Progressivism

1. Progressivism

2. The Progressives • Jacob Riis – 1889 article in Scribner’s Magazine – “How the Other Half Lives” – becomes best-selling book • Took photographs of poor, living conditions – showed to public • Pressed New York city government to build parks, schools - improve living conditions for the poor

3. Jacob Riis “How the Other Half Lives”

4. Jacob Riis “How the Other Half Lives”

5. What Was Progressivism? • Reform movement that’s cause was to improve the social problems that industrialism had created • Progressives – wanted to improve living conditions for the city poor • Questioned practices of big business • Wanted government to be more involved (liberal)

6. Muckrakers • Journalists who wrote to expose injustices of big business and industrialism • Ida Tarbell – 1903 condemned business practices of Standard Oil and Rockefeller in McClure’s Magazine

7. Society Reform • 1920 over half of Americans live in cities; cities struggled to keep up • Garbage collection, safe housing, fire and police departments • Tenement Act of 1901 – forced landlords to provide lighting in public hallways and provide toilets for every two families • Outhouses eventually banned; within 15 years New York death rate dropped sharply

8. NAACP • Formed in 1909 by W.E.B. Du Bois, Jane Addams, and Ida Wells-Barnett, among others • Purpose – fight for rights of African Americans • Early protests • 1913 segregation in the federal government • 1915 Birth of a Nation for the way it depicted African Americans

9. Workplace Reform • Progressives also took up the cause of women and children in workplace • 1893 Florence Kelleypersuaded Illinois to ban child labor; limited hours women could work • 1904 formed National Child Labor Committee, • Mission was to get state legislatures to ban child labor • Unskilled workers still worked for very low wages; 1900 about 2 out of 5 working class families lived in poverty • 1912 Massachusetts 1st state to pass minimum wage law (no national law until 1938)

10. Supreme Court and Labor Laws • 1905 Lochner vs. New York – loss for workers - court refused to uphold law limiting bakers to 10-hour day • 1908 Muller vs. Oregon - court rules for workers – upheld state law limiting women to 10-hour workday

11. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory FireNew York 1911

12. Triangle Shirtwaist Fire • Galvanized Progressives; about 500 women worked at factory – made women’s blouses • Fire erupts on a Saturday; escape was nearly impossible; doors locked to prevent theft • Fire escape broke from weight of panicked workers • More than 140 women and men died • Turning point for reform – New York passes toughest fire-safety laws in the country

13. Unions • International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU); unlike the AFL, organized unskilled workers • Called a general strike in 1909 – “Uprising of the 20,000” – won a shorter workweek and higher wages • Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) • Opposed capitalism altogether; organized unskilled workers • Had short-lived success; later strikes were failures • Government cracked down on IWW’s revolutionary activities

14. Election Reforms • Progressives worked to make elections fairer and make politicians more accountable • Pushed for direct primary – election where voters choose candidates to run in general election • Mississippi adopted direct primary 1903; most states shortly followed • 17th Amendment – gave voters power to directly elect their senators (rather than state legislatures) • By 1900 most states had secret ballot

15. Election Reforms • Initiative – allows voters to put a proposed law on the ballot to be voted on • Referendum – allows voters to put a recently passed law on the ballot to be voted on • Recall – gives voters right to remove an elected official from office by calling for a special election

16. Women and Prohibition • Progressive women participated in prohibition movement – ban on making, selling, or distributing alcoholic beverages • Two major organizations – Women’s Christian Temperance Movement (WCTU) and Anti-Saloon League • Evangelist Carry Nation – hatchet in one hand, Bible in the other – smashed up saloons in Kansas – fiery speeches • 1919 18th Amendment ratified – prohibited manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcoholic beverages • Repealed in 1933

17. Women and Civil Rights • National Association of Colored Women – founded in 1896; campaigned against poverty, segregation, lynchings, Jim Crow laws • By 1916 100,000 members • Harriet Tubman (Underground Railroad) became a member

