The Progressive Movement

1. The Progressive Movement “The muckrakers are often indispensable to society but only if they know when to stop raking the muck.” Theodore Roosevelt

2. Timeline of Events • 1874 • Women’s Christian Temperance Union is founded • 1889 • Eiffel Tower opens for visitors • 1896 • William McKinley is elected president

3. Timeline of Events • 1898 • Marie Curie discovers radium • 1899 • Boer War is South Africa begins • 1900 • William McKinley is reelected

4. Timeline of Events • 1901 • McKinley is assassinated, Theodore Roosevelt becomes president • Commonwealth of Australia is created

5. Timeline of Events • 1904 • Theodore Roosevelt is elected president • Ida Tarbell writes The History of Standard Oil • Lincoln Steffens writes The Shame of the Cities

6. Timeline of Events • 1906 • Upton Sinclair writes The Jungle about the meatpacking industry • Meat Inspection Act is passed • Pure Food and Drug Act is passed

7. Timeline of Events • 1908 • William Howard Taft is elected president • Ray Stannard Baker writes Following the Color Line • 1909 • NAACP is founded by W.E.B. DuBois • Frank Lloyd Wright builds the Robie House

8. Timeline of Events • 1910 • Mexican Revolution begins • 1912 • 17th Amendment passes allowing for the direct election of senators • Bull Moose Party forms with Roosevelt as its nominee

9. Timeline of Events • 1912 • Woodrow Wilson is elected president • 1913 • China’s Qin Dynasty topples • Federal Reserve Act passes

10. Timeline of Events • 1914 • World War I begins in Europe • Clayton Anti-Trust Act passes • Federal Trade Commission is established

11. Timeline of Events • 1916 • Woodrow Wilson is reelected president • 1917 • United States enters into World War I

12. Timeline of Events • 1918 • 18th Amendment outlaws alcohol • Mohandas Gandhi becomes leader of the independence movement in India • 1920 • 19th Amendments grants women the right to vote

13. Four Goals of Progressivism • By 1900, journalists and writers had exposed the unsafe conditions faced by factory workers • Reformers tried to get the government to be more responsive • These reform efforts formed the progressive movement, which aimed to restore economic opportunities and correct injustices in American life

14. Four Goals of Progressivism • Although reformers never fully agreed on the problems needed to be solved, they all shared at least one of the progressivism goals • Protecting social welfare • Promoting moral improvement • Creating economic reform • Fostering efficiency

15. Protecting Social Welfare • Social welfare reformers worked to soften harsh conditions of industrialization • The Social Gospel and settlement house movements aimed to help the poor with • Community houses • Churches • Social services • The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) • opened libraries • sponsored classes • built swimming pools and handball courts • The Salvation Army • fed the poor in soup kitchens • cared for children in nurseries • sent “slum brigades” to instruct poor immigrants in middle class values of hard work and temperance

16. The first YMCA erected in 1859 Baltimore, MD

17. Protecting Social Welfare • Many women were inspired by the settlement houses to take action • Florence Kelley—advocate for improving the lives of women and children • Appointed chief inspector of factories for Illinois • Helped win passage of the Illinois Factory Act in 1893 • The act prohibited child labor and limited women’s working hours

18. Promoting Moral Improvement • Other reformers felt morality, not the workplace, held the key to improving the lives of poor people • They wanted immigrants and the poor to improve their personal behavior • Prohibition was one program aimed at helping people uplift themselves

19. Promoting Moral Improvement • Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) • Founded in Cleveland 1874 • Spearheaded the crusade for prhibition • Members entered saloons, singing, praying, and urging saloonkeepers to stop selling alcohol to advance their cause • By 1911—245,000 members • The largest women’s group in the nation’s history • Frances Willard urged members to “do everything” • They opened kindergartens for immigrants • Visited prisoners and asylums • Worked for suffrage • The reform activities provided women with expanded public roles—which they used toward suffrage

