Progressive Era:1900-1917

Sources: Maier, ch. 22, Tindall, and on Samuel P. Hays’s Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency: The Progressive

Conservation Movement, 1890-1920

Who were the Progressives?• Progressives were diverse in origins and agendas:

– different groups sought everything from…• stricter regulation of business to prohibition of alcohol to greater social

justice and more efficient government– Not all agreed on same issues or goals…but all arose as a response to

the complexities of the new urban-industrial environment that existed

Who were the Progressives?• Had roots in

– Populism of the 1890s– Mugwumps who sought civil service reform/honest government– those who wanted to fix problems unique to cities—distribution of

utilities and other services, transportation, etc.– socialists’ critiques of living and working conditions (seen as left wing

of progressive movement; they did not dominate the movement)– Muckrakers: TR named them; said they were “indispensable…

but only if they know when to stop raking the muck”• Basic philosophy: expose social ills and the ills will be corrected• Important examples:

– Henry Demarest Lloyd: Wealth Against Commonwealth (1894) –a critique of monopolies like Standard Oil Company

– Jacob Riis: How the Other Half Lives (1890) – expose on slum/tenement life– Lincoln Steffens: The Shame of the Cities (1904) –on municipal corruption

Source: Five Cents a Spot; Date: 1890This photograph, taken by flashlight, is of a small, unauthorized, over-crowded apartment in which a person could rent a spot for five cents. The photographer, Jacob Riis, had immigrated to the U.S. in 1870 from Denmark. Although his first few years in the U.S. were marked by poverty and hardship, he was able to secure employment with the New York Tribune in 1877 as a police reporter. As noted in your text, in the 1880s Riis used his position as a reporter and photographer to illuminate the abject poverty present in New York City immigrant communities. This photograph, along with many others like it, was first published in Riis' book How the Other Half Lives, which became a critical work in establishing reforms during the Progressive Era. As you examine this image, consider the effect that such photographs had on government officials and the broader American public as they sought political solutions to the suffering caused by economic depression. Compare and contrast this photograph of men crowded in a tenement room with other photos in this collection.

Source: Tenement-house yardDate: c. 1889This photograph of a busy tenement-house yard depicts a dingy slum, with laundry strewn across the balconies, and a number of people -- some of whom look listlessly at the camera. The photographer, Jacob Riis, had immigrated to the U.S. in 1870 from Denmark. Although his first few years in the U.S. were marked by poverty and hardship, he was able to secure employment with the New York Tribune in 1877 as a police reporter. As noted in your text, in the 1880s Riis used his position as a reporter and photographer to illuminate the abject poverty present in New York City immigrant communities. This photograph, along with many others like it, was first published in Riis' book How the Other Half Lives, which became a critical work in establishing reforms during the Progressive Era. As you examine this image, consider the effect that such photographs had on government officials and the broader American public, as they sought political solutions to the suffering caused by economic depression. Compare and contrast this photograph of men crowded in a tenement room with other photos in this collection.

Elements of Progressivism

• democracy• efficiency (and its related element,

conservation)• regulation• social justice• prohibition

Elements of Progressivism• Democracy

– Direct primary (nomination of candidates by direct votes of party members)

– Initiative: voters can petition to have measures put on the ballot– Referendum: voters can vote initiatives up or down, directly enacting

laws– Recall: voters can recall politicians (all of these things were recently at

work in CA)– Direct election of senators (17th amendment) (rather than state

legislators electing them)

Elements of Progressivism

• Efficiency– “gospel of efficiency”

• The “use of ‘foresight and restraint in the exploitation of the physical sources of wealth as necessary for the perpetuity of civilization, and the welfare of present and future generations’” (Hays 123)

• applied to natural resources, but they also thought it could be applied to social, moral, government, and economic affairs 123

– Business: reduce waste through careful analysis of labor process

– Gov’t: • eliminate redundant agencies• professionalize gov’t:

– Gov. Robert M. La Follette (WI) established a Legislative Reference Bureau to provide research, advice and help in the drafting of legislation—widely copied

Elements of Progressivism• Efficiency, con’t• TR, 1908: “…Let us remember that the conservation of natural resources…is yet but part of

another and greater problem…the problem of national efficiency, the patriotic duty of insuring the safety and continuance of the nation” (Hays 125)

