1900-1920 PROGRESSIVE ERA

What groups of people are considered

“the needy” in today’s society?

WARM UP

The Progressive Era was aimed to restore economic

opportunities for Americans and correct injustices in

American life.

Were the Progressives successful in making government more responsive

to the will of the people?

PROGRESSIVE ERA

Who were “the

needy” in

1890?

Reaction to “extremes” of modern life

Capitalism & individualism

Urbanization & Industrialization

Labor conflict

Immigration

Environmental exploitation

ORIGINS OF PROGRESSIVISM

1. Creating economic reform

2. Protecting social welfare

3. Promoting moral improvement

4. Fostering efficiency

FOUR GOALS OF PROGRESSIVISM

Panic of 1893

Economic depression (worst one to

date)

Americans begin to question

capitalist economic system

Some Americans (especially workers)

embrace socialism

Because of uneven balance among big

business, government, and ordinary

people

CREATING ECONOMIC REFORM

Muckrakers: journalists who wrote about the corrupt side of

business in mass circulation magazines

Termed for cleaning/raking up the “muck” of the world

Often worked to expose social ills and corporate and political

corruption

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (1906)

Intended to write a novel about labor exploitation

Instead uncovered the sickening conditions of the meatpacking

industry

CREATING ECONOMIC REFORM

Let’s read

The Jungle!

Social welfare reformers sought to soften

the harsh conditions of industrialization

Settlement House Movements

Jane Addams

YMCA (Young Men Christian’s Association)

Opened libraries, sponsored classes, built

athletic facilities

Salvation Army

Soup Kitchens, Orphanages, etc.

Florence Kelly

Advocate for improving the lives of women

and children

Worked to end child labor and advocate for

working women’s rights

PROTECTING SOCIAL WELFARE

No regulations

Few public schools

Cotton fields, factories and

coal mines

People of color

Immigrants

Working class poor whites,

southerners

CHILD LABOR

Could perform unskilled jobs

for lower wages

Small hands could fit into tiny

part of machinery!

Wages so low for adults that

everyone in family needed to

work

Accidents caused by fatigue

Health problems from stunted

growth

CHILD LABOR

1904 – National Child Labor Committee

Sent investigators to gather evidence of children working in harsh

conditions

Organized exhibitions with photographs & statistics to dramatize

Joined by labor union members – child labor lowers wages for all

workers

Keating-Owen Act of 1916

Prohibits transportation across state lines of goods produced with

child labor

Supreme Court decides that it’s unconstitutional to regulate

labor due to state’s rights

CHILD LABOR

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory

WORKING WOMEN

Women wearing shirtwaist

blouses gather around a

long table with gas-heated

irons. Pressing was most

often done by men.

Photographer: unknown,

ca. 1900

Max Blanck and Isaac Harris

Owners of the large Tr iangle Shi r twaist factor y were known as the "Shi r twaist K ings . “ They immigrated to the Uni ted States f rom Russ ia and had made a for tune manufactur ing "Gibson g i r l " s ty le b louses.

WORKING WOMEN

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

1911

New York City

Locked doors

Workers trapped in the building

800 trapped

146 women died

Fire Exposes:

Female labor

Poor working conditions,

Lack of immigrant rights

Lack of safety regulations

WORKING WOMEN

The f i re escape

that ends in

midair must be

abol ished.

IN

COMPLIANCE

WITH THE

LAW?

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (cont.)

Fire on 7th, 8th and 9th floors

Doors locked

No sprinkler system

Fire escape collapsed

Factory owners guilty of manslaughter

Effects

Stronger laws regulating hours and conditions

1917

30 states had workers’ compensation laws

Improved fire codes

WORKING WOMEN

Reformers felt that morality, not the

workplace, could improve the lives of

poor people

Wanted poor city dwellers to uplift

themselves & improve personal behavior

Prohibition

the banning of alcoholic beverages

Thought that alcohol was undermining

American morals

PROMOTING MORAL IMPROVEMENT

Temperance Movement:

sought to make people

refrain from alcohol

consumption

Alcohol linked to corrupt

urban politics, prohibition,

gambling, disintegrating

families and slowing of work

http://thecolbertreport.cc.co

m/videos/ndmtp9/ken-burns

PROHIBITION

Leaders

Woman’s Christian Temperance Union

(WCTU)

