P6 |APUSH | Ms. Wiley | ON-1, Progressivism, D___ Name: The Progressive Era, 1900ish-1920ish

An era of ________________________________ and political, economic, and social reform Aimed at curing many ills of American society that had developed during

___________________________________________________ of the Gilded Age (1865-1900ish)

Key Beliefs of the Progressives

________________________________ capitalism is injurious and needs restructuring Urban society is ________________________________ and needs reform Citizens and government should intervene to improve conditions Rejection of social Darwinism Though they often spoke with negative language, their views were rooted in

________________________________ and, at times, utopian ideas

Who were the “Progressives”?

Mostly ________________________________________________ citizens; more women than men Many varied interests whose common thread was faith in activism in both political/private realms Tended to lack “progressive” ideas when it came to ______________________________________________

Key Outcomes

Federal government became stronger and more assertive (laissez faire) Downtrodden received attention/relief from federal government ________________________________ leadership Monopolies decreased ________________________________ reforms

Where Progressivism Fits In

1861-1865:

1865-1900:

1900-1920:

To understand Progressivism requires an understanding of the Gilded Age—the periods overlap. Gilded Age problems remain throughout the Progressive Era; Progressives aim to fix those problems.

General Characteristics of the Gilded Age

U.S. transformed from mostly rural/agricultural country to industrial “Ills” of urbanization and industrialization proliferated: inadequate sewage systems,

trash collection, clean water, education; high instances of crime and fire; child labor Political corruption Massive inequality: in 1889, women earned $_______ a year, men $_______, and

Carnegie ________________________________ (with no income tax) South was “left out” of industrial progress—dreams of a “New South” were crushed by

the reality of ________________________________/tenant farming

Worker Exploitation

Workers become “appendages of the machine” – lost ________________________________ 1 in 5 children labored daily; 2.5 million children under 15 were working full time (c. 1900) High fatality rates:

o 1882: 675 laborers killed each week | 1890: one in 300 railroad workers Union movement underwent slow growth due to opposition from business and government

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Gilded Age Ideology—Social Darwinism

Not all Americans were sympathetic in response to economic and social problems that plagued the nation, due to a widespread belief in social Darwinism:

o Natural selection weeds out weaker individuals and enables strongest to survive o ________________________________________________________________o Social Darwinism fostered support for laissez-faire economics

When faced with questions concerning deplorable industrial conditions/realities, business owners responded:o It’s necessary to keep businesses and progress aliveo ________________________________ is needed to that the nation can competeo It’s ________________________________ that some will be weeded out/“used” in societyo Government cannot help the poor – it only fosters dependency

The Problem with Social Darwinism

Business did not follow the natural law of competition – did all they could to undercut competition Not everyone had opportunity for mobility Employers received lots of help and _________________________________________; those in power were often protected by

government in key wayso Breaking up ________________________________o ________________________________ to protect home industry and encourage Americans to buy American rather than

foreign goods o ________________________________ for railroad companies in the West

Disgruntled Farmers

Farmers started organizing in response to unfair practices of ________________________________o Banks charged very high interest rates and made it difficult for farmers to get credit for needed machinery o Railroads took advantage of farmers by charging them excessive prices for shipping and storageo Railroads forged agreements to ________________________________

Farmers OrganizeThe Grange, 1867-1880s The Farmers’ Alliance, 1880-1890s

• The Grange originated in 1867 as a social forum for isolated western farm families

• 1870s-’80s the Grange was dedicated to fighting the railroads by sponsoring local and state officials

• Some states passed “Granger laws” which ________________________________________________

• Farmers’ Alliance formed in 1880 to fight for low interest rates, government control of railroads and banks, and high tariffs to support farmers

• Membership grew to over 4 million men and women• Won many ________________________________in the

South and West

The Populist Party (People’s Party)

Farming community realized they needed to build a broader base if they hoped to create national change

Formed a ________________________________, the Populist Party, in 1882 Desired reforms : increase money supply; institute income tax that taxed high

incomes heavily; institute federal loan program; government ownership of rails, banks, and telegraph lines; direct election of senators; secret ballot; 8-hour work day; immigration restrictions

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Populist Party Platform Excerpts, 1882

RESOLVED, Transportation being a means of exchange and a public necessity, the government should own and operate the railroads in the interest of the people. The telegraph and telephone, like the post-office system, being a necessity for the transmission of news, should be owned and operated by the government in the interest of the people.

