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Who were the Progressives?
Urban middle class; professional class- people who belonged to professional associations that provided platforms to address corruption and urban problems; Religion- Protestants and older stock Americans who believed their central role in society had been replaced by industrialists and political machines; leaders- TR, La Follette, WJB, Wilson
Progressive Philosophy
Society needed changes to limit the power of big business, improve democracy, and strengthen social justice; government was the proper agency to make these changes; moderate reforms were usually better than radical ones
Pragmatism
Led by William James and John Dewey; argued that truth should be able to pass the public test of observable results in an open, democratic society- learning from experience
Scientific Management
Led by studies of Frederick Taylor; he created the scientific management system, also known as Taylorism, as he discovered ways of organizing people in the most efficient manner; many believed the government could also be scientifically managed, corruption was inefficient
Muckrakers
Henry Demarest Lloyd- wrote articles attacking Standard Oil; McClure's Magazine included articles by Lincoln Steffens and Ida Tarbell which exposed corruption; Jacob Riis wrote articles on tenement life; Theodore Dreiser wrote books portraying ruthless industrialists; Upton Sinclair; muckraking declined because writers found it difficult to top previous sensationalism, publishers faced economic pressure to tone it down, and corporations were developing public relations; muckraking had a lasting effect- it exposed inequities, educated the public about corruption, and prepared for corrective action
Political Reforms
Australian/Secret Ballot; Direct Primaries (introduced by La Follette); Direct Election of US Senators, 17th Amendment (1913) required that all US Senators be elected by popular vote; initiative- method by which voters could compel the legislature to consider a bill, referendum- method that allowed citizens to vote on proposed laws, recall- voters could remove a corrupt/bad politician from office by majority vote
Municipal Reforms
Many cities controlled public utilities; commission plans- voters elected heads of city departments (fire, police, sanitation); manager-council plan- city council hired an expert manager to direct the work of departments
State Reforms
Charles Evans Hughes battled fraudulent insurance companies; Hiram Johnson fought against power of the Southern pacific Railroad; La Follette won passage of the "Wisconsin Idea"- a series of Progressive measures that included a direct primary law, tax reform, and state regulatory commissions to monitor railroads, utilities, and businesses
Temperance and Prohibition
Urban Progressives were against temperance, rural Progressives believed that abolishing liquor could fix corruption, the drys were well organized and convinced 2/3 of states to prohibit sale of alcohol
Social Welfare
Jane Addams, Frances Willard, and others workerd to meet needs of the lower class, fought for better schools, juvenile courts, liberalized divocrce laws, safety regulations for tenements and factories, more fair criminal justice
Child and Women Labor
National Child Labor Committee proposed child labor laws that were passed in 2/3 of states by 1907, compulsory school attendance laws were effective in keeping children out of working; Florence Kelley and the National Consumers' League workers to pass laws to protect women from long working hours; Lochner v New York (1905)- the Supreme Court ruled against a state law limiting workers to a 10 hour work day; Muller v Oregon (1908)- the Supreme Court did provide protection for women from long hours; Triangle Shirtwaist fire (1911) killed 146, sparked activism and pushed improvements for laws concerning safety and working conditions; consequence of women protection advocacy- legislation kept women out of physically demanding but higher paying jobs, and many women later wanted those restrictions lifted
Roosevelt's Square Deal
Domestic policy based on control of large corporations, consumer protection, and conservation; tested when PA coal miners were on strike in 1902, TR threatened to take over the mines with federal troops if the owners didn't concede and negotiate
TR Trust-Busting
Enforced the Sherman Anti-Trust Act; busted 44 trusts; differentiated between bad trusts, which harmed the public and stifled competition, and good trusts, which dominated a market through efficiency and low prices
TR Railroad Regulation
TR pushed for: Elkins Act (1903)- ICC had greater authority to stop railroads from granting rebates to favored customers; Hepburn Act (1906)- ICC could fix "just and reasonable" rates for railroads
Consumer Protection
Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" (1905) described horrifying conditions of the meatpacking industry, his purpose was to help workers, caused Congress to enact two regulatory laws in 1906: Pure Food and Drug Act banned adulterated or mislabeled foods and drugs; Meat Inspection Act provided that federal inspectors visit meatpacking plants and ensure that they met minimum standards of sanitation
