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The Progressive Era

Richard Jensen &D’Ann Campbell

July 2011..

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What is Progress?• Reform = always possible, always good• the spirit of the age, shared by all

– Progress not inevitable; can be blocked by Ignorance and Corruption

• Everyone and everything can be improved– traditions = automatically suspect– Experts can ALWAYS find one best

way– Education & Purity always = progress.

• American mission = Progress for world

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Core Values• Republican Virtue

• Democracy: duty of citizen to participate• threatened by corruption

• Modernity– Efficiency

• science, education• threatened by ignorance, tradition, corruption

– free enterprise; free labor; free land

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Efficiency• Personal--plan your future achievement

– compulsory education; “reform” schools

• Society: everything can be improved– experts analyze the problem– old ways = wasteful; everything can

be improved; ignorance as the #1 enemy

– science, technology, medicine – university as research center

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Efficiency in Business• F. W. Taylor & Scientific

Management• Henry Ford & Assembly

Line – Fordism: high wages

= high skills, lower turnover, high spending power

• Railroad Efficiency: E.H. Harriman

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Efficiency in Business• Finance: J. P. Morgan• Heavy Industry: Andrew Carnegie

– Judge Gary & U S Steel (1901)• Retailing: Julius Rosenwald @ Sears• “new, improved”; annual model changes• Eliminate waste = higher wages, lower

prices, more profit

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Experts in Government• Need “disinterested”

experts in fairness• Party politics = controlled

by special interests• Independent Regulatory

Commission– Appointed experts

(European model)– Missing: fear that they

will become captive

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Judiciary• Judges as experts in fairness

– Taft (conservative) & Brandeis (liberal): courts & judges = best, final experts

• Labor: hates injunctions that stop strikes• Roosevelt: Courts are undemocratic

– overrule them by referendum– key reason GOP rejected TR in 1912

• Taft wins: picks 5 Supreme Court justices– active as Chief Justice 1921-30

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Efficiency in Local & State Government• Conduct a survey to discover problems• Local: better service, lower taxes• State: Independent Regulatory

Commission– sets rates; solves monopoly problem– Missing: fear that they will become

captive• Danger: patronage & corruption

– Solution: civil service reform– crusading district attorneys– clean elections; reform parties

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Religious Activism:Social Gospel

• Social Gospel = mainline Protestant

• Missions to all world• End evils

– Will speed Christ’s Second Coming

• End saloons– Prohibition

• End prostitution

Christ calls on efficiency oriented businessman, who is listening to the devil

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Social Gospel appeals

Compare Gast 1872, no religion

Woman with cross = ChristianityLeading man labeled “civilization” carrying tools (= industry) and telescope (= science)

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Who was Jane Addams?• Hull House = bring

best practices to inner city Chicago

• Rally intellectuals• Americanize

immigrants• Clean up politics• Woman suffrage• World Peace

See Citizendium article

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Hull House• "to teach by example,

to practice cooperation, and to practice social democracy, that is, egalitarian”

• Housing reform• Focus on children

– Fight child labor– Music, sports

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Crusade Against Evil Corruption: Muckraking

journalism• Hidden Evil doers threaten

America– actual people, not just

social forces– they block reform for own

selfish $$$• Expose Them! Muckraker

Journalism– expose boss rule in all

major cities– expose corporate wrong-

doing; Rockefeller– magazines: Lincoln

Steffans, Ida Tarbell– newspapers: Wm R Hearst

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Crusade against Corruption

• Moralism: strong religious flavor – destroy "saloon power" by prohibition– strong law enforcement; FBI & Hoover

• Fear of Evil Escalates 1904-1912– only antidote = more democracy

• Conservatives = Counter-Crusade– “the crusaders are crazy and dangerous”

• WWI Crusade against “Huns” (Germans)• Crusades burn out after a couple years

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Political Crusaders• Democrats:

– William Jennings Bryan, Wm R. Hearst– Woodrow Wilson

• Republicans:– Robert LaFollette (Wisconsin)– Hiram Johnson (California)– Teddy Roosevelt (after 1907)

• Cities: local crusaders in every big city

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Democracy: Let the People Rule! That is The Pure People

