The Progressive Era 1890-1920

1. The Progressive Era1890-1920 “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried.”

2. Progressivism in Alabama Progressives in Alabama like progressives in other states, focused on issues such as political reform, education, banning alcohol, and child labor. A major progressive reform issue was women's suffrage. One area where progress was made in Alabama was education. As Alabama’s “education governor”Braxton Bragg Comer led the state from 1907 to 1911. Braxton Bragg Comer implemented laws in Alabama requiring that every county have a high school.

3. Economic Opportunity The progressive movement responded to a growing public demand for government to become involved in curbing abuse of workers, especially children. Reformers also wanted changes in business practices that harmed the public.

4. States 'Rights Theodore Roosevelt changed the role of the White House as a bully pulpit to influence public policy and expanding responsibilities of the office. His actions shaped what would become the modern presidency.

5. The Origins of Progressivism Political, economic and social change in late 19th century American led to broad progressive reforms. Progressive reforms in areas such as labor and voting rightsreinforced democratic principles that continue to exist today. At the dawn of the new century middle classreformers addressed many of the problems that had contributed to the social upheavals of the 1890s. Progressive movementwhich aimed to restore economic opportunities and correct injustices in American life.

6. Protecting Social Welfare Many social welfarereformers worked to soften some of the harsh conditions of industrialization. The Social Gospeland settlement house movements in the late 1800s which aimed to help the poor through community centers, churches, and social services continued during the Progressive Era and inspired even more reform activities. The Young Men’s Christian Association(YMCA) for example opened libraries, sponsored classes, and built swimming pools and handball courts. Florence Kelleybecame an advocate for improving the lives of women and children.

7. Promoting Moral Improvement Other reformers felt that morality not the workplace held the key to improving the lives of poor people. These reformers wanted immigrants and poor city dwellers to uplift themselves by improving their personal behavior. Prohibition the banning of alcohol beverages was one such program. Prohibitionist feared that alcohol was undermining American morals.

8. Founded in Cleveland in 1874 the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) spearheaded the crusade for prohibition. • In 1890s Carry Nation worked for prohibition by walking into saloons scolding the customers and using her hatchet to destroy bottles of liquor. • By 1911 the WCTU had over 245,000 members it became the largest women’s group in the nation’s history. • The prohibition movement appealed to women in which many believed they could make a difference in society.

9. Founded by progressive women in 1895 the Anti-Saloon League called itself “the Church in action against the saloon.” Whereas early temperance efforts had asked individuals to change their ways, the Anti-Saloon League worked to pass laws to enforce people to change and to punish those who drank. Between 1900 and 1917 voters nearly half of the states- mostly in the South and West –prohibited the sale, production, and use of alcohol.

10. Creating Economic Reform • As moral reformers sought to change individual behavior, a serve economic panic in 1893 prompted some Americans to question the capitalist economic system. • Some Americans embraced the idea of socialism.

11. Labor leader Eugene V. Debs who helped organize the American Socialist Party in 1901. • Debs ran for President five times. In 1920 campaign from prison he received nearly one million votes. • Serving a sentence for having criticized the U.S. government’s prosecution of persons charged with violation of the 1917 Espionage Act. He was released from prison by presidential order in 1921; however, his U.S. citizenship, which he lost when he was convicted of sedition in 1918, was restored only posthumously in 1976.

12. Journalists who wrote about corrupt side of business and public life in mass circulation magazines during the early 20th century became known as muckrakers. In her “History of the Standard Oil Company,” a monthly serial in McClure’s Magazine the writer Ida M. Tarbell described the company’s cutthroat methods of eliminating competition.

13. Muckrakers contributed significantly to the reform movement they exposed the dangers and corruption of industrial life to the public. Many progressives put their faith in experts and scientific principles to make society and the workplace more efficient. Frederick Winslow Taylor began using time and motion studies to improve efficiency by breaking down manufacturing task into simpler parts. Taylorism became a management fad as industry reformers applied scientific management studies to see how quickly a task could be preformed.

14. Scientific Management reformers worked to improve efficiency and productivity. • Henry Ford reduced the workday to eight hours a day and paid the workers five dollars a day. • Henry Ford pioneered the large-scale use of the assembly line. • He reduced the number of hours required for production of the Model T from approximately 12 hours in 1910 to approximately 2 hours in 1913. • “Everybody will be able to afford (a car) and about everyone will have one” 1909

15. Reforming Local Government Natural disasters sometimes played an important role in prompting reform of city governments. In 1900 a hurricane and tidal wave almost demolished Galveston, Texas. This disaster caused the city to look at changing to a commission type government with different departments who had the expertise in various areas to rebuild the city.

16. Government changes during the Progressive Era were made by changing to the commission system and council- manager system were introduced as well as reform mayors which allowed citizens to become more active in managing cities. Local reform coincided with progressive efforts at the state level. Spurred by progressive governors, many states passed laws to regulate railroads, mines, mills, telephone companies, and other large business. Under the progressive Republican leadership of Robert M. La Follette, Wisconsin led way in regulating big business.

