Studied by 73 people
Vocab from the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, based on "Give me Liberty" by Eric Phoner.
Economics
The study of security and choices
There is a limited number of goods, so economics is the study of why people make the choices they do based on scarcity.
Violence After Civil War
American was still experiencing violence from white supremacists, labor conflicts, political assassinations, and warfare against Native Americans.
Economic Growth after Civil War
This was caused by
Abundant natural resources
Growing source of labor
Expanding market for manufactured goods
Availability of capital for investment
Federal gov. actively promoted industrial and agricultural development
Did so by having high tarrifs, land grants to railroad companies, and the use of the army to remove Native Americans from western lands desired by farming and mining companies.
Effects of US Producing 1/3 of Worlds Industrial Output
The majority of the workforce engaged in non-farming jobs.
2/3 worked for wages
Between 1870-1970, 11 million Americans moved from farm to city, 25 million immigrants arrived.
Essential Elements of Modern Industrial Economy
Growth of railroad opened new areas to commercial farming, and opened national market for manufacture goods. (RR finally made a standard gauge so trains could go on all rails no matter which company)
Big population and the spread of national brands
Technological Innovations and Scientific Breakthroughs
Atlantic cable allowed instantaneous electronic telegraph messages
1870s-80s telephone, typewriter, handheld camera
T. Edison made the lightbulb, photograph, motion picture, and system for generating and distributing electric power
Tesla made the electric motor, which overcame the challenges of using electricity for commercial and industrial purposes.
Pools
Businesses engaged in ruthless competition, so they formed BLANKS that divided up markets bw fixed prices and competing firms.
Trusts
Legal devices where a single director manages the affairs of several rival companies.
Corporations
A legal entity separate from its owners. Many firms vanished into larger corporations, which served national markets and hat unprecedented control over the economy.
Vertical Integration
A company that controlled every phase of business, from raw materials, to transportation, manufacturing, and distribution.
Horizontal Expansion
Buying out competing companies.
Robber Barons
This was the name given to those who wield power w/o accountability in an unregulated market. Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller were examples of these because they were dictators in their business, repressing labor policies and fighting their unionizing efforts. John D Rockefeller’s oil company “manipulated the market + bribed legislators”. Andrew Carnegie’s factories ran nonstop except on 4th of July (Bruh).
Class Divisions
The divisions became more prominent and visible.
By 1890, the richest 1% received the same income as the entire bottom half of the pop. combined, and they owned more property than the remaining 99%.
Working class lived in desperate conditions, many worked 60 hrs a week without pension, compensation for injuries, etc. They experienced dangerous working conditions.
Gilded Age
This term means “covered with a layer of gold”. It means the gold surface covers the inside of little real value, and is deceptive. The US experienced great economic growth, but there was also corruption by corporate dominance of politics and the oppression of the lower class.
View of Concentration of Wealth
Americans began to view the population as a “permeated factory population”, living on the edge of poverty while the class of millionaire s grew. People didn’t view wage working as a temporary place to the road to economic independence anymore. They viewed it as inevitable, natural, and justified by progress.
Social Darwinism
It said that evolution was a natural part of human society and that the government must not interfere.
“survival of the fittest”
Believed that the poor were responsible for their own fate bc of a lack of character, absence of self reliance, and lack of determination in the face of adversity. “gov existed only to protect he property of men and honor of women, not to upset social arrangement s decreed by nature” - William Sumner.
Transformation of Principle of Labor
The definition of freedom now meant limited gov and unrestrained, free market. Labor contracts were the foundation of freedom and as long as they were made by independent individuals and the gov. couldn’t interfere w/ working conditions, people had no right to complain about a loss of freedom.
“choosing to work as much or as little as you want was essential to freedom”
Courts in Gilded Age
During this time, the courts usually sided with business enterprises that complained of a loss of economic freedom.
Lochner v New York (Supreme Court voided law that established 10 hrs per day, 60 hrs per week maximum work for bakers.)
Court overturned law prohibiting “yellow-day” contracts, making nonmembership in a union a requirement of employment.
