The Progressive Era 1900-1920

1. The Progressive Era1900-1920 Chapter 18

2. Progressive Movement • Progressivism was an ideological movement of the early 20th century which favored achieving political and social reforms through • education, • wider political participation by all classes of society, and • direct government action.

3. Progressive Movement • Progressivism had its roots in • Populism • Half-breeds & Mugwumps (earlier reformers) • Those shocked by • abuses of industrialists • corruption in government • the plight of the poor

4. Progressive Movement • Who were these “Progressives?” • Those who wanted justice for all. • Reform Darwinists who wanted society to advance & evolve. • Christians who saw an opportunity to do good.

5. Progressive Movement Just how did the Progressives choose to further reform? 1. By promoting direct democracy 2. By increasing government efficiency 3. By advocating government intervention

6. Direct Democracy Secret Ballot – Votes could not be “bought” as easily. Direct Primaries – Party candidates to be nominated directly by popular vote. Initiative – Voters initiate laws by presenting petitions. Referendum – People vote directly on an issue in a regular election. Recall – People can vote to remove an elected official from office.

7. Direct Democracy National government adopted secret ballot only. Many state and local governments adopted some or all of the other reforms.

8. Government Efficiency City Commission form of government – Duties of mayor and city council are combined and placed in the hands of 5 city commissioners (executive & legislative function) Galveston, Texas City Manager – City council would hire a professional city manager to administer the government. Staunton, Virginia

9. Government Intervention • “Trust-Busting” – breaking up the monopolies to restore competition. • Trust regulation – leaving monopolies, but allow government to regulate them • Socialism – government ownership of business • Full government ownership vs. limited government ownership • “Gas & Water Socialism” – government control of utilities

10. Government Intervention: Support for Labor Allow labor unions to organize & make businesses negotiate with them. Establish minimum wage. Prohibit child labor. Limit hours in a work day. Mandate safety standards in the workplace.

11. Constitutional Progressivism • Sixteenth Amendment – provided for a federal income tax. (1913) • Two Reasons: • More revenue for government to spend on reforms • Wealth would be redistributed because people earning more income would pay more.

12. Constitutional Progressivism Seventeenth Amendment (1913) – provided for direct election of U.S. Senators (instead of state legislatures choosing them).

13. Constitutional Progressivism Eighteenth Amendment (1919) – prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages. Known as PROHIBITION.

15. Constitutional Progressivism Nineteenth Amendment (1920) – provides the right to vote for women. Known as Women’s Suffrage.

16. Personalities • Muckrakers – writers who exposed abuse and corruption in books and magazines. • Lincoln Steffens – exposed municipal corruption in St. Louis • Ida Tarbell – exposed some unscrupulous tactics of Standard Oil. • Upton Sinclair – exposed filthy conditions in Chicago’s meat-packing industry • Laws were changed because people became aware of these problems.

18. Personalities • Political Progressives • William Jennings Bryan – leading Democrat progressive • Robert La Folette – leading Republican progressive • Eugene Debs – Socialist and union organizer/leader

19. Progressive Presidents Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) William Howard Taft (1909-1913) Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

20. Roosevelt & the Square Deal “Square Deal” – T. Roosevelt’s name for his philosophy that every man and woman should receive fair treatment and equal opportunity.

21. Roosevelt & the Square Deal • Trust-Busting – T. Roosevelt used the Sherman Anti-trust Act to expand federal power over businesses, particularly trusts & monopolies.

22. Roosevelt & the Square Deal • Regulation – He wanted to regulate the conduct of businesses. • Hepburn Act (1906) – gave ICC more power to regulate railroads & shifted the burden of proof to the railroads (Guilty until proven innocent!) • Pure Food & Drug Act (1906) – outlawed impure food across state lines & required honest labels. • Meat Inspection Act (1906) – required Dept. of Agriculture to oversee meat packing and food animal health

23. Roosevelt & the Square Deal • Coal Strike – T. Roosevelt intervened in a coal miners’ strike in 1902 when management refused to negotiate. He threatened to use federal troops to keep the mine open. • Federal force used against business (rather than labor) • Federal government acted as mediator in labor dispute

24. Roosevelt & the Square Deal Conservation – T. Roosevelt managed to set aside more than 100 million acres of western land for national parks and national forests. He established the National Conservation Commission to help conserve nature and America’s natural treasures.

25. Roosevelt & the Square Deal • Race Relations – one of the failures of the Progressives. • Jim Crow laws expanded • Reasons race relations got worse • 1. Racists politicians came into power. • 2. Some Democrats disenfranchised the blacks because some had allied with Populists & reform groups. • 3. The federal government and northern states lost interest in civil rights for blacks.