Led by Frances Willard, almost 1 million

members

Largest women’s group in nation’s

history

Anti-Saloon League

Carrie Nation: Smashed up bars with

hatchet

PROHIBITION

Opposition

Some immigrant groups

(especially Catholics)

Working class (especially men

PROHIBITION

Prohibition Law

States first – half of US

“dry” by 1914, and ¾ of

territory had outlawed

saloons

18th Amendment (1919) –

outlawed all alcohol sale,

manufacture, and

transport

PROHIBITION

The Progressive Era was aimed to restore economic

opportunities for Americans and correct injustices in

American life.

Were the Progressives successful in making government more responsive

to the will of the people?

PROGRESSIVE ERA

Introduction of assembly lines

into the work place

tasks be performed much more

quickly

Leads to fatigued workers and

injuries

Henry Ford

Automobile factory

Reduced the work day to 8 hours

Paid workers $5 a day

Incentive attracted thousands of

workers

FOSTERING EFFICIENCY

“When I’m

through

everybody will

be able to

afford [a car],

and about

everyone will

have one”

-- Henry Ford,

1909

Political Bosses reward

supporters with jobs and buy

votes with favors and bribes

Reformers want to make

government more efficient and

responsive to constituents

Many distrust immigrant

participation in politics

CLEANING UP GOVERNMENT

Natural disasters bring out

flaws in system

City councils are replaced

with commissions

Commissions = groups of

experts taking charge of

specific government

departments

CLEANING UP GOVERNMENT

Robert M. La Follette

Senator from WI

Drove corporations out of politics

Attack big business interests

Elections

Initiative – bill originated by the people rather than the lawmakers

Referendum – a vote on the initiative

Recall – enabled voters to remove public officials from elected positions

Forced to face another election

17 th Amendment – Direct Election of Senators

Previously elected by state officials

Power of the people!

CLEANING UP GOVERNMENT

At the turn of the century, 1/5 American women held jobs outside the home

Leaving behind the “cult of domesticity”

25 percent worked in manufacturing

½ worked in garment manufacturing

Growth of business more and more women worked in offices as stenographers and typists women sought high school educations to train for work.

Middle- and upper-class women go to college

number of women’s colleges grew

Graduates join reform movements

Women get married at later ages

WOMEN IN PUBLIC LIFE

Political reformers believe

women’s votes would elevate

political tone, advance reforms

popular among women’s groups

Used “taxation without

representation” reasoning

WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE

National American Women’s Suffrage

Association founded in 1890 by

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B.

Anthony

Changes in law/elevation women’s

status, and demanding the right to vote

Carrie Chapman Catt led new wave of

NAWSA

Since women could do the work of men,

women should also have the right to vote

Black women formed separate group

under Ida B. Wells (National

Association of Colored Women)

WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE

"I will not begin at this late day by doing what

my soul abhors; sugaring men, weak deceitful

creatures, with flattery to retain them as

escorts or to gratify a revenge.“ – Ida B. Wells

Three Part Strategy for Suffrage

Tried to convince state

legislatures

Wyoming (1869)

Utah, Colorado, Idaho (1890s)

Courts: brought cases testing

14th amendment

Decided women are citizens, but

voting isn’t a citizenship right

National constitutional

amendment

Rejected by Congress for 42 years

19th Amendment (1920)

WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE

WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE

PRESIDENTIAL TIMELINE

Hayes

Garfield

Arthur

Cleveland

Harrison

Cleveland

McKinley

Roosevelt

Taft

Wilson

Taft Hayes McKinley

Roosevelt Garfield

Arthur

Cleveland

Harrison

Cleveland Wilson

Very popular with American Public

Square Deal conservation of natural resources

control of corporations

consumer protection

Successful Reforms: Mediated disputes between miners

and owners

Used Sherman Anti-Trust Act to break up some large businesses

Used Interstate Commerce Act to regulate railroads

Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act increased public health protections