18. Women’s Suffrage Movement • 15th Amendment – gave right to vote to African American men, but not women • After Civil War, suffragists went into action • Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association • Campaigned to give women the vote • 1869 Wyoming Territory first to grant women the vote; Utah Territory followed next year

19. Susan B. Anthony tests the law • Anthony wrote speeches, handed out pamphlets; spoke to every Congress between 1869 and 1906 on women’s suffrage • 1872 decided to test law – her and three sisters registered to vote and voted in Rochester, New York • Arrested two weeks later • Judge refuses to allow Anthony to testify, fines her $100; Anthony refuses to pay fine • Judge doesn’t arrest her, which takes away her right to appeal • 1875 Supreme Court rules women’s voting is “up to the states”

20. Susan B. Anthony

21. Anti-Suffrage arguments • Opponents’ arguments: • Voting would interfere with women’s duties at home • Women didn’t have education or experience to vote • Some said most women didn’t want to vote • Some churches argued against it – said marriage was a sacred bond where entire family was represented by he man

22. Two organizations merge • 1890 National Woman Suffrage Association joined with American Woman Suffrage Association to form National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) • Susan B. Anthony served as president 1892-1900 • Anthony dies 1906 – last public statement – “failure is impossible” • women nationwide finally win the vote in 1920

23. Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal

24. Roosevelt Background • Born into prominent New York family • Sickly child – doctors forbade strenuous activity • As a teenager, took up boxing, tennis, horseback riding, rowing • Vigorous personality, unbridled optimism • Age 26 tragedy strikes – loses both wife and mother on same day; TR returned to his ranch in Dakota Territory • Worked with cowboys, rode in roundups, hunted mountain lions, bear, elk – loved the outdoors • After two years in Dakota Territory, returned to New York and politics

25. “The light has gone out of my life”

26. Roosevelt’s Presidency • 1898 elected governor of New York; Republican political machine wanted no part of his Progressive views – have him named vice-president (little power) • McKinley assassinated 1901 – TR becomes youngest president • TR saw White House as bully pulpit – a platform to let American people know his views; Roosevelt brought new energy to Progressive movement

27. Coal Strike 1902 • 1902 150,000 Pennsylvania coal miners strike for better wages, shorter hours, recognition of union • Northern cities depended on coal • Roosevelt convinces both sides to accept arbitration – where a 3rd party makes decision to settle a dispute • Arbitrators gave workers shorter workday, better pay, no union recognition • 1st time fed. government intervened in a strike to protect public • Roosevelt declares the compromise a “square deal”

28. The Square Deal • “Square Deal” became TR’s 1904 campaign slogan but also really the theme for his entire presidency • Promised that “each person is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less • Called for limiting powers of trusts, promoting public health and safety, improving working conditions • TR easily wins re-election in 1904

29. Trust-busting • TR believed big companies were important to U.S., but that they should behave responsibly • Said “we draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth” • 1901 railroad tycoons J.P. Morgan, James J. Hill, and E.H. Harriman join railroads together – dominate RR’s between Chicago and northwest • TR directed U.S. attorney general to file suit against Northern Securities for violating Sherman Antitrust Act • 1904 Supreme Court rules monopoly violated Sherman Antitrust Act, ordered corporation to break up

30. Trust-busting continued… • Decision encouraged TR to go after more trusts • Size not the issue – issue was whether the trust was good or bad for American public

31. Regulating Railroads • 1903 Congress passes Elkins Act – prohibited railroads from granting rebates – ensured that all customers paid same for shipping

32. Protecting Consumers • There were no laws whatsoever regulating food and drug industries – they were completely unchecked • Poultry – formaldehyde in old eggs • Dr. James’s Soothing Syrup (babies’ teething) – heroin • Gowan’s Pneumonia Cure – opium • Upton Sinclair – The Jungle 1906 – exposed the meatpacking industry • (read excerpt p. 186) • Meat Inspection Act 1906 – required fed. inspection of meat shipped across state lines • Pure Food and Drug Act 1906 – forbade harmful ingredients in food and drugs; required food and medicine containers to carry accurate ingredient labels

