The Progressive Era 1890s-1920s

The Social Gospel is…

a movement that applied religious ethics (Christian and Jewish) to solve social problems such as:

• Churches

• Charities

• Government?

• Settlement houses

• Hospitals

• Salvation Army

• Ending Child Labor > pic by Lewis Hine

Settlement Houses and Social Work provided…

education, childcare, personal hygiene, English lessons, arts, sports to young women & children

- Pressured governments to improve health, sanitation, and building codes.

The Orphan Trains 1854-1929

·         Transported children from eastern cities to the mid-west for adoption,

·         The beginning of foster-care in America.

What problems did Progressives hope to solve?

- Poverty

- Unsafe workplaces, underpaid work, long hours, & child labor

- neglect of the poor and mentally ill

-monopolies

-“laissez faire” (hands off) attitude of government on economy and business

-Sherman Anti-Trust Act is NOT “laissez faire” because its hands-on

-tariffs

-no safety standards

 

-drunkenness and alcoholism

-lynching of African Americans & Jim Crow laws

 

-denial of Women’s Rights

-dangerous food and drugs

-destruction of natural resources

“Muckrakers”

-Investigative journalists & writers who uncover or EXPOSE social problems to the public

 

-“Yellow Journalism”; sometimes Muckrakers exaggerated stories that attracted more readers

 

Muckrakers are journalists who expose social issues of their time. Yellow Journalism is a journaling tactic to exaggerate details to attract more readers.

Political Machines & Boss Tweed

·         NYC Government at Tammany Hall

·         “Political Bosses” gave out contracts and gifts to immigrants in exchange for them voting for their party!

·         CORRUPTION!!!!

 

·         William “Boss Tweed”, a Democrat, was charged with corruption and jailed for cheating taxpayers out of over $200 million.

 

·         Most of Tweeds supporters were immigrants who couldn’t read. So, cartoonist, Thomas Nast, published cartoons of the “Tweed Ring” in the 1870s.

 

Political machines are influential people who provide jobs to immigrants/unemployed. They take advantage of their desperate needs and give them low pay. They’re greedy and persuade their workers to vote for their party.

Initiative, Referendum, and Recall

·         Initiative: Any citizen can propose a law to be put on the ballot in an election.

·         The proposal can be voted on by public. If it passes, it becomes law.

·         26 states allow this,

·         Tennessee does not…

·         Sometimes, proposals are put on the ballot, or “referred”, to the people, for voter approval.

·         Such as:

·         Changing the state constitution.

·         A new tax

·         Voters can accept or reject the referendum

·         Used at the state and local level:

·         Voters may vote to remove a public official from office before their term is over.

Direct Primary

·         Voters (not politicians) pick from a group of candidates who will run for office…

·         Mayor, City, Council, Governor, President

 

An initiative is started by the people. They propose a law and place it on the ballot for people to vote on. A recall is when an official is voted out of office for being corrupt. This doesn’t happen for Presidents. A referendum is a law proposed by the government that the people can vote on. Direct primaries are necessary to organize votes and to let people choose candidates from a party they align with.

Progressive Amendments

16^th Amendment

·         The US Congress shall have power to collect taxes on incomes (money you earn)

17^th Amendment

·         The people of the states get to vote directly for US senators.

Conservationism & Theodore Roosevelt

·         President Theodore Roosevelt’s friend, John Muir, helped him learn the need for protection of US natural resources, like:

·         National parks, forests, rivers, and protection of water sources through the creation of dams on rivers.

How was Booker T. Washington different from W.E.B. Du Bois?

Liked by White leaders

Southern

Accommodation

Vocational

Practical skills

Up from slavery

Tuskegee

Be patient

Cooperate

Practical

Skills

How is W.E.B. Du Bois different from Booker T. Washington?

Sociologist

The Souls of Black Folk

Northern

Two-ness

Born free

NAACP

Protest

University

Integrate now!

Cooperate

Practical

Skills

Talented Tenth

Harvard

How were W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington the same?

Safety

Education

Writer

Leader

Segregated