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Embracing Change: Progressivism in Early 20th Century America

Explore the rise of progressivism during 1873-1920, driven by social, economic, and political injustices exposed by reform-minded journalists and the social gospel movement. Witness how women played crucial roles in the professions, suffrage, and societal reform, creating a new era for American society.

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Embracing Change: Progressivism in Early 20th Century America

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  1. The Rise of Progressivism 1873 - 1920

  2. Mulberry Street on New York City’s Lower East Side, Around 1900

  3. Introduction • Rapid industrialization & urbanization created problems • Impose order on growing chaos • Optimistic vision

  4. Introduction, cont. • Society was capable of improvement • Growth & progress could not continue to occur recklessly • Intervention by govt. was necessary

  5. The Progressive Impulse • Spirit of antimonopoly • Importance of social cohesion • Organization & efficiency

  6. The Muckrakers and the Social Gospel • Reform-minded journalists • Social, economic, & political injustices • Exposing scandal & corruption • Targeted trusts

  7. The Muckrakers and the Social Gospel, cont. • Ida Tarbell & Standard Oil • Child labor • Railroads • Immigrant ghettoes • Labor unions • Governments

  8. The Muckrakers and the Social Gospel, cont. • Pursuit of social justice • Social Gospel mvmt. • Redeem nation’s cities • The Salvation Army • Moral impulse

  9. The Settlement House Movement • Belief that environment shaped individual development • An improvement in the conditions of poor was needed

  10. The Settlement House Movement, cont. • Jane Addams & Hull House (1889) • Staffed by educated, middle class • Immigrant neighborhoods • Social work

  11. The Allure of Expertise • High value on knowledge & experience • Problems could be analyzed & solved scientifically • Creation of “social sciences”

  12. The Allure of Expertise, cont. • Building political & economic institutions capable of managing a modern society • Scientific management & Taylorism • Thorstein Veblen & A Theory of the LeisureClass (1899)

  13. The Professions • Expansion in # of administrative & professional tasks • “New middle class” valuing education & accomplishment

  14. The Professions, cont. • American Medical Association (1901) • Lawyers & professional bar associations (1916) • Guarding entry into profession • Prestige, status • Businessmen • Farmers

  15. Women and the Professions • Mostly excluded from emerging professions • Middle-class women entering professional careers • Settlement houses, social work • Teaching, nursing, librarians, academia

  16. Women and the Professions, cont. • Valued training & expertise • Professional organizations & identity • “Helping” professions • “Domestic” or “feminine” image

  17. Women and Reform • Prominent role of women in reform mvmts. is a striking feature of progressivism

  18. The “New Woman” • Almost all income-producing activity had moved out of home & into factory or office • Women having fewer kids • Home & family less all-consuming

  19. The “New Woman,” cont. • More women who lived outside traditional families • Divorce rates rose • Women’s colleges & coeducational public universities • Defining lives w/work outside home

  20. The Clubwomen • Network of women’s clubs began as cultural orgs. for intellectual energies • Middle & upper-class women • Social reform • Settlement houses, libraries, child labor laws, suffrage • National Association of Colored Women

  21. The Clubwomen, cont. • Effort to extend influence beyond traditional sphere • Charlotte Perkins Gilman & Women and Economics (1908)

  22. Women’s Suffrage • Lrgst. reform mvmt. • Stanton & “natural rights” women deserved the same rights as men

  23. Women’s Suffrage, cont. • Some argued for distinctive female sphere • National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) • Carrie Chapman Catt & Anna Howard Shaw

  24. Women’s Suffrage, cont. • Suffrage would allow women to bring distinct virtues to social problems • WWI gave final push • Nineteenth Amendment (1920)

  25. Women’s Issues • Margaret Sanger and birth control • Lochner v. New York (1905) • Muller v. Oregon (1903) OR law barred women from working more than 10 hrs. a day • Brandeis brief

  26. The Assault on the Parties • Before society could be reformed, govt. would have to be • Parties as a source of corruption

  27. Early Attacks • Secret ballot adopted (1880s & 1890s) vs. political party printing & distribution of ballots

  28. Municipal Reform • Impact of party rule most damaging in cities • Opposition to reform • City bosses, special interests, recent immigrants • Commissions & city mangers

  29. Statehouse Progressivism • Circumvent legislatures by increasing power of electorate • Initiative (submitting new legislation directly to voters) • Referendum (action of the legis. can be returned to the voters for approval) • Direct primary & recall

  30. Statehouse Progressivism, cont. • Robert M. LaFollette (WI) • Regulated RRs & utilities, regulate workplace & provided workmen’s comp., initiatives, referendums

  31. Parties and Interest Groups • Reformers diminished parties centrality • Interest groups – new orgs. emerged outside party system • Sources of progressive reform • Middle class, working-class, African Americans, westerners, etc.

  32. Labor, the Machine, and Reform • Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911) • ILWGU • Strict regulations on factory owners • Enforcement • Tammany Hall & Charles Francis Murphy

  33. African Americans and Reform • Booker T. Washington • Immediate self-improvement vs. long-range social change

  34. African Americans and Reform, cont. • W. E. B. DuBois • The Souls of Black Folk (1903) • Full university education • Aspire to professions • Immediate progress on civil rights

  35. African Americans and Reform, cont. • Niagra Mvmt. (1905) • NAACP • Fighting for equal rights

  36. Crusades for Order and Reform • Eliminate alcohol • Curb prostitution • Regulate divorce • Etc.

  37. The Temperance Crusade • Necessary step in restoring order to society • Major resurgence in 1870s • Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) • Frances Willard • Eighteenth Amendment (1919)

  38. Immigration Restriction • Some argued efforts at assimilation had failed • Eugenics – human inequalities were hereditary • Blocked for a time

  39. The Dream of Socialism • Radical critiques of capitalism (1900 – 1914) • Socialist Party of America • Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) • Single union for all workers • Abolition of “wage slave” system

  40. Decentralization & Regulation • Govt. to play a more active role in regulating & planning economic life

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