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Presidents of the Progressive Era. William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt William Taft Woodrow Wilson. How do you measure Progress in your life?. How does a society or nation measure its progress?. In what ways could our country make progress today?.
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Presidents of the Progressive Era • William McKinley • Theodore Roosevelt • William Taft • Woodrow Wilson
How do you measure Progress in your life? • How does a society or nation measure its progress? • In what ways could our country make progress today?
Historians call the period from about 1890–1920 the Progressive Era.
Why did the Progressive Era Occur? • Industrialization, Urbanization, and immigration brought many benefits to America….BUT • The rapid growth also caused poverty, unemployment, horrible working conditions and political corruption. • Many Progressives believed that political action and reform, not private charities, were the methods to bring about progress in society.
The Progressives: Their Goals and Beliefs Progressives were not a single unified movement. They fell into four categories: • Social • Moral • Economic • Political
Common Beliefs of Progressives 1.The Government should be more accountable to its citizens. 2.Government should curb the power and influence of wealthy interests 3.Government should be given expanded powers so that it could become more active in improving the lives of its citizen. 4.Governments should become more efficient and less corrupt so that they could competently handle an expanded role.
Igniting Reform: Writers, Journalists and Muckrakers • The ideas of many writers and journalists influenced public opinion about how to reform society. • Journalists investigated and publicized conditions in certain industries, slums, tenement houses, and sweat shops.
Muckrakers Theodore Roosevelt called the journalists “muckrakers.” Roosevelt was concerned that exposing poverty and corruption could lead to rebellion.
Lincoln Steffens • Published stories about political corruption
Jacob Riis • Photographed pictures of urban slums
Video: The Jungle: A View of Industrial America Questions from the Video: • What role did journalists play in the Progressive Era? • Which Progressive reforms do you think had the greatest effects on society?
An Expanded Role for Government • Progressives sought more social welfare programsto help ensure a minimum standard of living. • Many of the earliest Progressive reforms were made at the municipal, or city, level. • Some municipal reformers worked for home rule, a system that gives cities a limited degree of self-rule. • Municipal reformers opposed the influence of political bosses. • Reformers made efforts to take over city utilities such as water, gas, and electricity. • Some reform mayors led movements for city-supported welfare services such as public baths, parks, work-relief programs, playgrounds, kindergartens, and lodging houses for the homeless (settlement house).
Theodore Roosevelt • War hero, seasoned politician, and dedication reformers became president in 1901. • He quickly pushed Congress to approve the Square Deal, a program of reform aimed at stopping the wealthy and powerful from dominating small business owners and the poor.
Roosevelt's Square Deal • Hepburn Act-limited what railroads could charge for shopping. This helped farmers in the West who had been at the mercy of the railroads. • Meat Inspection Act-gavethe government the power to inspect meat and meat-processing plants to ensure the meat was safe to eat. • Pure Food and Drug Act-bannedinterstate shipment of impure food and the mislabeling of food and drugs.
Roosevelt's Square Deal • National Reclamation Act- gave the government the power to build and manage dams and to control where and how water was used.
Video: American in the 20th Century: Progressivism at the National level
Think About: • How did the reformers of recall and initiative help fight political corruption?
Taft vs. Roosevelt • After two terms in office Roosevelt wanted William Howard Taft to follow him because Taft shared his belief in regulating business and Roosevelt became disappointed and, later, angry. • He began to speak out against Taft, promoting what he called New Nationalism. • As another election neared, the Taft-Roosevelt battle split the Republican Party. A group of Progressives created the Progressive Party and nominated Roosevelt as its candidate for President
Taft’s Presidency • Taft was endorsed by Roosevelt and pledged to carry on the progressive program. • However, he did not even appoint any Progressives to his Cabinet. • He campaigned on a platform to lower tariffs (taxes), but ended up signing a bill that added some highly protective tariff increases.
William Howard Taft Fought to keep the Presidency for the Republican Party Theodore Roosevelt Represented the Progressive Bull Moose Party Eugene V. Debs Made his third of five presidential runs for the Socialist Party Woodrow Wilson Headed the Democratic ticket; with the Republican Party split between Taft and Roosevelt, Wilson won the election. The Election of 1912 A Four-Way Election
Florence Kelley • Believed that unfair prices for household goods hurt women and their families, so she helped found the Nationalism Consumers League (NCL).
Temperance-Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) • Women tried to reduce the consumption of alcohol.
Margaret Sanger • Sought a different change. She thought that family life and women’s health would improve if mothers had fewer children. Opened the nations first birth control clinic.
Ida B. Wells • Established the National Association of Colored Women, which helped African Americans families by providing childcare and education.
National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) • Formed by Carrie Chapman Catt, the group lobbied Congress for the right to vote and used the referendum process to try and get women the vote in individual states. • By 1918, this strategy had helped women get the vote in several states.
National Women’s Party (NWP) • Staged protest marches and hunger strikes and even picketed the White House to demand the right to vote. • When the United States Entered World War I in 1917, the NAWSA supported the war effort. • Its actions and those of the NWP convinced a growing number of legislators to support a woman suffrage amendment.
African Americans and Civil Rights • Like most other progressives- Roosevelt failed to support the civil rights of African-Americans, although, he did support of few individual African-Americans. • Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to the White House as a symbolic gesture.
Segregation • Many Progressives shared the same prejudices against non-whites and other Americans. • They also supported segregation, or separation of the races, and laws to limit minority voting.
Booker T. Washington • -Washington was respected by powerful whites, but faced opposition from other African-Americans such as W.E.B. Du Bois, for his accommodation of segregationists and for blaming black poverty on blacks and urging them to accept discrimination.
W.E.B. Du Bois • Believed that blacks should demand immediately all the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. • Du Bois was part of the Niagara Movement, a group that called for rapid progress and more education for blacks.
NAACP-National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peopled. • Planned to use the court system to fight for civil rights of African Americans, including the right to vote.
Wilson’s Policies as President • Wilson was reformer who thought government she play an active role in the economy.
Wilson’s Policies and President 1-Wilson tried to prevent manufactures from charged unfairly high prices. He cut tariffs on imported goods, which made foreign goods more competitive in the United States and forced U.S. producers to charge fair prices.
