In the late nineteenth century, women's roles in society began to change significantly.
Legislation provided married women with control over their earnings and property.
Industrialization improved opportunities for women to support themselves.
Statistical Increase: The number of working women rose from 2 million in 1870 (15% of all women) to 8 million in 1910 (21%).
Common Occupations:
Domestic service
Factory work
Teaching
Shop assistants
Typists
Telephone operators
Social workers
Bookkeepers
Nurses
Higher education opportunities expanded for women.
By 1900: 80% of American colleges and universities opened to women.
Female Enrollment: Number of female students grew to 25,000 (a quarter of the total).
Proliferation of women's clubs, some engaged in charitable and reform activities beyond literary and social pursuits.
Women played a notable role in the Progressive Movement, advocating for:
Prohibition
Reduction of working hours for women.
Demands for Female Suffrage
Initial feminist attempts to secure female suffrage included efforts to incorporate it into the Fourteenth Amendment.
National Woman Suffrage Association Founded in 1869:
Leaders: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan Anthony.
Viewed suffrage as one of many health causes for women.
American Woman Suffrage Association: Established simultaneously by Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe.
Focused singularly on suffrage through constitutional amendment.
1890 Merger: Both groups combined to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
NAWSA viewed it as unjust to deny votes to native-born women while granting them to foreign-born men.
Movement characterized by middle-class membership; slow progress seen.
By 1900, only Wyoming (1869), Colorado (1893), Utah (1896), and Idaho (1896) had granted full voting rights to women.
Other states permitted women to vote in limited elections (e.g., school-board).
Divisions Over Female Suffrage
Widespread indifference or hostility towards female suffrage amongst Americans.
Common Arguments Against Female Suffrage:
Political involvement would degrade women and family life.
Women need not vote as they were represented by men.
Women were presumed incapable of understanding political issues.
American female progressives countered claims, asserting:
Women's enfranchisement could purify politics and reduce political machine influence.
Legislative issues like Prohibition and child labor abolition would benefit from suffrage.
NAWSA Membership Growth:
Increased from 17,000 in 1905 to 2 million by 1917.
1910-1914: Seven more states east of the Mississippi adopted female suffrage.
Nevertheless, most states continued to resist, partly due to fears about women's support for Prohibition.
Even where women had the vote, they faced inequality.
Few women elected to office; none served in Congress before 1914.
The Nineteenth Amendment
U.S. entry into WWI in April 1917 lessened opposition to female suffrage.
Women's war contributions compelled recognition of their demands for political equality.
President Wilson expressed support for female suffrage.
New York enfranchised women in 1917, becoming the first eastern state.
Nineteenth Amendment:
Passed by the House in January 1918.
Blocked by Southerners in the Senate for over a year but ultimately ratified in 1919.
Came into effect in August 1920.
Regulation of Private Corporations
The Sherman Anti-trust Act of 1890 aimed to address corporate power concentration but proved more symbolic than effective.
Progressives sought action against corporations without adopting socialist public ownership; some promoted 'trust-busting' to restore competition.
Efforts to fragment large combinations were complicated and often unfeasible.
Many progressives recognized big business as vital for prosperity and favored regulation to prevent abuses.
Challenges included regulatory agencies being influenced or controlled by those they regulated.
Theodore Roosevelt and Corporations
Roosevelt (1901-09) acknowledged that super-corporations were both inevitable and necessary for economic health:
Opposed destructive measures against trusts, claiming they would harm the economy.
Roosevelt's goals included:
Persuading big business to reform
Establishing regulatory commissions.
Bureau of Corporations: Requested in Roosevelt's first message to Congress to investigate business affairs.
Outcome: A limited agency established in 1903, with investigation powers but no enforcement authority.
Conducted studies of key industries (oil, steel, tobacco).
The Northern Securities Company
In 1902, Roosevelt invoked the Sherman Act against the Northern Securities Company, a massive railroad holding company.
JP Morgan's reaction: Attempted an agreement with Roosevelt to resolve issues.
Roosevelt’s firm response: Rejection of fixing matters in favor of holding corporations accountable.
Supreme Court Ruling (1904): Ruled Northern Securities illegal; led to its dissolution.
Roosevelt enforced action on corporations, making them aware of the Sherman Act's seriousness.
Subsequent compliance from many corporate leaders for 'gentlemen's agreements' became prevalent.
Roosevelt's Second Term (1905-09)
Roosevelt's second term was marked by significant legislative actions against corporations:
Hepburn Act (1906): Enabled the Interstate Commerce Commission to inspect railway company records and set maximum rates.
Meat Inspection Act (1906): Authorized federal inspection and labeling processes for meat products.
Pure Food and Drug Act (1906): Prohibited fraudulently labeled products, leading to the establishment of the Food and Drug Administration for drug testing and approval.
Republican Party Dynamics and Taft
Roosevelt's administration utilized the Sherman Act selectively due to Congress's reluctance to pass effective regulatory laws.
President Taft (1909-13): Often seen as conservative; however, 90 anti-trust prosecutions occurred during his administration.
Resulted in significant dissolutions of corporations (Standard Oil and American Tobacco Company) in 1911 by Supreme Court decree. - Wilson's Reforms (1913-16): Political restructuring focused on curbing big business.
Federal Trade Commission (1913): Superseded the Bureau of Corporations; has more extensive power but limited impact due to the appointment of non-activist commissioners.
Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914): Made several business practices illegal and offered individual accountability under anti-trust laws.
Initial intentions to limit big business’s influence remained but garnered limited successes.
Popularity and Persistence of Progressivism
General public support for progressive reform was notable from 1900-1920, as evidenced by:
Election successes of progressive presidents (Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson).
Series of progressive acts passed by Congress.
Significant state and city-level progressive actions.
Constitutional amendments viewed as progressive: 16th (income tax), 17th (direct senator election), 18th (Prohibition), 19th (women’s voting rights).
Resistance existed towards aspects of progressive reforms, especially concerning states' rights, Prohibition, female suffrage, increased taxation, and social welfare programs.
A Summary of Progressivism
The terms “Progressivism” and its achievements remain complex and open to historical interpretation.
Most progressives aimed to limit party machine power, regulate corporations, and enact social reforms.
Some supported women’s suffrage, while others focused on Prohibition as a method of achieving beneficial societal changes.