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
Workers protested a pay cut and paralyzed rail traffic around the country, forcing militia unitilled s to disperse them and force them back to work. Troops killed 20 people, causing workers to destroy millions of dollars of property. The strikes revealed the strong sense of determination / unity from workers and the closeness of the republican party w/ the class of industrialists. The gov. created armories in major cities to prevent such uprisings in the future.
Knights of Labor
They were the first group to organize unskilled and skilled workers including men, women, whites, and blacks. They organized strikes, boycotts, political action, etc. They fought for 8 hr day, currency reform, anarchism, socialism, creation of a “cooperative commonwealth”. They launched an assault on the understanding of freedom grounded in social Darwinism and liberty of contract. Argued Americans had lost control of their economic livelihood, due to unrestrained economic growth and political corruption. Although they included women as members, they gave into racial prejudice on the West Coast and excluded Asians from joining.
Socialism
The belief that public ownership should replace private control of economic enterprises to more fairly distribute benefits of the wealth produced. It was more popular in Europe than in US, when ownership of property was seen as essential to freedom, so socialism was mostly contained in immigrants writings, which attracted little attention.
Reformers Methods
Instead of using moral suasion, reformers now campaigned for legislation that would “christianize the gov” and outlaw behavior considered sinful. The mvts. targeted alcohol, gambling, prostitution, polygamy, and birth control. They wanted to regulate individual behavior, not really improve society.
Social Gospel Movement
They believed in order to achieve freedom and spiritual self development, it required the equalization of power and wealth. They believed unrestrained competition disobeyed the Christian ideal of brotherhood. They worked w/ Knights of Labor and other groups in demanding health and safety laws. They wanted cooperative organization of the economy instead of competitive capitalism.
Haymarket Affair
1885 - The McCormick plant had fought of strike attempts by their workers and the Iron Moulders Union, killing 4 strikers. This led to a rally in the town square, where someone dropped a bomb into the crowd, causing police to open fire. Employers took the event as a way to portray the labor mvt. as dangerous and un-American, prone to violence and controlled by foreign-born radicals.
Frontier Thesis
aka, Frederick Jackson Turner’s argument. He argued that the distinctive qualities of American culture were found on the western Frontier: individual freedom, political democracy, economic mobility. He believed the western frontier had closed, and that it was time for Americans to find a new frontier, because it is part of Americas nature. He said that the west acted as a safety valve from the dissatisfied East, counteracting the threat of social unrest. But he portrayed the west as empty before white settlers came, which was already inhabited w/ Native Americans. It was also not the paradise of small independent farmers like he had said, and landlords, railroad,s and mining companies took advantage of mexican migrant and indentured servitude labor, chinese working on long contracts, and until 1865, slave labor.
Government Involvement in Incorporation of the West
The fed gov acquired Indian land by war and treaty, administered land sales, regulated territorial politics, and distributed land and money to farmer, railroad companies, and mining companies. Western states used donated land by fed gov. to create public universities. Federally constructed irrigation systems and dams opened large areas to commercial farming.
Cattle Kingdom
The Kansas Pacific Railroad transported millions of cattle from Texas. The cowboys conducted cattle drives until the mid 1880s when farmers enclosed more and more of hte open range w barbed wire, making it difficult to graze on the Great Plains. 2 horrible winters also killed millions of cattle . Most cowboys were also low paid wage workers.
Mining in West
In Michigan: iron ore, copper
In California, Nevada, Colorado: gold, silver
Methods of Destroying Plains Indians
Warfare broke out, in which generals like Philip H. Sheridan destroyed the foundations of the Indian economy: villages, horses, and buffalo.
O. O. Howard chased the Nez Perce Indians and their leader on a 1700 mile chase, where they were forced to surrender and were removed to a reservation.
Battle of Little Bighorn
1876 - It was an Indian victory in June, 1876, when the Sioux and Cheyenne, led by sitting Bull + Crazy Horse, killed George A. Custer (general) and his entire command of 250 men. They were defending tribal land in the BLack Hills after their land was invaded after gold was discovered there, violating the treaty which reserved the land for them in 1868.
