History Progressivism Quiz

Theodore Roosevelt

• Republican

• VP to President McKinley

  • Took over as president when McKinley was assassinated in 1901

• Served from 1901-1908

  • Often critiqued for being too involved in domestic policy making

Reforms at the Federal Level

• Roosevelt’s “Square Deal”

  • Domestic program reflected his 3 major goals

  • The “Three C’s”

    • Consumer Protection (Food and Drug)

    • Conservation of Natural Resources (Environment)

    • Control of Corporations (Antitrust)

      • “trustbuster”

• A New Labor Department

  • New Constitutional Amendments

    • 16^th: Income Tax

    • 17^th: Direct Election of Senators

    • 18^th : Prohibition   

Election of 1908

• Roosevelt announced he would not seek a third term

  • Handpicked his own Secretary of War as the next Republican nominee (Taft) and he wins easily

• Taft follows in TR’s footsteps

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

• Progressives vowed to create their own party

The Bull Moose Party

• The Progressive Party: 

  • Roosevelt often said he “Felt fit as a Bull Moose”

  • Platform: Tariff reduction, women’s suffrage, more regulation on business, end to child labor, workers rights

• While speaking in Milwaukee, Roosevelt was shot in an assassination attempt

  • He continued to speak for an hour and a half before seeking medical attention

  • “It takes more than this to kill a Bull Moose”

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 Supreme Court nominee

  • Peak of progressive reform at the federal level

• Less active on social justice

  • Allowed the extension of Jim Crow practice, opposed an Amendment on women’s suffrage 

• Wilson wins reelection in 1916

  • A promise to keep America out of war

  • American entered WW1 soon after

Limits of Progressivism

• Focus was primarily on problems of the cities

  • Farmers, non unionized workers were often ignored

• Some support of immigration restriction/literacy tests

• Many African Americans felt ignored

  • Only a small group helped with the formation of the NAACP

• The motivation for reform died out by 1916

  • War took over

  • Drive for Women’s Suffrage remained

The Beginning of the Women’s Suffrage Movement

• 1848 - Seneca Falls Convention (NY)

  • Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth 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

• Worked for Radical Change

  • Temperance Movement

  • Abolition Movements

• Leader of the Women’s Suffrage Movement

• American Equal Rights Association established in 1866 by Anthony and Stanton

  • Led to the National Woman’s Suffrage Association (1890)

  • Push for Constitutional Amendment

15th Amendment 1871

•Granted African-American men the right to vote

•Disappointed many who thought women and African-American men would get the right to vote at the same time

Civil Disobedience

• Nonviolent refusal to obey a law in an effort to change a law

• 1872 Anthony led a group of women to the polls in Rochester, NY where she insisted on voting

  • Arrested for “civil Disobedience” 

  • She was convicted and fined $100

Early Gains

• At the turn of the century women could buy, sell and will property.

• Wyoming

  • Entered the U.S. as a state in 1890 and was the first state to grant women the right to vote

  • Other Western states followed

NAWSA Established in 1890

• National American Woman Suffrage Association established

• 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)

• In the late 1800s, Susan B. Anthony tried several times to introduce an Amendment bill for women’s suffrage, but it was always killed in the Senate.

Movement Slows Down

• No movement from 1890-1910

  • Stanton died in 1902

  • Anthony died in 1906

• Establishment of an anti suffrage movement

Beliefs of Anti Suffragists

• Women were high-strung, irrational, and emotional

• Women were not smart or educated enough

• Women should stay at home

• Women were too physically frail; they would get tired just walking to the polling station

• Giving the women the right to vote would blur the distinction between genders and make women more masculine

• Fear of Prohibition

A New Generation

• Carrie Chapman Catt and Alice Paul rose as leaders

  • Paul - Established a committee to travel to Washington DC to take part in a Parade/rally in 1913

  • 5,000 people

  • Day before Wilson’s inauguration 

• Successful

• Committee became the “Congressional Union”

  • Called for an aggressive, militant campaign for a Constitutional Amendment

Radical Actions by the Congressional Union

• NAWSA expelled them from their organization

• Militant Protests

  • Demonstrated in front of the White House

  • Burned Copies of President Wilson’s speeches and a life size dummy that looked like him

• Sent to prison

  • Went on hunger strike to protest 

prison conditions (see video)

• NAWSA condemned them

What About NAWSA?

• Carrie Chapman Catt becomes their leader

• “Winning Plan”

  • Focus on getting congress to propose the 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 WW1

• U.S. entrance in 1917

• Women took over many important roles

  • 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 36^th state necessary to ratify the suffrage Amendment 

19^th Amendment – the last major reform of the Progressive Era

19th Amendment, 1920

• The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of gender.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Progressive Era: Reforming America

• 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 government corruption

• Increase in government role in regulating economic activity

• Increase in government responsibility for human welfare or well being

• Develop more social welfare programs

  • Help to ensure a basic standard of living for all americans

    • Ex. unemployment, accident and health insurance, social security

Bringing Societal Problems to the Forefront: Awareness

• Speeches/rallies

• The Labor Movement

  • Rise of unions, strikes, etc

• Writing

  • Novels

• Newspapers/magazines

  • Publicizing results of investigations into issues of concern

    • Muckrakers

What is a Muckraker?

