The Progressive Movement

:P

Grangers (National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry)

• Organization of farmers created to combat the growing economic hardships faced by farmers

• Established by Oliver H Kelley in 1868, in hopes of promoting the rural life to slow the population shifts to cities

• Grange communities served political economic, & social purposes;

  • ceremonies, dances, picnics, & lectures

  • discussion on tenancy, mortgages, & taxes

  • organized cooperative business ventures & political action

Farmers’ Alliances

• Organization formed in the 1880s & 1890s by farmers trying to overcome social isolation and economic hardships

• Served farmers needs for education, the latest farm methods, & economic & political reform

• Two dominant groups:

  • Farmers’ Alliance of the Northwest

  • National/Southern Farmers’ Alliance

• Created vast political networks that became the basis for the Populist Party

Munn v. Illinois

• 1877 Supreme Court Case that upheld an Illinois Granger law setting maximum rates for grain storage

• Recognized a state’s right to regulate business that have a public function/purpose within that states borders

Wabash v. Illinois

• 1886 Supreme Court case that nullified an Illinois Granger law that prohibited long-haul/short-haul discrimination

• Court ruled that the law attempted to regulate interstate commerce which falls under federal jurisdiction

Interstate Commerce Act (1887)

• Passed in 1887, requiring railroad rates to be “reasonable and just“

• Ended the practice of railroads giving special rates and rebates to large companies at the expense of farmers & small business

• Required new rates to be proportional to distance, be public, and open to inspection

• Created the Interstate Commerce Commission to investigate & prosecute business pools, rebates, & discriminatory practices

5 & 6

VIDEOS

Election of 1896

• Democrat-Populist Wm. Jennings Bryan v. W McKinley

• During the campaign Bryan traveled over 18,000 miles & gave more than 600 speeches, convincing farmers & debtors that unlimited silver coinage would save them

• Marcus Hanna, a wealthy ironmaker, ran McKinley’s campaign, selling the candidacy in the media while McKinley stayed home (Hanna felt that Bryan would talk himself to defeat)

• Rising prices made farmers less desperate & employers were telling workers they would lose their jobs if Bryan won, because of this McKinley won 271 to 176

• Bryan ran & lost 2 more times

“Cross of Gold“ Speech

• Speech made by Wm. Jennings Bryan at the Democratic national nominating convention in 1896

• Pushed Bryan to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket

• The speech was prosilver & attacked the “gold standard,“ taking over the Populist party platform

  • “You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.“

Progressive Era

• 1890s to 1920 there was a reform movement to combat problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, and immigration

• Characterized by an effort to get the gov’t involved in reforms

• Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, and Woodrow Wilson were both strong Progressive Presidents

Progressives

• Reformers that wished to deal with societies problems based on industrialization, urbanization, and immigration

• Influenced by the Populist Party, but most city dwellers rather than farmers---professionals like doctors, lawyers, social workers, clergy, and teachers; wide ranging concerns

• Believed technology and science should be used to improve business, government, education, and family life

Muckrakers

• Journalists, writers, artists, and photographers that helped reform government, Wall Street, labor unions, and trusts by bringing issues to the attention of the public

• Investigated and exposed corruption and injustice through articles in mass-circulation magazines and novels

• Nicknames figuratively describes that they had to “rake“ through the “muck“ to expose abuses and injustices

Upton Sinclair

• Muckraker/novelist who wrote “The Jungle,“ exposing the many problems within the meatpacking industry

• Told of unsanitary conditions and rotten meat packed for sale that outraged the public who demanded gov’t action

Pure Food and Drug Act

• Passed by Congress in 1906 as consumer protection legislation

• Forbade the manufacture the sale of impure foods, drugs, and liquors and required that labels on patent medicines list of contents

• This and the Meat Inspection Act passed in part due to Sinclair

Jacob Riis

• Well-known urban reformer who used photographs to show the need for better housing for the poor

• Published shocking pictures of starving children in garbage-ridden slums in hopes of influencing reform efforts

• One goal was building codes to require safer, better-lighted, better0ventilated, and more sanitary tenements

Jeannette Rankin

• The first women elected to Congress in 1916

• Voted against WWI and II; considered a pacifist in opposition of war and fighting

18th Amendment

• Passed in 1919, banning the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the U.S. as of 1920

• Resulted from a national temperance movement pushed by various groups since the 1830s (i.e.-Women’s Christian Temperance Union)

• Thought it might decrease gambling, organized crime, and political corruption---though it increased

• Political argument included the need to conserve grain for WWI

19th Amendment

• Passed in 1920, giving women the right to vote

• Resulting from a long time women’s suffrage movement, first pushed at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and continued by the National American Women Suffrage Association

• During the WWI period President Wilson publicly acknowledged women’s contributions as an argument for their right to vote

Margaret Sanger

• Was a nurse caring for poor immigrant women in NYC

• Started the American Birth Control League which became the Planned Parenthood Federation

• Was and is a controversial issue that led to Sanger’s arrest for sending information and contraception in the mail

