The Progressive
Era
Progressive Era
• Progressive Era: 1880 – 1920
• Much of the Progressive Era was about reacting to problems caused by
industrialization
Industries Grew
People moved to
cities to work at
factories
Cities Grew
(urbanization) –
more poverty,
crime & disease
The Progressive Movement
• Legislative reforms were passed in the areas of labor, child labor,
education, prisons, banking, and public safety.
• These reforms continue protecting Texans
• Most reforms ignored minorities
Temperance Movement
• Turn of the century – grew out of the Temperance
movement
• Temperance – movement for the elimination of
alcohol
• Goal:
• Prohibition –banning of the manufacture, distribution,
& sale of alcohol
• Achievements: 18th Amendment
• Believed it would reduce crime, poverty, and
family violence
• Organizations: Women’s Christian Temperance
Union (WCTU) & Texas Anti-Saloon League
Goal of Prohibition
• To improve the lives of Americans.
People thought drinking was a cause of
corruption, crime, domestic abuse, and
poverty.
• The government called this their "Noble
Experiment."
Now for a short video
Suffrage Movements – Women’s Suffrage
• 1900s women were becoming more involved in politics
• Goal: Gaining women the right to vote
Women’s Suffrage
• Early 1900s – Chapters of the Texas Women’s Suffrage
Movement were formed in major Texas Cities
• Texas Equal Suffrage Association – supported &
campaigned for the passage of the 19th Amendment
• Achievements: 19th Amendment - Aug. 18, 1920
Jane Mccallum
• Lobbied for women’s suffrage
• During 1920s Member of the “Petticoat
Lobby”
• a coalition of women’s groups pressing
for laws to benefit women and
children.
• Nearly all of their legislative agenda
was enacted: school funding, prison
reform, maternal/infant health care,
restrictions on child labor, stricter
prohibition laws
• Appointed as Texas Secretary of State
Civil Rights Organizations
African Americans & Reform
• 1902 Poll Tax – African Americans and
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poor whites couldn’t afford it, therefore,
couldn’t vote.
Segregation was widespread as a result
of the Jim Crow Laws
Railroad cars, water fountains, schools,
restaurants, etc. were segregated
NAACP – National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
Civil Rights organization
Called for economic and educational
equality for African Americans
Mexican Americans
• Faced the same challenges as African Americans
• Also victims of Jim Crow Laws
• 1929 – LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens)
• Formed in Corpus Christi
• Support the rights for Spanish-speaking people
• Worked to end unfair treatment toward Mexican Americans
• From Texas, spread to become a national organization