The Era of Progressive Reform Chapter 13

The Era of Progressive Reform Chapter 13

I. The Origins of Progressivism n n Problems in the late 1800 s: unemployment, unsafe working conditions, political corruption, etc. Progressive Movement – the movement to solve these and other social problems

I. The Origins of Progressivism n Many Americans believed in socialism – economic and political philosophy favoring public or gov’t control of property and income -Goals: 1) end the capitalist system 2) distribute wealth more equally 3) nationalize American industries (gov’t owned)

I. The Origins of Progressivism n Labor Movement: unions focused on reducing hours, higher wages, and better working conditions

I. The Origins of Progressivism n Muckrakers: journalists who wrote about corruption in politics and business – nicknamed by Teddy Roosevelt – EX: -Lincoln Steffens – exposed political corruption in the cities -Ida Tarbell – exposed the practices of Standard Oil -Upton Sinclair – wrote The Jungle (1906)described the meatpacking industry

n In spite of the phenomenal success of The Jungle, Upton Sinclair lamented what he considered to be its failure when he made his often-quoted assessment: “I aimed at the public’s heart and by accident I hit it in the stomach. ”

I. The Origins of Progressivism n 1) 2) State Reforms: introduced by governors – most famous was Robert “Battling Bob” La. Follette from Wisconsin Direct primary – election where party members select a candidate to run in the general election 17 th Amendment – allowed voters, rather than state legislators, to choose their U. S. Senator

I. The Origins of Progressivism 3) 4) Intiative – allowed citizens to propose new laws by obtaining a certain % of voters’ signatures on a petition -the proposed law is then placed on the ballot in the next election Referendum – process in which citizens may demand, by petition, that a law passed by the legislature be “referred” to voters for approval or rejection

I. The Origins of Progressivism 5) Recall – gave voters the ability to remove public officials from office before the next election

I. The Origins of Progressivism n 1) 2) Federal Reforms: led by the Presidents – esp. Teddy Roosevelt with his “Square Deal” programs Sherman Anti-Trust Act – outlawed monopolies Hepburn Act – required railroads to get permission from the U. S. gov’t before raising rates

I. The Origins of Progressivism 3) 4) 5) Pure Food and Drug Act – passed in response to The Jungle – created the Pure Food and Drug Adm. to protect consumers Meat Inspection Act – required federal inspection of meatpacking companies 16 th Amendment – created a federal income tax

I. The Origins of Progressivism 6) 7) National Park Service – protected and ran the national parks 18 th Amendment – prohibited the making, selling, and transportation of alcohol

II. Progressive Presidents n n n Theodore Roosevelt (1901 -1909) William Howard Taft (1909 -1913) Woodrow Wilson (1913 -1921)

II. Progressive Presidents n William Howard Taft (Rep. ) -handpicked by Roosevelt to run in the 1908 election -defeated William Jennings Bryan (Dem. ) who lost for the 3 rd time -never gained full support of the progressives

II. Progressive Presidents n Election of 1912: -Taft defeated Roosevelt in the Rep. convention -Roosevelt and many progressives formed a third party and called it the Progressive Party (“Bull Moose Party”) -the split in the Rep. party allowed a Dem. , Woodrow Wilson, to win the election

III. Women’s Suffrage n n By 1900 only WY, ID, UT, and CO had granted voting rights to women National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) used protest to force Pres. Wilson to take action on woman suffrage -the group picketed the White House and went on hunger strikes if arrested

III. Women’s Suffrage n 19 th Amendment (1920) – guarantees women the right to vote

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The Origins of Progressivism: n n n Progressive Era: the era in American history from about 1890 -1920 Progressivism – a collection of different ideas and activities about how to fix the problems within American society All Progressives agreed that the gov’t should take a more active role in solving society’s problems caused by urbanization and industrialization

The Origins of Progressivism: n n Progressives believed that first the gov’t needed to be fixed and made more responsible to people before other problems could be addressed Muckrakers – a group of journalists who investigated social conditions and political corruption -their articles put pressure on gov’ts to introduce reforms

The Origins of Progressivism: n Examples of muckrakers: -Ida Tarbell – exposed the practices of the Standard Oil Company -Lincoln Steffens – attacked political machines (buying votes, etc. ) -Jacob Riis – How the Other Half Lives – poverty, disease, crime -Upton Sinclair – The Jungle – exposed the meat-packing industry

The Origins of Progressivism: n n Many types of progressivism – often took opposing sides on issues and how to solve the problems One group believed that problems in society could be solved if government was efficient -wanted to replace the existing system with a commission plan – board of commissioners with expertise in city services would select and hire specialists to run city departments (fire, police, etc. )