RESOLVED, That we cordially sympathize with the efforts of organized workingmen to shorten the hours of labor, and demand a rigid enforcement of the existing eight-hour law on Government work, and ask that a penalty clause be added to the said law.

RESOLVED, That we oppose any subsidy or national aid to any private corporation for any purpose.

Considered very ________________________________ but won more than a million votes (almost 10% popular vote) in ’92 presidential election and elected several governors, U.S. senators, and state legislatures

Collapsed in 1896 when Democratic Party co-opted the program to ensure votes IMPACTS: some of their reforms would be enacted during the Progressive Era of the 20th century; demonstrated that the downtrodden

could organize and be ________________________________

Coxey’s Army, 1894

________________________________ people lost their jobs during a ‘93 recession Populist Jacob Coxey led hundreds of unemployed on a march to D.C. in 1894 to demand government intervention Petitioned for a ________________________________ Police clubbed and arrested leaders for trespassing on the grass Showed ________________________________ toward the unemployed and changing expectations of the downtrodden

Socialist Organizations

Socialist Labor Organizations emerged in the late 1880s (precursor to Socialist Party, formed in 1901)

Eugene Debs and other labor activists/religious leaders eventually came to the belief that the problems faced by workers and farmers were symptoms of an ________________________________________________________________

Believed that the principles on which the economy were based made the rich richer and the poor poorer and brought out the ________________________________

Movement ________________________________________________________________o Highest % ever garnered in a presidential election was 6% but did well in some states

Had obvious appeal for the downtrodden but threatened the wealthy Key tenets of socialism:

o Government owns major industries and operates them for the welfare of allo Excess wealth and poverty is eliminated through wealth redistribution

The Social Gospel, 1880s-Progressive Era

The Social Gospel movement preached salvation through ________________________________ Critiqued unrestrained capitalism and “conspicuous consumption” of the era Inspired reformers erected ________________________________ to provide social services and

education to the poor Pope Francis continues the movement today

The Social Gospel Today: Pope Francis

The church must work “to eliminate the structural causes of poverty.” While the “Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, he is obliged in the name of Christ to remind all that the rich must help, respect and promote the poor.”

The Pope has criticized excess wealth and has done much to make the life of the Pope more in line with austerity and simplicity (ex: he suspended bishops for taking part in overindulgent renovations).

“…Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion has never been confirmed by the facts.”

Too often capitalism has “led the powerful to feed on the powerless and leave the poor without possibilities.”

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“How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?”

What is your response to Pope Francis’s commentary?

The Gilded Age Presidents

“Lacked luster” Often yielded power to Congress, which was divided little legislation passed Characterized by ________________________________________________________________ Patronage, which led to inefficiency and corruption, led to demands for a merit system

The Pendleton Act, 1883

Authorized a bipartisan civil service commission to make appointments to federal jobs through a ________________________________—applicants had to pass an ________________________________

Candidates/politicians had to find other sources of funds for campaigns Most obvious source was wealthy business owners; thus, the alliance between government and big business became stronger than

ever

Overlapping Goals/Differences—Sorting Out Progressives, Socialists, and Populists

Progressives and PopulistsSimilarities Differences

Progressives and SocialistsSimilarities Differences

Populists and SocialistsSimilarities Differences

Reasons for Emergence of Progressivism

Collapse of Populist movement ________________________________ problems still unfixed ________________________________ Middle-class empathy and democratic participation National scope of problems required national attention Teddy Roosevelt’s ascension to the Presidency

New Journalism: “Muckraking”

“raking up the mud of society” – T. Roosevelt Spread awareness and _________________________________________ Key names: Jacob Riis and Upton Sinclair

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Picture: Unable to open the locked doors of the Triangle shirtwaist sweatshop and desperate to escape from smoke and flames, many of the 146 women who died had leaped eight stories to their death. NYC police set up this makeshift morgue to help identify victims. Impact: lots of state reforms.

