THE AGE OF REFORM
• Roots of Progressivism
– progressives were never a single unified group
seeking a single objective
– they sought civil service reform, political
reform, government regulation of big business,
improvement of conditions in the workplace,
and the enactment of antitrust legislation
– in response to an increasingly complex society,
progressivism represented a “search for order”
• The Muckrakers
– the popular press published articles on social,
economic, and political issues of the day
– McClure’s published Ida Tarbell’s critical series
on Standard Oil and Lincoln Steffens’s expose
on city machines
– soon, other editors rushed to adopt McClure’s
formula
– a veritable army of journalists published stories
exposing labor gangsterism, the adulteration of
foods and drugs, corruption in college athletics,
and prostitution
– the degree of sensationalism used by some
authors prompted Theodore Roosevelt to label
them “muckrakers”
• The Progressive Mind
– despite its democratic rhetoric, progressivism
was paternalistic, moderate, and often softheaded
– reformers oversimplified issues and regarded
their personal values as absolute standards
– progressives came from all walks of life and
included great tycoons, small operators,
advocates of social justice, prohibitionists, and
others
– progressivism never truly challenged the
fundamental principles of capitalism; nor did it
seek to reorganize the basic structures of
society
– many progressives held anti-immigrant views,
and few progressives concerned themselves
with the plight of blacks
• “Radical” Progressives: The Wave of the
Future
– influenced by European revolutionary theories,
some segments of American society sought
radical relief for the ills of industrialism
– some labor leaders rejected craft unionism and
advocated socialism
– in 1905, a coalition of mining and other unions,
socialists, and other radicals formed a new
union, the Industrial Workers of the World
(IWW)
– the openly anticapitalist IWW never attracted
the support of mainstream labor
– other nonpolitical European ideas influenced
progressive intellectuals
– few understood, and even fewer read, Freud,
but his theories became a popular topic of
conversation
– some used Freud to argue against conventional
standards of sexual morality
• Political Reform: Cities First
– corrupt political machines ruled many cities
– city bosses and machine politics became the
primary targets of progressivism
– reformers could not defeat the machines
without changing urban political structures
– new forms included “home rule,” nonpartisan
bureaus, city commissioners, and city managers
– beyond reforming the political process,
progressives hoped to use it to improve society
– some experiments at the municipal level
included urban renewal, municipalizing public
utilities and public transportation systems, and
reform of penal institutions
• Political Reform: The States
– corruption and mismanagement at state level
impeded the efforts of municipal reformers
– Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin perhaps
best illustrated progressivism in action at the
state level
– among La Follette’s reforms were the adoption
of direct primaries, corrupt practices acts, and
laws to limit campaign spending and funding of
lobbyists
– La Follette also advocated state regulation of
the railroads and management of natural
resources
– other states adopted many elements of the
Wisconsin Idea
– some states went beyond Wisconsin in making
their governments responsive to the popular
will with the adoption of the initiative and
referendum
• State Social Legislation
– by the 1890s, many states passed laws
regulating conditions in the workplace
– these laws restricted child labor, set maximum
hours for women and children, and regulated
conditions in sweatshops
– conservative judges, unwilling to accept an
expansion of the states’ coercive power, often
struck down such laws on the ground that they
violated the “due process” clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment
– progressives also achieved state legislation
regulating the transportation, utilities, banking,
and insurance industries
– however, piecemeal regulation by the states
failed to solve the problems of an increasingly
complex society
• Political Reform: The Women’s Suffrage
Movement
– the Progressive Era saw the culmination of the
struggle for women’s suffrage
– the women’s movement was handicapped by
rivalry between the NWSA and the AWSA, by
Victorian attitudes about the role of women,
and by applications of Darwinian theory
– feminists attempted to turn ideas of women’s
moral superiority to their advantage in the
struggle for voting rights
– in doing so, however, they surrendered the
principle of equality
