HIS 112
Chapter 23
From Roosevelt to Wilson in
the Age of Progressivism
Progressivism
Reform movement that politically tried
to find solutions to problems of the
cities, states, and the nation
Used experts
Some examined a person’s
environment and tried to explain how
the environment influenced human
development
Culturally, artists were inspired to take a
fresh look at their world as well
Progressives wanted to humanize and
regulate the work place
Wanted businesses to change their ways
voluntarily; if not, then laws could be
passed
Progressives had their own pet projects -ridding U.S. of prostitution and
drunkeness
Rise of Professional Associations
and Societies
400 formed between 1890 and 1920
These associations tried to set
standards for individual professions
and have them accepted by law
Examples:
American Medical Association (AMA)
Set up educational requirements and
minimum standards
Bar Association created examining
boards for lawyers
National Education Association, 1905,
created a teacher certification program
National Association of Settlements
begun by social workers in 1911
National Association of Manufacturers,
1895
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1912
By working as individuals and as part
of a group, these educated
professionals had an impact on
society
Social-Justice Movement
Social-Justice movement begun by
social workers and lawyers
They wanted
Child labor laws
Better working conditions for women
Improved housing
Better parks
More playgrounds
Nursery schools
They pressured government agencies
to get things done
Had conferences and put out the
magazine Survey to present a
comprehensive program of reform
Purity Crusade
Those wishing to remove the evils of
drink from American society
Women’s Christian Temperance Union,
WTCU formed in the 1870s joined
The Anti-Saloon League in 1893 to
abolish alcohol
By 1916, 19 states were dry; however,
these groups worked for a national law
They got it finally with the 18th
Amendment or the Volstead Act that
took effect in January of 1920
It prohibited the manufacture, sale, and
transportation of intoxicating liquors
It was known as Prohibition
It did not work
Those who worked to get rid of
prostitution had limited success
1910 – The Mann Act stated that one
could not take a girl over state lines for
illicit purposes
1915 – most states banned brothels
Women’s Suffrage
Women were active in society
Women were getting college
educations ; 5,000/year after 1900
Many worked to help women and
children
Many became involved with women’s
suffrage because they wished to
influence elected officials
To portray a united front, 2 women’s
suffrage groups joined together
The National Woman Suffrage
Association
And the American Woman Suffrage
Association
By 1910, women could vote only in
Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, & Idaho
19th Amendment
Women get the right to vote
Passed by Congress in 1919
Ratified in 1920
How?
Through the efforts of Susan B. Anthony,
Carrie Chapman Catt, Anna Howard
Shaw, Alice Paul, and Lucy Burns
Plus women’s active participation in war
effort during World War I
Other Achievements of
Progressives
They were successful on state level
getting laws passed that limit the
number of hours women could work
Laws passed regulating child labor
John Dewey re-shaped the way
children were taught
He emphasized personal growth, free
inquiry, and creativity
Some judges, like Judge Ben Lindsey,
believed a child’s environment could him
into crime, so he sentenced child offenders
to education and good care
Socialists following the teachings of Karl
Marx influenced the formation of the
American Socialist Party in 1877
1901, Eugene Debs, its leader, ran for
president in 1900, 1904, & 1908 and got many
votes but not enough
Progressives pressed for more
education, mental institutions, and
jails
Maryland passed the first workers’
compensation law in 1902
By 1916, 2/3 of all states insisted on
insurance for victims of factory
accidents
Cities worked to eliminate corruption
Robert M. La Follette
Reform governor of Wisconsin
Served 3 terms in Congress in 1880s
1901 became governor of Wisconsin
Created the “Wisconsin Idea”
Asked academics to come up with new
solutions to old problems
Set up an industrial commission to
regulate factory safety and sanitation
Improved education
Adopted workmen’s compensation
Practiced resource conservation
Lowered railroad rates and raised
railroad taxes
Started a state income tax
Theodore Roosevelt (g. 1901-1908)
Became president after the
assassination of Robert McKinley
Had been vice president
Was a progressive
Rich
Spent time in west when young to
regain his health
Was a N.Y. State Assemblyman, N.Y. City
Police Commissioner, U.S. Civil Service
Commissioner, N.Y. Governor, Vice
President of U.S.
Fought in Spanish-American War in Cuba,
Rough Riders
Brought new energy to the White House
Enlarged the office of Presidency that
affected the balance of power
Settled strikes and defended worker’s
right to organize
Felt corporate behavior should be
regulated
Broke trusts and monopolies but
didn’t wish to destroy corporations
Won the presidential election of 1904
Got Hepburn Act passed in1906 that
gave ICC more authority
Got Elkins Act passed in 1903 that
stiffened penalties against railroad
rebates to favorite shippers
Read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
and got the Pure Food and Drug Act
and the Meat Inspection Act passed in
1906
Backed some opportunities for black
Americans
Denounced lynching
Had Booker T. Washington visit the
White House
Conservation
Teddy Roosevelt appointed Gifford Pinchot
as the nation’s first professional forester
1905, Pinchot was named head of the new
U.S. Forest Service
Pinchot was for conservation, the wise use
of natural resources
Although Roosevelt was more of a
preservationist, he went along with Pinchot
Preservation – let it alone, don’t touch
nature
Pinchot and Roosevelt were for the
planned , regulated use of the
nation’s forests for public and
commercial purposes
T. Roosevelt supported the National
Reclamation Act of 1902
This earmarked money from the sale of
public lands for water management in
the southwest; set up The Reclamation
Service to plan irrigation projects
T. Roosevelt set aside 200 million
acres of public land as national
forests, mineral reserves, and
potential water power sites
Roosevelt created 53 wildlife
reserves, 16 national monuments,
and 5 new national parks
This helped the public to think about
the environment
Election of 1908
Roosevelt refused to run
It was William Howard Taft (R) vs.
William Jennings Bryan (D)
Taft won
As President Taft:
Approved a conservative tariff bill
Abandoned reformers in the House
Fires Gifford Pinchot
Taft lost the support of the
progressives
Roosevelt was sorry he’d
recommended Taft as a presidential
candidate
Roosevelt was so disappointed that
he challenged Taft in the 1912
election as the candidate of the
newly- formed Bull Moose Party
Election of 1912
William Howard Taft (R)
Woodrow Wilson (D)
Theodore Roosevelt (Bull Moose)
Eugene Debs (Socialist)
Woodrow Wilson was the winner
Woodrow Wilson
An academic who taught history at
Princeton
President of Princeton
Governor of New Jersey
Son of a minister
Felt monopolies should be broken
and there should be an open
marketplace
Wished to protect and regulate
business
Supported
Clayton Anti-Trust Act that outlawed
quasi-monopolistic practices such as
price discrimination
Federal Trade Commission investigated
corporations and issued cease and
desist orders against unfair trade
practices
Federal Reserve Act of 1913 established
a centralized banking system with
control over the amount of money in
circulation
Underwood Tariff of 1913 promoted free
competition by drastically reducing or
eliminating tariff duties; it also introduced
the graduated income tax
Wilson also won the election of 1916
His slogan was he kept out of war
meaning World War I that began in
Europe in 1914; however, we entered
the war in 1917
Progressive Era in Perspective
The material comforts enjoyed by the large
majority of Americans meant that reform
couldn’t be sustained indefinitely
Opposition to reform weakened the impact
of many progressive initiatives
Progressives did refashion the American
way of thing and it challenged the old ways
of approaching problems to the nation