The Progressive EraReform shifts from the farm to the

city and climbs the ladder of government from the local to the

state and then to the national level.

Life at the Turn of the CenturyThe average life expectancy was 47only 14% of the homes had a bathtubonly 8% of the homes had a telephone. A 3 minute call from Denver to NYC cost $11.00Maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 m.ph.Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tenn. were more heavily populated than California

Life at the Turn of the Century

The average wage in the U.S. was .22 cents an hourthe average worker made b/w $200 and $400 per yearMore than 95% of all births in the U.S. took place at homesugar cost .04 cents a pound; eggs cost .14 cents a dozenMost

Life at the Turn of the Century

Drive by shootings - in which teenage boys galloped down the street on horses and started randomly shooting at houses, etc. - were an ongoing problemthe population of Las Vegas, NV was 30Scotch tape, crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn’t been inventedThere was no mother’s or Father’s day

Life at the Turn of the CenturyOne in ten U.S. adults couldn’t read or write. Only 6% of all Americans had graduated high schoolMarijuana, heroin, and morphine were available over the counter at corner drugstores. One pharmacist said, “Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health”

I. The Problems of the 1890’s• Huge Gap between

rich and poor• Tremendous

economic and political power of the rich

• Wealthy were insensitively flaunting their wealth before a poorer public

I. Problems of the 1890’s

• Industrial workers hideously poor, living in squalor and working in dangerous conditions

• Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives (1890)

• Little concern for Black America

Progressivism

WHO? “Progressives”• urban middle-class: managers &

professionals; women

WHY? Address the problems arising from:• industrialization (big business, labor strife)• urbanization (slums, political machines, corruption)• immigration (ethnic diversity)• inequality & social injustice (women & racism)

1920s1890s 1901 1917

WHEN? “Progressive Reform Era”

ProgressivismWHAT are their goals? Democracy – government accountable to the people Regulation of corporations & monopolies Social justice – workers, poor, minorities Environmental protection

HOW? Government (laws, regulations, programs) Efficiency

• value experts, use of scientific study to determine the best solution

• Pragmatism – William James, John Dewey ( Darwinism)

• (Cf. scientific management/Taylor)

HOW MUCH?????

Origins of Progressivism “Muckrakers” Jacob Riis – How the Other Half Lives (1890) Ida Tarbell – “The History of the Standard Oil Co.” (1902) Lincoln Steffens – The Shame of the Cities (1904)

Ida Tarbell Lincoln Steffens

II. Progressive Reformers

A. Streams of Reform• The “Social Gospel”

movement--Walter Rauschenbusch: Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907)

• Settlement House Workers--Jane Addams, Hull House in Chicago (1889)

• Americans of “Old Wealth”

A. Streams of Reform• Young, socially-

conscious lawyers• Investigative

Journalists-- “Muckrakers”--Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, and Upton Sinclair

• Small businessmen

B. Features of Progressive Reform

• Desire to remedy problems through government initiative

• Reliance on “experts”-- Robert Lafollette’s “Wisconsin Idea”

• Wanted reform not revolution

• Stressed the importance of efficiency in reform--Frederick W. Taylor

B. Features of Progressive Reform (cont.)

Want to bring order out of chaos--Creation of NCAA in 1906

Desire to make politics more democraticDesire to make businessmen more responsible for problems

B. Features of Progressive Reform

• Desire to make society more moral and more just

• Desire to distribute income more equitably

• Desire to broaden opportunities for individual advancement

• Women were active in progressivism--Suffragettes like Susan B. Anthony

B. Features of Progressive Reform

• Infiltrated both political parties-- Republican “insurgents”

• Middle-class reform movement

• Operated on all three levels of government

III. Sample Progressive Reforms

A. Political Reforms• Tried to put more power into the hands

of the people• Innovative changes in city government

--city managers and commission model• The Direct Primary• Initiative, Referendum and Recall• The Secret Ballot• Direct Election of Senators and the Vote

for Women

B. Social Reforms• Child labor laws• Ten-hour work days

--The “Brandeis brief”--Muller v. Oregon (1908)--Bunting v. Oregon (1917)

• Prohibition initiatives• Moral Purity campaigns

--Mann Act (1910)

B. Social Reforms • Minimum safety standards

on the job• Minimum standards for

housing codes• “City Beautification”

movement• Immigration Restriction• Eugenics

--Buck v. Bell (1927)• Little Help for Blacks

--NAACP (1909)-- “Birth of a Nation”

IV. Progressive Amendments to the Constitution

• Progressive reliance on the law

• 16th Amendment (1913)—federal income tax

• 17th Amendment (1913)—direct election of senators

• 18th Amendment (1919)—prohibition

• 19th Amendment (1920)—vote for women

V. Presidential Progressivism: Theodore Roosevelt

• Great drive, energy and exciting personality

• TR’s interests and early years

• NYC police commissioner

• Spanish-American War experience-- “Rough Riders”

• Political Rise from NY Governor to Vice-President

A. First Term as President (1901-1904)• McKinley’s

assassination• Offered energetic

national leadership• Cast every issue in

moral and patriotic terms--The “Bully Pulpit”

• Master Politician• Modest goals for his

“accidental” presidency

B. “Trust-Buster”?• TR’s attitude toward Big

Business• Wants to regulate in

order to get businesses to act right

• The “Square Deal” (1902)

• Making an example of the Northern Securities Co.

• The Elkins Act (1903) and the Bureau of Corporations

C. Second Term as President (1905-1909)

• More vigorous progressivism

• Hepburn Act (1906)• Federal Meat

Inspection Act (1906)• Pure Food and Drug

Act (1906)• Conservation Policy

--Preservation vs. Conservation

VI. “A Tough Act to Follow”: The Presidency of William Howard

Taft (1909-1913)• The Election of

1908• Taft’s political

experience• Taft’s weight• Not a dynamic

politician• Never completely

comfortable as President

VI. Presidency of Taft • Controversy over

the Tariff• More conservative

than TR, but also more trust suits

• The “Ballinger-Pinchot” Affair

• Growing tension with Teddy Roosevelt

VII. The Election of 1912• Growing split within

the Republican Party• Creation of the “Bull

Moose” Party• Progressive Party

Platform: “New Nationalism”

• Democrats drafted Woodrow Wilson

• Results of the Election

VIII. Democratic Progressivism: The Presidency of Woodrow

Wilson (1913-1921)• Wilson’s early life

and political career• True progressive and

dynamic speaker• Sympathetic to small

businessmen• Could be a stubborn,

moral crusader and ideologue

A. “New Freedom”• Wilson’s brand of

progressivism• Wants to recreate

the “golden age” of small American businesses

• Wilson wants to open channels for free and fair competition

• Historic Jeffersonian approach to federal power

B. Key Wilsonian Legislation

• Underwood Tariff Act (1913)

• Federal Reserve Act (1913)

• Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914)

• Federal Trade Commission (1914)

C. Congressional Progressivism After 1914

• Wilson was not a strong progressive when it came to social reform

• Congress takes over the progressive agenda

• Appointment of Brandeis to Supreme Court

• Examples of congressional progressive legislation after 1914--Federal Highways Act (1916)

IX. The Waning of the Progressive Movement

• Progressive movement peaks by 1917• Success of the movement led to its decline• Advent of World War I also hurt

progressive activism• Progressives themselves began to weary

of their reform zeal—as did the nation as a whole

• Ironically, voter participation has steadily declined since the election of 1912