Politics & Progressivesin the Gilded Age

1877-1920

The Gilded Age

• Mark Twain• Superficial glitter & new wealth

• “forgettable presidents”• Causes of inaction

– Laissez Faire, campaign tactics, party patronage

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Campaign Strategy

• Close elections led to moderate cautious positions on issues

• Campaigns = brass bands, parades, free beer, but LITTLE SUBSTANCE

• Voter loyalty – ethnicity, religions, regional ties

Political Machines

•NYC Boss Tweed – Tweed Gang = Democratic machine

•Republican NYS Senator Roscoe Conklin = “The Stalwarts”

Who were the Progressives?

•The Populist Party•Suffragists•Muckrakers

– Journalists, Novelists, Cartoonists, Photographers

•Temperance•Anti-Imperialists

Names to Know

Upton Sinclair – The JungleIda Tarbell – History of Standard Oil

Jacob Riis – How the Other Half Lives

Teddy RooseveltJane Adams – Settlement House Movement

Eugene Debs – Socialist Party

                                                      

Goals of Progressivism

• End child labor• Safe food & drugs• Peace? • Women’s rights, suffrage• Limit power of trusts• Aid for the poor• Political Reform

Jane Addams 1860 - 1935

Jane Addams at Hull-House, 1927.

IDA M. TARBELL, 1857-1944

Upton Sinclair

Victories for Progressives

• Pure Food & Drug Act = FDA• 16th Amendment = Congress can collect taxes on income

• 17th Amendment = Direct Election of Senators

• 18th Amendment = Prohibition of alcohol

• 19th Amendment – Gave Women the Right to Vote

Other important vocabulary

• Recall – can vote to remove state officials

• Referendum – citizens can vote directly for or against laws

• Initiative – citizens can introduce bills to the legislatures

• Primary Election – citizens vote for their party’s candidate