17th Amendment

• Passed in 1913, providing citizens the direct election of U.S. Senators

• Previously, Senators were elected by the State Legislature, which had been corrupted by corporations and political bosses

• Only after numerous states allowed for the direct election of Senators did Congress finally give in

Theodore Roosevelt

• Elected Vice-President in 1900, but became president when McKinley was assassinated in 1901---later elected himself

• The first truly Progressive President who believed the office provided powers not specifically denied by the Constitution

• Influential in the passage of many period reforms through his use of the “bully pulpit,“ or platform from which to influence national and Congressional opinion

The Square Deal

• Title given to Roosevelt’s administration to account for the many reforms passed during his tenure

• His programs championed the ordinary American and attempted to make societal conditions better

The Hepburn Act

• Passed in 1906 to strengthen the ICC

• Allowed the ICC to regulate railroad shipping rates---they could change rates until a federal court decided on its fairness

• It also gave the ICC the power to regulate pipelines, ferries, bridges, and terminals

William Howard Taft

• Succeeded Roosevelt as president in 1909. with the support of Republican Progressives and Roosvelt himself

• Had been Roosevelt’s Sec. of War and like Roosevelt, he concentrated on societal reforms

Standard Oil v. U.S.

• Supreme Court ruling in 1911, that decided that Standard Oil was a monopoly that should be dissolved

• set the “rule of reason“ when using the Sherman Antitrust Act to dissolve a company---establishing a difference between “reasonable“ and “unreasonable“ business combinations

• Size alone would not make a company “unreasonable“

Election of 1912

• Republican---incumbent Wm. Howard Taft; Democrat--- Woodrow Wilson; Progressive---Th. Roosevelt

• Roosevelt offered New Nationalism while Wilson offered New Freedom---two progressive platforms

• Wilson won the electoral vote by a landslide and would again be elected in 1918

The Federal Reserve Act

* Passed in 1913, during the Wilson administration, creating a national banking system with the following stipulations
* 12 districts, each having its own Federal Reserve Bank
* Federal Banks could:
* Issue a new sound currency---Federal Reserve Notes
* Control the amount of money in circulation and interest rates
* Shift money from one bank to another as needed

the Clayton Antitrust Act

• Passed in 1914 to strengthen the government’s power to control business practices that threatened competition

• Prohibited companies from price fixing and from buying stocks in competing firms

• Also tried to end the use of antitrust laws against unions, but the Supreme Court later undercut the provision

Open Door Policy

• Concept that all world powers would have an “open door,“ or equal trading privileges in China

• 1899- Sec. of State Hay “asked“ nations with spheres in China

  • 1. Not to interfere with U.S. access to any of the 22 Chinese ports

  • 2. Not to disturb regular collection of Chinese duties

  • 3. Not to increase railroad rates or harbor dues

• None of the nations gave a clear response, but Hay declared that all had accepted the Open Door policy

• The press hailed Hay’s policy a diplomatic success for the U.S., though it would plunge the U.S. further into world affairs

Boxer Rebellion

• Uprising of a Chinese nationalist society known as the “righteous Fists of Harmony,“ or “Boxers“ in 1900

• Attacked settlements of the “foreign devils“ and murdered Christian missionaries hoping to drive the rest out

• To protect U.S. interests in China, U.S. troops joined an international force that included Britain, France, Germany, Russia, & Japan to put down the uprising

• at Peking (Beijing), the Boxers were crushed & the leaders were punished by the Chinese government

“yellow journalism“

• Type of journalism adopted by the NY ‘Journal‘ & NY ‘World,’ telling sensational stories, containing exaggerated or false accounts, printed to build an audience

• Played a principal role in propagandizing Spanish treatment of Cuba, leading Americans to push for war in the late 1890s

U.S.S. Maine

• Battleship sent to Havana Harbor, Cuba to protect U.S. interests in the Cuban sugar trade

• Feb. 15th, 1898, an explosion on the ‘Maine‘ killed 260 & sunk the ship

• The “yellow press“ exploited initial reports that a mine may have caused the explosion, though later reports deemed it an accidental internal explosion

• This event pushed the U.S. closer to war

Treaty of Paris 1898

• Controversial treaty to end the Spanish-American War providing for:

  1. Cuban independence

  2. Cession of Puerto Rico & Guam to the U.S. from Spain

  3. Sale of the Philippines to the U.S. for $20 million

• The controversial provision was over acquisition of the archipelago nation of the Philippines

• Congress & the public were divided over the issue; imperialists for & anti-imperialists got what they wanted when the treaty was ratified 57 to 27; two votes short of defeat

• Filipinos were outraged they were again denied sovereignty

imperialism

• Pursuit of building an empire through acquisition of territory and/or gaining political or economic control over a country

• The U.S. empire of Guam, Puerto Rico, & the Philippines added up to 100,000 square miles & nearly 10 mil. people

• The empires of Britain, France, Germany, etc. in Africa & throughout the Pacific, dwarfed U.S. holdings

• The belief that the U.S. needed to keep up with other imperial powers was the motivation behind U.S. pursuits

the Roosevelt Corollary

• Th. Roosevelt’s reinforcement of the Monroe Doctrine, establishing the U.S. as a “police power“ in the Americas

• Prompted by the threat of European intervention in Latin America

• Regularly used to justify U.S. involvement in Latin America

“Big Stick“ Policy

• Based on Roosevelt’s motto---”Speak softly and carry a big stick,” implying peaceful methods be used whenever possible, but military force be used when necessary to protect interests

• This was justified in Latin America through the Monroe Doctrine and Roosevelt Corollary

• Occupied Nicaragua 1912-1933, Haiti 1915-1934, etc.

