Progressivism

The Progressive Era (1890-1920)

A time in which many groups in society were working to bring about “progress” in society; a political and social reform movement in the US

Goals of Progressives

Free of gov corruption; increase in gov role in regulating economic activity; increase in gov responsibility for human welfare or well being; develop more social welfare programs to ensure basic standard of living for all AMericans

How were societal problems brought up?

Speeches/rallies; labor movement (rise of unions, strikes, etc); writing (novels); newspapers/magazines (publicizing results of investigation into issues of concern, muckrakers)

Who was Harvey Wiley?

A government chemist who set out to prove that Americans were being poisoned by food addittives; “father of the FDA”

What was the problem with the Meatpacking Industry

Rapid industrial growth led to unsanitary conditions in meatpacking plants; workers faced dangerous environments and little regulation; consumers had no guarantees of food safety

Upton SInclair’s The Jungle (1906)

Exposed filthy conditions in Chicago meatpacking plants; highlighted worker exploitation and unsafe food practices; sparked public outrage and demand for reform

How did the public react to Upton SInclair’s The Jungle?

Readers were horrified by descriptions of contaminated meat; pressure on gov to regulate food and drugs

What made medicine very unsafe?

Many medicines contained dangerous ingredients, including alcohol, morphine, and cocaine; children’s cough syrups often included narcotics, leading to addiction and overdoses; labels were misleading or nonexistent

What was the government’s response to the unsafe medicine and food?

Meat Inspection Act (1906): required federal inspection of meatpacking plants; Pure Food and Drug Act (1906): prohibited mislabeling and adulteration of food and medicine; both signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt

What is the FDA

The Food and Drug Administration; grew out of the Pure Food and Drug Act (gov response to unsafe medicine and food); Mission: ensure safe, properly labeled food and medicine; began monitoring drug composition and labeling; focused on protecting children and vulnerable populations; set foundation for modern drug testing and approval processes; first commissioner: Harvey Wiley

Muckrackers

Investigative journalists exposing corruption and social issues; provided detailed, journalistic accounts of the political and economic corruption and social hardships caused by the power of big business; term coined by Theodore Roosevelt during a speech; Goal: raised public awareness and pushed for reforms

Social Gospel Movement

Religious initiative that sought to apply Christian ethics to social issues, particularly those arising from industrialization and urbanization; treat problems such as drinking, gambling, and other negative behaviors; labor reforms and improved living conditions; apply the gospel teaching of Jesus directly to society (social responsibility was a key to salvation); Salvation Army

The Settlement House Movement

Originated in England; offshoot of the Social Gospel Movement (attracted reformers who believed it was their Christian duty to improve living conditions for the poor living in large cities); looking for long lasting improvements; brought educated volunteers into poor urban neighborhoods; Goals: bridge gap between rich and poor, provide education, healthcare, and social services, and promote civic responsibility and democracy

What is a Settlement House?

Houses in poor urban areas in which volunteer middle-class “settlement workers” would live; provided services such as daycare, English classes, and healthcare to improve the lives of the poor in these areas

The Hull House

Established in Chicago in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr; Mission: improve lives of immigrants and working class families; Became a model for settlement houses across the US; Programs: adult education classes, childcare and kindergarten, health clinics and sanitation initiatives, etc

Long Lasting Effects and Legacy of The Hull House

Many Settlement houses were set up in cities around the country following the Hull House (became a model); the movement was a catalyst for modern social work; Hull House closed in 2012

Education Reform

Expansion of public schooling to reach more children; emphasis on education laws (make schools mandatory); focus on reducing child labor by keeping children in schools; assimilation for immigrants; promoting civic responsibility

John Dewey

Known as the “father of Progressive Education”; advocated learning by doing rather than rote memorization; believed schools should prepare students for democratic participation; promoted critical thinking, problem-solving, and experiential learning; his ideas shaped modern education systems worldwide

Temperance Crusade

Aimed to reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption; reflected Progressive ideas of moral and social reform; restoring order to society; plagued the working class families: scarce wages vanished as workers spent hours in saloons, drunkenness created violence, women sa alcohol as a source of abusive and irresponsible male behavior, buisness owners complained workers missed work or came to work drunk

Women’s Christian Temperance Union

led Temperance Crusade; Carrie Nation was the founds; known for breaking down and attacking saloons with axes, hammers, and rocks; wa arrested 30 times

Legacy and Effects of Temperance Crusade

Set the foundation for the passage of the 18th Amendment; amendment established prohibition, banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors; ratified on January 1619; influenced American politics, society, and culture

Advancement for African Americans

Most progressive reforms excluded African Americans; early leadership: Washington and DuBois

Niagara Movement

Founded by W.E.B. Du Bois and other black intellectuals; called for: full political rights, end to segregation; and equal economic opportunities

Founding of the NAACP (1909)

Sparked by the 1908 Springfield Race Riot in Illinois; Founded by black and white reformers, including DuBois and Ida B. Wells; mission: fight racial discrimination through legal action, advocacy, and education; marked a turning point in organized Civil Rights activism

Strategies of NAACP

Strategies: Legal challenges to segregation and disenfranchisement; anti-lynching campaigns, especially led by Wells; public awareness through DuBois’ “The Crisis”

Legacy of NAACP

African Americans faced severe discrimination during the Progressive Era; most Progressive leaders ignored racial injustivce; segregation expanded under federal agencies during this era; NAACP became leading civil rights organization of the 20th century; legal groundwork laid for Brown v. Board of Education; DuBois, Wells and others shaped future civil rights strategies

Why was Environmental Reform needed?

