Topic 11 Lesson 1: Progressive Drive Reform

Emergence and Core Principles of Progressivism

• Origins of the Progressive Movement:

  • Progressivism began in the 1890s because of major problems caused by growing factories, crowded cities, and new immigrants moving to America.

  • Progressives believed that new ideas, clear thinking, and honest government leaders could make society fair and orderly.

  • The movement brought important changes that still affect our lives today.

• Demographics of Progressive Participants:

  • People from many political parties, social groups, races, and religions joined.

  • Leaders often came from the growing middle class, which had more influence across the country.

  • Unhappy factory workers joined too, along with rich people who wanted to help others for the good of society.

• Philosophical Foundations and Religious Influences:

  • Reformers agreed that big factories and fast city growth created major social and political problems.

  • They wanted state and national governments to pass laws that helped poor people.

  • Many progressives were guided by their religious beliefs to help others and make life fairer.

• Comparison with the Populist Movement:

  • Similarities:

    • Both were groups trying to fix problems in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

    • Both wanted to get rid of corrupt government leaders and make government answer to the public.

    • Both wanted to stop big businesses from hurting regular people.

  • Differences:

    • Progressivism was led mostly by educated middle-class people who wanted to use science and modern ideas to improve society.

    • Populism was led mostly by farmers and factory workers.

    • Volunteer groups, like the Salvation Army, helped poor people during this time.

Factory workers during the Progressive Era. Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

Tenement living conditions by Jacob Riis. Source: FPG / Getty Images

Hull House founded by Jane Addams. Source: Chicago History Museum / Getty Images

Galveston, Texas after the 1900 hurricane. Source: Bettmann / Bettmann Archive

Targets of Progressive Reform

• Political Reform and Corruption:

  • For many women in the movement, the main goal was getting the right to vote (women's suffrage).

  • Other reformers cared most about stopping corruption in city governments.

  • Reformers fought against political machines, which were dishonest city groups run by powerful political bosses.

  • Bosses kept power by bribing people, using violence, and helping people with personal favors to get their votes.

  • City workers helped bosses by ignoring stolen public money.

• Urban Infrastructure and Living Conditions:

  • Fast city growth led to overcrowded neighborhoods that lacked paved streets, safe drinking water, good housing, and basic city services.

  • Dishonest politicians and business owners made money off these services through bribes, keeping living conditions dangerous for poor people.

• Trusts and Big Business:

  • Business owners created giant groups called trusts that stopped competition and raised prices for buyers.

  • Middle-class progressives wanted the government to break up these trusts so smaller businesses could compete.

  • Progressives argued that an older law, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, was too weak to stop big business abuses.

  • Business leaders argued that large companies made goods cheaper and faster, and warned that government rules would hurt the economy.

The Impact of Muckrakers and Naturalist Literature

• Definition and Origin of Muckrakers:

  • Muckrakers were journalists and writers who exposed corruption and bad living conditions to the public.

  • President Theodore Roosevelt gave them the name "muckrakers" after a tool used to clean manure out of animal stalls, saying they only looked at bad things.

  • Writers disliked the name at first, but later wore it like a badge of honor.

  • Their articles in popular magazines reached millions of readers and made people demand new laws.

• Key Investigative Journalists and Works:

  • Lincoln Steffens: An editor at McClure's magazine.

    • Published The Shame of the Cities in 1903, showing corruption in city governments.

    • Showed how Philadelphia allowed electric and water companies to overcharge people.

    • Showed how politicians used bribes and threats to win elections.

    • Co-wrote an article in October 1902 about corruption in St. Louis, describing dirty water coming out of hotel faucets and muddy streets.

  • Nelly Bly: Wrote news articles that gained support for progressive ideas.

  • Jacob Riis: A photographer for the New York Evening Sun.

    • Took pictures of unsafe, crowded, dirty apartment buildings (tenements) where poor people lived.

    • Published How the Other Half Lives between 1890 and 1903, which shocked people and led to better housing laws.

  • Ida Tarbell: Wrote The History of Standard Oil, showing how John D. Rockefeller used mean business tricks to ruin rivals and raise prices.

  • John Spargo: Showed the nation the dangerous work done by young child laborers.

  • Other journalists wrote warnings about bad public schools and families struggling because mothers worked long hours in factories.

• Naturalist Novels and Social Criticism:

  • Naturalist novels were realistic stories about poor or average people facing hard times.

  • Theodore Dreiser: Grew up poor and wrote Sister Carrie in 1900, about a small-town girl moving to the tough cities of Chicago and New York.

  • Frank Norris: Wrote The Octopus, showing how a railroad company controlled California farmers.

  • Upton Sinclair: Wrote The Jungle, showing the hard lives of immigrants in Chicago meat plants and the gross, unsanitary conditions there, which led to new food safety laws.

