Progressive Movement
1901-1921
Progressive Movement
Introduction
Progressive Movement
• They wanted to improve society.
• They wanted people to participate in
government.
• The progressives wanted social justice.
Groups affected by the
Progressive Movement
• Farmers wanted protection from the
railroads, lower tariff.
• Middle Class wanted protection from
giant trusts and political machines.
• Workers wanted safe working
conditions and fair wages
Groups affected by the
Progressive Movement
• People who worked in factories.
• People who wrote about the injustices in
big business.
• Corporate Leaders had to change their
business practices.
• Children who worked long hours.
• Farmers sought better money for their
crops.
Groups affected by the
Progressive Movement
• The Populists, a third
party, expressed
farmers’ grievances.
• The Populists wanted
“to restore
government to the
people.”
Ida Tarbell wrote an article on
the corruption of Standard
Oil
“Rockefeller and his
associates did not build
the Standard Oil Co. in
the board rooms of Wall
Street banks. They
fought their way to
control by rebate and
drawback, bribe and
blackmail, espionage
and price cutting, by
ruthless ... efficiency of
organization.”
Upton Sinclair- The Jungle
(the meat packing industry)
"Here is a population, low-class
and mostly foreign, hanging
always on the verge of
starvation and dependent for its
opportunities of life upon the
whim of men every bit as brutal
and unscrupulous as the oldtime slave drivers; under such
circumstances, immorality is
exactly as inevitable, and as
prevalent, as it is under the
system of chattel slavery."
Chapter 10, pg. 126
Frank Norris- The Octopus
(the struggles of railroad
workers & wheat growers)
“The People have
a right to the
Truth as they have
a right to life,
liberty and the
pursuit of
happiness.“
Lincoln Steffen: wrote about
political corruption
• He wrote about
political corruption
in St. Louis and
compared the
corruption to Boss
Tweed in New York.
The article appeared
in Mc Clure’s
“Power is what men seek and any group
that gets it will abuse it.”
IMMIGRATION ISSUES
PART I
Rise of Immigration
• Many immigrants came
from Southern or Eastern
Europe.
• They were Catholic, Jewish
or Greek Orthodox,
Canadians, Armenians and
Arabs.
• They came for religious
freedom and to escape
poverty.
• US became a melting pot of
groups.
• The immigrants stayed
within their own
communities.
Anti-immigration laws
• The government wanted to restrict the
number of immigrants.
• They passed the Chinese Exclusion Act
in 1888. It denied the citizenship to
Chinese immigrants and stopped the
immigration of Chinese labors.
URBAN ISSUES
PART II
Improvement of American
Society-Urban Living
• City landscapes changed because of the
rise of immigrants and migrants moving
into the city.
• With the creation of elevators by Elisha
Otis, skyscrapers were built.
• Mass transit like commuter trains,
subways and trolley made it easier for
people to move around.
Problem with Urban Living:
Tenements
• They were dark, airless
buildings where 12 or
more families lived on
one floor.
• Outside the tenements, it
was dirty, lots of
pollution from the
factories and lots of
garbage.
Problems with Urban Living:
Tenements
• Jacob Riis wrote
How the Other Half
Lives. It dealt with
living in the slums.
• Diseases such as
tuberculosis spread
throughout the slums.
Improvement of Living
Styles
• The Middle Class and upper class moved
to suburbs to escape the congestion and
filth of the cities.
• The progressive leaders passed laws that
regulated how buildings were built.
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–
–
–
Buildings have fire escapes
Better air and light requirements
Room size
sanitation
LABOR ISSUES
PART III
Labor Issues
• Workers worked in unsafe conditions:
– Breathing sawdust in the factories
– Breathing coal dust in the mines
• Workers wanted higher wages
• Workers wanted shorter work days
• Workers received worker’s compensation and
insurance in 1902
• The Supreme Court ruled in favor of “Big
Business” because it violated worker’s liberty
to work.
Labor Unrest
• Workers who worked long hours and
unsafe conditions began to protest.
• The Great Upheaval, in 1886, meant
intense strikes and violent confrontations.
• There were coal strikes, factory strikes
and railroad strikes.
• There was lots of mob violence.