21. Promoting Moral Improvement • Prohibition led to trouble with immigrant groups • Anti-Saloon League “the church in action against the saloon” • Founded 1895 • Sought to close saloons • Tried to get laws passed to punish those who drank • Endorsed politicians who opposed “demon rum” • Carry Nation was a strong advocate for the closing of saloons • Destroyed saloons with her hatchet • Scolded customers • Between 1900-1917, many states in the south and west had prohibited the sale, production, and use of alcohol

22. Above: Carry Nation and her hatchet and Bible Women’s temperance movement 1873-74

23. Creating Economic Reform • Socialism sprung out the of the Panic of 1893 • Eugene V. Debs helped organize the Socialist Party in 1901 • Brought about by the uneven balance of big business, government, and ordinary people under the free-market system of capitalism • Progressives distanced themselves from Socialism, but knew what Debs was talking about

24. Creating Economic Reform • Journalists who wrote about the corrupt side of business and public life in magazines became known as muckrakers—refers to “Pilgrim’s Progress” in which the man is so busy raking up the muck of this world that he does not raise his eyes to heaven

25. Fostering Efficiency • Many progressives put their faith in scientific principles to make society and the workplace more efficient • Louis Brandeis defended an Oregon Law limiting a woman’s workday to 10 hours • Instead of focusing on the argument, he focused on the data produced by social scientists documenting the high costs of long working hours • This type of argument—the Brandeis Brief—became a model for later reform litigation

26. Fostering Efficiency • Fredrick Winslow Taylor began using time and motion to improve efficiency by breaking manufacturing tasks into simpler parts • “Taylorism” became a management fad • Assembly lines did speed up production, but required people to work like machines • Caused high worker turnover • Henry Ford used incentives to attract thousands of workers

27. Reforming Local Government • Political bosses ran the cities and social problems engulfed the cities • Natural disasters usually played a part in reform • A hurricane and tidal wave nearly destroyed Galveston, TX in 1900 • The city council botched the rebuilding so badly, the state legislature appointed a commission—this became a model for other cities • A flood in Dayton, Ohio destroyed hundreds of acres without warning • Due to the swift action of the council, Dayton was rebuilt much faster than Galveston 13 years before • City Councils became the system of government used by cities

28. Galveston Hurricane 1900 Dayton Flood 1913

29. Reform Mayors • Mayors introduced progressive reforms without changing how government was organized • Hazen Pingree of Detroit • Introduced a fair tax structure, lowered fares for public transportation, rooted out corruption, set up work relief for the unemployed • Detroit city workers built schools, parks, and a municipal lighting plant • Tom Johnson of Cleveland • Converted the utilities to publicly owned enterprises • Believed citizens should play a more active role in city government • Held meetings in a large circus tent and invited the city to question officials about city management

30. Reform Governors • Wisconsin led the way in regulating big business with the leadership of Robert La Follette—”fighting Bob” • His major target was the railroad—he taxed railroad property the same rate as other businesses • Set up a commission to regulate rates • Forbade railroads to issue free passes to state officials • Other reform governors included Charles B. Aycock of N.C., and James S. Hogg of TX

31. Protecting Working Children • As the number of working children increased, reformers worked to end child labor • Businesses hired children because they performed unskilled jobs for lower wages and their small hands were perfect for small parts • Immigrants sent their children to work because they saw them as part of the family economy • Wages were so low for adults that children needed to work to make ends meet

33. Protecting Working Children • Children were more prone to accidents caused by fatigue • Many developed serious health problems and stunted growth

34. Protecting Working Children • The National Child Labor Committee (1904) sent investigators to gather evidence of children working in harsh conditions • They then organized exhibitions with photographs and statistics to dramatize the children’s plight • Joined by labor unions who argued that child labor lowered wages for all workers • Groups pressured the government to pass the Keating-Owen Act in 1916 • Prohibited the transportation across state lines of goods produced with child labor • 2 years later, Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional due to interference with states’ rights to regulate labor • Reformers did succeed in nearly every state by effecting legislation that banned child labor and set maximum hours