  • Frances Ellen Watkins: An African American writer who published Iola Leroy in 1892, showing the struggles of Black Americans.

The Social Gospel and Settlement House Movements

• The Social Gospel Movement:

  • Started by Walter Rauschenbusch, a Baptist minister.

  • Combined ideas from socialism and progressivism, teaching that Christian ideas should guide social reform.

  • Taught that helping others and fighting for fairness could make Earth more like the "kingdom of God."

  • Written about in his 1907 book, Christianity and the Social Crisis.

  • Demanded an end to child labor, shorter work weeks, and limits on giant trusts.

  • Opposed by Social Darwinists like William Graham Sumner, who believed only the "fittest" should succeed.

• The Settlement House Movement and Jane Addams:

  • Settlement houses were community centers in poor neighborhoods run by volunteers (mostly women) to offer help.

  • They offered childcare, English classes for immigrants, preschools, and art or theater programs for adults.

  • Jane Addams: Started Hull House in Chicago in 1889 after seeing a settlement house in London. It grew into 13 buildings.

  • Hull House helped poor people learn skills to earn more money and inspired educated women to become social workers, leading to over 400 settlement houses by 1911.

  • Addams campaigned for political reforms, supported Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, helped start the ACLU, and fought for worker safety, women's right to vote, and world peace.

  • She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

• Religious Welfare Organizations:

  • The YMCA offered classes, sports, and dances while teaching Christian values.

  • Missionaries like Dwight L. Moody were active in the YMCA.

Child Labor, Education, and Workplace Safety Reforms

• Child Labor and Education Legislation:

  • Lawyer Florence Kelley fought to end child labor in Illinois and helped start the National Child Labor Committee in 1902.

  • Her work led to the creation of the United States Children's Bureau in 1912 to protect children's health.

  • A national law banning child labor passed in 1916 (Keating-Owen Act), but the Supreme Court called it unconstitutional in 1918; child labor was not fully banned by Congress until 1938.

  • States passed laws requiring kids to attend school, leading to debates over whether schools should teach job skills or subjects like reading and music.

  • Educator John Dewey argued against just memorizing facts, saying kids should learn critical thinking, history, geography, and hands-on skills like cooking and woodworking.

• Workplace Safety and Labor Laws:

  • In the early 1900s, America had the highest rate of workplace accidents in the world, with about 30,000 workers killed and 500,000 injured each year.

  • Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (March 1911, New York City):

    • Factory bosses locked exit doors, trapping workers inside.

    • A total of 146 workers, mostly young Jewish women, died in the fire.

    • This disaster pushed New York and other places to pass strict workplace safety laws and workers' compensation.

  • Laws limiting the workday to 10 hours were struck down by the Supreme Court in 1905 (Lochner v. New York), and courts often blocked labor laws until the 1930s.

Reforming Government Structure and the Political Process

• Municipal Government Innovations:

  • The Galveston Plan:

    • After a huge hurricane in 1900 killed over 8,000 people in Galveston, Texas, the city replaced its mayor with a 5-person team of experts.

    • Each expert managed a department (like fire/police or streets).

    • This idea worked so well that nearly 500 cities adopted it by 1918.

  • City Manager Plan:

    • Cities like Dayton, Ohio, used a variation where an elected council hired a trained professional manager to run city services.

    • Cities bought water, gas, and electric utilities to keep prices fair for citizens.

• Direct Democracy and Political Reforms:

  • Direct Primary: Started in Wisconsin by Governor Robert M. La Follette, allowing citizens to vote directly for party candidates instead of bosses choosing them.

  • Initiative: Allowed voters to collect petition signatures to put a new law directly on the ballot.

  • Referendum: Allowed voters to vote yes or no on laws passed by state legislatures.

  • Recall: Allowed voters to remove bad officials from office before their term ended.

    • Petition requirements for recalls were 25% for state officials and 75% for city council or school board members.

  • The Seventeenth Amendment:

    • Before this reform, US Senators were picked by state legislatures.

    • Congress passed an amendment in 1911, and it was ratified in 1913 as the Seventeenth Amendment, letting citizens vote directly for Senators.

• Key Progressive Governors:

  • Robert M. La Follette ("Fighting Bob"): Governor of Wisconsin in 1900; forced railroads to lower rates and pay taxes, improved schools, and started the direct primary. Wisconsin was called a "laboratory of democracy."

  • Hiram Johnson: Governor of California; stopped railroad control of government, started primary and voting reforms, and protected natural resources like trees, water, and wildlife.

  • Theodore Roosevelt: Governor of New York; created fair civil service hiring rules and taxed corporations.

  • Woodrow Wilson: Governor of New Jersey; reduced railroad influence and passed direct primary laws.