Dawes Act
1887 - It took the land of nearly all tribes and broke it up into small parcels to be distributed to Indian families. The rest was auctioned off to whites. Indians who accepted the farms and adopted the “habits of civilized life” would become citizens. The act lead to the loss of tribal land and eroded away at Indian culture.
Native American Citizenship
Originally, western courts and the Supreme Courts ruled that the rights guaranteed in the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the 14th and 15th amendments didn’t apply to NAtive Americans. It wasn’t until 1924 that Congress allowed Native Americans to be citizens, yet their suffrage remained disputed. Indians couldn’t vote in NM or AZ till 1948.
Wounded Knee Massacre
Pine Ridge, 1890
Some Indians participated in Ghost Dance, a religious revitalization campaign whose leaders told of a day when the buffalo would return, whites would leave, and Indians were free to practice their culture. The gov. feared an uprising, and in 1890 sent soldiers to open fire on Ghost Dancers near Wounded Knee Creek. The massacre was widely honored in the press, and the soldiers were given Medals of Honor.
Myth v Reality Wild West
The West was imagined as a place of freedom, an escape for those unsatisfied with their lives in the East. The Wild West was viewed as a lawless place of Cowboys and Indians that included gun fights, cattle drives, stage coach robberies, etc. People saw the West as a timeless place immune to the corruptions of civilization. In reality, there was the struggles of farm life, conflict in mining centers, and lack of multi-ethnic populations.
Credit Mobilier Scandal
It was the illegal manipulation of contracts by Credit Mobilier, a corporation of railroad stockholders overseeing the Railroad government assisted construction. The scandal was protected by politicians receiving bribes and owning the companies stocks.
Bad Political Structure for Economy’s Rapid Growth
Problems with structure:
Even though its power grew from the civil war, the fed gov was still very small by modern standards
ex. education, medical care, business regulation, prosecutions, etc were still under local and state govs or private institutions.
Instability, lots of turnover of power, 1 term presidents.
Civil Service Act of 1883
It created a merit system for federal employees, where jobs would be given based on competitive examinations, not political affiliation. It was the first step towards establishing a professional civil service and removing office holding from political machines.
Interstate Commerce Commision
1887 - This was supposed to ensure the rates that railroads charged merchants and farmers to transport goods were “reasonable” and didn’t offer favored treatment to some shippers.
Reality: it lacked the power to actually establish these rates, it could only sue companies in court, so not really effective.
Sherman Antitrust Act
1890 - This was supposed to ban all combinations and practices that restricted free trade. It would pose a threat to companies trying to dominate sectors of the economy.
Reality: the courts mostly used it as a way to suppress labor Unions.
Market
The interaction b/w buyers and sellers
This interaction determines the price of goods. Price is what buyer and sellers are willing to agree on. Price is determined by supply and demand.
Division of Labor
Idea that one person completes just part of at task, like assembly lines
People were eventually replaced w/ machines
Huge advantage to this because its more productive
Practice makes it more efficient, more produced (leads to lower price, so producer can buy more, consumer spends less)
Cooperative Advantage
Idea that companies, not just individuals, specialize
If countries specialize and trade both countries benefit
Trade is mutually beneficial.
Homestead Strike
1892 - Homestead Steel Mills operated the plant to prevent Unions. They used barbed wire fences, workforces, etc. Workers had to agree to not join a union. In response, workers blockaded the steelworks and gained support from the local community. The Union (Amalgamated Association) + community were eventually destroyed after the PA governor issued 8k militia to fight.
The two ideas of freedom that collided in this event were the employers and workers definitions.
Employers: Property rights unrestrained from public regulation or union rules sustained the public good.
Workers: Based on the economic independence and security from the “tyranny” of employers
Farmers Economic Insecurity
This group faced insecurity because of:
falling agriculture prices, and growing economic dependency in rural areas.
Sharecropping locked mills of black and white farmers into perpetual poverty
How they tried to fix it:
Through the Farmers Alliance, they would loan money to farmers and sell their produce.