35. Efforts to Limit Working Hours • Muller v. Oregon—Louis D. Brandeis-assisted by Florence Kelley and Josephine Goldmark— • argued that poor working women were much more economically insecure than large corporations • Convinced the Court to uphold law limiting women to a ten-hour workday • Bunting v. Oregon—Court upheld a ten-hour workday for men

36. Efforts to Limit Working Hours • Progressives also succeeded in winning workers’ compensation to aid the families of workers who were hurt or killed on the job • Beginning in 1902, one state after another passed legislation requiring employers to pay benefits in death cases

37. Reforming Elections • William S. U’Ren prompted his state of Oregon to adopt the scret ballot, the initiative, the referendum, and the recall • The initiative and referendum gave citizens the power to create laws • The recall allowed citizens to remove public officials from elected positions by forcing them to face another election before the end of their term if enough voters asked for it • By 1920, 20 states adopted at least one of these procedures

38. Reforming Elections • In 1899, Minnesota passed the first mandatory statewide primary system • This enabled voters, instead of political machines, to choose candidates for public office through a special popular election • About 2/3rds of the states had adopted some form of direct primary by 1915

39. 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 state’s legislature had chosen its own U.S. senators, which put even more power in the hands of party bosses and wealthy corporation heads • To force senators to be more responsive to the public, progressives pushed for the popular election of senators

40. Direct Election of Senators • At first the senate did not go along with it, but gradually states began allowing voters to nominate senatorial candidates in direct primaries • As a result, Congress passed the 17th amendment in 1912—ratified 1913 • This amendment drew more attention to women in public life and the issue of woman suffrage

41. Women in the Work Force • Before the civil war, women were expected to devote their time to their families • By the 19th century, only upper and middle class women could afford to do so, poorer women had no choice but to work for wages outside the home • Farm women had to attend to the household chores, plus, raise livestock, plow the fields, and harvest the crops

42. Women in the Work Force • In cities, women found jobs at an easy rate, but were unable to join the unions to which had become so popular and necessary • 1 out of 5 had jobs; 25% in manufacturing • The garment trade claimed about half of all women industrial workers • They typically held the least skilled positions and were paid half as much as men • Many were single and were presumed to only be supporting themselves, while men were assumed to be supporting families • Women began to fill new jobs in offices, stores, and classrooms • These jobs required a high school education • By 1890, women high school graduates outnumbered men • New buisiness schools were preparing women to work new machines—such as the typewriter—and to be stenographers

43. Women in the Work Force • Many women without formal education contributed to their families by cleaning for other families • After 2 million African American women were freed, poverty drove them to the work force • Many migrated to cities to work as cooks, laundresses, scrubwomen, and maids • By 1870, nearly 70% of women employed were servants

45. Women in Higher Education • Many of the women who became active in public life in the late 19th century had attended the new women’s colleges • Vassar College—faculty included 8 men, and 22 women—accepted its first students in 1865 • Smith and Wellesley Colleges followed in 1875 • Columbia, Brown, and Harvard Colleges refused to admit women, but each established a separate university for women

46. Women in Higher Education • By the late 19th century, marriage was not the only alternative for women • They either went to school or joined the work force • Almost half of college-educated women in the late 19th century did not marry • Their skills were applied to society and reforms

48. Smith College Wellesley College

49. Women and Reform • Because women were not allowed to vote, they often worked to reform from within the home • Their “social housekeeping” targeted workplace reform, housing reform, educational improvement and food and drug laws

50. Women and Reform • 1896—African-American women founded the national Association of Colored Women (NACW) by merging two earlier organizations • They managed nurseries, reading rooms and kindergartens • Josephine Ruffin identified the missiion as “the moral education of the race with which we are identified”