Progressive LegislationChapter 11, Section 2

Dilemmas for Progressives What would you do???

Vote for a bill that you knew was right, making railroads pay their fair share of taxes even if it meant that they would ruin your personal business?

Vote against the bill to protect your family and business from what the railroad lobby threatened?

Serving the public interest was not always easy – it would mean giving in to powerful private interests and made life difficult for many progressives…

Political Reform “Political machines have to be

reduced to mere political scrap iron by the rise of the people.” ~Kansas newspaper editor William Allen White

Most progressives agreed but did NOT agree on how to destroy the machines and corruption.

(Local) Galveston: Model of Efficiency How did a hurricane prove there was a

better way to run a city than with a political machine? September 8, 1900: Galveston, TX was

devastated (6,000 killed and the whole city under water)

How would they rebuild?Mayor and city council members

were overwhelmed by task of rebuilding.

Galveston:Model of Efficiency Reformers convinced state legislature to

set up new local government. Power was placed into hands of 5

commissioners (centralized power) Local business leaders who could use

their experience to operate the government

Quickly able to rebuild buildings, fix streets, get finances in order!

Galveston:Model of Efficiency Others noticed and followed

Over 500 cities adopted commissioner system

158 cities adopted city-manager system City council hires a professional to manage

all daily affairs

Galveston:Model of Efficiency Others simply streamlined their

government by:(1) Cutting government spending

Reduced ability to give friends padded contracts

Reduced number of jobs to be used as favors(2) Changing election procedures

Electing members at large (not from each ward)

Holding nonpartisan elections

Why reforms? Undercut the machines and make

government more efficient Others feared power of immigrants and

poor Causing crime, prostitution, and disorder

(State) Wisconsin: Laboratory of Democracy Who was Robert La Follette?

Born into a poor family Very friendly & outgoing but opposed any

system where a minority got special privileges

As student at University of Wisconsin, he felt an “overmastering sense of anger and wrong and injustice” at gap between poor students and wealthy fraternity members.

Wisconsin:Laboratory of Democracy La Follette served 6 years in Congress Defeated twice for governor, finally got

it in 1900 “Fighting Bob”

The Wisconsin Idea Reforms attacking power of the bosses

Wisconsin:Laboratory of Democracy The Wisconsin Idea

Opposed conventions where parties nominated candidates Machine bosses controlled, reform

candidates had no chance of being selected to run

Switched to a direct primary where all voters in a party nominate and select candidates.

Wisconsin: Laboratory of Democracy The Wisconsin Idea

Lawmakers – cater to citizens instead of bosses Three Reforms:

Initiative – citizens introduce bill, legislature required to vote on it

Referendum – voters cast ballots for/against proposed laws

Recall – citizens can remove elected official from office

(Federal) Presidential reform: TR’s “square deal” Theodore Roosevelt

Used the presidency as an ideal platform to support worthy domestic causes

1902- United Mine workers strike TR intervenes using a third party for arbitration Put pressure on mine owners Workers got 10 % raise 10 to 9 hour work day

42 Anti-trust actions Not antibusiness, just wanted (government) to

regulate trusts who did not benefit the public

Attacking Corruption in the Senate 17th Amendment to Constitution ratified

in 1913, which changed how senators were elected. Before: state legislatures chose

political machines/large trusts ruled the Senate (remember the political cartoon???) Now: direct election of senators by the

people

Expanding Voting Rights Women pushed for the right to vote

(suffrage) 1890: partial suffrage in 19 states

local/state elections only except in Wyoming and Utah

1912: 9 states (all west of Mississippi River) had full voting rights for women

1920: 19th Amendment to Constitution gave women full voting rights everywhere!

Expanding Voting Rights African Americans technically had the

right to vote according to U.S. Constitution Amendment 15 (1870). Southern states revised their constitutions

and wrote laws to prevent this. African American progressives fighting to

change had little support from white progressives.

Economic Reform

Once politics were not controlled by private interests of big business and machines, progressives hoped that

government could begin to protect the public interest.

Economic Reform:Regulating Big Business Problem: Railroads and other big

businesses were being bribed by big factories/companies to give them unfair rate advantages over other smaller factories/farmers.

Making life very difficult for farmersDriving small companies out of

business

Economic Reform:Regulating Big Business Solutions:

La Follette (Wisconsin) set up state railroad commission to oversee operation of railroads. Regulation prevented them from taking bribes

Other states did the same, setting up commissions to regulate railroads, electric power and gas companies. Some even ran public utilities as part of city

government.

Economic Reform:Regulating Big Business

La Follette said his goal:

“was not to ‘smash’ corporations, but to drive them out of politics, and then to treat them exactly the same as

other people are treated.”

Economic Reform:Caring for Injured Workers Problem: Factories, coal mines, and

railroads were very dangerous places to work. Injured workers were generally fired Companies could not afford to care for

them unless all competitors did same.

Economic Reform:Caring for Injured Workers Solution: Muckrakers and union protests

aroused public anger and inspired action. 1902: Maryland was first state to require

employers to buy insurance that would compensate injured workers.

1916: Workmen’s Compensation Law

Economic Reform:Limiting the Workday 1/5 of all people working were women by

1900. Many believed that the long hours were

especially detrimental to women. 1903: Oregon passed law Women cannot work more than 10 hours a day in factory or laundry.

Would this law be upheld and seen in other states?

Economic Reform:Limiting the Workday Curt Muller (owner of a laundry)

challenged this and claimed the gov’t couldn’t tell him or his workers what to do. Fined $10 for breaking the law, so he

challenged it.

Oregon Supreme Court upheld

What would the U.S. Supreme Court say?

Economic Reform:Limiting the Workday Attorney Louis Brandeis defended the

Oregon law Nicknamed the “People’s Lawyer” His brief included 95 pages of statistics,

quotations, other evidence showing that long hours damaged health of women and threatened the public interest.

Supreme Court unanimously voted to uphold the law, and other states soon passed similar laws!

Economic Reform:Limiting the Workday Why was this case so important?

Brandeis: “The overwork of future mothers thus directly attacks the welfare of the nation.”

Courts now began to consider the law’s impact on people’s lives…

Social and Moral Reform:Educating Children“Education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform.” ~John Dewey Laws passed requiring children to go to

school Before Civil War: a few hundred high schools

20% of population illiterate 1900: 6,000 1920: 14,000

6% of population illiterate

Social and Moral Reform:Protecting Women Controversial birth control movement

Margaret Sanger – New York nurse who had seen women die from poorly performed abortions. Worked to inform women how to prevent

pregnancy Faced opposition – arrested for violating

Comstock Act (considered this kind of information obscene).

Social and Moral Reform:Protecting Women Temperance movement

Intoxicated men sometimes beat wives and children, so this movement tried to stop it by outlawing alcohol.

WCTU – Women’s Christian Temperance Union – led by Frances Willard, advocated for: Voting rights for women Prison reform World peace Various health issues

Progressive Progress:Where were they at this point? Confronting nationwide problems

Winning first victories on city and state levels

Still needed to convince Congress and the President to take a more active role in social reform.

Need a new role for federal government!