7.4 The Progressives

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Compare the goals and effects of the Progressive reform movement.

INTRODUCTION

• Progressive reformers advocated for larger role of government & demcracy

  • Progressive were succesful (passed four constitutional amendments)

    - graducated income tax

    - direction elections for senators

    - women’s sufferage

    - prohibition of alchool

  • Sucesses & failure remain controversial but their impact is undisputed

ORGINS OF PROGRESSIVISM

• Changes of industrialization were unsettling for many (power of businesses, conflict between working class & wealthy, corruption of politics)

  • Minorities suffered the most

    - racist Jim Crow laws

    - women’s sufferage called for greater democracy

• Progressive movement was result of populist reformers and Union activist

  • Acquired additonal national momentum w Theodroe Roosevelt

    - WW1 diverted attention away from domestic issues (ended era)

    - Congress & state legitaltures enacted major regulartory laws

WHO WERE THE PROGRESSIVES?

• Diverse groups of refromers were united under the Progressive movement (protestants, African Americans, union leaders, feminist)

  • Lobbied different reforms but shared basic beliefs:

    - limited power of big bussiness, improvement in democracy, strengthend social justice

    - government was proper agency for change

    - moderate reforms were better than radical ones

URBAN MIDDLE CLASS

• Most progressives were urban middle-class

  • Economy employed increasing number of white-collar workers

    - orgininally doctors, lawyers, ministers, & storekeepers

    - now included managers for banks, manufacturing firms, ect

PROFESSIONAL CLASS

• Business & professional middle class took civil responsibilities seriously

  • Some versed in findings of new social sciences

  • Some belonged to national businesses & profession associations

    - gave platforms to address corruption and social/economic issues

RELIGION

• Missionary spirit inspired some middle-class reformers

  • Protestant chuches taught code of social responsivility

    - emphasized caring for less forunate & premoting honesty

    - Social Gospel (important element in Protestant response to poverty)

  • Protestants were native-born/older stock Americans

    - from families of older elites who felt threatend by new wealth

LEADERSHIP

• Stong leadership helped overcome conservatives’ resistance to change

  • Dedicated & able leaders entered politics to challenge status quo

    - vigorious political leadership entered during era lacking of poltics

    - Theodore Roosevelt, Robert La Follette, William Jennings Bryan. Woodrow Wilson

THE PROGRESSIVES’ PHILOSPHY

• Reform impulse was hardly new

  • Historian see progressivism as one more phase in reform tradition

  • Progressives were similar to American reformers before them

    - commited to democracy and improvement through gov & laws

PRAGMATISM

• Revolution in thinking occured same time as Industrial Revolution

  • Charles Darwinsim presented concept of natural selection

    - some applied his concepts to human society

    - was used to justify great wealth and laissez-faire

  • Some challenged romantic transcendentalism (pragmastism)

    - William James & John Dewey advocated this philsophy

    - experimented w laws and tested them until they found something that would produce functioning democratic society

    - allowed progressives to challenge issue that stood in way of reform

  • Individualism was no longer viable whencomplex business dominated

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

• Practical studies of Frederick W. Taylor gained acceptance

  • Used stopwatch to time task performed by factory workers

    - discovered ways of organzing people in effiencet manner

    - known as scientific management system/taylorism

  • Progressives believed gov would be effieicent in hands experts

    - objected to corruption of party bosses (antidemocratic & inefficient)

THE MUCKRAKERS

• Public had to firest be well-informed of scandals in politics, factories & slums

  • Middle-class readers were attracted to reports of corruption

    - journalist made articles abt child labor, political bosses, monopolies'

    - Roosevelt criticized writers who focused on negative (“muckrakers”)

ORIGINS

• Earliest of muckrakers was Henry Demarest Lloyed

  • wrote articles in the Atlantic Monthly

    - criticized Standard Oil & railraods

  • published Wealth Against Commonwealth

    - fully exposed the corruption & greed in oil monopoly (didn’t address solutions to control it)

MAGAZINES

• Sameul Sidney McClure founded McClure’s Magazine

  • Ran series of muckraking articles that set the standard 4 journalism

    - Lincoln Steffens (Tweed Days in St. Louis)

    - Ida Tarbell (The History of Standard Oil Company)

  • Magazines such as McClure’s, Collier’s, & the Cosmopoltican

    - competed fiercely to out do rivals exposing corruption

BOOKS

• Influential muckraking articles were often published

  • Jacob Riis

    - wrote articles on tenement life (How the Other Half Lives)

  • Lincoln Steffens

    - described corrupt deals of big-city politics (The Shame of the Cities)

  • Theodore Dreiser

    - portrayed ruthlessnes of industrialist (The Financier, The Titan)

