Progressivism: A Detailed Summary

Progressivism was a widespread political movement encompassing diverse groups and objectives.
Progressives generally aimed to address social problems arising from rapid economic and industrial growth after the Civil War.
Key beliefs:
- America faced significant social issues.
- These problems could be solved or mitigated.
- Government intervention was necessary.
Progressivism was a reform movement, not a revolution, operating within the existing American democracy.

Generally spanned from 1890 to 1914 (start of WWI).
Progressive ideals influenced WWI and subsequent peace efforts.
Peak of progressivism: ~1912, with progressive elements in major presidential platforms.

Evangelical Protestantism: Especially the Social Gospel movement.
- Emphasized Christians' responsibility to eliminate poverty, inequality, and greed.
- Focused on finding common good.
Natural and Social Sciences: Aimed to use rational tactics to improve the human condition.
- Applied engineering, statistics, and sciences to enhance government and industry efficiency.
- Established standards for professional and social behavior.

Assumption:
- Americans were unaware of the extent of poverty, oppression, and inequality.
- Exposure to these issues would inspire action.
Efforts focused on raising awareness.

Founded April 1904.
Mission: Promote the rights, awareness, dignity, well-being, and education of children related to work.
Goal: Eliminate child labor.

In 1908, the NCLC hired Lewis Hine (teacher, sociologist, photographer).
Hine documented child labor in American industry, capturing over 5,000 photographs.
Documented children working in fields, factories, coal mines, etc.
Photographs were displayed in public spaces (e.g., New York armories).
The armories are large halls for military equipment and militia activities, used here as civic centers.
The goal was to expose the public to unseen realities of child labor.
Comparable to Jacob Riis's photographs documenting New York's poor (tenements, sweatshops, saloons).

Cheap American magazines (McClure's, Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, Cosmopolitan) circulated widely.
Magazines cost around a dime, making them accessible to middle and working-class readers.
McClure's hired muckraking reporters to investigate urban corruption, crime, vice, and exploitation.
Examples:
- Stories on John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company.
- Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (initially published in World's Work).
- Cosmopolitan's "The Treason of the Senate," accusing senators of serving big business.
Theodore Roosevelt labeled these investigative journalists as "muckrakers" for exposing societal ills.