unions are becoming more powerful
The question was, should there be laws controlling
“open shops” and “closed shops”
Open shop – nonunion workplace
Closed shop – workers must join the union to work
there.
The Solution:
Fear of Socialism destroying our prosperous
capitalist economy forced government crack downs
on labor unions.
Labor “bosses” came under anti trust laws.
Labor membership continued to rise.
The Trust Busters
 The Problem:
1.
2.
3.
Trusts eliminated competition - kept prices high.
Trusts forced companies to give them discounts, sold inferior
products, corrupted public officials
Sherman Antitrust Act was poorly written and could not keep
trusts and monopolies under control.
 The Solution:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Supreme Court ruled that Northern Securities Company was a
monopoly after the attorney general sued it for unfair trade
practices.
Roosevelt administration filed 44 more antitrust suits.
Elkins Act (1903) – No shipping company rebates.
Hepburn Act (1906) – Set railroad rates
Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) Clearly stated what corporations
could not do.
The Consumer
 The Problem:
1.
2.
3.
Food additives made spoiled food
look fresh.
There were no regulations on food or drug quality.
Drug company claims were unproven.
 The Solution:
1.
2.
3.
Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle alerting consumers to
unsanitary conditions in meat packing plants.
Meat Inspection Act (1906) – Federal inspection of meat
shipped across state lines.
Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) – Forbade sale,
manufacture or transportation of food or drugs
containing harmful materials.
The Women
 The Problem:
1. Women had unequal
working conditions and no power.
2. The right to vote was denied to women.
 The Solution:
1. Unions devoted to women’s labor – International
Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (1900) - were
formed.
2. Progressives such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt
campaigned for women’s suffrage.
3. The Nineteenth Amendment was passed in 1920
granting women the right to vote.
Prohibition
 The Problem:
1. Alcohol abuse rose steadily
because it provided an
escape from terrible living
and working conditions.
2. Family life and moral conditions suffered.
 The Solution:
1.
2.
Carrie Nation and other prohibitions campaigned
for an end to alcohol consumption in America.
Women’s Christian Temperance Union formed.
3. The Eighteenth Amendment was passed
in 1919, outlawing liquor sales and
consumption
The Environment
 The Problem:
1. Natural resources were limited.
2. Needs of business had taken
priority over the needs of the
environment, causing waste, over cutting of trees
and pollution.
 The Solution:
1. Newlands Reclamation Act in 1902 – allowed
money from the sale of public lands to be used
for reforestation and conservation.
2. The National Park Service was created in 1916 land set aside for parks and wildlife refuges.
The Political Parties
 The Problem:
Corruption found at all levels of
government.
2. State machines catered to special
interests and cut deals with monopolies.
3. Politicians took bribes and gave them.
4. Elections were rigged and votes were bought,
especially in Congress.
1.
 The Solution:
Lincoln Steffens writes The Shame of the Cities,
exposing political corruption.
2. Seventeenth Amendment passed.
3. Gave voters the power to elect their senators
directly.
1.
Frayer Model:
The Progressive Era Amendments
What does the amendment say?
Write this in your own words.
Draw an illustration of your
amendment here.
Amendment
Why was this
amendment needed?
Why is this amendment
still important in your life
today?