• Women: needed force for purity in politics, interests in "good housekeeping" & needs of family. America needs their vote– antisuffrage: vote corrupts pure

womanhood• Stop corrupt voting; Literacy test; Registration• no votes for “unrepublican” groups

– Asians, African Americans– doubts re: Hispanics delays statehood for

New Mexico; granted in 1912

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How can the people rule?• weaken parties; elect Senators; Primaries;

reject party bosses (hard to do) • direct rule: referendum & initiative

(California); recall of judges (Arizona) • stunning shock in WWI = people easily

manipulated by propaganda; no true "public opinion" at all

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States & Cities Take Lead• Wisconsin; Bob LaFollette: tax & spend;

university experts – LaFollette machine– Battles conservative anti-tax GOP

• California; Hiram Johnson: destroy parties – Numerous independent crusades

• New Jersey; Woodrow Wilson (Dem) ruins the bosses

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State & Local Issues• Corruption in Politics• Efficiency in Government• Protect women

– Regulate working hours & conditions– Attack prostitution

• Public Health; Hospitals– Water & sanitation; smoke; TB; milk

• High Schools & Colleges– Compulsory education to age 14

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Presidential Progressives4 contrasting styles

• Roosevelt: the Warrior– strong moral character; call to battle

• Taft: the Judge– judicial supremacy, cautious

• Wilson: the Priest– moralism; global leadership; inflexible

• Hoover: the Engineer – pro-business; poor politician

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Teddy Roosevelt (1858-1919)• Media Superstar; middle class

hero• Family: wealthy business; Civil

War? • The Cowboy; manliness;

extreme sports; barbarian & civilized

• intellectual in politics; history & biology

• 1890s: Navy & Empire; Spanish War 1898

• President 1901-1909• 1912 “Progressive” 3rd Party

split GOP

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TR as President 1901-09• Railroads: mild regulation by ICC & Courts• National Civic Federation

– business/union cooperation to avert radicalism; settle 1902 Coal Strike

• Conservation: efficient use of resources• Good Trusts (US Steel) Vs Bad Ones (Standard

Oil, Northern Securities)• 1907 Panic; he blames big business• Elihu Root modernizes the Army

– Modernization in Cuba, Philippines

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Railroad Reform• The Problem: monopoly RR as threat to

businessmen and to politics• Solution: Federal Regulation

– ICC controls rates; no rebates; no secrets• Railway Labor: 1916 Wilson gives in

– 1918: Wilson seizes all railroads– 1920: railroads returned to private hands

• Long term: regulation helps shippers and hurts RR; can’t compete w highways

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Antitrust 1• Democracy

– big business = illegitimate political power

– hurts small business– gov’t regulation is even more

dangerous• Efficiency

– trusts are more efficient & innovative• not true, says Brandeis

– trusts raise prices, hurt consumer– trusts reduce innovation

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Antitrust 2• Trust = Monopoly, any big business

– illegitimate political power– run roughshod over smaller

entrepreneurs– efficient and good for consumers??– raise or lower prices?

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Antitrust 3• Trust = Monopoly, any big business

– illegitimate political power– run roughshod over smaller entrepreneurs– efficient and good for consumers??– raise or lower prices?

• TR & Taft most active• Break up hated Standard Oil (1911)

– Supreme Court: “rule of reason”– Fail to break up US Steel

• no sense of limits of expertise, or need to limit gov't

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Antitrust 4• 1914: Federal Trade Commission

– specifies illegal activities– 1920s: helps business

• Fordism: high wages, low prices, efficiency through mass production– Ford a national hero despite monopoly

• 1930s New Danger = cutthroat competition– small business needs protection

• Today: big mergers need approval

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Tariff Debate• GOP high tariff (1890-1913)

– GOP: it “protects” industry & high wages– Dems: it is corrupt --> monopoly & inflation– Actually: does neither. It’s a delicate balance

of interests inside GOP with little $ impact• 1909 Midwestern GOP insurgents fight new tariff;

defeated by Aldrich; they revolt • 1913: Wilson lowers tariff

– Debate fades away; income tax more important

• 1922, 1930: GOP raises it again

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Labor Unions• Grow rapidly 1900-1920, then collapse• Locals = branches of national crafts unions