Upton Sinclair’s family had once belonged to the southern aristocracy but, at Sinclair’s birth, the family hovered near poverty. When he was fifteen, he began writing to support himself and help pay his college expenses. During his college years, Sinclair encountered socialist philosophy, the influence of which is evident in his writing throughout his life, and became an avid supporter of the Socialist Party. After he graduated from college, he enrolled in Columbia University as a graduate student in 1897.

Sinclair published five novels between 1901 and 1906, but none of them generated much income. Late in 1904, the editors of the popular socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason sent Sinclair to Chicago to examine the lives of stockyard workers. He spent seven weeks in the city’s meatpacking plants, learning every detail about the work itself, the home lives of workers, and

the structure of the business. The Jungle was born from this research and was first published in serial form in Appeal to Reason. The first few publishers whom Sinclair approached told him that his novel was too shocking, and he financed a first publication of the book himself. Eventually, however, Sinclair did find a willing commercial publisher, and in 1906, The Jungle was published in its entirety. With the instant success of The Jungle, Sinclair took his place in the ranks of the “muckrakers,” a term that Theodore Roosevelt coined in 1906 to refer to a group of journalists who devoted themselves to exposing the ills of industrialization. The Jungle raised a public outcry against the unhealthy standards in the meatpacking industry and provoked the passage of The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. The novel’s success satisfied Sinclair’s financial concerns but not his political motivations for writing it. Sinclair had intended the novel to elicit sympathy for the working class and build support for the Socialist movement. His readership, however, was more moved by the threat of tainted beef than the plight of the worker.

Excerpt from The Jungle –

“The meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one—there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit. There was no place for the men to wash their hands before they ate their dinner, and so they made a practice of washing them in the water that was to be ladled into the sausage. There were the butt-ends of smoked meat, and the scraps of corned beef, and all the odds and ends of the waste of the plants, that would be dumped into old barrels in the cellar and left there. Under the system of rigid economy which the packers enforced, there were some jobs that it only paid to do once in a long time, and among these was the cleaning out of the waste barrels. Every spring they did it; and in the barrels would be dirt and rust and old nails and stale water—and cartload after cartload of it would be taken up and dumped into the hoppers with fresh meat, and sent out to the public’s breakfast.”

This long description is among the most famous and influential passages in the novel and helps to explain why the book caused so much public furor upon its publication. Sinclair intended the book to raise public consciousness about the plight of the working poor, but he relied on a technique that emphasized the physically revolting filth and gore of the stockyards. As a result, the novel caused outrage about the unsanitary quality of the meat that was sold in stores rather than the oppression of the poor. The public pressed less for the socialist reforms that Sinclair backed than the public reform to food laws. The image of all kinds of waste being dumped in with the consumer’s product is surely revolting; that it is dumped in without any regard for the consumer by greedy capitalists is infuriating. Sinclair himself stated: “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”

Explain what Sinclair meant when he said: “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”

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Immigration/Nativism in the Industrial Age

Before 1890, most immigrants came from western and northern Europe After 1890: southern and eastern Europe Built ethnic neighborhoods and dealt with an unfriendly culture and the problem of

generation gaps Jewish immigration and college admission quotas enacted 1882 and ’92 Congress slammed door on ________________________________

immigration with the Exclusion Act ________________________________ immigration discouraged (“Gentlemen’s

Agreement”) Many groups

________________________________________________________________

By the eve of WWI (1914), approximately _______ industrial labor force was foreign-born

Immigration quotas adopted at the national level in the 1920s and eugenics policies adopted in various states, leading to ________________________________

Racial Hierarchy

Nativism in the News

Scientific American warned immigrants to “assimilate” quickly or “share the fate of the native Indians” and face “a quiet but sure extermination.”