17. Protecting Working Children As the number of child workers rose dramatically, reformers worked to protect child workers and to end child labor. Businesses hired children because they performed unskilled jobs for lower wages and their hands were small and more adept a handling small parts and tools. Formed in 1904 , the National Child Labor Committee sent investigators to gather evidence of children working in harsh conditions.

18. Reformers sought to end child labor by exploiting businesses; children being paid lower wages, forcing them to long hours and in dangerous conditions. Politicians were pressured to pass the Keating-Owen Act in 1916. This act prohibited the transportation of goods across state lines of goods produced by children. Two years later the Supreme Court declared the act unconstitutional due with the interference of states rights to regulate labor. However reformers succeeded in getting state legislations in pass child labor laws.

19. Efforts to Limit Working Hours The Supreme Court sometimes took more sympathetic view on the plight of workers over children. Progressives also sought laws to help women as well in the workforce in limiting them to 10-hour workday. Reformers also succeeded in winning workers’ compensation to aid the families of workers who were hurt or killed on the job.

20. Direct Election of Senators It was the success of the direct primary that paved the way for the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. Before 1913 each legislature had chosen its own U.S. Senator which put more power in the hands of the wealthy corporation heads and party bosses. The 17th Amendment was approved by Congress in 1912 and ratified in 1913. Members of Senate could not longer be appointed by state legislatures over whom special interest could no longer have influences. Senators would now be elected by the people.

21. Women in Public Life As a result of social and economic change many womenentered public life as workers and reformers. At the turn of the century one out five women held jobs; 25% of them worked in factors. Women were encouraged to attend high school so they could get white collar jobs as stenographers, typists, and teachers. Many women without formal education or industrial skills contributed to the economic survival of their families by doing domestic work, such as cleaning for other families.

22. Roughly 70% of the women in 1870 were servants. Unmarried immigrant women also did domestic labor especially when they first arrived in the U.S. Dangerous conditions low wages and long hours led many female industrial workers to push for reforms. Many women who became active in public life in the late 19th century had attended the new women’s college. Although women were still expected to fulfill traditional domestic roles, women’s college sought to grant women an excellent education.

23. Women who attended college no longer relied on marriage as an option some pursued professional careers while others did volunteer reform work. • In 1896 African-American women founded the National Association of Colored Women by merging two earlier organizations. • Josephine Ruffin identified the mission as “the moral education of the race with which we identified.” • The NACW managed nurseries reading rooms and kindergartens.

24. After the Seneca Falls convention of 1848, women split over the 14th and 15th Amendments which granted equal rights including the right for African American men to vote but excluded women. • Susan B. Anthony a leading proponent of woman suffrage. • Anthony along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Women Suffrage Association which united with another group in 1890 to become the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

25. Suffrage leaders employed a 3 part strategy for gaining women the right to vote. • They hoped that by pursing several strategies they were more than likely to achieve their goals.

26. Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal As president, Theodore Roosevelt worked to give citizens a Square Deal through progressive reforms. When muckraker journalist Upton Sinclairbegan research for a novel in 1904 his focus was the human conditions in the stockyards of Chicago. What shock readers in Sinclair’s book The Jungle was the sickening conditions of the meat packing industry.

28. A Rough-Riding President Theodore Roosevelt would become the youngest president at the age of 42. Roosevelt was born into a wealthy family in 1858. He suffered from asthma. Roosevelt was very physical fit. Excellent marksman, horseman, boxed and wrestled in college. Loved boxing one of his opponents blinded him in his left eye. Roosevelt was an outdoorsman-rode a 100 miles on horseback just to prove he could do it Where did Roosevelt get his fame? Spanish-American War

30. In politics like sports Roosevelt used his personality and popularity to advance his programs. Citing federal responsibility for the national welfare Roosevelt thought the government should assume control whenever states proved incapable of dealing with problems. Roosevelt saw the presidency as a “bully pulpit” from which he could influence the news media and shape legislation.

31. Roosevelt was a forceful and energetic executive who used it to shape legislation and influence the media. If big business victimized workers Roosevelt made sure the common people received a Square Deal. This term was used to describe the various progressive reforms which his presidency supported. Roosevelt study of history prompt him to publish the first of 44 books at the age of 24- convinced him that modern America required a powerful federal government.

32. TRUSTBUSTING By 1900 trust- legal bodies created to hold stock in many companies-controlled about four-fifths of the industries in the U.S. Some like the Standard Oil had earned a bad reputation with the public due to the usage of unfair practices. Many of the trust lowered their prices to drive the competition out of business then what would they do? Congress had passed the Sherman Antitrust Act but found it difficult to enforce.

33. In 1902 President Roosevelt made newspaper headlines as a trustbuster when he ordered the Justice Department to sue the Northern Securities Company which had established a monopoly over northwestern railroads. In 1904 the company would be dissolved. The Roosevelt administration would file some 44 suits against various trust.