Labor Unions-were created to
protect the workers
• National Labor Union and the Knights of
Labor began to form unions but they
failed to achieve power
• The American Federation of Labor (AFl)
was more successful.
• Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or
wobblies fought for worker rights.
• The union worked for political power.
Samuel Gompers
• Samuel Gompers of AFL
pushed for union
bargaining power.
• He changed the
organization of the union.
• He called the craft groups
federations, and they
worked together in strikes
and boycotts.
Labor Reform: Child Labor
• Florence Kelley led the National
Child Labor Committee
– Some states ended the
employment of children
– Some states reduced the number
of hours children could work.
“In order to be rated as good as a good
man in the field of her earnings, she must
show herself better than he. She must be
more steady, or more trustworthy, or more
skilled, or more cheap in order to have the
same chance of employment. “
Labor Reform: Minimum Wage
• Massachusetts passed the first minimumwage law.
• Many other states set a wage base.
• In 1938, the government finally passed a
minimum-wage law for all workers.
REFORM MOVEMENT
PART IV
Social and Economic Reforms
• Protection for farmers, tenement dwellers,
consumers
• Expand government regulation to protect the
economy and public interest
• Regulation of the railroads, public utilities
The Interstate
Commerce Act
• In 1887, The Interstate Commerce Act
prohibited Railroad owners from price
fixing and dividing certain areas to
protect their interest.
• The Interstate Commerce Commission
would enforce the law.
Reform Programs:
Jane Addams
•
There was a rise of
“Civilization is a method
poverty, so social
of living and an attitude
programs were
of equal respect for all
established.
people.”
• Settlement Houses were
Jane Addams
community centers.
• Jane Addams established
Hull House
Reform Programs:
Social Gospel
• There was a rise of poverty, so social programs
were established.
• Social Gospel was a belief in applying Christian
values to solve society’s problems
Reform Programs:
The Salvation Army
• There was a rise of
poverty, so social
programs were
established.
• The Salvation Army
helped with putting
people on the path of
physical and spiritual
salvation
Booker T. Washington:
A Social Reformer
• He established
Tuskegee Institute
in 1881.
• He believed that
Negroes could
succeed in society
if Negroes had
economic power.
• Having economic
power would lead
to political power
“I have learned that
success is to be
measured not so much
by the position that
one has reached in life
as by the obstacles
which he has had to
overcome while trying
to succeed. “
YMCA
• The YMCA (or Young Men's Christian
Association) is an ecumenical Christian
organization seeking to provide support for
young people and their activities.
• It states its goal as "seeking to build a human
community of justice with love, peace and
reconciliation."
Social Darwinism
• Carnegie was opposed to giving out
handouts and direct aid to the poor.
• He believed in the theory of Social
Darwinism. It states that the fittest people
would rise to power and unfit would fail.
• Carnegie supported philanthropy which
is giving to charities to promote public
welfare. He gave $350 million to charties
Social Darwinism
• Yale Professor-William Graham Sumner
supported Social Darwinism
• He also originated the concept of ethnocentrism,
a term now commonly used to designate
attitudes of superiority about one's own group in
comparison with others.
Social Darwinism
A drunkard in the gutter
is just where he ought to
be, according to the
fitness and tendency of
things. Nature has set
upon him the process of
decline and dissolution
by which she removes
things which have
survived their
usefulness.
William Graham
Sumner
Temperance Movement
• There was a
movement to ban the
use of Alcohol.
• The 18th Amendment
banned the use and
manufacturing of
alcohol.
Billy Sunday:
Led the Temperance
Movement
Billy Sunday stated the saloon
was “the sum of all villainies” and
“the parent of crimes and the
mother of sin. He led the
temperance movement.
“After all is said that can be said
upon the liquor traffic, its
influence is degrading upon the
individual, the family, politics and
business, and upon everything
that you touch in this old world.”
POLITICAL REFORM
PART V
Political Machines
• The political machine consisted of three
elements:
– part bosses or a county committee, which governed
the party, machine and controlled the politicians;
– election district captains who mobilized and
organized support at the neighborhood level;
– party loyalists who supported the machine with
votes and financial support in return for jobs, favors
and help provided by bosses and election district
captains.
