Populism and Progressivism

1. Populism and Progressivism -Agrarian discontent and political issues of the late nineteenth century-Origins of Progressive reform: municipal, state, and national-Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson as Progressive presidents-Women’s roles: family, workplace, education, politics, and reform-Black America: urban migration and civil rights initiatives

2. Introduction • In many ways the Populist and Progressive reform movements near the turn of the century were a reaction to the monumental changes- economic, political and social- wrought from rapid industrialization and urbanization. • Though related in their reformist spirit and linked by several particular policy objectives, Populism and Progressivism are really two separate movements. Populism was a political and economic reform movement firmly rooted in the agrarian discontent in the South and (especially) the West, where farmers and ranchers were at the mercy of the railroad pools, various industrial trusts, and speculation on the global grain markets. Populism developed several specific reforms- especially monetary reforms, which ultimately failed, and the more successful “trust-busting” that would later be advanced and extended by their Progressive counterparts. • Progressivism, on the other hand, was a far less monolithic movement, evolving into a multi-faceted reform agenda aimed at a broad array of social and government reforms. In this sense, Progressivism was more of a frame of mind than a concrete set of issues. As the name implies, Progressives sought social and civic “progress,” but then as now, ideas about what constitutes “progress” differed widely.

3. Agrarian discontent and political issues of the late nineteenth century • Through the last decades of the 1800s the lot of the American farmer was precarious. Railroads and industrialization had integrated the national and international markets for grains and foodstuffs, but the near-complete commoditization of farm produce was a double edged sword. The livelihoods of farmers throughout the country were held hostage at every turn- grain storage and elevator operators, rail freight rates, unregulated speculative futures markets, and the “money trust” whose banks held many farmers’ mortgages. • Perhaps rightly, farmers began to grumble that they had been forsaken by their government in favor of greedy corporatism. Although initially disorganized, groups like the “Grange”- a fraternal, primarily social organization of farmers- began to identify and politically agitate on some common issues. • The collective voice of agrarian discontent was clamorous enough to inspire a bona fide third rail political movement- The Peoples’ Party, known as the Populists. Through the 1880s and 1890s, Populism came to embrace three key reforms: 1) regulation of the railroads, 2) reduction of the tariff, 3) currency inflation through the free coinage of silver.

4. A financial panic and ensuing depression in 1893 brought the “free silver” issue to the fore of national attention. It had long been argued by some, that the main cause of the farmer’s plight was the scarcity of hard currency, which tended to deflate prices. The Populists’ answer was the monetization of silver, which would put more dollars in circulation, spur inflation, and raise prices. • Although strongly opposed by more conservative elements (nearly all Republicans and some “Gold-Bug” Democrats, the “Silverites” had enough support for the issue to be absorbed into the Democratic platform in the election of 1896. The Populist wing of the Democratic Party found their champion in William Jennings Bryan, a gifted orator who lent evangelical fervor to the cause of “free silver” as a panacea for the ills of the “little man.” • William McKinley, the Republican candidate, painted free-silver as an unproven and potentially disastrous policy. In a groundbreaking campaign, McKinley ultimately prevailed with his argument of stability and “a Full Dinner Pail.” Improvements in the overall economy and a natural inflation seemed to prove McKinley right, and the silver issue slowly faded from prominence. Although their primary issue never saw the light of day, the absorption of the Populists into the Democratic fold was important because it infused the party with a spirit to reform government to better serve the needs of regular people. Over the following decade, this basic idea branched into a nexus of trans-partisan reform movements known as Progressivism.

5. Origins of Progressive reform: municipal, state, and national • As noted, the Progressive movement encompassed a wide range of social and political reforms, but a common thread was a desire to make government more efficient, and more directly responsible to the people it was supposed to serve. The sense was that government had become beholden to industrial and corporate interests to the detriment of citizens and consumers at-large. • Some early Progressive legislation set the tone at the federal level- The Civil Service Act (1885) dismantled the inefficient and thoroughly corrupt “spoils” system for federal jobs, while the Interstate Commerce Act (1887) and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) tried to address the pervasive powers of the railroads and industrial trusts. The Progressives finally put some teeth in the anti-trust movement, helping to break up many of the most notorious trusts, including Standard Oil in 1911. • Fortifying and expanding the democratic process was a lynchpin of the Progressive platform, and Progressives pushed for and eventually won groundbreaking electoral reforms. At the municipal and state levels, Progressives battled machine politics by adopting reforms like the “council-manager” system of city administration, and by instituting direct party primaries to replace the highly corruptible convention system of nominating candidates for office. Progressives also gained initiative, referendum, and recall rights by popular vote in many states. Meanwhile, Progressive Suffragists won the vote for women in many states prior to the 19th amendment (which was the single largest expansion of the electorate in US history and was in many ways the bookend to the Progressive era.) • The three prior amendments reflected Progressive ideas as well, and the reforming spirit of Progressivism also led to legislation protecting consumer rights (Meat Inspection Act, Pure Food and Drug Act), conservation of natural resources (Newlands Reclamation Act), and a total reorganization of the national banking system (Federal Reserve Act).

6. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson as Progressive presidents • The first president to be specifically associated with Progressive reform was Teddy Roosevelt, who had come into the White House after McKinley was assassinated by a deranged anarchist in 1901. At 42, Roosevelt was the youngest president to hold the office, and he brought that youthful vigor- along with a progressive mindset- to bear on his administration. • Roosevelt had already proven himself willing to shake things up as governor of New York, and he wasted no time putting his ideas to the test as president. He became known as a trust-buster, consumer advocate, and conservationist. • William Howard Taft was Roosevelt’s hand-picked successor, and he expanded the government’s prosecution of trusts, but his administration backed off some of the Progressive platform, alienating Roosevelt’s supporters in the process. Roosevelt himself reacted by forming a third party, the Progressive Party, known popularly as the “Bull Moose” Party. Roosevelt effectively split the Republican vote, allowing the Democrat Woodrow Wilson to take the presidency. • Wilson was a full-bore Progressive, highly idealistic and doggedly determined. Within his first two years in office Wilson set about a whirlwind of long awaited Progressive reforms. Topping his list is what Wilson called the “triple wall of privilege”- the tariff, the banks, and the trusts. In short order, he promoted legislation to deal with each- The Underwood Tariff Act of 1913 saw a significant reduction in tariff rates, the Federal Reserve Act created a semi-autonomous central bank for the government, and the Clayton Anti-Trust Act in 1914 significantly strengthened the government’s ability to address monopolization of industries. The Clayton Act also legislated gains for labor- including the legal right to strike and picket peacefully.

7. Women’s roles: family, workplace, education, politics, and reform • The Progressive era saw a momentous shift in the roles and prominence of women in virtually all aspects of civic life. Expanding on the groundwork of several generations of women activists, women played important roles in the Progressive era, reasserting their leadership in several areas, including the prohibition movement, social welfare reforms, and most obviously, the equal suffrage movement. • Somewhat ironically, many women activists took advantage of their traditional status as keepers of the home to justify their roles outside of it. Equal suffrage advocates argued that women needed to have a voice in governments that increasingly had impact on family and child-rearing- public school boards- for example. A similar argument framed the prohibition movement where women were especially potent advocates for because of the perceived threat alcohol posed to the moral family. • Women also made significant gains in education, including a marked increase in the number of women’s colleges and higher education opportunities.

8. Black America: urban migration and civil rights initiatives • A conspicuous failure of the Progressive movement was its unwillingness to address civil rights for Black Americans. For all the rhetoric of social and political reform, the disenfranchisement and economic marginalization of Blacks were never even considered in the Progressive agenda. In fact, systematic racism was reaching new heights through the Progressive era. Wilson re-segregated the federal civil service, and a re-vitalized “second” Ku Klux Klan was begun in 1915. At its mid-1920s peak, the KKK claimed upwards of 4 million members nationally. In an era when lynchings in broad daylight and race riots were commonplace, it was unfortunately up to Blacks to advocate for themselves. • But civil rights initiatives were also hampered by dissension from within the Black community. A schism over the best strategy for bettering the lives of Blacks developed among leaders. More conservative elements, led by Booker T. Washington, argued that economic progress, gained through vocational and mechanical education, would gradually inspire political and social change. In contrast, leaders like W.E.B. Du Bois, a founder of the NAACP and the first African American to teach at Harvard, advocated immediate and complete socio-political equality. Du Bois and his supporters saw Washington’s strategy as a complicit acknowledgement of Black inferiority, and suggested instead that the “talented tenth” of the Black community lead the efforts to empower Blacks who were unable to speak for themselves. • Yet another tact for Black Americans was promoted by Jamaican-born Marcus Garvey. Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association promoted Black nationalism, separatism and a “back to Africa” campaign that attracted nearly 2 million people in the United States and Caribbean through the 1910s. • This shifting landscape of Black America was attended and aided by a steady migration from the Deep South to (mainly) northern cities, where they might find economic opportunities and nominally better social conditions. Cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland (among others) developed sizable Black communities. There, Blacks enjoyed relative economic equality with their White working-class counterparts, but still faced considerable social and political discrimination. • Another important result of the new urban Black experience of this era was a literary and artistic outpouring known as the Harlem Renaissance.