“Let us whip these Slavic wolves back to the European dens from which they issue, or in some way exterminate them.” – The New York Times [note: Slavic refers to people from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, etc.]

A Chicago Newspaper described Bohemian immigrants as “depraved beasts . . . decayed physically and spiritually, mentally and morally, thievish and licentious.” [note: in this context, Bohemian immigrants refer to Slavic peoples]

Reform Areas—Progressive EraPolitical An increase in ________________________________ in many Western states

Limited power of railroads (state) Direct election of U.S. Senators, 1913 (17th Amendment) Women’s suffrage, 1920 (19th Amendment)

Economic ________________________________ legislation (national) promotion of competition The Federal Reserve was created to “maintain the stability of the financial system”

Social Reform/Control Settlement house movement (local) Efforts to eradicate ________________________________ (national) Prohibition, 18th Amendment, 1919 (national) Education – every state had some form of compulsory education by 1918 ________________________________ in every large city by 1920 (local)

Health/Environmental Reform

Regulation of ________________________________ (national) Regulation of environmental waste (national) More cities/states provide health services (local/state) Pay for ________________________________ hurt on the job (state) ________________________________ (national) Child-labor laws (state) – would take until 1937 for federal government to prohibit child labor By 1920, number of child laborers cut in half from what it had been in 1910

(Some) Legislative Achievements6

Antiquities Act, 1906 Gave the president the authority to restrict the use of public landsPure Food and Drug Act, 1906

Required companies accurately label the ingredients contained in processed foodsDirect response to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle

Meat Inspection Act, 1906 Required meat-processing plants be inspected to ensure the use of good meat and sound sanitation proceduresDirect response to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle

Hepburn Act, 1906 Strengthened a railroad regulatory commission, the Interstate Commerce Commission, allowing it to set maximum railroad rates and inspect financial records (the ICC had formed in 1887 to regulate monopolistic railroad companies)

Mann Act, 1910 Made it illegal to transport women across state lines for “immoral” purposesFederal Reserve Act, 1913 The Federal Reserve System (the Fed) was created to regulate the money supply and interest rates, and

provide a lender of last resorts to avoid panics and runs on the banksClayton Antitrust Act, 1914 Strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act (of 1890, which was ambiguous in its language and was often used

to put down unions instead of trusts!) by outlawing the creation of a monopoly through any means, and stated that unions were not subject to antitrust legislation (unions had been targeted in antitrust cases in years past since they were interpreted as conspiracies to restrict commerce)

Federal Trade Act, 1914 Established the Federal Trade Commission, charged with investigating unfair business practices including monopolistic activity and inaccurate product labeling

Adamson Act, 1916 Established 8-hr work day for railroad employeesKeating-Owen Child Labor Act, 1916

Limited work hours of children engaged in interstate trade and forbade interstate sale of goods produced by children under 14; declared unconstitutional: Court said that child labor dealt with interstate production, as opposed to interstate commerce; thus, Congress had no right to intervene

Workingmen’s Compensation Act, 1916

Financial assistance to federal employees injured on job

Which of the examples above do you think was most progressive given the context?

Do you disagree with any of the above legislation? Explain.

Constitutional Amendments16th, 1913 Federal income tax17th, 1913 Direct election of Senators18th, 1919 Prohibition19th, 1920 Women’s Suffrage

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Black Activism in the Progressive Era

None of the “progressives” turned their energies to the realm of ________________________________ Two key black activists emerged: Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois

Washington: “Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him.”DuBois: “Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season.”

