Chapter 20: The Progressive Era

I. Introduction

Jack London noted the rapid societal changes during the Gilded Age. The era was marked by:

• Unprecedented wealth and poverty.

• Imperialism controversies.

• Urban squalor.

• Labor unrest.

• Loosening social norms.

• Unsanitary food production.

• Immigration influx.

• Environmental destruction.

• Political radicalism.

These issues spurred the Progressive Era, with various movements addressing different reforms. Differing ideas existed on the country's development and whose interests needed protection. The goals of reformers included:

• Political cleanup.

• Civil rights for Black Americans.

• Women's suffrage and equality.

• Workers' rights (higher wages, safer workplaces, union recognition).

Reform became the defining characteristic of the era, regardless of the ultimate impact or original intentions.

II. Mobilizing for Reform

The 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was a catalyst for reform. The factory doors were chained shut, resulting in 146 deaths. A year prior, workers had gone on strike for better conditions, but owners deemed safety measures too expensive. The tragedy highlighted the disregard for workers' lives and the lack of punishment for those responsible.

Events like the fire led to a commitment to political activism and government intervention. Reformers utilized various mediums to publicize the plight of the poor and expose corruption. "Muckrakers" in magazines like McClure's aroused public demand for reform. Ray Stannard Baker reported on U.S. Steel, exposing corporate capitalism's underbelly.

Jacob Riis's "How the Other Half Lives" (1890) vividly depicted slum conditions through descriptions and photography, leading to housing reform. Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" (1906) exposed industrialized food production, leading to the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward" (1888) envisioned a utopian society, inspiring reform movements and questioning American life. The book questions the meaning of freedom in a society with vast economic disparities, (\text{the poor upon the rich, employed upon employer, women upon men, children upon parents}).

Charles Sheldon's "In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do?" (1896) promoted the social gospel movement, emphasizing Christians' responsibility for societal salvation. This novel sold well because it connected with the social gospel.

The social gospel movement, prominent within Protestant Christianity, stressed the importance of addressing societal issues, not just individual souls. Advocates urged Christians to challenge societal structures and help the less fortunate. Some even advocated for Christian socialism, urging Americans to confront societal sins.

Walter Rauschenbusch, a key figure in the social gospel movement, addressed problems in New York City's Hell's Kitchen. He believed the "Kingdom of God" encompassed all aspects of life and should be enacted on Earth by every Christian.

The social gospel enlarged the message of salvation by understanding the sinfulness of the social order and calling on people to repent for their collective sins. Although the social gospel had blind spots (ignored the plight of women and minorities), it influenced progressive reform and inspired activists like Martin Luther King Jr.

III. Women's Movements

Reform opened new avenues for women's activism and the fight for suffrage. Women's clubs focused on intellectual development and philanthropic activities. Organizations like the General Federation of Women's Clubs (1890) and the National Association of Colored Women (1896) campaigned for suffrage and women's rights.

Black women formed organizations to uplift Black communities. Mary Jane Richardson Jones organized Black women in Chicago. Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin and Mary Church Terrell formed the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs. These groups organized Black women's efforts to secure suffrage, challenge discrimination, and uplift Black communities.

Other women worked through churches and moral reform organizations. Carrie A. Nation gained attention for destroying saloons, but most women worked within reputable organizations like the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Frances Willard transformed the WCTU into a national political organization that embraced reforms to improve social welfare and advance women's rights.

The WCTU addressed urban poverty, prison reform, the eight-hour workday, child labor laws, and other causes. Temperance and prohibition were central to their agenda. Alcohol was linked to social ills like domestic abuse, poverty, and crime. Reformers associated alcohol with immigrants and the working class. They believed prohibition would lead to social progress and a more just society.

Jane Addams, a prominent reformer, founded Hull House in Chicago (1889) with Ellen Gates Starr. Hull House workers provided services to their neighbors (nursery, kindergarten, classes, social events). Florence Kelley influenced Addams to move into social reform and expose sweatshop conditions. Addams pressured politicians and advocated for legislation limiting working hours for women and children.

Addams warned against class warfare and favored cooperation between rich and poor. In 1912, she became the first woman to give a nominating speech at a major party convention. She opposed militarism and America's entry into World War I, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

Suffrage marked women's full emergence in American public life. Western states saw notable victories. Women's suffrage was linked to clean politics and combat social evils. The WCTU and the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) supported suffrage. WTUL members saw the vote as a way to further their economic interests. Some suffragists argued that white women's votes were necessary to maintain white supremacy.

The National American Woman Suffrage Association focused on state laws and a constitutional amendment. Alice Paul's National Woman's Party organized marches and protests, leading to arrests. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson supported women's suffrage, leading to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.

IV. Targeting the Trusts

Herbert Croly argued that wealth inequality eroded democracy. Reformers aimed to reclaim power from moneyed trusts. Trusts were monopolies or cartels that controlled specific products or industries. While intellectual property monopolies are protected, powerful entities controlling national markets were unsettling for many Americans.

The Second Industrial Revolution led to changes in business structures. Laissez-faire policies allowed for the growth of trusts like Carnegie Steel and Standard Oil. Carnegie used vertical integration, while Rockefeller used horizontal integration. Critics alleged that trusts inflated prices, bullied rivals, and bribed politicians.