The Alliance proposed that the gov. establish warehouses where farmers could store crops. Then using the crops as collateral the gov. could issue loans to farmers at low interest rates, ending dependence on bankers and merchants.
Depression
Beginning in 1893, this led to an increased conflict b/w capital and labor and created an opportunity for the populist party to gain more voters. Employers kept calling on the state and fed gov. to protect their own power or put down threats to public order. The fed gov. tended to side w owners/employers rather than workers.
Urban Workers and Populism
This group didn’t really come to populists because the Populists core issues (subtreasury plan, lower mortgage rates) didn’t have much meaning to urban workers. The biblical components of the populist speeches and the revivalist atmosphere of their gatherings was unfamiliar to the immigrant and catholic working class. Instead, this group supported Republicans, who said that raising tariffs would restore prosperity by protecting workers + manufacturers from the competition of cheap foreign labor and imported goods.
William Jennings Bryan
He was strongly religious and tried to apply teachings of Jesus to uplift the people. His “Cross of Gold” speech talked about wanting free coinage of silver (unrestricted mining of silver money). He condemned the gold standard.
*Reps insisted gold was the only “honest currency”
Election of 1896
This event is sometimes called the first modern presidential campaign because of the amount of money spent by the Republicans and the efficiency of their national organization. Mckinley’s victory shattered the political stalemate that had been since 1876. It created one of the most enduring political majorities in US history. Not until 1932 would Democrats be the majority party again, then the South became Dem and the North became Rep. During the Reps time as majority, they passed the Dingley Tariff of 1897 (highest tariff level in history) and the Gold Standard ACt of 1900.
*Last election w/ extremely high voter turnout.
Populism in the South
The failure of this party in the South opened the door for a new racial order. Redeemers tried to undo as much as possible of Reconstruction. Public facilities closed (hospitals, asylums), state budgets were slashed, property taxes reduced. New laws allowed the arrest of any unemployed, and increased the punishment for petty crimes. This party never caught on in the South cause they are racist and afraid that it would give sharecroppers more power.
New South
This region had promised industrial expansion and agricultural diversification in an era of prosperity. In reality, the region sank into poverty as white merchants, planters, and industrialist prospered. Southern cities were still export centers for cotton, tobacco, and rice, w/ little skilled labor or industry. It was dependent on the North for manufactured goods and capital.
Growth of a Middle Class
The institutions created after the Civil War, such as schools, collages, businesses, women’s clubs, etc. contributed to the growth of the black middle class, since these works served the needs of black customers. Yet, the labor market was still rigidly segregated.
Kansas Exodus
It was the emigration of 40k-60k AFrican Americans from the south to Kansas bw 1879 and 1880. Named after the biblical exodus of Jews escaping slavery in Egypt. In this case they were in search of freedom, escaping the stagnant economy and poverty of the south.
Booker T. Washington
He was an advocate of industrial education and economic self help. His speech “Atlanta Compromise” encouraged blacks to simply adjust to segregation and stop agitation for civil and political rights. Born a slave himself, he believed obtaining skilled jobs and farm jobs was more important to get African Americans out of slavery than the rights of citizenship. He rejected the abolitionist want for full equality.
Elimination of Black Vote
Between 1890-1906, the following was enacted into law:
Grandfather Clause: your grandfather had to vote for you to vote.
Disenfranchisement: “Purified politics” by removing fraud, violence, and manipulation of voting returns (Supreme Court approved). It deprived African Americans of the right to vote.
The Supreme Court consistently violated the part of the 14th amendment that said “any state that deprived male citizens of the franchise would lose part of its representation in Congress”
Plessy v Ferguson
After violating the Civil Rights Act of 1875 (Supreme Court argued it only applied to state authorities not private businesses), in 1846 the court approved state laws requiring separate facilities for blacks and whites, legalizing segregation, saying it was “separate but equal”.
Segregation
Besides being a form of racial separation, this was also one part of the system of white domination. EAch component (disenfranchisement, inferior education, unequal economic opportunities) reinforced each other, the point was not just to separate blacks and whites but to give whites the upper hand when the races did meet in politics, social lives, and labor relations.