Dollar Diplomacy

• President Taft’s foreign policy---idea that the U.S. could help maintain orderly societies in other countries by increasing investment in foreign economies

• Led to increased U.S. intervention in foreign affairs---i.e. increased investment in China and military intervention in Nicaragua to protect interests

Good Neighbor Policy

• President FDR’s foreign policy that would lessen emphasis on intervention and increase emphasis on cooperation

• Though U.S. commercial dominance of Latin America would continue

the Panama Canal

• Columbia controlled Panama and was reluctant to allow the U.S. to build a canal prompting Th. Roosevelt to encourage a Panamanian revolt

• The U.S. negotiated with the new gov’t to obtain the sole right to build a canal in Panama as long as it allowed for international traffic

• Permission was given in 1901 and the canal was finished in 1914

• from 1903 to 1939, Panama was a protectorate of the U.S.

• A treaty signed in 1977 gave control of the canal back to the Panamanian [Dec. 1999]

World War I

• Began in Europe in 1914 and lasted until 1918, though the U.S. not entering until 1917

• Imperialist competition, alliance networks, and militarism can all be seen as causes of the war

• Many historians mark the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by a Serbian nationalist in 1914 as the trigger for war that set off a chain of blame and alliance adherence

• Industrialization in part caused the continual military build up that made countries want to test their new strength

• Nicknamed “the war to end all wars“

Central Powers/Triple Alliance

• Military/political alliance made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy

• Germany became a central figure in the war on this front and in the end was blamed for most of the cause and costs

Allied Powers/Triple Entente

• military/political alliance made up of France, Russia, and GB---much later joined by the U.S.

• American loyalties and sympathy traditionally lied with France and Britain

• German-Americans and Irish-Americans tended to sympathize with the Central Powers

Neutrality

• Political policy of not choosing sides in an international dispute---adopted by the U.S. during most of WWI

• Many people saw the U.S. trade relationship wit the Allied Powers as uncharacteristic

U-Boats

• German submarines, used to break the Allied blockade

• International law required warships to identify themselves and remove a ship’s crew before sinking a vessel-not done by German U-boats

• Germans announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare-become a problem when non-military trade ships were attacked

Lusitania

• A British passenger liner that was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915 in which 1,200 people died, including 128 Americans

• This event outraged the American citizenry and began a public push to demand U.S. entrance into the war

Zimmerman Note

• Message from German foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmerman, to the German minister in Mexico, urging a German military alliance with the Mexicans

• Suggested that the Germans would help Mexico regain lost territory (Texas, Arizona, & New Mexico)

• Intercepted and decoded by the British; made public and outraged Americans

Selective Service Act

• Passed in 1917, establishing a military draft requiring males between 18-45 to register for possible call to service

• Was generally necessary since the country had always opposed a standing army since before its founding

• Debated from both sides of the issue, until the Constitutionality of the draft was challenged

• The Supreme Court upheld the draft and by war’s end, 2.8 mil of 4.8 mil Americans to serve had been drafted

Schenck v. U.S.

• Supreme Court ruling in 1919, stating that free speech can be restricted during wartime

• Gave Congress the right to prevent words that would cause ”A clear and present danger”

Red Scare

• 1918-1919, Americans worried about Communist ideas infiltrating the American psyche

• Communists were openly hostile toward U.S. capitalism, private ownership, and certain freedoms

• Intense fear of communism led to imprisonment and exile of communists in the U.S. [many falsely]

• Socialists, anarchists, labor leaders, &immigrants also became targets in the hysteria

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

* President Wilson’s peace proposal at the end of WWI
* Open diplomacy
* Removal of trade barriers
* Self-determination
* Freedom of the Seas
* Arms reduction
* An Association of Nations etc.

Treaty of Versailles

• Official treaty of WWI between the Allies and Germany

  • Germany was forced to:

  • Accept complete responsibility for the war

  • Pay huge reparations

  • Give up military forces

  • Cede lands to Poland and Czechoslovakia

  • Give up overseas colonies etc.

• Established a world organization---League of Nations

League of Nations

• World organization established by the Treaty of Versailles, suggested in Wilson’s Fourteen Points

• The U.S. never joined because Congress rejected the Treaty

• Was set up to correct problems caused by the peace treaty and deal with international conflicts diplomatically to prevent another war like WWI

Kellogg-Briand Pact

• Signed in 1928 by 15 nations--Including GB, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan

• Outlawed war except in self-defense, stating that disputes should be settled peaceably

• Lacked provisions of enforcement but 60 nations eventually signed on