Rapid industrial growth led to pollution, deforestization, resource depletion; unregulated mining, logging, and railroad expansion damaged ecosystems; public concern grew over disappearing wilderness and wildlife

Conservation (use wisely)

Led by Gifford Pinchot; scientific management of natural resources; goal: sustainable use for long-term benefit

Preservation (protect untouched)

Led by John Muir; protect nature for its beauty and spiritual value; goal: keep wilderness areas pristine

Theodore Roosevelt’s Environment Legacy

Established 51 bird reserves and 4 game preserves; signed the Antiquities Act (1906), creating national monuments; set aside 230+ million acres for conservation; expanded federal role in managing natural resources (US Forest Service)

National Parks and Public Land & Impact

Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and other iconic landscapes protected; preservationists pushed for wilderness protection; set the foundation for the modern National Park system; impact: established federal responsibility for natural resources, created long-term conservation policies still used today, inspired later environmental movements (19602-70s), balanced economic development with environmental protection

1848 Seneca Falls Convention (NY)

Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton; first demanded the right to vote; “Declaration of Sentiments”; The Abolition Movement and Civil War brought a decrease in motivation/larger focus on abolishing slavery

Susan B. Anthony

Born to a Quaker Abolitionist Father; worked for radical change (Temperance and Abolition Movements); leader of the Women’s Suffrage Movement; American Equal Rights Association established in 1866 by Anthony and Stanton (led to National Woman’s Suffrage Association & pushed for a Constitutional Amendment)

Civil Disobedience

Nonviolent refusal to obey a law in an effort to change a law; in 1872 Anthony led a group of women to the polls in Rochester, NY where she insisted on voting (arrested for “civil disobedience”, convicted and fined $100)

What happend at the turn of the century for women?

Women could buy, sell, and will property; Wyoming entered the Us in 1890 as a state and was the first to grant women the right to vote, which caused other states to do the same

NAWSA Established in 1890

National American Woman Suffrage Association; big leaders: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton; two big strategies: win the right to vote state by state & pass a Constitutional Amendment (requires ratification by 36 states)

Why did the Woman Suffrage Movement slow down in 1890-1910?

Leaders of NAWSA Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton died; establishment of an anti-suffrage movement

Beliefs of Anti-Suffragists: Women were…

high-strung, irrational, and emotional; not smart or educated enough; should stay home; too physically frail (they would get tired just walking to the polling station); giving them the right would break gender roles and make women more masculine; fear of prohibition

Who rose as leaders after the end of the Women’s Suffrage Movement?

Carrie Chapman Catt and Alice Paul; Paul established a committee to travel to DC to take part in a parade/rally in 1913, which was the day before Wilson’s inauguration; committee become the “Congressional Union”; called for an agressive militant campaign for a Constitutional Amendment

Radial Actions by the COngressional Union

NAWSA expelled them from their organization; miltant protests; demonstrated in front of the White House; burned copies of President Wilson’s speeches and life size dummy that looked like him

What happened to the NAWSA after the Congressional Union?

Carrie Chapman Catt became their leader; “Winning Plan” focued on getting Congress to propose federal amendment; by 1917 there were 2 million members (largest voluntary organization in the country); Fall of 1917, NY voted for Women’s Suffrage

Impact of WWI

Women took over many important roles such as ambulance corps, medical work, taking over jobs men left

Victory for Women

1918 Congress formally proposed the suffrage Amendment; ratification began, August 1920 - Tennessee became the 36th state necessary to ratify the suffrage Amendment; 19th Amendment - the last major reform of the Progressive Era

19th Amendment (1920)

The right of citizens of the US to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any State on account of gender

Theodore Roosevelt: Republican

Roosevelt takes over as President after McKinley’s assassination; severed from 1901-1908 and declared he would not seek reelection

Reform at the Federal Level

Roosevelt’s “Square Deal”; Domestic program relfected his 3 major goals; The 3 C’s: Consumer Protection (food and drug), Conservation of Natural Resources (environment), Control of Corporations (antitrust); New Constiutional Amendments: 16th - Income Tax, 17th - Direct Election of Senators, 18th - Prohibition

Election of 1908

Roosevelt announced he would not seek a third term; handpicked his own Secretary of War (Taft) as the next Republican nominee; Taft wins and pursured antitrust cases and supported other reforms, similar to TR

Taft’s Mistakes

Lacked the energy and personality of TR; lost a lot of support; too many compromises that upset Progressives; lost support of Republican Progressives

Roosevelt Supports the Progressives

Spoke in support of the Progressive candidates; called for more federal regulation of business, welfare legislation, and progressive reforms; promote social justice and the economic welfare of the underprivileged

Roosevelt Comes Back

By early 1912, Roosevelt announced he would oppose Taft for the Republican presidential nomination; Taft wins the nomination, accusation of fraud

The Bull Moose Party: Theodore Roosevelt

a.k.a. Progressive Party; named after Roosevelt said he “felt fit as a Bull Moose”; platform: tariff reduction, women’s suffrage, more regulation on business, end to child labor, worker’s rights, and more

A Four Way Election (1912)

Republican: Taft, Bull Moose Progressives: Roosevelt (Republican vote split between Taft and TR), Socialist Eugene V. Debs, Democrat: Woodrow Wilson (42% of the popular vote)

Woodrow Wilson as President

Government commitment to regulating business; appointment of Louis D. Brandeis to the Supreme Court (first Jewish nominee), peak of progressive reform at federal level; less active on social justice (allowed for the extension of Jim Crow practice, opposed an Amendment on women’s suffrage); wins reelection in 1916 (promised to keep America out of war)

Limits of Progressivism

Focus was primarily on problems of the cities (farmers, non-unionized workers were often ignored); some support for immigration restriction/literacy tests; many African Americans felt ignored (only small group helped with the formation of the NAACP); the motivation for reform died out by 1916 (war took over, but drive for Women’s Suffrage remained)