Affect of Segregation on Other Groups
In some parts of Mississippi, separate schools systems were established: black, white, and Chinese. In California, those of “Mongolian or Chinese descent” were also separated. In TX and CA, Mexicans were banned from many public facilities.
Lynching
This is murder by a mob. Some were done secretly at night, other were advertised in advance and attracted an audience. Every year bw 1883 + 1905 over 50 people (majority black men) were lynched.
Lost Cause Narrative
This is an interpretation of the American Civil War viewed by most historians as a myth that attempts to preserve the honor of the South by casting the Confederate defeat in the best possible light. The narrative allowed them to come to terms w their defeat in the Civil War while maintaining white supremacy.
New Immigrants
This group was from southern and eastern Europe (esp. Italy, Russia, and Austria + Hungarian Empires). Native born Americans thought of them as a lower level of civilization, citing their willingness to work for low wages and their “tendency for criminal behavior”. The larger process of worldwide immigration was catalyzed by the decline of traditional agriculture and industrial expansion. Immigration to the US was stopped in 1914 due to at first the outbreak of WWI, then by legislation.
Chinese Exclusion Act
1882 - This act removed the Burlingame -Seward Treaty (had established friendly relationship bw Us and China, allowing each other to move freely b/w the two) and temporarily excluded all immigrants from China from entering the country. Chinese were required to register w the gov. and carry papers around. Many Chinese protested the “dog tag” law by not carrying identification, others obtained fraudulent documents. The Supreme Court supported Chinese rights, and declared that to deny any person the opportunity to earn a living was intolerable. Yet it also authorized the fed gov to expel Chinese without due process of law.
American Federation of Labor
They believed Unions should not seek economic independence, form indpeendent parties, or pursue the Knights utopian dream of a cooperative commonwealth. Instead, the labor mvt should aim to negotiate w. employers for (COME BACK TO). The group restricted its members to skilled workers and focused on sectors like printing and construction, which were dominated by small, competitive businesses.
The Women’s Era
This era was 3 decades in which women enjoyed more opportunities for economic independence and played a greater role in public life (still no vote ☹ ). Married women could now control their wages, sign separate contracts, and make separate wills.
Problems With the New Generation of Suffragist Leaders
The new leaders supported nativism and racism. The native born, middle class women dominating the suffrage mvt. claimed the vote as educated members of the superior class. Carrie Chapman Catt (prez of National american Woman Suffrage Association) suggested that extending the vote to native born, white women would balance out with the “ignorant foreign vote” of immigrants and former slaves. She was really racist and nativist 😵
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
In 1911, a fire broke out at the top 3 floors of a 10 story factory building. Women working there tried to escape, but the doors to the stairwell had been locked (to discourage theft and unauthorized bathroom breaks). The fire department ladders reached only to the 6th floor and some girls jumped. 46 bodies were outside and 100 inside. In its wake, the state passed new factory inspection laws and fire safety codes, and efforts to organize the cities workers accelerated.
Progressivism
This was a broad, loosely defined political mvt. of individuals and groups hoping to bring significant change in American political and social life. They included not only laborer activists bent on empowering industrial workers, but also businessmen who realized workers must be given a choice in economic decision-making. Other contributors/progressives were female reform organizations, social scientists (who believed research would help solve social problems), and members of the middle-class feeling threatened by the rise of big business.
*These reform movements were specifically trying to solve problems created by the 2nd industrial Revolution. Unlike the previous reform movements, they did not use moral suasion since it was not religiously motivated.
Focus on Cities
This became the focus of progressive politics and of a new mass-consumer society because it captivated artists, writers, and reformers. The city seemed to be a symbol of modernizing itself because of its youthful and energized character. Now the US had 21 cities whose pop. exceeded 100k by 1910.
Muckracking
This refers to the use of journalism and journalistic skills to expose the bad side of American life. In one of the eras most influential novels (The Jungle), Upton Sinclair described the sale of rotten meat and unsanitary slaughter houses, which cause public outrage and led directly to the PUre Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.