– in 1890, the two major women’s groups
combined to form the National American
Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
– the growth of progressivism contributed to the
cause of suffrage
– after winning the right to vote in several states,
NAWSA focused its attention on the national
level
– the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) granted
women the right to vote
• Political Reform: Income Taxes and
Popular Election of Senators
– progressivism also found expression in the
Sixteenth Amendment, which authorized a
federal income tax, and the Seventeenth
Amendment (1913), which provided for direct
election of senators
– a group of progressive members of Congress
also managed to reform the House of
Representatives by limiting the power of the
Speaker
• Theodore Roosevelt: Cowboy in the White
House
– Roosevelt assumed the presidency following
McKinley’s assassination
– he brought to the presidency solid political
qualifications, a distinguished war record, and
credentials as a historian
– although the prospect of Roosevelt in the White
House alarmed conservatives, he moved slowly
and with restraint
– his domestic program included some measure
of control of large corporations, more power for
the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the
conservation of natural resources
• Roosevelt and Big Business
– although Roosevelt won a reputation as a
“trustbuster,” he did not believe in breaking up
big corporations indiscriminately; he preferred
to regulate them
– Roosevelt was not an enemy to all large-scale
enterprises, merely those that flagrantly seemed
to restrain trade
– facing a Congress that would not pass strong
regulatory laws, Roosevelt resorted to use of
the Sherman Act
– although his Justice Department brought suit
against the Northern Securities Company, the
President preferred to reach “gentlemanly
agreements” with large trusts
– this approach proved successful with U.S. Steel
and International Harvester
– when Standard Oil reneged on an agreement,
however, the Justice Department brought suit
• Roosevelt and the Coal Strike
– Roosevelt effectively used the powers and
prestige of his office to intervene in the
anthracite coal strike of 1902
– he attempted to arbitrate between management
and the United Mine Workers, but management
proved intransigent
– the president’s threat to seize and operate the
mines convinced the owners of the wisdom of
accepting arbitration
– neither side was entirely pleased, but, to the
American public, the incident seemed to
illustrate the progressive spirit and Roosevelt’s
“square deal”
– Roosevelt’s use of executive power in this case
dramatically extended presidential authority
and hence that of the federal government
• TR’s Triumphs
– Roosevelt easily defeated the Democratic
candidate, Alton B. Parker, in 1904
– encouraged by his victory and aware of the
growing militancy of progressives, the
president pressed Congress for passage of the
Hepburn Act (1906), which allowed the ICC to
inspect the books of railroad companies and to
fix maximum rates
– it also gave the ICC authority over other
interstate carriers and prohibited railroads from
issuing passes freely
– in response to Upton Sinclair’s novel, The
Jungle, which described the filthy conditions in
the meat-packing industry, Roosevelt pressed
Congress to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act
(1907)
• Roosevelt Tilts Left
– as the progressive impulse advanced, Roosevelt
advanced with it
– Roosevelt’s approach became increasingly
liberal
– he placed more than 150 million acres of public
lands in federal reserves, strictly enforced usage
laws on federal lands, and encouraged state
governments actively to regulate their public
lands
– as Roosevelt moved toward the left, many Old
Guard Republicans turned against the president
– the Panic of 1907 exacerbated the split
– when conservatives blamed him for the panic,
Roosevelt responded by moving further toward
progressive liberalism; he advocated federal
income and inheritance taxes, stricter regulation
of interstate corporations, and reforms designed
to help industrial workers
– when Roosevelt began to criticize the courts, he
lost all chance of obtaining further reform
legislation
• William Howard Taft: The Listless
Progressive, or More is Less
– Roosevelt’s hand-picked successor, William
Howard Taft, garnered the support of Old
Guard Republicans as well as progressives and
easily defeated William Jennings Bryan
– although he enforced the Sherman Act
vigorously and signed the Mann-Elkins Act,
which expanded the power of the ICC, Taft
made a less aggressive president than T.R. had
been
– Taft was not comfortable with Roosevelt’s
sweeping use of executive power
– his political ineptness contributed to Taft’s
