Leading the Way: The Progressive Movement, 1890-1920

The Origins of the Progressive Spirit in America

• Definition and Context of the Progressive Era ($1890-1920$):

  • Progressivism emerged as a response to the challenges of the late nineteenth century, including rapid urban sprawl, immigration, political corruption, industrial working conditions, the growth of large corporations, and anti-Black violence in the South.
  • The movement was often grassroots in origin, comprising diverse activists and reformers with varied agendas.
  • A significant shift occurred as women increasingly worked outside the home for wages and pursued higher education at female-only schools or newly co-educational universities.

• The Role of Muckrakers:

  • Definition: A group of investigative journalists and writers who exposed social inequalities and corporate/political corruption.
  • Etymology: The term was a disparaging nickname given by President Theodore Roosevelt, referencing a character obsessed with filth in John Bunyan’s 1678 allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress.
  • Key Figures and Works:
    • Jacob Riis: Author of How the Other Half Lives ($1890$); used photojournalism to document the dismal conditions in New York City's working-class tenements.
    • Ida Tarbell: Wrote a series of articles in McClure’s magazine exposing the dangers of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil monopoly.
    • Henry Demarest Lloyd: Author of Wealth Against Commonwealth ($1894$), which examined the excesses of Standard Oil.
    • Lincoln Steffens: Explored corruption in city politics.
    • Ray Stannard Baker: Researched unsafe working conditions and low pay in coal mines.

• Core Principles of Progressivism:

  • Perfection of Democracy: Sought to expand suffrage to "worthy" citizens while often restricting it for those deemed "unfit" due to race, education, or health.
  • Efficiency and Expertise: Relied on science, technology, and the deference to professional experts.
  • Regulation: Repudiated traditional party politics but looked to the government to regulate the modern market economy.
  • Social Justice: Positioned themselves as stewards of the urban poor and agents of reform, though they sometimes dismissed the voices of those they intended to help.

Progressivism at the Grassroots Level

• Expanding Democracy and Direct Government:

  • Direct Primary: Allowed party members to vote directly for candidates rather than relying on delegates. South Carolina adopted this for statewide elections in $1896$; Florida was the first for presidential nominations in $1901$.
  • Initiative: Permitted voters to enact legislation by petitioning to place an idea on the ballot. South Dakota was the first to adopt this in $1898$.
  • Referendum: Allowed voters to affirm or reject existing laws on the ballot.
  • Recall: Permitted citizens to remove a public official from office via petition and vote. Oregon was the first to allow this in $1910$.
  • Seventeenth Amendment: Mandated the direct election of U.S. senators by the people rather than state legislatures. William Jennings Bryan was a leading champion of this cause.

• Efficiency in Municipal and State Government:

  • The Commission System: Originated in Galveston, Texas, after the $1900$ hurricane (the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history with over $8000$ deaths). It involved electing commissioners for specific city operations (water, fire, police) to reduce graft.
  • City Manager Form: Developed in Staunton, Virginia ($1908$); separated daily operations from political parties by hiring a professional engineer or businessman to oversee city workers.
  • The Wisconsin Idea: Championed by Governor Robert M. ("Fighting Bob") La Follette ($1901-1906$). He hired experts to advise on legislation and signed the first workman’s compensation system, minimum wage laws, and progressive tax laws.

• Scientific Management (Taylorism):

  • Fredrick Winslow Taylor’s The Principles of Scientific Management ($1911$) argued for industrial efficiency through time-motion studies and standardization. Increased pay was linked to productivity, but many workers found the loss of autonomy and repetitive tasks dehumanizing.

