UNIT 7 Progressives and Southern Segregation

Progressives and Southern Segregation

Progressives Defined

  • Historians, not necessarily contemporaries, define the Progressive Era.
  • Progressives shared three characteristics:
    • Belief in progress.
    • Importance of study and scientific knowledge.
    • Belief that big problems needed big solutions.

Belief in Progress

  • Fueled by technical achievements of the Gilded Age.
    • Trains reducing time and space limitations.
    • The Golden Spike connecting coasts in 1869.
    • Mass production leading to cheaper goods and higher living standards.
  • Advances in medicine and public health increased health and longevity.
  • Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species" (1859) influenced societal evolution ideas.
    • Evolutionary concepts applied to human society, fostering a belief in societal advancement.

Importance of Study and Scientific Knowledge

  • Progressives valued data collection and pattern recognition for understanding and solving problems.
  • Jane Addams applied sociological methods to study and improve immigrant lives at Hull House.
    • Data mapping to identify patterns, exemplified by the Hull House in Chicago.
  • Muckrakers: Investigative journalists exposing injustices in factories, slums, and meatpacking plants.
    • Believed in the power of exposure to prompt public demand for solutions.

Big Problems Needed Big Solutions

  • Rise of industrial capitalism led to poor working conditions and labor unrest.
    • Homestead Strike (1892) as an example of labor uprisings.
  • Growth of monopolies (trusts) controlling sectors of the economy.
  • Progressives believed government intervention was necessary to address issues like
    • Labor riots
    • Business monopolies
    • Contaminated food

Statement: Progressives Supported Southern Education and Southern Segregation

  • The following tasks are to support, then refute, then modify the statement.

Task One: Support the Statement

  • Many classic Progressives supported Southern segregation.
  • Teddy Roosevelt:
    • Championed progress and the "Strenuous Life."
    • Known as a trust buster.
    • Pure Food and Drug Act and FDA creation after "The Jungle" expose.
    • Established national parks but allowed Southern segregation to grow unchecked.
    • Made statements supporting white supremacy.
      • Urged white women to have more babies.
      • Did not act against lynching despite activists' requests.
    • Brownsville Incident (1906):
      • Black soldiers wrongly accused. Roosevelt ordered dishonorable discharge without trial.
      • Symbolic tragedy affecting black rights and citizenship.
      • In 1972, the army revisited this incident and found the soldiers innocent.
  • Francis Willard:
    • Leader of the Women's Christian Temperance Organization (WCTU).
    • The WCTU championed labor reform, prison reform, children's health, and many, many, many other things.
    • WCTU's motto was 'Do Everything'.
    • Allowed segregated Southern chapters.
    • Dismissed lynching as an outgrowth of alcohol and criminality by African Americans.
  • Suffrage Movement:
    • Allowed segregated Southern chapters.
    • The leaders of the movement were not willing to divide their energies and ensure that black women in the South also had the right to vote.
    • Alice Paul allowed segregated suffrage parade in D.C. (1913).
  • Labor Unions:
    • The AFL had language at the national level about racial unity, so on paper they were in favor of integration.
    • The AFL, the American Federation of Labor, allowed Southern chapters to segregate their unions and never took very strong action to stop that practice.
    • The firemen's union magazine raised the suggestion of ending segregation in Southern chapters, but letters poured in from the South opposing this move.

Task Two: Refute the Statement

  • African American activists often categorized separately but can be considered Progressives.

  • Ida B. Wells:

    • Exposed lynching as a tool of white supremacy through investigation and data collection.

      • Traveled to sites where lynching happened, interviewed people, collected data, and documented patterns of lies and stereotypes.

    • Belief in progress, study and exposure, belief that big problems need big solutions.

    • Textbook activity: Where is she listed (muckrakers or Southern segregation)?

  • W.E.B. Du Bois:

    • Opposed segregation and advocated for civil rights.
      • The Reconstruction period as a great achievement that was then undercut by redemption and a rollback of the promise of the Reconstruction amendments.
    • Documented shortcomings of equality in America to correct course.
    • Collected data on black lives to challenge racist assumptions.
    • Formed the NAACP (1909).
      • Supported voting rights, opposed segregation, interracial cooperation.
      • Gathered data on lynching, segregation, injustice in criminal justice system and presented their findings to the public in pamphlets, news reports, and their magazine called "The Crisis."

Task Three: Modify the Statement

  • Consider a third position, beyond supporting or refuting.
  • Booker T. Washington:
    • Atlanta Compromise: Encouraged African Americans to work within segregation for advancement.
      • The speech that became very famous and it became known as the Atlanta Compromise because in many ways it seemed to reach all the groups.
      • Washington clearly said in his speech that he would not oppose segregation, and he encouraged African Americans to work within the system of segregation for advancement.
    • Sought industrial training and employment in skilled trades for black men and women.
    • Promoted material success with gradual transition to full citizenship.
    • Critics existed (e.g., Du Bois) pushing for direct confrontation of injustices.
    • This retreat on segregation was temporary.
    • Teddy Roosevelt befriended Booker T. Washington and considered him sort of a patronage broker for African Americans.
    • Washington's school, Tuskegee Institute, had an industrial education but also included a fair amount of scientific training.
    • The belief in progress: the novelist Charles Chestnut called Washington a "professional optimist" that he was so focused on moving forward and getting things done better.
    • Washington's school, Tuskegee Institute, had an industrial education but also included a fair amount of scientific training.
    • The famous scientist George Washington Carver conducted many important scientific experiments there.
  • Compromising with Segregation:
    • Professors and students at segregated schools.
    • Atlanta University and other historically black colleges.
    • Navigating life under segregation.
  • Mary Church Terrell:
    • Wealthy background, educated at Oberlin College, teacher and reformer.
    • Taught at a segregated school in D.C.
    • Leader in the National Association of Colored Women.
    • Supported Booker T. Washington while championing black rights.
  • Modified Statement:
    • "The Progressives compromised and agreed to segregation as a first step in moving forward."

Relevance to Today

  • Inspiration from Progressives' optimism and persistence despite setbacks.
  • NAACP's legal strategy led to Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
  • The Crisis magazine celebrated college students and babies, embodying a vision of progress.
    • Every spring, "The Crisis" magazine, which is the magazine of the NAACP, dedicated their issue to college students and celebrated their achievements.
    • And every fall, "The Crisis" magazine dedicated an issue to babies.

Vision of Progress

  • Maintaining hope for a beautiful future amidst challenges.