problems
– he alienated progressives when he failed to lend
full support to a Congressional movement to
reform the tariff system
– Taft ran afoul of the growing conservation
movement in 1910 when he fired the chief
forester of the United States, Gifford Pinchot
• Breakup of the Republican Party
– the Ballinger-Pinchot affair signaled the
beginning of a split between Roosevelt and Taft
– perhaps inevitably, the Republican party split
into factions
– Roosevelt sided with the progressives, and Taft
threw in his lot with the Old Guard
– Taft’s management of antitrust action brought
against U.S. Steel in 1911 finalized the split
– a portion of the suit was directed against the
merger of the Tennessee Coal and Iron
Company with U.S. Steel in 1907
– Roosevelt had personally approved of merger
and viewed Taft’s action as a personal attack
– Roosevelt decided to challenge Taft for the
nomination in 1912
– while Roosevelt carried the bulk of the
primaries, Taft controlled the party apparatus
and secured the nomination
– Roosevelt formed the breakaway Progressive
party, also known as the “Bull Moose” party,
and ran in the general election
• The Election of 1912
– the Democrats ran Woodrow Wilson, the reform
governor of New Jersey
– Wilson’s “New Freedom” promised eradication
of special interests and a return to competition
– Roosevelt called for a “New Nationalism,”
based on regulation of large corporations
– hard-core Republicans voted for Taft, but the
progressive wing went for Roosevelt
– Democrats, both conservative and progressive,
voted for Wilson; as a result, Wilson won easily
• Wilson: The New Freedom
– Wilson quickly established his legislative
agenda and successfully steered his legislation
through Congress
– in 1913, the Underwood Tariff substantially
reduced tariffs; a graduated income tax made up
for lost revenue
– the Federal Reserve Act finally provided the
nation with a centralized banking system
– Congress created the Federal Trade
Commission to regulate unfair trade practices
– the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 outlawed
price discrimination, “tying” agreements, and
the creation of interlocking directorates
– Wilson’s decisive management style and a
Democratic majority in Congress accounted in
large part for his successes
– Wilson’s progressivism had its limits; he
refused to support legislation to provide lowinterest loans to farmers or to exempt unions
from antitrust actions
– Wilson also declined to push for a federal law
prohibiting child labor and refused to back a
constitutional amendment granting the vote to
women
• The Progressives and Minority Rights
– a darker side of progressivism manifested itself
in the area of race relations
– a reactionary on racial matters, Wilson was
fairly typical of progressive attitudes; only a
handful failed to exhibit prejudice against
nonwhite people
– most progressives assumed that Native
Americans were incapable of assimilating into
white society
– Asians were subject to intense discrimination
– in the South, the Progressive Era witnessed the
institutionalization of “Jim Crow”
– many progressive women adopted racist
arguments in support of the Nineteenth
Amendment, while Southern progressives
argued for the disenfranchisement of blacks to
“purify” the political system
– Booker T. Washington and his philosophy of
accommodation failed to stem the rising tide of
racism, and a number of young and welleducated blacks broke away from his leadership
• Black Militancy
– W. E. B. Du Bois, the first American black to
earn a Ph.D. from Harvard, called upon blacks
to reject Washington’s accommodationism
– he urged them to take pride in their racial and
cultural heritage and demanded that blacks take
their rightful place in society without waiting
for whites to give it to them
– he recognized that environment, not racial
factors, caused problems of poverty and crime
– Du Bois was not, however, an admirer of the
ordinary black American
– frankly elitist in approach, Du Bois contended
that a “talented tenth” of blacks would lead the
way to their race’s success
– in 1905, he and other like-minded blacks
founded the Niagara Movement
– while it failed to attract mass support, it did stir
some white consciences
– a group comprised largely of white liberals
founded the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in
1909
– the NAACP was dedicated to the eradication of
racial discrimination from American society
– the leadership of the NAACP was largely white
in its early years, but Du Bois became a
national officer and editor of the organization’s
journal
– more important, after the founding of the
NAACP, virtually every leader in the struggle
for racial equality rejected Washington’s
approach