TR Conservation
TR repeatedly used the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 to set aside millions of acres of federal land as national reserves; 1902- Newlands Reclamation Act provided money from the sale of public land for irrigation projects in the west; 1908- hosted a White House Conference of governors to promote coordinated conservation, established a National Conservation Commission led by Gifford Pinchot
Taft's Progressive Economic Policies
Built on TR's accomplishments; trust-buster- busted twice as many trusts as TR, including Standard Oil (1911) and US Steel, which angered TR; Mann-Elkins Act (1910) gave the ICC power to suspend new railroad rates and to oversee telephone and telegraph companies; 16th Amendment (1913)- authorized the federal government to collect an income tax, which applied only to the wealthy
Republican Party Split
When TR's ally Pinchot criticized a Taft cabinet member for opening public lands in Alaska for development, Taft fired Pinchot and angered TR; Taft had promised to lower the tariff, but instead passed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff (1909), which raised the tariff on most imports; Taft also supported conservative candidates for Congress in 1910 who were defeated by Progressives; Republicans split into a conservative faction loyal to Taft and a Progressive faction led by TR
Socialists
The Socialist party emerged in the early 1900s to advocate for the working class; called for public ownership of railroads, utilities, and major industries such as oil and steel; led by Debs, who ran for president in five elections; some Socialist ideas were eventually accepted- public ownership of utilities, worker's compensation insurance, minimum wage laws, 8 hour days, pensions for employees
Election of 1912
Taft was nominated by the Republicans; Progressive Republicans met and nominated TR, and their platform became known as the "Bull Moose Party"; Democrats nominated Wilson; TR- New Nationalism- more government regulation of business and unions, social welfare programs, women's suffrage; Wilson- New Freedom- minimal regulation but also minimal monopolization, ending corruption, revive competition by supporting small businesses; attacked the "triple wall of privilege"- tariffs, banks, trusts; Wilson won due to Republican division
Wilson Tariff Reduction
Like TR, believed that a president should actively lead Congress; on his first day, he called a special session of Congress to lower the tariff, was the first president to call a meeting with Congress instead of just writing to them; Underwood Tariff 1913- substantially lowered tariffs for the first time in over 50 years, also included a graduated income tax
Wilson Banking Reform
He believed that the gold standard was inflexible and that banks were corrupt; proposed a national banking system with district banks supervised by a Federal Reserve Board appointed by the president; Federal Reserve Act 1913 approved this proposal, which was designed to provide stability to the financial system by regulating interest rates and the capital reserves required of banks
Wilson Other Economic Reforms
Federal Trade Commission- was to protect consumers by investigating and taking action against unfair trade practices in industries; Clayton Antitrust Act strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act's power to break up monopolies and exempted unions from being prosecuted as trusts; Federal Farm Loan Act created 12 regional farm loan banks established to provide farm loans at low interest rates; Child Labor Act 1916 prohibited interstate shipment of products made by children under 14, but the conservative Supreme Court ruled this unconstitutional
African Americans in the Progressive Era
Most Progressives ignored racial equality, and some, including Wilson, actively supported segregation; racial segregation was widespread and lynchings were common
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois
Washington believed that black youths needed to be educated, learn industrial skills to make economic progress and earn respect and equality while being accommodating to racism; Du Bois criticized Washington, demanded equal rights, more confrontational
New Civil Rights Organizations
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People- founded by Du Bois and other members of the Niagara Movement in 1908, goal was to abolish segregation and to increase educational opportunities; National Urban League was founded in 1911 to help people migrating from the South to adjust to northern cities
Women's Suffrage
Carrie Chapman Catt- became the new president of Nawsa, argued that suffrage would enable women to more actively care for their families, initially sought suffrage at the state level but then focused on earning a suffrage amendment, organized the League of Women's Voters after the 19th amendment was passed; Alice Paul- led militant suffragists, broke from NAWSA in 1916 to form the National Woman's Party, sought an amendment; 19th Amendment (1920)- guaranteed women's right to vote in all elections; Margaret Sanger advocated for birth control education, which eventually developed into Planned Parenthood