– coal miners, machinists, teamsters, printers, needle trades, carpenters etc

• National: AFL & Samuel Gompers• Goals: control trade, higher pay

– support technology & modernization– politics: stay loose; lean Democratic– Most oppose Socialism

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Union Political Goals• Local: keep police away from strikes

(strikers threaten violence to win)• State: no National Guard intervention

– problem: judges rule against strike tactics

• National: work w both parties• 1916: Wilson get +++ Railroad Labor Law• 1917-18 support war; grow; get $$$• 1919: strikes, collapse

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Public Opinion on Unions• Favor Working Man, high

wages, short hours• Oppose Union monopoly

– illegitimate use of power

• Usually oppose strikes– Strongly oppose strike

violence• Street railway strikes test

public patience• National Civil Federation

= efficient harmony

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War with Spain 1898• Causes: anger at Spain’s

treatment of Cubans• Result: “splendid little

war”– Insurrection in

Philippines• US Empire: Hawaii,

Philippines, Puerto Rico• 1905: US gives up

expansion plans, looks to Panama Canal

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US rebuilds army & navy• Roosevelt• Modern navy• Modern army• But very

small

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Imperialism Worldwide• Asia, Africa divided up by Europe & Japan

– Britain & France: large empires– Germany: stuck with leftovers;

resentful• American sentiment:

– Empires are evil & cause war– But they also modernize backward

peoples– Give up Cuba & Philippines– Keep Hawaii, Puerto Rico

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The Far Left attacks Republicanism

• IWW overthrow the system!– Reject republicanism for Class

Struggle– Reject democracy for Dictatorship

of Proletariat (i.e. by left wing leaders like Haywood)

– Anarchists: Assassinate McKinley– Lawrence Strike 1912 fails– 1917: oppose the war

• Destroyed by Federal Government– 1919: Radicals deported to USSR– Remnant forms Communist party

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Socialists are split• Socialist Party: Eugene Debs

– capitalism is evil & inefficient

– scientific solution = workers own industry

– strongly opposed by Catholic Church & by most unions

– left: oppose WW1; go to jail

– War: right wing supports war (Lippmann)

• Debs opposes it & goes to prison

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Taft Vs TR Progressives• Tariff battle disrupts GOP

– Income tax: constitutional amendment

• Purists distrust Taft; he relies on courts and conservative GOP (Senator Aldrich)

• Feuds erupt between left and right wings – Crisis of 1910-1912 splits the GOP – Republican Insurgents weaken

Speaker– Democrats: sweep 1910 elections

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1912: Taft-TR-Wilson• TR breaks with Taft

– conservation issue; trusts; personality

– TR: recall of judicial decisions

• TR challenges Taft for GOP nomination; starts too late; beaten; cries foul

• TR forms "Progressive Party" ("Bull Moose" 1912); amateur hour

• GOP split 1912-14 elects Democratic Wilson & Dem Congress

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Wilson the Priest• Scholar, speaker, superb writer• conservative states righter,

moves left 1913 • 1913: tariff lowered (little

effect) • 1913: Federal Reserve System

created; break the Money Power? efficient management of money? or disaster waiting to happen?

• Antitrust laws strengthened • Pro-Labor; 1916 Railroad laws

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Banking Panic 1907

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Fear of Wall Street: super powerful

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Private solution fails• The Problem: inadequate

financial system– Panic of 1907 solved

by one old man, Morgan

– need for liquidity– need for international

banking• Aldrich Solution: banks

form system• Bryan demands more

democracy

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Wilson & AldrichFederal Reserve System 1913• Final Plan: 12 regions, Federal oversight

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1920s: Efficiency Decade• Democracy Distrusted

– propaganda too powerful; H L Mencken

• Corruption Issue continues• Teapot Dome; Bootleg Liquor; Cities

• Efficiency Stronger than Ever– Business: Age of Henry Ford

• Gov't: Age of Hoover– cooperation with Business– End poverty through modernization

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Democracy Vs Efficiency• When they work together, irresistible.