26. Roosevelt & the Square Deal • Two reactions of blacks to racism: • 1. Booker T. Washington said blacks should work hard and bring themselves up economically, then political equality would follow. (ECONOMIC SOLUTION) • 2. W.E.B. DuBois said blacks had to have political equality before they COULD improve themselves economically. (POLITICAL SOLUTION). Started the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 1909)

27. “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar I KNOW what the caged bird feels, alas!         When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;     When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,     And the river flows like a stream of glass;         When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,     And the faint perfume from its chalice steals —     I know what the caged bird feels!

28. “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar     I know why the caged bird beats his wing         Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;     For he must fly back to his perch and cling     When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;         And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars     And they pulse again with a keener sting —     I know why he beats his wing!

29. “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,         When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—     When he beats his bars and he would be free;     It is not a carol of joy or glee,         But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,     But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings —     I know why the caged bird sings!

30. Paul Laurence Dunbar

31. Roosevelt and the Big Stick • Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy was characterized by his favorite saying: • “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” • He pursued a vigorous, expansive foreign policy in contrast to the mostly isolationist policies the U.S. had tended to follow up to this time.

32. Roosevelt believed that the U.S. was a “civilized power” and was taking the “blessings of civilization” to “uncivilized” nations. His idea was to export our laws, order, and righteousness. The problem was that not everyone welcomed the U.S. brand of “civilization.”

33. The Declaration of Independence says, “…governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

34. Philippines In the Philippines, we helped them achieve their freedom from Spain, then we paid Spain to purchase the Philippines from the country we had just declared had no right to “own” the country. Then we proceeded to send our own governors and military to govern the Philippines.

35. Philippines The Filipinos weren’t happy about this because they wanted their own INDEPENDENCE, so they mounted an independence movement, called by U.S. historians “an insurrection.” It took the U.S. two years to subdue the Philippines, then we possessed the island nation for over 30 years, finally granting them independence after WWII in 1946.

36. Philippines Why did we want the Philippines?

37. Panama Canal A canal built through the isthmus of Panama in Central America, this Panama Canal provided a much shorter route for merchant and military vessels between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

38. Panama Canal Land originally owned by Columbia. France first tried to build a canal, but failed, mostly due to malaria and disease. France wanted out and offer to sell the project to the U.S., but the U.S. had to get permission from the Columbian government and pay for the rights. Columbia refused the price ($10 million up front & $250,000 yearly thereafter.)

39. Panama Canal The U.S. helped create a little revolution in Panama, and Panama became independent from Columbia, then sold us the rights to the Canal Zone for the price Roosevelt wanted to pay. This kind of action caused Latin American countries to become quite suspicious and resentful of U.S. intervention in Central & South America.

40. Panama Canal It took 10 years to build the canal. It cost about $400,000 million to build. It provided great economic benefit to shipping industry because of shortening travel distance and time, cutting transportation costs. The Panama Canal opened in 1914, just days after WWI broke out in Europe.

41. Roosevelt Corollary President Theodore Roosevelt viewed the U.S. as the leader of the Western Hemisphere. He expanded the Monroe Doctrine to allow the U.S. to act as a “policeman” to keep European powers out of Latin America and to keep Latin America in line. This led to numerous military interventions in Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic over the next decade.

42. Roosevelt Corollary As you can imagine, Latin American resentment grew as a result.

43. Japan President Roosevelt intervened in a war between Japan and Russia over a territorial dispute. He won a Nobel Peace Price for helping to negotiate a solution (Treaty of Portsmouth 1905).

45. Japan Roosevelt also negotiated with the Japanese for better treatment of Japanese immigrants on the West Coast. The Japanese agreed to refuse passports to Japanese laborers trying to come to the U.S. This effort served to stop immigration from Japan to the U.S.

46. Taft & the Presidency William Howard Taft was Theodore Roosevelt’s hand-picked successor.

47. Taft & the Presidency • Taft soon ran into conflict with the Progressives. • He refused to veto a bill that was supposed to lower tariffs but didn’t really lower them. • He refused to support the ouster of the dictatorial Speaker of the House, Joseph Cannon. • He adhered strictly to the law when it came to withdrawing land for conservation. • He fired Gifford Pinchot, head of the forestry service, for publicly opposing him on conservation issues. • He reversed a decision by Roosevelt to allow U.S. Steel to purchase another company.

48. Taft & the Presidency Dollar Diplomacy – the policy of attempting to influence foreign affairs through the investment of U.S. dollars in foreign countries. The policy was mostly unsuccessful in Latin America because people didn’t want to risk money in areas they perceived as risky. The policy was not successful in China where investors figured the U.S. was unlikely to intervene to protect their interests beyond a verbal protest.

49. Election of 1912 William Howard Taft ran for re-election as a Republican. Woodrow Wilson ran for president as a Democrat. Theodore Roosevelt, unsatisfied with Taft, ran as a third-party candidate on the Progressive Party ticket.

50. Election of 1912 Taft & Roosevelt split the Republican vote, and Woodrow Wilson was elected.