The Origins of Progressivism: n n Many progressives wanted more democracy in society Robert La Follette – Wisconsin governor – criticized how political parties ran their conventions -introduced the direct primary – a party election in which all party members vote for a candidate to run in the general election

The Origins of Progressivism: n Other reforms: -initiative – allowed a group of citizens to introduce legislation and required the legislature to vote on it -referendum – allowed proposed legislation to be submitted to the voters for approval -recall – allowed voters to demand a special election to remove an elected official from office

The Origins of Progressivism: -17 th Amendment (1913) – provided for the direct election of U. S. Senators (rather than being selected by state legislatures) n The movement for women’s voting rights was known as the suffrage movement -many progressives joined the movement

The Origins of Progressivism: n After the Civil War, the Republicans in Congress introduced the 14 th and 15 th Amendments, which protected the voting rights of African Americans -the woman suffrage movement had wanted these amendments to apply to women as well -Republicans refused

The Origins of Progressivism: n n By 1900 only WY, ID, UT, and CO had granted voting rights to women National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) used protest to force Pres. Wilson to take action on woman suffrage -the group picketed the White House and went on hunger strikes if arrested

The Origins of Progressivism: n n 19 th Amendment (1920) – guarantees women the right to vote Social welfare progressives created charities to help the poor and disadvantaged, and pushed for laws to help fix social problems

The Origins of Progressivism: n n n 1900: over 1. 7 million under the age of 16 worked outside the home The National Child Labor Committee worked to end child labor Many adult workers labored in difficult and dangerous conditions -building codes, workers’ compensation, zoning laws, and health codes made the work environment safer

The Origins of Progressivism: n n The temperance movement called for the moderation or elimination of alcohol Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was formed in 1874 -worked to reduce alcohol consumption, but later pushed for prohibition

The Origins of Progressivism: n A group of progressives focused on regulating big business, but they disagreed on the solutions -one side wanted to break up big companies to restore competition -the other wanted the creation of gov’t agencies to regulate big companies

The Origins of Progressivism: n n n Socialism – the idea that the gov’t should own and operate industry for the community as a whole -an idea shared by only a small minority of progressives Eugene Debs – led the American Socialist Party – ran for Pres. in 1912 Most Americans and most progressives believed in the American system of freeenterprise (capitalism)

The Origins of Progressivism: n During his second term, Theodore Roosevelt’s reform program was known as “Square Deal” -felt gov’t should try to balance the needs of all the groups in American society -believed the U. S. needed progressive reforms to remain an efficient society and compete with other nations

n By 1905: consumer protection became a national issue -patent medicines and food consumption became serious threats to Americas, forcing new legislation

n 1906: Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle described his observations of Chicago slaughterhouses -as a result, federal legislation was passed -Meat Inspection Act – required federal inspection of meat sold and set standards of cleanliness in meatpacking plants

State Reforms:

State Reforms: 3) 4) Initiative – allowed citizens to propose new laws by obtaining a certain percentage of voters’ signatures on a petition – the proposed law is then placed on the ballot in the next election for approval or rejection Referendum – process in which citizens may demand, by petition, that a law passed by the legislature be “referred” to voters for their approval or rejection

State Reforms: 5) Recall – gave voters the ability to remove public officials from office before the next election

Federal Reforms: n 1) 2) Introduced by the Presidents – esp. Theodore Roosevelt with his “square deal” programs – federal reforms included: Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) – outlawed any combination of companies that attempted to create a monopoly Hepburn Act (1906) – required railroads to get permission from the U. S. gov’t before raising rates

Federal Reforms: 3) 4) 5) 6) Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) – passed in response to The Jungle – created the Pure Food and Drug Adm. to protect consumers Meat Inspection Act (1906) – required federal inspection of meatpacking companies 16 th Amendment (1913) – created the federal income tax National Park Service (1916) – protected and ran the national parks

Federal Reforms: 7) 18 th Amendment (1919) – prohibited the making and selling of alcohol

Progressive Presidents: n n Theodore Roosevelt (1901 -1909) William Howard Taft (1909 -1913) Woodrow Wilson (1913 -1921) William Howard Taft (Rep. ) – handpicked by Roosevelt to run in the 1908 election – defeated William Jennings Bryan (Dem. ) who lost for the 3 rd time – never gain the full support of the progressive republicans

Progressive Presidents: n Election of 1912 – Taft defeated Roosevelt in the Rep. convention – Roosevelt and many progressives decided to form a 3 rd party and called it the Progressive Party (nicknamed the “Bull Moose” Party) – the split in the Republican Party allowed a Democrat, Woodrow Wilson, to win the election

Women’s Suffrage: n n Suffrage – the right to vote 19 th Amendment (1920) – granted women suffrage