Rise of Progressivism

Rise of Progressivism Ch.21

“I am, therefore, a Progressive because we have not kept up with our changes of conditions, either in the economic field or in the political field. We have not kept up as well as other nations have. We have not adjusted our practices to the facts of the case.” -Woodrow Wilson, campaign speech, 1912. Industrialization, immigration, and urban expansion led to extreme growth. Growth led to obvious issues. Progressive Movement is catapulted when Teddy Roosevelt becomes the President of the U.S Why Change was Needed

-Make moderate political changes and social improvements through government action. • Extreme diversity in the “progressive” movement. • Wanted pragmatism- logical thinking of how to help society. • William James and John Dewey- Argued for practical and experimental approaches to create morals, ideals, and knowledge. (Taylorism) • Antimonopoly and Faith in Knowledge Progressivism

Teddy Roosevelt coined this term after people that exposed the realties “muck” of party politics, monopolies, slums, etc… to the people. • Origins: Henry Demarest Lloyd- 1881 wrote a series of articles for the Atlantic Monthly attacking Standard Oil Company. • Magazines: Lincoln Steffens and Ida Tarbell wrote magazines that exposed Standard Oil Company. • Books: How the Other Half Lives (Jacob Riis), The Shame of the Cities (Lincoln Steffens), etc… Muckrakers

Declines after 1910. Reasons: • Hard to top the previous stories. • Banks and advertisers pressured publishers to tone down their writing. • Corporations started PR campaigns. Decline of Muckraking

Walter Rauschenbusch- Protestant Christian’s who wanted to attack urban poverty. • Salvation Army (Best Example) • Moral fiber added to progressivism Social Gospel

Jane Addams and the Hull House • Ignorance, poverty, and criminality were a product of an unhealthy environment. • Aid immigrant families adapt to new ways of life in America. • Helped produce social work. Settlement House Movement

More professional jobs • Example: AMA (American Medical Association) • Standards set on practicing medicine. • Lawyers- Pass professional bar exams. • National Association of Manufacturers. Middle Class Expanding

Few women were “professionals” • Usually worked in settlement houses, social work, or “appropriate” jobs. • Teachers, nursing, etc… Women and Professions

Women play a big role in reform • “New Woman”- Women who have more opportunities than just domestic life. • Declining family size, school for children, new technologies in the home, higher divorce rate etc… • Some women did not marry. Women and Reform

Middle and Upper class women. • General Federation of Women’s Clubs (1892)- 100,000 members and 500 clubs, by 1917- 1 Million. • Start to focus on social progress. • Gave women a say outside of the home and family. Women’s Clubs

Helped get passed laws regulating woman and child labor. Government work inspections, regulate food and drug industries, reform Indian tribes, new standards for urban housing, outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcohol, pensions to widowed or abandoned mothers, Children’s Bureau in the Labor Department. • Women’s Trade Union League Impact of Women’s Clubs

Women’s suffrage was a VERY radical issue. • “Natural Rights” Women the same as men??? • Challenged women’s roles as wives and mothers. • Formation of the antisuffrage movement. Women’s Suffrage

National American Women Suffrage Association- 13,000 in 1893 and 2 million in 1917. • Movement became less challenging against traditional female roles. • Argued it would help temperance movement. • 1910- Washington became the 1st state to allow women to vote. Then California, and then 4 other Western states. Women Gain Momentum

1913-Illinois became the first state east of the Mississippi to give women the right to vote. • 1917 & 1918- New York & Michigan gave women the right to vote. • 1919- 39 states granted women the right to vote in some elections. • 1920- 19th Amendment is passed to give women suffrage. 19th Amendment

Some women wanted more. • Wanted clear protection against all forms of discrimination against women. • Not very popular even among most women. Equal Rights Amendment

Government was considered corrupt, ineffective, and undemocratic. • Wanted to reform government. Successes: • Secret Ballot • Direct Primaries- Robert LaFollete created a system where the people would vote on federal positions. . • Direct election of U.S Senators- 1913 17th Amendment required all U.S Senators to be elected by popular vote. Assault on Parties Reform in Cities and States

Successes: • Initiative, Referendum, and Recall- Make politicians listen to the people. Initiative- Voters could compel legislature to consider a bill. Referendum- Allow citizens to vote on proposed laws. Recall- Voters could remove corrupt politicians from office. Robert La Follette- Governor of Wisconsin- Gained direct primaries, initiatives, and referendums, etc… Social Welfare: Better schools, juvenile courts, liberalized divorce laws, safety regulations for tenements and factories, parole, and limits on the death penalty. Reform in Cities and States cont…

Controlling public utilities: Water systems, gas lines, electric power plants, & urban transportation would start to be owned by individual cities. • Commissions and city managers: Voters elected the heads of city departments • City-Manager Plan- Someone untainted by politics would oversee government. Municipal Reform

Progressivism leads to a decline in voter turnout and party influence. • “Interest Groups” became much more popular. • Even political machines help the progressive movement. Decline of Party Influence

1911- Fire started in the factory in NY. • 146 workers died. • State commission studied the case and eventually made major reforms. • Stricter labor laws and regulations. Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Biggest problem was dealing with the excess federal government power over the West. • Fed Gov. controlled land and resources in the West. Western Progressives

Booker T. Washington called for blacks to help themselves. W.E.B DuBois spoke against Washington’s cause. • Accused Washington of instigating more white segregation. • Voice for talented blacks to aspire for higher education. • Helped found the NAACP in 1909 • Gunn v. United States- Grandfather clause was unconstitutional. • NAACP- Relied on the “talented tenth” African Americans and Reform

Alcoholism- Blamed for causing violence, work accidence, broken families, divorce, cheating, unemployment etc… • WCTU- (Women’s Christian Temperance Union) • 1916- 19 states had passed prohibition laws. • 1917- Eighteenth Amendment passed to prohibit the sale and manufacture of alcohol became law in 1920. Temperance Movement

Most reformers felt immigrants hurt the U.S. • Some wanted to help others wanted to limit the amount coming in. • Carnegie Foundation funded the study of eugenics to alter human reproduction. • Advocated sterilization of mentally retarded, criminals, etc… • Dillingham Report stated newer immigrants didn’t assimilate well. Immigration Restriction

Socialist Party of America- Had the most support ever from 1900-1914. • Eugene Debs in the election of 1900 gained 100,000 votes. • In 1912 he gained over 1 Million. • Socialists wanted changed in the economy but in a different way than most. • (IWW) Industrial Workers of the World- Radical or “Wobblies” Challenging Capitalism

Very radical • Shut down a timber production. • Federal government was mobilizing for war and needed that timber supply. • Federal gov. passed laws outlawing the IWW. • End of WWI the party lost support because they didn’t support the war. IWW

Many wanted to regulate corporations • But most still believe in capitalism. • Louis Brandeis argued large corporations were inefficient and abuses of power. • (Good trusts and Bad trusts) • Teddy Roosevelt “We should enter upon a course of supervision, control, and regulation of those great corporation- a regulation which we should not fear, if necessary, to bring to the point of control of monopoly prices.” Decentralization and Regulation

Rise of Progressivism