11.1 Progressives Drive Reform

From the Savvas U.S. History Textbook, this topic focuses on the emergence the Progressive Movement, key goals and reform movements, and key figures from this era in American history.

progressivism

a movement that emerged in the 1890s in response to the pressures of industrialization/urbanization, characterized by the promotion of reforms through an honest, efficient government

What time period did Progressivism fall in?

1901-1929

political machines

corrupt political organizations that control policies, voting trends, and economic aspect of their communities by recruit its members through financial & political incentives (spoils system)

What were the two specific catalysts of the Progressive movement?

1. Agrarian depression of the early-1890s: low prices drive farmers to the People’s Party

2. Financial & industrial depression beginning in 1893: breakdown of social services and exposure of inefficiency of municipal (urban) governments

What were some of the goals of the Progressives?

• Exposing corruption within the government as well as industry

• Creating an honest government to regulate private industry & protect public interests

• Combat abuses of Big Business

• Strengthen protections for worker & consumers

• Increased political rights for women

What were some of the reforms enacted to meet these ends?

• economic opportunities to promote small business & competition

• social welfare laws for children, workers and consumers

• civil service reform (reorganizing govt. for efficiency & merit-based systems)

• improvement of conditions in city slums

• food safety laws

• women’s suffrage

What were some of the motivations for Progressives for push for these reforms?

• religious faith

• desire to eliminate unethical/unfair business practices

• desire to reduce rampant corruption of the era

• desire to counteract negative social effects of industrialization

Describe the similarities and differences between Progressivism and the Populist Movement of the late 1800s.

• Both: Reform movements aiming to rid government of corrupt officials, rid society of the abuses of Big Business, and make government more responsive to needs.

• Progressivism: Middle-class at forefront, modern ideas & scientific techniques, mostly white, rewrote state constitutions

• Populism: Workers & farmers at forefront, agrarian ideal, opposition to gold standard

muckrakers

a term coined by Theodore Roosevelt, describing socially conscious journalists and other writers who dramatized the need for reform through usage of sensationalism & wide coverage of issues

Lincoln Steffens

an editor most well-known for publishing The Shame of the Cities, a collection of articles on corruption—abuses by utility companies, how corrupt politicians win illegally, and the effect of political corruption on cities

Jacob Riis

a photographer for the New York Evening Sun, well-known for publishing How the Other Half Lives, which exposed the terrible quality of life in the poverty-striken urban tenements

Ida Tarbell

a pioneering investigative journalist most well known for her exposé on the corrupt business practices of Standard Oil to ruin competitors & charge higher prices

Frances Ellen Watkins

African-American poet, author and lecturer well-known for her 1892 novel Iola Leroy about a mixed-race Black woman and various themes of identity, suffrage, temperance, lynching and social responsibility

the Social Gospel

a reform movement that emerged in the late 19th century that sought to improve society with Christian principles

Walter Raushenbusch

an American theologican who played a key role in the Social Gospel, a reform movement in the late-1800s based on social reform on earth to make society more like “the kingdom of God” (heaven)

Jane Addams

a Nobel Peace Prize winner, whose work in her Hull House—a settlement house in Chicago which aided the poor and newly immigrated in becoming part of society—cemented her as a key Progressivist activist

Florence Kelley

a Progressive-era activist whose efforts (in tandem with Jane Addams) to lead the state of Illinois to ban child labor as well as the formation of the National Child Labor Committee made her a leading figure in children’s rights

John Dewey

an American philosopher and psychologist who pushed for the adoption of subjects such as history and practical skills like cooking and carpentry to be adopted in schools, as well as a focus on critical thinking over memorization

the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911

a tragic incident where 146 garment workers (Jewish women, mainly) died in a factory fire due to employers locking the exits, shocking NYC and fueling worker safety reform efforts

Galveston Plan

named after Galveston, Texas, destroyed by a hurricane; plan in which a commission of 5 city affairs exports of diff. fields manage city affairs; limited power of bosses and corrupt political systems

direct primary

an election in which citizens themselves vote to select nominees for upcoming elections, rather than party leaders picking candidates for office

initiative

the power of citizens to put a proposed new law directly on the ballot in the next election by collecting signatures in a petition (power to suggest laws not only for elected officials!)

referendum

the power of the people that allows citizens to approve or reject laws passed by a legislature

recall

power of the people to remove public servants from office before their terms end, a measure against corruption and reshifting focus to meeting constituents’ needs

Seventeenth Amendment (1913)

constitutional amendment that allowed for the direct election of U.S. Senators by citizens, rather than state legislatures doing so