Between 1897 and 1904, many companies consolidated into fewer firms. By 1904, trusts controlled a significant portion of US manufacturing assets. Wealthy men like Carnegie and Rockefeller were called robber barons. Their anti-competitive practices and corruption sparked opposition and regulations.

Big business posed new problems for the American legal system. States regulated industry, but interstate railroad routes and national corporations raised questions about regulatory authority. Granger laws regulated railroads, but railroads opposed these regulations. In Munn v. Illinois (1877), the Supreme Court upheld these laws, stating that companies affecting the public interest could be regulated by states.

Later rulings conceded that only the federal government could regulate interstate commerce. The Interstate Commerce Act (1887) established the Interstate Commerce Commission. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) aimed to limit anticompetitive practices but was vaguely worded and manipulated. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914) attempted to close loopholes.

President Theodore Roosevelt pursued "trust busting." He saw his presidency as a mediator between labor and corporations. He pushed for antitrust legislation and regulations, believing that the courts could not be relied on to break up the trusts. Roosevelt targeted the Northern Securities Company, a holding trust controlling major railroad companies. The administration won in court, and the company was ordered to disband. In 1906, Roosevelt signed the Hepburn Act, allowing the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate railroads.

William Howard Taft, Roosevelt's successor, pursued court-oriented trust busting more aggressively. He went after U.S. Steel. Trust busting dominated the election of 1912. Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party, advocating for regulation of corporations. Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic nominee, emphasized small-business incentives. Once elected, Wilson signed the Clayton Anti-Trust Act and created the Federal Trade Commission.

Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson pushed antitrust law development and enforcement, reflecting political pressure from workers, farmers, and writers.

V. Progressive Environmentalism

Industrial capitalism caused unprecedented environmental destruction (e.g., bison hunting, deforestation, pollution). Reformers embraced environmental protections. Preservation and conservation were competing strategies. The debate over a dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley in California highlighted these tensions. The valley was located inside Yosemite National Park.

John Muir (preservationist) advocated setting aside pristine lands for their aesthetic and spiritual value. Gifford Pinchot (conservationist) emphasized the efficient use of available resources. Conservation won out in Hetch Hetchy. Congress approved the project in 1913, and the dam was built.

Conservationist policies often benefited financial interests. Game laws disproportionately affected Italian immigrants. While reform movements focused on the urban poor, others targeted rural communities. The Country Life movement supported agrarian families. The nature study movement took students outside to experience nature.

The extinction of the North American passenger pigeon reveals the complexity of relationships between people and nature. Women in Audubon Society chapters organized against wearing feathers on hats. These efforts created national wildlife refuges and laws like the Lacey Act of 1900.

VI. Jim Crow and African American Life

The Progressive Era did not erase America's racial history. Reform removed African Americans from American public life. The South saw electoral fraud, voter intimidation, and race-baiting. Southern Democrats used warnings of "negro domination." The culture of racial violence and lynching accelerated. Southern Democrats used progressive reforms (disenfranchisement and segregation) to restrict Black voting and prevent racial strife.

States used poll taxes, petty crime convictions, and literacy tests to disenfranchise Black voters. The "understanding clause" allowed whites to bypass literacy tests. These laws moved electoral conflict to the voting registrar. Between 1895 and 1908, southern states approved new constitutions with disenfranchisement tools. Six states added a grandfather clause. Each state adopted an all-white primary.

The purpose of these laws was to eliminate Black people from politics. The laws worked well, significantly reducing Black voter turnout. Simultaneously, southern legislatures created a system of racial segregation. Segregation maintained white supremacy in restaurants, theaters, schools, and hospitals. It inscribed white superiority into public spaces.

The Supreme Court ruled in the Civil Rights Cases (1883) that the Fourteenth Amendment only prevented discrimination by states. Southern states exploited this ruling. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the court established the legal principle of "separate but equal." Justice John Harlan dissented, arguing that the Constitution is color-blind. Segregation was built on the fiction of a white South distinct from African Americans. Segregation rejected Black citizenship.

Black Americans fought back. Ida Wells worked against lynching. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois advocated for different strategies for Black uplift.

Booker T. Washington promoted industrial education and vocational training at the Tuskegee Institute. He believed this would lead to economic independence. His "Atlanta Compromise" speech (1895) encouraged Black people to improve life under segregation. He was praised as a race leader but also criticized for accommodating white supremacy. Washington also funded and supported Black newspaper publications.

W. E. B. Du Bois criticized Washington for implicitly abandoning political and social rights. In "The Souls of Black Folk" (1903), Du Bois attacked Washington. Du Bois produced scholarship that underscored the humanity of African Americans. He also pushed for civil rights legislation, launched legal challenges against discrimination, and organized protests. Du Bois was the editor of The Crisis.

Du Bois urged Black Americans to concede to nothing and advocate for equal rights under the law. Both Washington and Du Bois inspired others to demand that America live up to its democratic creed.

VII. Conclusion

Industrial capitalism brought wealth but also social problems, leading to reform politics. The Progressive Era saw Americans willing to confront problems with national political solutions. Reformers sought order, efficiency, and justice. The era introduced new patterns in the relationship between American society, culture, and politics.