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CH. 16 THE PROGRESSIVES

CH. 16 THE PROGRESSIVES. CH. 16-1 PROGRESSIVISM AMERICAN HISTORY. WHAT WAS PROGRESSIVISM?. PROGRESSIVISM—a reform movement that addressed many of the social problems caused by industrialization Progressives sought to improve living conditions for the urban poor

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CH. 16 THE PROGRESSIVES

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  1. CH. 16 THE PROGRESSIVES CH. 16-1 PROGRESSIVISM AMERICAN HISTORY

  2. WHAT WAS PROGRESSIVISM? • PROGRESSIVISM—a reform movement that addressed many of the social problems caused by industrialization • Progressives sought to improve living conditions for the urban poor • MUCKRAKERS—writers that “raked up” or exposed the filth of society • Most articles focused on business and political corruption

  3. Ida Tarbell wrote a scathing report on Standard Oil Company and John D. Rockefeller • Other authors wrote about insurance and stock manipulation, the exploitation of child labor, slum conditions, and racial discrimination

  4. REFORMING SOCIETY • 1920—more than 50% of all Americans lived in cities • As cities grew they had difficulty providing services such as garbage collection, safe housing, police and fire protecton • HOUSING REFORMS • Tenement Act of 1901 (NY State Legislature)

  5. Forced landlords to install lighting in public hallways and provide a toilet for every two families • Outhouses were eventually banned from NY slums • A healthier climate was created in NY • Death rate declined dramatically over the next 15 years in NY

  6. FIGHTING FOR CIVIL RIGHTS • 1909—NAACP created • Ida Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, Jane Addams, and others • 1913—protested the introduction segregation into the federal government • 1915—protested the film “Birth of a Nation” because of its hostile stereotyping of African Americans

  7. 1913—Sigmund Livingston, a Jewish man, founded the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) • Mission was to fight anti-semetism • By 1920—the newspapers’ use of negative references to Jews had nearly stopped

  8. REFORMING THE WORKPLACE • End of the 1800s—labor unions were actively campaigning for the rights of adult male workers • 1893—Florence Kelley helped persuade Illinois to prohibit child labor and limit the number of hours women were forced to work • 1904—Kelley helped found the National Child Labor Committee • Mission was to encourage state legislatures to ban child labor

  9. Companies continued to hire children and not all states banned child labor • Kelley led a successful campaign in Oregon to limit the workday in laundries to 10 hours • Utah limited the workday in some women’s jobs to 8 hours • 1900—40% of working-class families lived in poverty

  10. 1912—Massachusetts became the first state to pass a minimum wage law • Congress didn’t pass a federal minimum wage law until 1938 • COURTS AND LABOR LAWS • Businesses began to fight labor laws in court • Early 1900s—several Supreme Court cases

  11. 1905—Lochner v. New York—USSC refused to limit to uphold a law limiting bakers to a 10-hour day because it prevented workers from make a contract with their employer • 1908—Muller v. Oregon—USSC upheld a state law establishing a 10-hour workday for women in laundries and factories • The argument was that long hours ruined a woman’s health

  12. 1917—Bunting v. Oregon—Extended protection of a 10-hour day to men working in mills and factories • THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST COMPANY FIRE • (p. 525) • 500 young women employed • Factory made women’s blouses

  13. At the end of the 6-day workweek, fire erupted from a discarded match • The 8th floor was ablaze and fire quickly spread to two other floors • Escape was nearly impossible • Doors were locked to prevent theft • Doors that were not locked opened inward • Flimsy fire escape broke under the weight of the panic-stricken employees • People tumbled to their deaths

  14. Dozens of workers leaped from windows to escape the fire • More than 140 women and men died • As a result NY passed the toughest fire safety laws in the nation • THE UNIONS • Energetic labor unions joined the fight for better conditions

  15. International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU)—1900—organized unskilled workers • 1909—”Uprising of the 20,000”—general strike by ILGWU workers • Achieved a shorter workweek and higher wages • They attracted thousands of workers to the union

  16. Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)—1905 • Opposed capitalism • Leader was William “Big Bill” Haywood • Organized unskilled workers • Used traditional strategies such as strikes and boycotts • Also used radical methods such as industrial sabotage

  17. 1912—IWW had 20,000 textile workers on strike in Lawrence, MA to protest pay cuts • After 10 weeks the mill owners gave in and raised wages • Several strikes were complete failures • Government cracked down on IWW’s activities • Within a few years it lost power

  18. REFORMING GOVERNMENT • Progressives targeted government reform and wanted to eliminate corruption • CITY GOVERNMENT REFORMS • Cleaning up government meant taking control of it • Reforms included new rules for police, releasing debtors from prison, improved municipal services, a minimum wage, and kindergartens for children

  19. 1900—hurricane hits Galveston, TX • City government can’t handle disaster • Texas legislature sets up a 5-member commission to govern the city • Commissioner were experts in their field, not party loyalists • Council-manager model began in Staunton, VA in 1908

  20. The city council appointed a professional politician to run the city • STATE GOVERNMENT REFORMS • WI Governor Robert M. La Follette called for electoral reforms such as campaign spending limits • Created state commissions to regulate railroads and utilities, oversee transportation, civil service, and taxation

  21. NY Governor Charles Evens Hughes regulated public utilities and pushed through a worker safety law • MS Governor James Vardaman limited the use of convict labor. • Vardaman’s reforms were marred by extreme racism

  22. ELECTION REFORMS • Progressives wanted elections to be more fair and make politicians more accountable to voters • They pushed for the direct primary • Voters would choose which candidates would run in the general election • MS adopted the direct primary in 1903

  23. Progressives backed the XVIIth Amendment (ratified in 1913) • Voters, not state legislatures, had the power to directly elect US Senators • Secret ballot—all candidates’ names printed on the same form—most states adopted by 1900 • Progressives wanted 3 additional reforms

  24. 1) the initiative—allowed citizens to put a proposed law on the ballot for public approval • 2) the referendum—allows citizens to place a recently passed law on the ballot, allowing voters to approve or reject the measure • 3) the recall—enables citizens to remove an elected official from office by calling a special election • These measures made politicians more accountable to the voters • THE END

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