Review Card 7

The Progressive Movement

 Progressivism flourished from 1890 until the outbreak of World War I.

 The aim of Progressivism was to remedy the injustices that had resulted from America’s rapid

industrialization. They wanted to fight corruption and restore economic opportunities.

 Progressives believed in using government power to correct these abuses.

Roots of Progressivism

1. Many new problems created by industrial society needed to be addressed:

 Brutal working conditions

 Environmental exploitation

 Urban overcrowding

 Extreme inequalities of wealth

 Child labor

 Defective, substandard consumer products

2. Reform Movements: Reform has been a continuing process in American history, based on the belief that society can be made better. Reformers try to improve society, leading to social change.

3. The legacy of the Populists: Progressives adopted many of their ideas.

4. The influence of the middle class:

 Progressivism was middle class, urban, and nationwide. This was in contrast to Populism, which was

rural and had its main support in the South and West.

 Progressive leaders were generally members of the professional classes: professors, lawyers, doctors, religious ministers, and writers. They were supported by the lower middle-classes: technicians, clerical workers, small business owners, and service personnel.

5. The “Social Gospel” movement: Progressives often acted out of a sense of moral responsibility based on religion. Protestant ministers of the Social Gospel movement inspired the Progressives. Churches often provided services to the poor.

6. New forms of journalism: The “Muckrakers” were reporters who gave widespread exposure to the abuses of industrial society and stimulated the desire for reform.

7. Rising consumer consciousness: Progressives believed that government intervention was needed to control the market and ensure that mass-produced goods, especially food and drugs, were safe.

8. Progressives favored the women’s suffrage movement (giving women the right to vote), social change (changes to improve society), and the regulation of Big Business. They joined reform movements (groups demanding change) and formed nongovernmental organizations (private groups) to achieve these goals.

The Early Progressives

Muckrakers published articles in magazines and newspapers exposing abuses and corruption and stimulating a public outcry for reform. For example, Ida Tarbell exposed the unfair business practices of Rockefeller in her History of the Standard Oil Company. Upton Sinclair exposed the unhealthy practices of the meat-packing industry in The Jungle.

 Social reformers like Jane Addams established settlement houses for the poor, where middle class reformers lived alongside immigrants and the poor and provided them with services like education. Others formed nongovernmental organizations (associations and clubs) to promote social change, such as the National Woman Suffrage Association, the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League.

 Municipal reformers cleaned up city government by eliminating political machines and introducing new forms of local government such as by a commission or a professional city manager

Progressive Reforms in State Government

Progressives elected state governors and legislators to promote reforms. One example was Governor Napoleon Broward of Florida.

Progressive Political Reforms

 Initiative: voters could directly introduce bills into

the state legislature.

 Referendum: voters could repeal a law passed by

the legislature.

 Recall: voters could dismiss elected officials in a

special election.

 Secret ballot

 Direct primary: party members voted on candidates

to represent their party in running for office.

 Direct election of U.S. Senators:17th Amendment

 Women’s suffrage movement: many individual states gave women the right to vote.

Progressive Social and Economic Reforms

Many state governments also passed the following:

 Laws regulating conditions in urban housing

 Child labor laws

 Laws regulating safety and health in factories

 Workers’ compensation for work-related injuries

 Laws limiting the number of hours that women could work in factories

 Laws conserving natural resources and wild life: in Florida, their actions later led to protection of the Everglades

 Laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol (Temperance Movement)

The Progressive Presidents

Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909)

 Believed the President was the steward of the people’s interests and expanded the President's powers.

 His efforts were meant to give Americans a “Square Deal,” especially in natural resource conservation, control

of corporations and protection of the consumers through

government regulation of food and drugs:

• Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act

• Trust buster: “good” vs. “bad” trusts. He tried to break up trusts that acted against the public interest.

• 1902 Coal Strike: intervened to settle the dispute and get coal to consumers.

• Conservation: created new national parks and monuments; formed the National Conservation Commission.

William Howard Taft (1909–1913)

 Continued many of Roosevelt’s policies, but was a clumsy politician and later came into conflict with Roosevelt.

 Introduced 16th Amendment, making a federal tax on individual incomes possible.

 Election of 1912: Republicans divided between Taft and Roosevelt’s new Progressive Party—gave Democrats the election.

Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921)

 His “New Freedom” attacked the “triple wall of privilege”: banks, tariffs and trusts.

 Lowered tariffs, introduced the graduated income tax, created the Federal Reserve System (1913), and strengthened antitrust legislation with the Clayton Antitrust Act.

 Passed a federal law prohibiting child labor in 1916, which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional.

 Progressive Era came to an end with World War I.