– Major legislation passed near unanimous• ICC, Antitrust, Income Tax, RR regulation

• When they are opposed, deep problems– African American status– Labor unions, violence, anti-trust– Imperialism in Philippines– Woman Suffrage

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African Americans• Blacks excluded from power & prestige• Segregation: De Facto & De Jure

– Supreme Court approves: Plessy v Ferguson, 1896– schools, churches, jobs & gov’t service= separate &

unequal– geographical separation: “BLACK BELT” in South

• Politics: Age of White Supremacy– Disfranchisement, 1890-1915– Lynchings during transition

• Economic Status: very poor• White Racism Vs white paternalism

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Segregation continues;ends in 1965

• Supporters– purify politics. Reduce corruption– reduce violence, lynchings– keep White supremacy

• Opponents– violation of Constitution– degrades Blacks– degrades Whites

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Leadership Disputes• Booker T. Washington, political leader

– Atlanta speech, 1896 = accept segregation– Tuskegee = industrial education

• W.E.B. DuBois--intellectual leader– political rights– liberal arts for “talented tenth”– NAACP for middle class “Colored People”

• Marcus Garvey: separate out– Black Nationalism; “Back to Africa”;

deported

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African American Progressives

• Booker T. Washington & Tuskeegee Institute

• Emphasis on Efficiency– Education, skills needed for full

citizenship– must educate BOTH whites &

blacks – community development

essential• promote black business, professions,

careers– quietly seek rights (avoid

backlash)• cooperate with white elite• danger = lower class white

demagogues

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Progressives: DuBois & NAACP

• Emphasis on Rights & White Corruption• demand all rights now

– rely on Constitution & federal courts • white racism = corruption of republicanism

– root cause of all black problems• demand for reform of black community is

itself racism

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Woman Suffrage• Supporters

– women are good, efficient republicans

– they will purify politics (“clean house”)

– experts in needs of home & children

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Women will clean up politics

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Purify America

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Campaign for votesSupport in west, least in South

success! 1920

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Small families; more divorce

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Conservatives against suffrage

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What conservatives

fearedin 1920

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What conservatives

fear in 2007

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Anti-Woman Suffrage• Arguments

– Women not independent --controlled by husbands

– can’t fight for USA– will defeminize &

corrupt women– will support

prohibition– Gender role reversal

—women become men

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Tennessee the last state needed

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What difference?• Women’s issues to the

front in 1920s– Peace– Prohibition– Schools– Public Health

• Corruption became worse• Few women run for office• Women vote same as men

(except on war)• Conservative Catholics:

sign up their women to vote for Al Smith 1928

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Imperialism Worldwide• Asia, Africa divided up by Europe & Japan

– Britain & France: large empires– Germany: stuck with leftovers;

resentful• American sentiment:

– Empires are evil & cause war– But they also modernize backward

peoples– Give up Cuba & Philippines– Keep Hawaii, Puerto Rico

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War with Spain 1898• Causes: anger at Spain’s

treatment of Cubans• Result: “splendid little

war”– Insurrection in

Philippines• US Empire: Hawaii,

Philippines, Puerto Rico• 1905: US gives up

expansion plans, looks to Panama Canal

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US rebuilds army & navy• Roosevelt• Modern navy• Modern army• But very

small

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Imperialism• Supporters

– Strengthen USA– bring Democracy to them– modernize them– link to missionary movement

• Opponents– bring tyranny to them and to us– they are not ready for democracy

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Critical Weaknesses of Progressive Faith

• Assumes “the people” make up their own minds independently & are not influenced by propaganda

• Assumes single best solution actually exist• Assumes the solution will always work and

not backfire because of unintended consequences

• Rejects pluralistic viewpoints or solutions

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Dates: when was Progressive Era?

• "short" (1901-1917 = efficiency, morality, democracy)– destroyed by hysteria of WWI– subtheme of failure & frustration

• "long" (1890s-1932) = efficiency– challenged by New Deal but still alive

today• major long-term impact on society • Was it good or evil?

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Bibliography• Mowry, Era of Theodore Roosevelt (1955)• Diner on Progressive Era

– Steven Diner, A Very Different Age: Americans of the Progressive Era (1998)

• Ohio State: documents & cartoons• Short books:

– Arthur Link & Richard McCormick, Progressivism (1983)