1 / 13

Progressivism

Reaction to the Gilded Age. Progressivism. A. Industrialization, with its increase in productivity and the number of consumer goods, created Unemployment and labor unrest Wasteful use of natural resources Abuses of corporate power

melosa
Download Presentation

Progressivism

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Reaction to the Gilded Age Progressivism

  2. A. Industrialization, with its increase in productivity and the number of consumer goods, created • Unemployment and labor unrest • Wasteful use of natural resources • Abuses of corporate power • B. Growing cities magnified problems of poverty, disease, crime, and corruption • Tenements • Factory towns • Political Machines • C. Influx of immigrants and rise of new managerial class upset traditional class alignments • D. Massive depression (1893-1897) convinced many that equal opportunity was out of reach for many Americans. • The Panic of 1893 • Robber Barons vs. Farmers and Laborers Sources of Progressive Reform

  3. New middle class composed of young professionals • Sought to apply principles of professions (medicine, law, business, teaching) to problems of society • Strong faith in progress and the ability of educated people to overcome problems • Rise in volunteer organizations • NAACP-National Association for the Advancement of Colored People • NAWSA • Women’s Christian Temperance Union • Labor Unions • Mainly urban • Muckraking journalists attacked corruption and scandal with a sense of moral outrage • Lincoln Steffens exposed city machines in The Shame of the Cities (1904) • Ida Tarbell exposed Standard Oil Trust abuses • Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906) attacked the meat-packing industry Who Were the Progressives?

  4. What was Sinclair’s goal in writing The Jungle? His descriptions are quite graphic, why do you think he used this tactic? Imagine you were a consumer at this time, what would your reaction be to this type of journalism? Questions from The Jungle

  5. Political reformers • opposed to traditional party politics • Anarchists • Socialists • Socialists • Anti-capitalists • Eugene V. Debs (6 % of popular vote, 1912) • Ignored by most mainstream as too extreme Who Were the Progressives?

  6. TR: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt, Parts 1 & 2 What was it about T.R. that made him the ideal president for the early 20th century? How did he make reforms in his early political career? How was T.R. instrumental in convincing the US to go to war with Spain? How did T.R.’s experiences with the Rough Riders set him up for higher political office? Why was T.R. set up to be Vice-president for McKinley? Teddy Roosevelt & the Square Deal

  7. The Bully Pulpit • T.R. fought against those he felt were not acting in America's best interests. • 1. Coal Strike--When coal mine owners refused to deal with the union in a 1902 strike, T.R. summonsed them and the head of the mine workers to the White House and threatened to use army troops to keep the mines open. Owners backed down and T.R. was credited with ending the strike • 2. Northern Securities Case--T.R. used the Sherman Antitrust Act to attack a railroad monopoly. Supreme Court ordered the company to dissolve. • 3. Added Departments of Labor and Commerce to the Cabinet • 4. Pushed through the Hepburn Act (1906), strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission • 5. Urged Congressional approval of the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906), which forbade impure foods and required labeling of ingredients of foods and drugs. Teddy Roosevelt & the Square Deal

  8. Teddy Roosevelt & the Square Deal • Conservation reform added massive areas to the national forests • Transferred forests to the U.S. Forest Service headed by Gifford Pinchot • Withdrew millions of acres of public land from sale to protect resources • Used public land sale revenues to build dams and canal systems

  9. City government changed to prevent political machines • City commissions replaced mayors and city councils in some areas • City managers (nonpolitical professional managers) were hired to run small cities • State level reform efforts championed by Robert La Follette • Direct primary to give voters control over candidates • Election reforms to bring direct democracy to voters • Initiative • Referendum • Recall City and State Government Reform

  10. Education • Women began attending colleges in large numbers (by 1920, 47% of total enrollment was female). • Believed education would create an enlightened population, enrollments-86% of children in schools by 1920 • Women’s Rights • the type of work switched from domestic labor to clerical work, factory work, and professionals. • 18th Amendment • 19th Amendment • Child Labor • most states passed minimum working age laws and prohibited children from working more than 10 hours per day, • enforcement was difficult to achieve. Major Progressivism Programs

  11. Taft proved to be less progressive than T.R. • T.R. organized the National Progressive or "Bull Moose" Party • Progressive ideals • Democrats nominated Woodrow Wilson • low tariffs • breaking up of all monopolies • government should be an umpire in disputes between labor and business. • Socialists nominated Debs (again) • Wilson won 40/48 states as Republicans split between Taft and TR. Election of 1912

  12. Election of 1912

  13. Tariff reform--Underwood Tariff (1913) • gave first significant tariff reduction since 1860s • Currency and banking reform • Creation of Federal Reserve System • Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) • restrict monopolies and set up a Federal Trade Commission to stop unfair practices which may arise Wilson's New Freedom and Progressivism

More Related