Progressive ERA

Progressive ERA

1890ish-1920ish

Overlapped with the gilded age(1860ish-1910ish)

Aimed to solve the problems from the gilded age

Corporation

A business that is run by shareholders who control the business and have the power to make decisions and produce capital for the business.

Trust

A trust is a group of corporations run by a single board of directors. A large powerful company not designed to look like a single coronation.

Monopoly

One company with near total control of an industry

Progressive ERA characteristics

• less Laissez- faire government

• More government in society + economy

  • Less laissez-faire capitalism

  • Limits on free market capitalism

  • More aspects of socialism

  • Government involvement to regulate economy+ provide social services

Bureaucracy:

More gov’t departments+ agencies, which means larger + more expensive gov’t

Limits on free market capitalism

More laws, regulations+ oversight + aspects of socialism.

Theodore Roosevelt:

President after McKinley gets assassinated, big progressive! Strongly believed in conservation, Nicknamed “trustbuster’ because he eliminated all trusts. (does not agree with strong trusts or monopolies.)

Political corruption: Boss tweed

Leader of Tammany Hall, political machine

Political corruption: Tammany Hall

Group that manipulated politics in NYC heartlessly + effectively.

Political corruption: Tammany Hall and what it did

Befriended many immigrants- gave money + Food + voting - in result the Imms need to vote for whoever Tammany hall wants them to.

Tammany Hall: favors

PPL and politicians give give boss tweed and Tammany hall NYC’s money, favors, and information to keep boss tweed happy.

Tammany Hall(Tweeds) friends:

Tweed gives friends jobs in order to get a partial amount of their pay. Friends get payed extreme amounts b/c employers want to keep Tweed Happy

living Conditions in NYC:

Mortality rate in poor parts in the city were low- diseases etc.

NYC problems:

Low mortality rates

Child labor

Impure food( meat packing industry is very unsanitary)

Muckrakers

Journalists, photographers, authors, - help expose problems in the progressive ERA.- jumping into the filth of society, exposing, racking the much- scraping off the gild of gilded.

Progressives:

People who wanted the U.S to progress, and solve the problems of the GA(wealth inequality, working conditions etc.) EX. Theodore Roosevelt

Acts of the PA( to help solve GA problems): Pendleton Act, 1883

Creates civil service commission to ensure hiring and promotions for got jobs are based on merit( good work)

New York State: Tenement House Act, 1901

Improved ventilation, made it so there were inter courtyards fire escapes, larger rooms, mandates bathrooms on each floor.

Sherman and Clayton antitrust acts:

Sherman: 1890

Clayton: 1914

Both are made to reduce harmful monopolies and trusts( Clayton strengthens Sherman)

Federal Trade Commission Act:

Oversees business practices + large corporate mergers(trusts)

Break up of standard oil:

Happened because these acts made STDO fall apart and unable to function.

Muckrakers: Tomas Nast

Exposed political corruption in NYC ( Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall) -helps bring Boss Tweed down.

Lincoln Steffens:

Exposes bribery, Political Machines, and political corruption all throughout the county.

Jacob Riis:

Exposed poverty in tenements( author + photographer). Wrote book “ How The Other Half Lives” (other 80%). Exposes Urban poor with pictures. The upper class is moved by these and reforms are made.

Ida Tarbell:

Exposes the Standard Oil Company and John D. Rockefeller monstrous trusts. Wrote book “ The History of Standard Oil”.

Lewis Hine: Acts that were made because of him

• Exposed Child Labor with Photographs

• compulsory education by 1918

• National Child Labor Committee- early 1900s

• Fair Labor Standards act by 1938- Finally bands Child Labor.

Upton Sinclair:

• goes undercover in a meatpacking plant and wrote a book about his experiences

• “ the Jungle”

• Pure Food and Drug Act, 1906: Food and medicine labels must accurately list ingredients

• Meat Inspection Act, 1906: Federal inspection of Meatpacking plants

• Gov’t starts to inspect the Meatpacking industry

18th Amendment: 1920

Prohibition: The U.S ban on sale and consumption of alcohol.

21st amendment: 1933

Reverses the intention of the 18th amendment

Why prohibition?

• Alcohol is perceived as immoral and un-Christian

• Women support prohibition because there is a significant connection between alcohol, abuse, and domestic violence (immoral) ( not Christian)

• Women were traditionally excluded from saloon- where political discussions usually took place.

Women’s suffrage

Women’s right to vote

19th amendment:

Allows women to vote

Legacy/influence of the PA

• shift away from Laissez Faire gov’t (This trend will continue, continue, and continue)

Bureaucracy:

Complex administrative system that helps run a large organization

Bureaucracy: Benefits

• Specialized departments can make an organization efficient and attentive to detail.

• In order to have reforms you must have agencies overseeing the reforms.

Bureaucracy: Dangers

• Delays “ Red Tape” because decisions must be made by a large number of people

• Can be very expensive