APUSH ch. 21
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What was the Progressive movement?
◦ Social/political movement of early 1900s that attempted to
use activism as well as gov’t power to cure social problems
Why was this so groundbreaking?
◦ Before about 1900, people didn’t think of gov’t as a reform
tool
◦ Just supposed to ensure security, protect freedoms,
advance national interests, etc.
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What did the Progressive movement attempt to
do?
– Fix the problems of the late 1800s
– Address problems stemming from industrialization,
immigration, urbanization, etc.
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What topics concerned Progressives?
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Labor reform
Immigration reform
Voting reform
Business regulation
Environmental protection
Consumer protection
Moral standards
Alcohol/drug regulation
Health regulations
Women’s suffrage
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Who made up the Progressives?
– Activists
– Journalists & academics
– Politicians
• NOT a separate party (initially)
• Both Dems and Reps joined the movement
– And members from both parties opposed certain progressive
ideals, so this wasn’t a “party line” issue
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Where did it start?
– At the ground level
– “grassroots” movement
– The activists & writers influenced local politicians, then
state, then fed gov’t
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What event really got the movement going?
– Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911)
– Convinced people of need to reform labor laws
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Thorstein Veblen
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William James
◦ The Theory of the Leisure Class
◦ Pragmatism
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Herbert Croly
◦ The Promise of American Life – advocated activist
gov’t that promotes the interest of the masses
Jane Addams
John Dewey
◦ Public ed. As instrument of reform
◦ Pushed for social ed.,
◦ democratic ideals in school
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Oliver Wendell Holmes
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Muckrakers:
◦ Journalists who exposed America’s “dirty” secrets
 Upton Sinclair – The Jungle – meatpacking industry
 Lincoln Steffens – The Shame of the Cities – plight of
the urban poor
 Ida Tarbell – History of Standard Oil – shady business
practices
 David Graham Phillips – Treason of the Senate – Senate
“controlled” by big business
 Lewis Hine & Jacob Riis (photographers)
 McClure’s & Collier’s magazine
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Novelists:
◦ Frank Norris – The Octopus
◦ Theodore Dreiser – The Financier
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Activists:
◦ Jane Addams (urban poor)
◦ Florence Kelly (workers’ rights)
◦ Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, Alice
Paul (women’s rights/suffrage)
◦ Margaret Sanger (women’s rights & birth control)
◦ John Dewey (education)
◦ Eugene Debs (unions, etc.)
Politicians
◦ Robert La Follette – Wisc. governor & senator
◦ William U’Ren – Oregon Rep.
◦ Louis Brandeis – Sup. Ct.
◦ TR – Square Deal
◦ Woodrow Wilson – New Freedom
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Voting – made more democratic
◦ Initiative – voters push for a vote on needed topic
◦ Referendum – people vote directly instead of
representatives
◦ Recall – vote on bad politicians before term is up
◦ 17th amendment – people vote directly for Senators
◦ 19th Amendment – women suffrage
◦ Effects: political boss system erodes, etc.
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Regulating big business
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Trustbusting (TR and Taft)
TR didn’t side w/ management like previous Pres.
Mediated UMW strike, RR strike, etc. with gains for workers
Hepburn Act (1906) – allowed ICC to set maximum RR
rates, etc.
Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) – closed loopholes used by big
business under Sherman Act
Federal Trade Commission created in 1914 to watch over
big business
Standard Oil & Northern Securities Co. broken up
Effects: worker wages rise, unions empowered
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Workers Rights:
◦ Keating-Owen Act – bans products made w/ child labor
from interstate commerce
◦ National Child labor committee as watchdog (regulates hrs,
etc)
◦ Adamson Act – 8 hr workday for RR workers
◦ Muller v. Oregon – sets maximum hrs for female laundry
workers
◦ Workmen’s Compensation Act – accident/injury protection
for federal workers (later adopted in private sector)
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Cities/living conditions
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Parks created in urban areas
Amusement parks
Urban planning
Better garbage collection,
street cleaning
Better sewage systems
Effects: disease &
infant mortality decline
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Temperance –
◦ WCTU & AntiSaloon League
◦ Prohibition –
18th Amendment
◦ Anti-prostitution
– Mann Act
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The Jungle
◦ Meat Inspection Act 1906
◦ Pure Food & Drug Act 1906
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Narcotics Act –
 only prescribed by doctors
 Cocaine removed from Coca Cola, etc.
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Immunizations for school age kids
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National Reclamation Act – funds dams & irrigation
TR sets aside 200 million acres for parks, etc.
Boy/Girl Scouts, Sierra Club
TR’s advisors - John Muir & Gifford Pinchot
Antiquities Act – protects archaeological sites
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Progressive wanted to preserve “white” values
Limited immigration – blamed immigrants for poor morals,
urban decay
◦ Naturalization act of 1906 – only blacks and whites
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Chinese Exclusion Act & literacy tests for immigrants
Eugenics
 Sterilization of criminals
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Politicians split over tariffs – divided Rep
party
1913 – Fed Reserve created
16th amendment – Congress allowed to
impose nat’l income tax
Federal Farm Loan Act – easier for farmers to
get low-interest loans
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Civil rights – fed gov’t did little about racism in South and
elsewhere
◦ Supreme Court – OK’ed segregation in Plessy v
Ferguson (separate but equal)
◦ Jim Crow laws in South – segregation
Lynching was up in South, no law passed
◦ Ida B. Wells pushed for law against lynching
Split in black social thought
◦ WEB DuBois vs. Booker T. Washington
◦ DuBois – immediate civil rights, liberal arts ed.
 Niagara Movement, NAACP – use courts to get
rights
◦ Washington – gradual civil rights, vocational ed.
 Tuskegee Institute & Atlanta Compromise Doctrine
End of Progressive Era – WWI