  • Frank Norris

    - wrote about tyrannical railraod companies (Octopus)

    - called for gov regulations regarding speculation (The Pit)

  • Upton Sinclair

    - portrayed diffcult life of immigrants & unsanitary conditions of meat packing indsutry (The Jungle)

DECLINE OF MUCKRACKING

• Muckracking began to decline after 1910

  • Writers found it more diffcult to top sensationalism

  • Publishers faced economic pressures to tone down from banks

  • Corportations were becoming more aware of their public image

    - developed field of public relations

• Mukracking had lasting effects on Progressive era

  • Exposed inequities & educated public

    - prepared the way for corrective action

POLTICAL REFORMS IN CITIES AND STATES

• Progressive ideology consisted in faith of effiencent government

  • some looked to profressional and technical experts

    - often distrusted urban political machines who relied on immigrants

    - supported restrictions on immigration

  • others placed trust in common people

    - believed majority of voters would elect honest officals

    - progressives advaoted for increasing citizen participation

    - opposed immigration restrictions

AUSTRALIAN, OR SECRET, BALLOT

• Political parties could manipualte votes

  • System was adopted requiring voters to mark their choices secretly

    - ballots were printed by the state(became known as the secret ballot)

DIRECT PRIMARIES

• Parties commonly nominated candidates for office (controlled by party bosses)

  • Progressive reformer Robert La Follettle introduced direct primary

    - system allowed voters to directly nominate candidates

    - system’s effectiveness in overthrowing boss rule was limtiied

    - politicans confused voters and split anti-political machine vote

    - some sotuhern states used white-only primaries to exclude blacks

DIRECT ELECTION OF US SENATORS

• Senators were orginally chosen by state legislatures rather than people

  • progressives blamed this for Senate becoming a “millionares’ club”

    - states began to give voters opportunity to elect senators directly

    - 17th amendement required US senators be elected by popular vote

INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM, AND RECALL

• Progressives proposed two methods for forcing polticans to act for people

  • Amendments offered voters:

    - the initiative (voters could compel legislative consideration for bills)

    - the referendum (citizens could vote on proposed laws on ballots)

    - the recall (voters could remove a politican through majority vote)

MUNICIPAL REFORMS

• Progressive leader targeted city bosses & corrupt alliance w businesses

  • Samuel M. Jones

    - self-made millionare w origins of a workingman

    - became republican mayor and adopted “golden rule" as policy

    - introduced municipal reform (free kindergartens, night schools, public playgrounds)

  • Tom L. Johnson

    - devoted himself to tax reform and cheaper transportation fares

    - fought for public ownership & operation of public utilities & services

CONTROLLING PUBLIC UTILITIES

• Reform leaders sought to take utitlities out of hands of private companies

  • 2/3rd of cities owned ther own water systems

    - Progressive efforts—→ cities operating their own gas lines, power plants, & urban transportation systems

COMMISSSIONS AND CITY MANAGERS

• New municipal gov was another progressive innovation

  • Commission plan of government

    - let voters elect head of city departments (fire, police, santiation)

  • Manager-council plan of municipal government

    - city council hired expert managers to direct work of departments

    - was more effective than commission plan

STATE REFORMS

• Refrom governors battled corportate interest

  • Supported the initiative, referendum, & direct primary

    - Charles Evans Hugh battled fradulent insurance companies

    - Hiram Johnson fough against the Southern Pacific Railroad

    - Robert La Follette won passage of the “Wiscon Idea” (progressive measure that included direct primary law, tax reform, and regulatory commission to monitor railraods, utilities, and businesses)

TEMERPANCE AND PROHIBITION

• Debate over prohibition divided reformers

  • Urban progressives recognized saloons as HQs for poltical machines

    - still had little sympathy for temperance movement

  • Rural reformers thought tmerpance could clean morals & poltics

    - Carrie Nation (attacked taverns w hatchet)

    - Prohibitionist/drys were determined & well-organzied

    - convinced 2/3rds of states to prohibit sale of alchohol

SOCIAL WELFARE

• Settlement house workers also helped improve urban life

  • Leaders of social justic movement found they needed poltical support

    - Jane Addams, Florence Kelley, & others

    - lobbied for education, juvenile courts, divorce laws, & regulations

    - believed criminals could become effective citizens (fought for parole, separate refromatories, and limited death penelty)

CHILD AND WOMEN LABOR

• Progressives were most outraged by the treatment of children

  • National Child Labor Committee

    - proposed child labor laws passed by 2/3rds of states

    - compulsory school attendance laws kept kids away from work

  • Florence Kelley & the National Consumers’ League

    - organized to pass laws protecting women from long hours

    - Lochner v. New York (ruled against law limiting working hours)