34. The significance of the progressive era is not just reforms that came into being but the precedent for an activist presidency. Roosevelt took office and unlike past presidents set the national agenda. There was little intervention into domestic affairs. Roosevelt expanded the role of the president.

35. 1902 Coal Strike When 140,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania went on strike demanding a 20% raise and a nine hour work day and the right to organize a union, the mine operators refused to bargain. Five months went on and the coal supply was running low in the U.S. President Roosevelt call both sides into the White House to talk and settle the strike.

36. Faced with Roosevelt’s threat to take over the mines the opposing sides finally submitted the differences to an arbitration commission a third party that would work with both sides to mediate the dispute. The miners won a 10% raise and a shorter work day. They had to give up their demand for a close shop (workers must belong to a union) and right to strike over the next three years. The significance of this 1902 strike- The federal government was expected to play a more active role in settling labor disputes.

37. Health and Environment Roosevelt’s enthusiasm and his considerable skill at compromise led to laws and policies that benefited both public health and environment. After reading The Jungle Roosevelt responded to public’s demand for action in the meat packing industry. In 1906 Roosevelt pushed for the passage of the Meat Inspection Act which dictated strict cleanliness requirements for meatpackers and created a program of federal meat inspection. In 1906 Congress also passed the Pure Food and Drug Act which halted the sale of contaminated foods an medicines and called for the truth in labeling.

38. Conservation Roosevelt condemned the view that American’s resources were endless and made conservation a primary concern. Roosevelt helped to establish a strong conservation movement in the United States. Under the National Reclamation Act of 1902 money from the sale of public lands in West funded large-scale irrigation projects such as the Roosevelt Dam.

39. Roosevelt and Civil Rights • Roosevelt like most other progressives failed to support the civil right of the African-Americans. • Despite opposition of whites Roosevelt appoint an African American as head of the Charleston, S.C. customhouse. • When Mississippirefused to accept the black postmistress he had appointed he closed the postal station.

40. In 1909 W.E.B. Du Bois helped to establish the (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) NAACP and enter the forefront of the early U.S. civil rights movement. The Niagara Movement was compromised of 29 black intellectuals who met secretly in 1905 to compose a civil rights manifesto.

41. Progressivism Under Taft William Howard Taft’s ambivalent approach to progressive reform led to a split in the Republican Party and loss of the presidency to Democrats. In 1904 Roosevelt pledged not to run for reelection in 1908. He handpicked his Secretary of War William Howard Taft. His slogan “Vote for Taft this time, You can vote for Bryan any time,” Taft and the Republicans won an easy victory.

42. Taft Stumbles As president Taft pursued a cautiously progressive agenda seek to consolidate rather than to expand Roosevelt’s reforms. Taft had campaigned on a platform of lowering tariffs a staple of the progressive agenda. The House passed the Payne Bill which lowered rates on imported manufactured goods the Senate then proposed an alternate bill the Aldrich Bill which made fewer cuts and increased many rates. This led to cries of betrayal so as a compromise Taft signed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff that only moderated the high rates of the Aldrich Bill.

43. Taft would next anger the conservationist by appointing Richard Ballinger as the Secretary of Interior. Reason for the conservationists being so angry over his appointment was that he didn’t approve of conserving the western lands, he permitted the sale of reserved lands to business interests.

44. The Republican Party Splits By the mid-term election of 1910 the Republican Party was in shambles with the progressives on one side and the “old guard” on the other. Voters voiced concern over the rising coast of living. They also blamed Taft for being against conservation. The Republicans lost control of the House the first time in 18 years.

45. Bull Moose Party By 1912 Roosevelt had decided to run for a third term as president. The primary election showed the Republicans wanted Roosevelt but Taft had the advantage of being the incumbent. Taft would win the Republican nomination. The Progressives refused to vote and formed a third party- they nominated Roosevelt the party would be known as the Bull Moose Party.

46. Democrats Win in 1912 The Democrats had their first chance to win the presidency since 1892 when Grover Cleveland won the presidency. The candidate was a reform governor of New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson. With the Republican Party being split it allowed Woodrow Wilson to win the election of 1912.

47. Wilson’s New Freedom Wilson established a strong reform agenda as a progressive leader. Passage of the 19th Amendment during Wilson’s administration granted women the right to vote. TheClayton Antitrust Act benefited labor union by recognizing the legality of the unions, strikes, peaceful picketing, boycotts, and strike benefits.

48. During Wilson’s administration Congress enacted on two key antitrust measures. 1. The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914. 2. Prohibited corporation from acquiring the stocks of another creating a monopoly.

49. Ratified in 1913 the 16th Amendment legalized a federal income tax which provided revenue by taxing individual earnings and corporate profits. A combination of factors helped in women getting the right to vote. Women’s growing experience in the public realm. Their economic and social power. Their importance in the war effort.

50. Wilson like Roosevelt and Taft pushed aggressively for economic and political reforms but retreated on civil rights issues. Swayed by Southern upbringing and the support of northern whites Wilson refused to expand the civil rights of African Americans.