TEDDY ROOSEVELT

Conservation

Conservation reforms

protected environment

Gifford Pinchot appointed

head of forest service

broke pro-business policies of Republican Party

targeted monopolistic business practices for reform

create a Bureau of Corporations to investigate and regulate big business

over 40 major corporations were sued for antitrust or price-fixing violations

expanded the powers of the government within the economy

new power for organized labor to organize and exert leverage against employers

Ex: threatened use of the U.S. Army to seize the coal mines and operate them until the owners agreed to arbitration to settle the strike.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT

TR promised not to run for re -

election in 1908

Picked lawyer and judge

William Howard Taft to be his

successor

1908 ELECTION

Bigger “trustbuster” than TR

Broke up twice as many trusts in half the time

Trouble carrying out TR’s legacy

Had promised lower tariff

Payne-Aldrich Tariff passed, much higher tax

Angers conservationists, appoint business-friendly Richard Ballinger as Secretary of the Interior

Fires Pinchot from Forestry service

TAFT

Public (and Roosevelt) angry

with Taft, decide to

challenge him in 1912

election

Roosevelt forms Progressive

Party

Nicknamed Bull-Moose Party

1912 Election: split between

Taft (Republican) and

Roosevelt (Progressive)

helps Democrats

REPUBLICAN PARTY SPLITS

REPUBLICAN PARTY SPLITS

Tried to distance himself

from the Democratic

party “machine”

Had progressive ideals

Reform program called the

“New Freedom”

WOODROW WILSON

Asked Congress to create legislation that would finally address trusts and tame the rampant monopolies

Antitrust laws:

Clayton Anti-Trust Act – declared certain business practices illegal (exclusive contracts, local price cutting to freeze out competitors, inter-corporate stockholding)

Gompers “Magna Carta of Labor”

Federal Trade Act – created Federal Trade Commission to investigate unfair business practice and violations of regulation

WOODROW WILSON

Economic Reforms:

Tariffs – passed Underwood

Tariff, reduced rates

Federal Income Tax – created by

16th Amendment

Graduated Tax – the higher your

income, the higher percentage of

income goes to taxes

Federal Reserve System –

established reserve banks that

could lend money to national and

state banks

Made it easier to get credit

WOODROW WILSON

Civil Rights

Failed to address issues of African American rights

World War I

After 1914, war in Europe increasingly took up Wilson’s attention

FAILURES OF PROGRESSIVISM

The Progressive Era was aimed to restore economic

opportunities for Americans and correct injustices in

American life.

Were the Progressives successful in making government more responsive

to the will of the people?

PROGRESSIVE ERA

1914-1918 WORLD WAR I

Is isolationism really an option for a country as powerful as the United States?

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What?

War involving nearly all

the nations of the

world

When?

1914-1918

WORLD WAR I

Why?

Long Term –

Militarism

Alliances

Imperialism

Nationalism

Short Term –

Assassination of

Franz Ferdinand of

the Austro-Hungarian

Empire

WORLD WAR I

Who?

Central Powers

Germany

Austria-Hungary

Ottoman Empire

Bulgaria

Allies

Russia

France

Great Britain

Italy

Japan

United States (1917)

WORLD WAR I

Where?

Which side should the

US pick?

Central powers

11 million German-

Americans

Irish-Americans hated

Great Britain

Allies

Close Cultural ties

Shared transatlantic

cables (easier

communication)

Big business loaned much

$ to allies

WORLD WAR I

Nations 1914 1915 1916

Britain $594,271,863 $911,794,954 $1,526,685,102

France $159,818,924 $364,397,170 $628,851,988

Germany $344,794,276 $28,863,354 $288,899

US Exports to both Sides

What did it take to get the US involved?