    - Muller v. Oregon (ruled women’s health needed special protection from long hours)

  • Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

    - took the lives of 146 lives, mostly women

    - led to gretaer women’s activism & laws for working conditions

  • Women were kept out of physically demanding but higher paying jobs

    - many in women’s movement wanted restrictive laws lifited (wanted women to compete as equal with men)

POLTICAL REFORM IN THE NATION

• Progressive governors & mayors battled conservative forces

  • Roosevelt, Taft, & Wilson sought broad reforms & regulations

THEODORE ROOSEVELT’S SQUARE DEAL

• Roosevelt thought it was president’s job to set legislative agrend for Congress

  • Progressive movement shot into high gear under Roosevelt

“SQUARE DEAL” FOR LABOR

• Presidents orginally took sides of employers w conflict in labor

  • Roosevelt favored neither busniess nor labor

    • Offered “Square Deal” for both side in coal miner strike

      - called union leader & mine owners to white house

      - owners refused compromise offered—→ Roosevelt threatening to take over mines w federal troops

      - owners agreed to accpet 10% wage increase & 9 hour work days (did not have to recognize union)

      - square deal was largely approved of

TRUST-BUSTING

• Roosevelt further increased popularity by enforcing Sherman Antitrust Act

  • Northern Securities Company

    - combination of railroad trust Roosevelt wanted to bust

    - court upheld Roosevelt’s actions for breaking railraod monopoly

  • Roosevelt direct anti-trust action against other large corportations

    - made a distincion between “bad trust” (harmed public & competition) & “good trust” (dominated market through efficiency & low prices)

RAILRAOD REGULATION

• Roosevelt put effort to strengthen regulatory powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

  • Elkins Act

    - allowed ICC greater authority to stop railroads giving rebates

  • Hepburn Act

    - allowed ICC to fix reasonable rates for railraods

CONSUMER PROTECTION

• Upton Sinclar’s The Jungle

  • described conditions of Chicago stockyards & meatpacking indsutry

    - public outcry followed in the novel’s publifcation

  • Enacted congress to pass two regulatory laws:

    - Pure Food & Drug Act (forbid adulterated or mislabled food & drugs)

    - Meat Inspection Act (provided federal inspectiors for meatpacking)

CONSERVATION

• Roosevelt took efforts to support cause of conservationism

  • Forest Reserve Act

    - set aside millions of acres of federal land for national reserves that could not be sold

  • Newlands Reclamation Act

    - provided money from sale of public land for irrgation projects

  • White House Conference

    - publicized need for conservation and efforts to coordinate conservation planning

    - Gifford Princhot helped establish National Conservation Commision

TAFT’S PRESIDENCY

• Roosevelt selected William Howard Taft as his succesor

  • William Jennings Bryan was defeated again

PROGRESSIVE ECONOMIC POLICIES

• Taft built upon Roosevelt’s accomplishments

  • Anti-trust buster

    - ordered persecution of twice the number of anti-trust cases

    - persecuted US steel (Roosevelt felt attacked on his integrity)

  • Mann-Elkins Act

    - gave ICC power to suspend new rail rates & oversea communication companies

  • 16th amdendment (authorized US gov to collect income tax)

    - progressive supported targed wealth tax

CONTROVERSY OVER CONSERVATION

• Taft sided with conservationist in debate of national resources

  • Bureau of Mines

    - added large tracts in Appalachians to national forest reserves

    - set aside federl oil lands

  • Gillford Pinchot criticized cabinet member for opening Alaska

    - Taft suported firing Pinchot

SPLIT IN REPUBLICAN PARTY

• Some progressives accused Taft of betraying their cause & being conservative

  • Taft signed conservative Payne-Aldrich Tariff

    - raised tariffs on most importants (which he promised to lower)

  • Taft openly supported conservative candidates

    - progressive republicans defeated those endorsed by Taft

    - rpublican party split over conservative Taft & progressive Roosevelt

RISE OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY

• Socialst emerged to advocate for working class

  • Called for moderate regulation

    - included public ownsership (railraods, utilities, industries)

  • Eugene V, Debs

    - became socialist while in jail for Pullman strick

    - became party’s candidate for president in 5 electiosn

    - ideas of socialist and Debs were largely accepted

THE ELECTION OF 1912

• Conservative republicans nominated Taft

• Progressive republicans met and nominated Roosevelt (Bull Moose Party)

• Democrats united behind Woodrow Wilson

CAMPAIGN

• Election came down to Roosevelt & Wilson

  • Roosevelt’s New Nationalism

    - included more government regulation of business & unions

    - more social welfare programs & womens sufferage

  • Wilson’s New Freedom

    - limited big business & gov (would end corruption & revive competition)