• Social Justice and Labor Reform:

  • Child Labor: The National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), formed in $1904$, used photographer Lewis Hine to document children in factories. In $1900$, one in six children aged $5$ to $10$ were working.
  • Keating-Owen Act ($1916$): Prohibited interstate trade of goods produced by child labor (later ruled unconstitutional).
  • Fair Labor Standards Act ($1938$): Final victory for child labor reformers, outlawing interstate trade of products made by children under $16$.
  • Workplace Safety: Florence Kelley and the National Consumers League ($1899$) fought for eight-hour workdays and safety codes.
  • The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (March 25, $1911$): 146 garment workers (mostly young immigrant women) died because management blockaded doors. Reporter William Shepherd’s eyewitness account: "I learned a new sound… the thud of a speeding, living body on a stone sidewalk. Thud-dead, thud-dead… Sixty-two thud-deads."

• Prohibition:

  • The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Anti-Saloon League linked alcohol to moral vice and domestic violence. Their efforts led to the Eighteenth Amendment ($1919$), prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol.

• Radical Progressives:

  • Socialist Party of America (SPA): Founded in $1901$ by Eugene Debs; sought change via the ballot box.
  • Industrial Workers of the World (IWW/Wobblies): Founded in $1905$ by William "Big Bill" Haywood; advocated for the "general strike" to overthrow capitalism.

New Voices for Women and African Americans

• The Women’s Suffrage Movement:

  • Origins: The Declaration of Sentiments ($1848$) at Seneca Falls.
  • NAWSA: Created in $1890$; led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and later Carrie Chapman Catt. Used modern marketing and celebrity endorsements.
  • National Woman’s Party: Alice Paul broke from NAWSA to form this group, using more aggressive tactics like picketing the White House ("Silent Sentinels") and hunger strikes.
  • The 1913 Suffrage Parade: Led by Inez Milholland on a white horse; integrated by Ida B. Wells-Barnett despite white leaders' attempts to segregate the march.
  • Nineteenth Amendment: Ratified in $1920$ after Tennessee became the 36th state to approve it.

• African American Civil Rights:

  • Booker T. Washington: Founded Tuskegee Institute ($1881$). His "Atlanta Compromise" ($1895$) urged Black Americans to focus on economic self-improvement and accommodate segregation for the time being.
  • W.E.B. Du Bois: Opposed Washington's accommodation; argued for the "talented tenth" to lead via litigation and political agitation. Led the Niagara Movement ($1905$).
  • NAACP ($1909$): Founded by Du Bois, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Mary Church Terrell, and others to eradicate racial violence. Du Bois edited its journal, The Crisis.

Progressivism in the White House

• Theodore Roosevelt’s "Square Deal":

  • Trustbusting: 1902 suit against Northern Securities Trust Company (Rockefeller and Morgan). Distinguished between "good trusts" (efficient) and "bad trusts" (exploitative).
  • Consumer Protection: Passed the Meat Inspection Act ($1906$) and Pure Food and Drug Act ($1906$) following Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.
  • Conservation: Appointed Gifford Pinchot to the U.S. Forestry Service. Conserved $230$ million acres of public land.

• The Taft Presidency ($1909-1913$):

  • Initialed twice as many antitrust suits as Roosevelt but lacked political finesse.
  • Payne-Aldrich Act ($1909$): Raised tariffs on over $800$ products, angering Progressives.
  • Ballinger-Pinchot Scandal: Conflict over the sale of federal land led Taft to fire Pinchot, causing a rift with Roosevelt.

• The Election of 1912:

  • Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party ("Bull Moose Party") after losing the Republican nomination to Taft.
  • Woodrow Wilson (Democrat): Won with $42\%$ of the popular vote due to the Republican split. Campaigned on "New Freedom" (smaller federal government).

• Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom:

  • Underwood Tariff Act ($1913$): Lowered tariffs by $15\%$ and implemented the first graduated federal income tax (Sixteenth Amendment).
  • Federal Reserve Act ($1913$): Established $12$ regional reserve banks and the Federal Reserve Board to regulate interest rates.
  • Clayton Antitrust Act ($1914$): Expanded the Sherman Act and targeted "interlocking directorates."
  • Late Reforms ($1916$): Adamson Act (8-hour railroad workday) and the appointment of Louis D. Brandeis as the first Jewish Supreme Court justice.