Ellis Island
Used between 1892-1954, immigrants from Europe were processed here. Europeans immigrated because of poverty and political unrest at home, and in search of freedom in the US. Fun fact: the 2% who failed examinations at this place were sent back.
Angel Island
Located in San Francisco Bay, this immigration facility was most prominently used between 1910-1940. Immigrants from Asia (esp. China + Japan) came to work as laborers in California’s vegetable and fruit fields or to Hawaii’s sugar plantations. By 1910, the pop of Japanese origin was 72k.
Pull Factors for Imigrants
Frontiers of agriculture, mining, and industry
Expanding job opportunities
Push Factors for Immigrants
Rural areas of southern and eastern europe and asia had widespread poverty and illiteracy, burdensome taxation, and declining economies.
Political turmoil (Mexico after 1911)
Reality of Life in America for Immigrants
They earned low wages, worked long hours, and had dangerous working conditions.
In mines and factories of PA and the midwest, native born dominated skilled and supervisory jobs while immigrants performed unskilled - low wage labor.
Mexican immigrants had little chance of economic mobility
Rise of Mass Consumerism
The progressive era brought consumers a vast array of goods from the nations factories. these were made available to the masses through department stores, chain stores in urban neighborhoods, and mail-order houses for farmers and small town residents.
New Leisure Activites
Some included:
amusument parks, dance halls, theaters (Vandeville (live theater w/ multiple different acts))
Brief motion pictures (became longer, and separate theaters developed)
Change in Gender Roles
more and more women were working for wages
For native born women, the type of jobs available enormously expanded
young immigrant working women grew a sense of independence “acquired the right to a personality”
Henry Ford
Son of an Irish immigrant farmer, he worked as an apprentice in a machine shop and then engineer.
Didn’t invent the automobile, but the techniques of production (moving assembly line) and marketing that brought it to ordinary Americans
Focused on standardizing output and lowering prices
The efficient assembly process expanded his output, and he raised wages
Fordism: the economic system based on mass consumption and production
He exemplified the new consumer society bc of his humble origins in addition to setting a model of success.
New Advertising Industry
This new industry increased sales by:
linking products w/ idea of freedom (ex. statue of Liberty image on product)
Used “liberty as brand name”
Living Wage
A decent standard of living (eough to participate in the consumer economy) which was also a “natural” and “absolute” right of citizenship.
American Standard of Living
Reflected emergence of mass consumption society.
Progressives Immediate Task
to humanize industrial capitalism and find common ground in society still enveloped in labor conflict and experienced massive immigration from abroad.
Nearly all progressives agreed that freedom must be given a new meaning to deal w/ the economic and social conditions of the early 20th century.
Scientific Management
This was a program that sought to streamline production and boost profits by systematically controlling costs and work practices. Workers role was to obey the detailed instructions of their supervisors.
Impact: Increase in salespeople, bookkeepers, salaried professionals, and corporate managers (white collared workers). It also placed the ideas of “industrial freedom and democracy” at the center of political discussion.
White Collared Jobs
These jobs normally take place in office settings, involving clerical, administrative, and managerial tasks.
Blue Collared Jobs
These jobs typically involve physically demanding manual work, including farming, factory work, and construction.
Socialist Party Platform
Founded in 1901, this party brought together the remaining 19th century radicals such as populists and followers of Edward Bellamy. They called for immediate reforms: free collage education, legislation to improve workers conditions, and ultimately the democratic control of the economy through public ownership of railroads and factories.
Collective Bargaining
This helped settle hundreds of industrial disputes and encouraged improvements in factory safety and the re-establishment of pension plans for long-term workers. Yet most employers resisted Unions, viewing them as an intolerable interference to their authority.
Industrial Workers of the World
This organization was a group of unionists who rejected the AFL’s (made up of most privileged American workers) exclusive policies. Its guiding principle was solidarity, extending a “fraternal hand" to every worker, no matter his religion, fatherland, or trade.” They sought to mobilize immigrants, ag workers, women, blacks, Chinese, and people who were excluded from the AFL. They used songs, street theaters, meetings, and street corner gatherings to attract support and spread their message. They filled the jails w/ members who defied local law by speaking in public. One of its cofounders was Eugene V. Debs, but he soon withdrew from the group because of its radicalism.