33. Environmental Conservation • Late 1800’s Americans acted as if there were an endless supply of resources – lumber companies, plowed up Plains, overgrazing • TR believed each generation had a duty to protect resources • Newlands Reclamation Act 1902 – gave federal government right to create irrigation projects to make dry lands productive • TR administration launched more than 20 reclamation projects

34. Conservation continued… • Gifford Pinchot-shared TR’s views; first came up with word conservation to describe our need to protect environment • 1905 TR administration creates U.S. Forestry Service – appoints Pinchot as head • During TR’s presidency almost 150 million acres added to national forests • Antiquities Act 1906 – led to creation of 18 national monuments

35. Taft and Wilson • After 1904 election TR told the country he would not seek re-election in 1908 – kept his word • 1908 put forth friend and advisor William Howard Taft • Taft – more restrained view of the presidency • Taft didn’t really want to be president – reluctantly wins election in 1908 • Before his term is up, he and TR would become bitter enemies

36. Taft and Progressivism • Department of Labor created – oversaw labor laws • 16th Amendment – gave Congress power of income tax • Despite these reforms, most Progressive Republicans soon grew tired of Taft and his cautious policies

37. Progressivism and Taft continued… • April 1909 Taft signed into law Payne-Aldrich Tariff, which started out as a lowering of the tariff, but after several amendments to the bill actually raised tariffs • Progressives saw tariff reduction as big issue • Ballinger-Pinchot affair – secretary of interior Richard Ballinger was accused of impeding government fraud investigation of coal-land deals in Alaska; when Pinchot accused Ballinger of sabotaging conservation efforts, Taft fired Pinchot • TR refused to support Taft after the Ballinger-Pinchot affair

38. Split in Republican Party • 1910 congressional elections, Republicans lose control of HOR for 1st time in 16 years • Progressive Republicans break away to form new Progressive (“Bull Moose”) Party in 1912 – nominate TR • Democrat Woodrow Wilson defeats Taft and TR in election of 1912

39. Wilson’s New Freedom • Came to office with reputation of a reformer • New Freedom platform: • Tariff reductions, banking reform, stronger antitrust legislation

40. Tariff Reduction • October 1913 Underwood Tariff – lowered tariffs to lowest levels in 50 years • Tariff also introduced graduated income tax – the more you made the more you paid

41. Banking Reform • Problem was banks would collapse whenever too many people withdrew funds at same time • Federal Reserve Act 1913 – three-tier banking system: • Top – Federal Reserve Board • Second level – 12 Federal Reserve banks – served other banks rather than individuals • Third level – private banks • Put banking system under federal supervision for 1st time

42. Stronger anti-trust laws • Clayton Antitrust Act 1914 • Prohibited companies from buying stock in other companies to create a monopoly • Made strikes, boycotts, picketing legal • Federal Trade commission – enforced antitrust laws

43. Women gain the vote • NAWSA favored a state-by-state approach • Alice Paul and Lucy Burns broke away formed National Woman’s Party – wanted constitutional amendment • 1916 under Carrie Chapman Catt NAWSA changed strategy to focus on both local and federal levels • American women’s strong patriotism during WWI weakened opposition to suffrage • 1920 19th Amendment ratified – gave women full voting rights

44. Progressivism and Rights of African Americans • TR – mixed record BTW first president to entertain African American as dinner guest • Did not support 167 dishonorably discharged African American soldiers at Brownsville incident • Wilson – opposed federal anti-lynching law; allowed cabinet members to segregate their offices; during Wilson’s administration Congress passed law making it a felony for blacks and whites to marry in District of Columbia • Outbreak of WWI ends Progressive Era – war dominates WW’s 2nd term