Political Machines
• Boss Tweed led the
political machine in New
York ( Tammany Hall)
• He received lots of
kickback from political
leaders.
• He was to become a
symbol of corruption in
government.
Boss Tweed lead the political
machines
“The way to
have power is to
take it.”
“I don't care who does
the electing, so long as
I get to do the
nominating. “
Political Reform
• stop political machines
• city managers would reduce the power of
political machines
• Direct primaries -people would elect leaders
rather parties
• initiative-introduce legislation
• Referendum-petition legislation
• Recall- be able to remove an elected official
Political Reform
• 16th Amendment -Income Tax was
authorized because it would make up for
the lost revenue in lowering tariffs
• 17th Amendment -Direct election of
senators because it would give more
power to the people.
Political Reform
• 18th Amendment- Alcohol was banned
• 19th Amendment -Women were allowed to
vote
POLITICAL LEADERS
PART VI
Political Reformers
• Charles Evan
Hughes- a lawyer
• Robert La FolletteGovernor of Wisconsin
– brought the direct primary
to Wisconsin which let the
citizen vote for candidate.
– Responsible for the
initiative, recall and
referendum
– regulated the
insurance and
protected the
companies.
Political Reformers
• Hiram Johnson was governor and senator for California
and led the Bull Moose Party
• He backed strongly progressive bills
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a state civil service system,
eight-hour works days for women,
strong guidelines for child labor.
success in limiting the power of the railroads that gained him
national attention. A new State Utilities Act gave the state
railroad commission sweeping powers.
Political Leader:
Teddy Roosevelt
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•
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•
Governor of New York
Led the Rough Riders
At age 42, youngest elected President
Vice President of Mc Kinley
Wanted to give a Square Deal for all
Americans
Teddy Roosevelt:
The Square Deal
• Trustbusting was breaking the power of monopolies.
• He was a trustbuster- Northern Securities Company
which controlled the railroad in the northwest
• Settle the Anthracite Coal Strike (1902)
• Conservation President-national parks the land was
protected from industry
• Newland Act (1902)- money for irrigation projects
Teddy Roosevelt:
The Square Deal
• In 1906, he signed the Meat Inspection Act
which required the government to inspect
meat shipped from one state to another.
• Pure Food and Drug Act-protected the
consumer from unsafe medicines and food
“A man who is good enough to shed
his blood for his country is good
enough to be given a square deal
afterwards.”
Teddy Roosevelt
Teddy Roosevelt:
The Square Deal
• Foreign Policies
• Control the Panama
Canal
• Roosevelt Collary -US
would protect the
Western Hemisphere
• Settle the RussoJapanese War
• Gentlemen’s Agreementstop immigration of
Japanese.
“Speak softly and
carry a big stick.”
Teddy Roosevelt
Howard Taft
• He was a judge and governor
• Later, he became the Chief Justice in the
Supreme Court
• His policies as President
– He supported the 16th Amendment
– Established the Tariff Board which kept track of
tariffs.
– Supported the 17th Amendment
“Presidents come and go,
but the Supreme Court
goes on forever.”
President Taft
Woodrow Wilson:
The New Freedom
• President of Princeton
• Governor of New Jersey
• Historian and intellectual
“Wanted to “preserve and
strengthen our democratic
and capitalistic society”
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson:
The New Freedom
Important legislation:
• Underwood Tariff -reduce tariff rates
• Federal Reserve Act- improve banking industry by
spreading the power of the banks and people can get
credit.
• Clayton Act- improve anti-trust regulation
• Admanson Act- 8 hours day for railroad workers
• Federal Farm Loan Act- low interest for farmers
Woodrow Wilson:
The New Freedom
Foreign Issues:
• Problems with Mexico
• Led the troops in World War I
• Wrote the 14 Points
• Formed the League of Nations- Congress
voted against participation
“We are citizens of the world.
The tragedy of our
times is that we do not know this.”
End of Progressive
Movement
• Most Americans were worried about
World War I.
• President Wilson had a stroke that ended
his leadership.
“There is no higher religion
than human service.
To work for the common
good is the greatest creed.”
President Woodrow Wilson