• 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 in a rapidly industrializing United States.

• Term coined by Theodore Roosevelt during a speech

• Goal: raised public awareness and pushed for reforms

Nellie Bly

• Went undercover at asylum to expose the horrific conditions there

• Paved way for female reporters

Harvey Wiley

• Chemist who advocated for consumer protection

• Established federal food safety standards

• Exposed food issues with the Poison Squad

Food Safety: 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

Exposure

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

Public Reaction

• Readers horrified by descriptions of contaminated meat

• Pressure on government to regulate food and drugs

Unsafe Medicines

• 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 non-existent

  • consumers had little knowledge of what they were taking

• Examples

  • Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup: marketed for infants, contained morphine.

  • Cocaine toothache drops: sold for children’s pain relief.

  • Alcohol-based tonics: promoted as “health boosters.”

  • These products were widely advertised in newspapers and magazines.

Government Response

• Meat Inspection Act (1906)

  • Mandatory inspection of livestock before slaughter

  • Mandatory postmortem inspection of livestock

  • Sanitary standards established for slaughterhouse and meat processing plants

  • Authorized US Dept of Agriculture ongoing monitoring and inspection of slaughter and processing operations

• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

  • required that certain medicines be accurately labeled with contents and dosage

  • food labels

• Both signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt

FDA

• The Food and Drug Administration grew out of the Pure Food and Drug Act

• Mission: ensure safe, properly labeled food and medicine

  • Began monitoring drug composition and labeling

  • Focused on protecting children and vulnerable populations

• Set the foundation for modern drug testing and approval processes

• First Commissioner: Harvey Wiley

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

  • Improve living conditions

• Apply the gospel teaching of Jesus directly to society

  • Charity, justice

  • 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

  • simply giving money or food to the poor only solver their immediate problems

  • wanted to find more effective way to help the urban poor

• Brought educated volunteers into poor urban neighborhoods

• Goals

  • Bridge the gap between rich and poor

  • Provide education, healthcare, and social services

  • Promote civic responsibility and democracy

What is a Settlement House?

• Houses in poor urban areas in which volunteer middle-class Settlement workers would live

  • Hoped to share knowledge and culture with, and alleviate the poverty of, their low-income neighbors

• Provided services such as daycare, English classes, and healthcare to improve the lives of the poor in these areas

• Women and children

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 U.S.

• Programs

  • Adult education classes

  • Childcare and kindergarten

  • Health clinics and sanitation initiatives

  • Job training and employment assistance

  • Cultural programs (music, theater, art)

Long Lasting Effects and Legacy

• Many Settlement houses were set up in cities around the country following the Hull House

  • Became a model for Settlement Houses and programs

• The movement was a catalyst for modern social work

• Hull House closed in 2012, but its legacy lives on in social work and community organizing

• Jane Addams: First American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize (1931)

Education Reform

• Expansion of public schooling to reach more children

• Emphasis on education laws

  • Make school 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 learned by doing rather than rote memorization

• Believed schools should prepare students from 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 ideals 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 saw alcohol as a source of abusive and irresponsible male behavior

    • business owners complained workers missed work or came to work drunk (extremely dangerous)

• Led by groups

  • Women’s Christian Temperance Union

    • Carrie Nation

      • Known for breaking down and attacking saloons with axes, hammers, and rocks

      • was arrested 30 times

  • Anti Saloon League

Legacy and Effect

• Set the foundation for the passage of the 18th amendment

  • established prohibition

  • banning the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors

  • Ratified on January q6th, 1919

    • 1920-1933

• Influenced American politics, society, and culture

Advancement for African Americans

• Context

  • Disenfranchisement through literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather clauses

  • Segregation upheld by Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

  • Widespread racial violence and intimidation

  • Limited economic opportunities

• Most progressive reforms excluded African Americans

• Early leadership: Washington and DuBois

Niagara Movement

• Founded by W.E.B. DuBois and other Black intellectuals

• Called for:

  • Full political rights

  • end to segregation

  • equal economic opportunities

Founding of the NAACP (1909)

• Sparked by the 1908 Springfield Race Riot in Illinois

• Founded by Black and white reformers, including WEB 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:

  • Legal challenges to segregation and disenfranchisement

  • Anti lynching campaigns, especially led by Ida B. Wells

  • Public awareness through The Crisis, edited by Du Bois

  • Lobbying Congress for civil rights legislation

Legacy

• African American faced severe discrimination during the Progressive Era

• Most Progressive leaders ignored racial injustice

• Segregation expanded under federal agencies during this era

• However:

  • NAACP became the leading civil rights organization of the 20th century

  • Legal groundwork laid for Brown v. Board of Education

  • DuBoise, Wells, and others shaped future civil rights strategies

  • The era highlighted the need for both grassroots and legal activism

Environmental Reform

• Rapid industrial growth led to pollution, deforestation, resource depletion

• Unregulated mining, logging, and railroad expansion damaged ecosystems

• Public concern grew over disappearing wilderness and wildlife

Conservation vs. Preservation

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 Environmental Legacy

• Created 5 national parks  

• 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 Lands

• 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 (1960s–70s)

• Balanced economic development with environmental protection