Booker T. Washington W.E.B. DuBois• Surest way for blacks to gain equal rights was to demonstrate “industry,

thrift, intelligence, and property”• ______________________________________________, would help

blacks overcome injustice• Founded Tuskegee Institute• ______________________________________________ as means of

escape from web of sharecropping and debt• Cultivated local white approval with his conservative, accomodationist

policies• Faced growing black and white liberal opposition

(_______________________________________________________)

• ________________________________ Washington’s passive approach that seemed to accept the myth of black inferiority

• Believed blacks must _______________________________________

• Helped to form NAACP• Primary editor for NAACP’s monthly magazine,

The Crisis

Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) Washington was born a slave on a small farm in the Virginia backcountry; he moved with his family after emancipation to work in the salt furnaces and coal mines of West Virginia. After a secondary education at Hampton Institute, he founded Tuskegee Industrial Institute in Alabama (1881). In his advocacy of Tuskegee Institute and its educational method, Washington revealed the political adroitness and accommodationist philosophy that were to characterize his career in the wider arena of race leadership. He convinced southern white employers and governors that Tuskegee offered an education that would keep blacks "down on the farm" and in the trades. To prospective northern donors and particularly the new self-made millionaires such as Rockefeller and Carnegie, he promised the inculcation of the Protestant work ethic. To blacks living within the limited horizons of the post-Reconstruction South, Washington held out industrial education as the means of escape from the web of sharecropping and debt and the achievement of self-employment and landownership. Washington cultivated local white approval, but it was northern donations that made Tuskegee Institute by 1900 the best-supported black educational institution in the country. Washington’s Atlanta Compromise Address, delivered before the Cotton States Exposition in 1895, enlarged Washington's influence into the arena of race relations and black leadership. Washington offered black acquiescence in disfranchisement and social segregation if whites would encourage black progress in economic and educational opportunity. Washington kept his white following by conservative policies and moderate utterances, but he faced growing black and white liberal opposition in the NAACP (1909-present), which demanded civil rights and encouraged protest in response to white aggressions such as lynching’s, disfranchisement, and segregation laws. At the same time, however, he tried to translate his own personal success into black advancement through secret sponsorship of civil rights suits.

William E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) DuBois strongly opposed Washington’s position set forth in his Atlanta Exposition Address. DuBois felt that renouncing the goal of complete integration and social equality, even in the short run, was counterproductive and exactly the opposite strategy from what best suited African Americans. DuBois was a staunch proponent of a classical education and condemned Washington's suggestion that blacks focus only on vocational skills. Without an educated class of leadership, whatever gains were made by blacks could be stripped away by legal loopholes. He believed that every class of people in history had a “talented tenth.” The downtrodden masses would rely on their guidance to improve their status in society. DuBois’s key idea was that political and social equality must come first before blacks could hope to have their fair share of the economic pie. He vociferously attacked the Jim Crow laws and practices that inhibited black suffrage. In 1905, DuBois met with a group of 30 men at Niagara Falls, Canada. They drafted a series of demands essentially calling for an immediate end to all forms of discrimination. The Niagara Movement was denounced as radical by most whites at the time. Educated African Americans, however, supported the resolutions. Four years later, members of the Niagara Movement formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This organization sought to fight for equality on the national front. It also intended to improve the self-image of African Americans. After centuries of slavery and decades of second-class status, DuBois and others believed that many African Americans had come to accept their position in American society. As time passed, DuBois began to lose hope that African Americans would ever see full equality in the United States. In 1961, he moved to Ghana. He died at the age of 96 just before Martin Luther King Jr. led the historical civil rights march on Washington.

Which black activist had the wiser approach, Washington or DuBois? Why?

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Mass Culture & the Middle Class

Industrialization eventually contributed to a ________________________________o Increased incomes for an expanding middle class and time for leisure

________________________________ Amusement parks, baseball, bicycle, boxing, parks, picnic areas, tennis, traveling performers, shopping centers, department stores,

amateur photography, all became popular

Progressive Era Video Notes:

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