    - Wilson won electoral college but not popular votes

  • Support for both candidates proved reformers had stong support

    - Roosevelt’s New nationalism had lasting influence on later democratic reform (including the New Deal)

WOODROW WILSON’S PROGRESSIVE PROGRAM

• Wilson was first southerner to occupy White House since Taylor

  • Was idealistic, intellectual, righteous & inflexivile

    - believed president should actively lead congress & appeal to ppl

  • Pledged his commitment to New Freedom

    - would bring back conditions of free & fair competion in economy

    - attacked tarrifs, banking & trust

TARIFF REDUCTION

• Wilson called special session of congress to lower tariff (in-person)

  • Underwood Tariff

    - lowered tariffs for the first time in over 50 years

    - compensated for tariffs through graducated income tax (1—→6%)

BANKING REFORM

• Wilson thought gold standard was inflexible & banks were too influenced

  • Proposed national banking system

    - district banks supervised by Federal Reserve Board

    - congress approved and passed Federal Reserve Act

    - was designed for stability and flexibility in fiancial system (regulating interest rates and capital reserves rquired by banks)

ADDITIONAL ECONOMIC REFORMS

• Wilson shifted his position to support laws & new agencies

  • Federal Trade Commision

    - protected consumers by investigation & action against unfair practices in industry

    - excluded alr regulated banking & transportation

  • Clayton Antitrust Act

    - strengthend Sherman Antitrust Act

    - contained clause exempting unions from being prosecuted as trust

  • Federal Farm Loan Act

    - created regional federal farm loan banks

    - helped provide farm loans at low interest rates

  • Child Labor Act

    - prohibited products manufactured by children under 14

    - conservative court found this unconstituional

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE PROGRESSIVE ERA

• Racial equality was ignored by progressive leaders & politicans

  • Some progressive supported segregation, other ignored its existence

    - Wilson agreed w segregation of federal workers & buildings (result of his southern heritage & racist attitudes)

  • Status of Blacks declined after reconstruction

    - Plessy v. Ferguson—→ racial segregation in south & north

    - progressive era coincided with lynching of blacks

TWO APPROACHES: WASHINGTON AND DU BOIS

• African Americans took action to alleviate poverty & discrimination

  • Economic deprivation v. denial of civil rights

    - became focus of debate between Booker T Washington & Du Bois

WASHINGTON’S STRESS ON ECONOMICS

• Washington argued for education & economic progress for blacks

  • Emphasized learning indsutrual skills for better wages

    - securing economic base—→ blacks realizing goals of equality

DU BOI’S STRESS ON CIVIL RIGHTS

• Du Bois criticized Washington’s approach

  • Demanded immeditate equal rights for blacks

    - argued political & social rights were needed before ecoonomic base

  • Washinton’s focus on accommodiation contrasted Du Boi’s demands

    - their debate shaped African American community

NEW CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS

• Racial discrimination—→ powerful civil rights organizations

  • Niagara Movement

    - Du Bois met with black intellectuals in Niagara Falls

    - discussed program of protest & action for equal rights

  • National Assocation for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

    - mission was to abolish all forms of segregation & increase educational opportunities for black children

    - largest civil rights organization

  • National Urban League

    - helped southern migrants adjust to northern cities

    - emphasized self-reliance and economic advancement

WOMEN AND PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENTS

• Increased activism & optimism came from feminist during progressive era

  • Older generation of crusaders passed torch to younger owmen

    - new leader sought allie amoung male progressives

    - Wilson refused to support call for national amendment

THE CAMPAIGN FOR WOMEN’S SUFFERAGE

• Carrie Chapman Catt became new president of NAWSA

  • Argued for expanding democracy to empower women

    - enabled them to actively cared for their families in industrial society

    - originally sought votes at state level—→ amendment

MILITANT SUFFRAGIST

• Women took to the streets with mass pickets, parades, & hunger strickes

  • Alice Paul broke from NAWSA—→ National Woman’s Party

    - focused on winning support of congress & president in amendement

NINETEENTH AMENDMENT (1920)

• Efforts from women in WW1—→ 2/3rds majority for sufferage amdendemnt

  • 19th amendement (guarentted women’s right to vote in all elections)

    - Carrie Chapman Catt organized League of Women Voters (dedicated to keeping women informed about candidates & issues)

OTHER ISSUES

• Progressive women worked on other issues

  • Margaret Sanger

    - advoated for birth control & education among poor

    - movement developed in Planned Parenthood

  • Women made progress in educational equality, liberalizing marriage, divorce laws, reducing discirmination, and rights to own property