1. Blockades

Britain blockaded (stopped) all German ships going to America

Germany announced a submarine war with Britain

Lusitania torpedoed, sinking with 1200 passengers and crew (including 128 Americans)

Eventually found out to be carrying 4200 cases of ammunition

The US criticizes Germany for their action

Germany agreed not to sink passenger ships without warning in the future

US INVOLVEMENT

2. Unlimited Submarine Warfare

1917 Germany announced

“unlimited submarine warfare” in

the warzone

Why?? Otherwise their blockade

would not be successful

3. Zimmerman Note

US intercepted a note from

Germany to Mexico

Promised Texas, New Mexico, and

Arizona back to Mexico in return

for an alliance with Germany

US INVOLVEMENT

Not so good…

Russia left the war after its communist revolution in 1917

Made the war a “one front war” for Germany – all its troops could

concentrate on France

HOW’S THE WAR LOOKING FOR THE

ALLIES?

American was not ready

for war

200,000 men were in

service when war was

declared

Congress passes

Selective Service Act in

1917

By the end of 1918, 24

million had signed up

and almost 3 million

were called to duty

About 2 million American

troops reached Europe

US ENTERS WAR

Fresh US Soldiers

After 2.5 years of fighting, the Allied

forces were exhausted

Americans have fresh and

enthusiastic troops

American infantry -- many men had

never ventured far from their

hometowns

US ENTERS WAR

Convincing the American People

Propaganda

Goals for War = “Idealism”

1. War to end all wars

2. Making the world safe for

democracy

US ENTERS THE WAR

How can average Americans

help with the war effort?

Provide food, money, and fresh

soldiers needed to win the war

Women

Filled factory jobs

Helped bring passage of 19 th

Amendment in 1920

African Americans

Black soldiers served in

segregated units

Great Migration

Thousands of African Americans

move North to work in factories

THE WAR AT HOME

Enforcing Loyalty

Hatred of all things German

(“sauerkraut” = Liberty Cabbage)

Espionage Act 1917 & Sedition Act

1918

Punished those against war (many are

labor leaders losing workers)

1918 Flu Epidemic

Influenza spreads from Europe to US

600,000 killed

THE WAR AT HOME

How would the flu epidemic

lead to support for an isolated

United States?

Idealism: Wilson’s Fourteen Points

Wilson’s plan for after the war

Fourteen promises including freedom

of the seas & a League of Nations to

work for peace

CONVINCING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Wilson’s plan for peace is

rejected by Allies

“Fourteen points” included:

No secret treaties

Freedom of the Seas

More free trade

Reduction of arms

Less colonialism

A League of Nations to promote

peace through collective security.

WILSON FIGHTS FOR PEACE

The Big Four leaders work out treaty details Wilson (U.S.) Clemenceau (France) Lloyd George (England) Orlando (Italy)

Wilson conceded on most of his 14 points in return for the establishment of the League of Nations.

June 28, 1919 Big Four and the leaders of the

defeated nations Gather at Hall of Mirrors to sign

the Treaty of Versailles

ALLIES REJECT WILSON’S PLAN,

SIGN TREAT Y OF VERSAILLES

The Treaty established nine new nations including Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.

It broke up the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire empires.

It barred Germany from maintaining an army, required them to give Alsace-Lorraine back to France, and forced them to pay $33 billion in reparations to the Allies.

TREATY OF VERSAILLES

The harsh treatment of Germany prevented the Treaty from creating a lasting peace in Europe

The Treaty humiliated the Germans by forcing them to admit sole responsibility for the war (War-Guilt Clause)

Furthermore, Germany would never be able to pay $33 billion in reparations.

THE WEAKNESS OF THE TREATY

DEBATE OVER TREATY AT HOME

Treaty was hotly debated

Conservative senators, headed by were suspicious of the

League of Nations’ joint economic and military

commitments

Henry Cabot Lodge

Many wanted the U.S. Congress to maintain the right to

declare war itself.

Ultimately, Congress rejected U.S. involvement in the

very League the U.S. President had created

THE LEGACY OF THE WAR

Domestic:

strengthened both the military and the

power of the government

propaganda campaign provoked powerful

fears in society.

Foreign:

Many countries have political instability and

violence that lasted for years

Russia established the first Communist state

during the war

Americans called World War I , “The War

to end all Wars”

unresolved issues drag the U.S. into even

more conflict.

22 million dead, more

than half civilians. An

additional 20 million

wounded.