Feminism in the Progressive Era
Meant women’s emancipation as a human being and as a sex being. It attacked the traditional roles of sexual behavior and added new dimension to the idea of personal freedom. Heterodoxy definition combined the issue of the vote w/ economic opportunities in addition to its discussion of sexuality. Symbol of the new era: Isadora Duncan, bringing a new expressive dance based on free movements of a body unrestrained from the traditional costume and technique. Birth control mvt: 19th century, the right to “control ones body” meant being able to refuse sexual advancements including from the husband. The movement suggested it also included the ability to have a sexually active life w/o bearing children.
Society of American Indians
Founded in 1911, this group brought together Indian intellectuals to promote discussion of the troubles of the Native Americans, hoping public exposure would bring the first steps towards justice. Montezuma, the founder, called for the abolition of the Bureau of INdian Affairs. He believed self determination was the only way for Indians to escape marginalization and poverty. He demanded Indians be given full citizenship and rights of other Americans.
Progressive view of Political Authority
They believed it required a fundamental rethinking, (combat power of big corporations, protect consumers, civilize the marketplace, guarantee industrial freedom at workplace). Progressives sought to reinvigorate the idea of an activist, socially conscious government.
Pragmatism
It was a philosophy emerging in the late 19th century that strongly influenced progressive thinkers. It insisted that social policies + institutions must be judged by their concrete effects, not their longevity or alignment with religious doctrines . traditional political beliefs. Insisted experience was more important than doctrine.
Oregon System
Initiative - (direct legislation) enabled citizens to propose and vote directly on laws, bypassing state legislatures..
Referendum: Provided popular vote on public policies.
Recall: Allowed the removal of public officials by popular vote. This system sought to weaken the power of political bosses and transfer it to ordinary citizens. The initiative allowed progressives to win the vote for women.
*Progressives used initiative and referendum to increase taxes on wealthy and and require state provided jobs for the unemployed.
17th Amendment
This said that US senators be chosen by popular vote instead of by state legislatures. It enhanced democracy, bc of widespread adoption of the popular vote of judges and the use of primary elections to select candidates for office.
Jane Addams
Daughter of an Illinois businessman, she was the eras most prominent female reformer. She founded Hull House in 1884, a settlement house in Chicago devoted to improve the lives of the immigrant poor. It was significant bc those settlement house workers later moved in to poor neighborhoods, establishing playgrounds, kindergartens, health clinics, and employment bureaus. They also showed female victims of abuse how to gain legal protection. Over 400 houses existed by 1910 int he US.
Women’s Suffrage Campaign Impact
Brought women to public sphere aggressively
Bw 1910-1940, 7 more states gave women right to vote.
1913: Illinois allowed women to vote in prez elections (first state to do so)
Muller v Oregon: Lows D. Branders convinced the Supreme Court to set an Oregon law setting max working hours for women by arguing that they are weaker and had less endurance than men. Their unique ability to bare children would give the gov a legit interest in their working conditions.
Economic Citizenship
Believed state of welfare came with the right to a decent income and protection against work related accidents and unemployment. Derived from citizenships, not a special service to the nation (ex. for being a mother, or getting from an employer).
Nationalization
This occurred during the Progressive Era because national corporations dominated the economy, and national organizations (ex. American MEdical Association) were created to raise the incomes and respect of professions.
Theodore Roosevelt Coming into Power
He was vice president when actual prez William Mckinley was assassinated in NY in 1901. At 42, he became the youngest ever to be prez in US.
John Muir
He was a Scottish born naturalist who organized the Sierra Club to help preserve forests from excessive logging by timber companies. HIs deeply religious feelings increased his love of nature.
Conservation Movement
Unlike Muir, the head of this movement believed development and conservation went hand in hand and that logging, mining, and grazing should be regulated, not eliminated.
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