Progressive Era
Unit Outline - The Progressive Era; Responses to the Challenges Brought About by Industrialization and Urbanization
Background Terms and Events: Immigration, Urbanization, Populism
Immigration
(see previous unit outline)
First wave early 1800s - Irish Catholic, Protestant; German, Irish
"New Immigration", 1850s-1920s- South and West Europe, Asia; Roman
Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish; Italian, Chinese
Immigration centers
Ellis Island
Angel Island
Push factors:
Pull factors:
Ethnic Islands
Generation gap
Nativism
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act
1907 Gentleman's Agreement
1913 Alien Land Law
1920s Immigration Quotas
Emergency Quota Act, 1921
Immigration Restriction Act, 1924
Thomas Nast cartoons
Urbanization
(see previous unit outline)
Great Migration - African-Americans to cities in North
Advantages of cities:
Problems of cities:
Populism (A response to the effects of industrialization on rural America)
The People's Party, 1891
Origins
Granger Movement
Farmer's Alliances
Problems
Railroad rates
Leaders
Tom Watson
Mary Elizabeth Lease, "Raise less corn and more hell!"
Omaha Platform
Economic - paper $, free silver, graduated income tax, loan programs
Transportation - Government ownership of RRs
Political - direct election of senators; secret ballot; initiative, referendum, recall
1896 Presidential Election
William McKinley (R) - Gold standard, business and finance, industrial Northeast
Mark Hanna
William Jennings Bryan (D) - Bimetallism (silver)
Progressivism
Definition: a political and social movement of the 1890s to 1910s, in response to the political, economic and social problems raised by the industrialization of the United States in the late 19th century. Reformers desired to promote the social welfare and moral improvement, enact economic reform, and foster efficiency in all spheres of life. It included local, state and national reform. Most of the reform efforts were carried out by the new middle class, and many of the reformers included women.
The four goals of Progressivism:
mnemonic device: SMEE, or WIRE, or SWIMREEF
1. Promote social welfare (create better living and working conditions)
Living conditions, especially in cities
Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives
Jane Addams, Hull House, Chicago, 1889.
Social Gospel
YMCA, YWCA, Salvation Army
Women and Working Conditions
Birth Control, Margaret Sanger
Fair labor standards and working conditions
Lochner v. New York, 1905
Muller v. Oregon, 1908. Brandeis Brief.
Women's Suffrage, Amendment 19, 1920
2. Promote moral improvement, or "uplift." (teach how to improve personal behavior)
Prohibition / Temperance
WCTU, 1873. Frances Willard
Carrie Nation
Anti-Defamation League, 1913
3. Create economic reform (critique of laissez-faire economy)
Critiques of capitalism
Mark Twain, The Gilded AgeHenry George, Progress and Poverty, 1879 - the two go together!
Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward, 1889
Socialism - Eugene V. Debs, 1900. American socialist party.
Muckrakers - journalists who expose corruption in govt and business
Ida Tarbell - Rockefeller's Standard Oil
Lincoln Steffens - leader of muckrakers, exposed corruption
Upton Sinclair - The Jungle, 1906. "I aimed at the nation's heart, but by accident I hit it in the stomach."
Legislation - Pure Food and Drug Act, 1906; Meat Inspection Act, 1906
4. Foster efficiency (Scientific, rational administration to reduce wastefulness and corruption)
Scientific Management
Frederick Winslow Taylor, Principles of Scientific Management, 1911.
Henry Ford's assembly lines, 1910s
local govt - eliminate political machines
"Boss" Tweed, Tamanny Hall
Galveston Flood, 1900 - experts rebuilt city and made wall to keep out floods
state govt
Oregon System - secret ballot; initiative, referendum and recall
National govt - direct election of senators, Amendment 17, 1913.
National Politics of the Progressive Era
Theodore Roosevelt (R)
Square Deal
Increase federal power
Mediate coal strike, 1902
Regulating trusts; 44 anti-trust suits
Northern Securities Co. v. United States, 1904
Regulating transportation; improve Interstate Commerce Act of 1887
Protecting health; Pure Food and Drug Act, 1906
Conservation of Natural Resources
TR's personality
John Muir
Gifford Pinchot
United States Forest Service
National Park Service, 1916
The Teddy Bear
William Howard Taft (R)
1908 election: "Vote for Taft this time; you can vote for Bryan any time."
Poor record of achievement, but busted more trusts than TR
1st bathtub in White House
TR forms Progressive Party (Bull Moose), 1912 election
Federal Reserve System
Federal Trade Commission
Woodrow Wilson (D)
1912 election; Taft, Roosevelt (Progressive), Wilson
Underwood Tariff
Graduated Income Tax
Clayton Antitrust Act
African-Americans
Jim Crow laws
Booker T. Washington
W. E. B. DuBois
Marcus Garvey
NAACP, 1912
Ida B. Wells
Effect of WWI on Domestic Reform
Some Questions:
How progressive was the Progressive Era?
What were the achievements of the Progressive Era?
What were the limitations of the Progressive Era?
How did the Supreme Court advance and limit Progressive reform?