• civil service, competitive exams• anti trust action might impair increased production; no problem with

bigness per se• “Conservationists strove to encourage the greatest possible production of

material goods at the lowest cost. Just as planning must replace competition so that manufacturers could produce with less waste, so regulation must prevent financial freebooters from destroying industrial efficiency” (Hays 126)

• unions interfere w/ max efficiency; so do lousy working conditions and low wages– ergo: decent wages and conditions for sake of efficiency 126

• greatest good for greatest number, beauty of Niagara or archeological treasures be damned 127

Elements of Progressivism• Regulation

– Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) more symbolic than effective– 4 options:

• laissez-faire: let business figure things out for themselves• allow big business for the benefits of economies of scale, but regulate to

prevent abuse• trust-bust to restore more vigorous competition• public ownership –a form of socialism

– mainly option 2 was used, to limited effect; industries sometimes ended up having a lot of influence over the agencies put in place to regulate them

Source: Will She?Date: 30 May 1906This cartoon of Lady Liberty posed with a broom outside of Packingtown appeared on the editorial page of The World, a leading New York City newspaper, on June 7, 1906. This cartoon is important for the sheer symbolism depicted in the skulls piled up behind her and her determined pose. Historians closely examine cartoons because they both express and help create a symbolic language shared by a wide public. The simple, powerful expressions of political issues are well illustrated in the visual imagery the cartoonists use, rather than just language. People with varying levels of literacy and facility with the English language can thus understand them. This fact was not lost on the newspaper publishers in America's largest cities, whose surging immigrant populations had become a commercial and political force. This cartoon satirized the very personal and individual results of the meatpacking scandal in its final, legislative stage. As you examine this image, consider how cartoons such as this one might have shaped the meatpacking act of 1906.

Elements of Progressivism• Social Justice

– General acknowledgement that gov’t involvement was needed to enact justice—not just private programs like the settlement house movement

– Labor legislation• National Child Labor Committee (1904) organized to ban child labor (12-16

yrs old, depending on the state) • Regulation of the hours of women and conditions in which women and

children could work (failure to enforce these new state laws meant the advances sometimes had little effect)

• Mixed record at the Supreme Court:– Lochner v. New York (1905): struck down 10 hr/day law—violated workers’

“liberty of contract”– Muller v. Oregon (1908): upheld 10 hr/day for women– Bunting v. Ohio (1917): upheld 10 hr/day for men and women– Resists minimum wage laws until the late 1920s

• Safety laws, particularly following Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911

Elements of Progressivism• Prohibition

– Some connection in the minds of many b/t saloons (where much politicking went on) and the negative aspects of “bossism,” special interests

– Movement had started in late 19th century; anti-drink party had even run for president

– Local efforts to curb drink very successful; almost 3/4 of US pop had no access by the time the federal amendment was passed (1919)• As we’ll see, this is not, ultimately, a successful effort.

Election of 1900

Democrats• Views:

– Pro-silver: inflate the currency, aid debtors in S. and West

– Lower tariffs: aid consumers– Critical of big business; pro-tough

anti-trust laws– Pro-inheritance tax; pro-federal

income tax

• Party:– Strong in S. (blacks disenfranchised);

supported by some urban ethnic workers in N.

– Candidate:• P: William Jennings Bryan

Republicans• Views:

– Pro-gold standard: protects creditors and property owners

– Pro-tariffs: protect industry and jobs

– Pro-business

• Party:– Dominate nationally– Much better financed– Candidate:

• P: William McKinley• VP: Theodore Roosevelt (gov of

New York)

Election of 1900

Roosevelt: characteristics

• (McKinley assassinated less than 6 mo. After inaugural)• Theodore Roosevelt:

– Eastern aristocrat, but also western outdoorsman (pro-masculine virtues)

– Youngest to serve as president (42)– Man of action and an intellectual (well-read, author)– Sees self as steward of nation’s destiny, an activist conservative

• State has role to play in protecting society• Middle of the road: skeptical about working class and social

revolution, but anti-corporate greed• Presidency affords him a “bully pulpit” from which he can influence

people and events• Wants US to be a great power; strengthens army and navy

Roosevelt: first term

• “Trust-buster”– Northern Securities Company v. U.S. (1904): • Justice Dept. uses Sherman Anti-Trust Act to break up

Northern Securities Company– A “holding company”: held the stock of companies that

actually operated the businesses» Controlled nearly all long-distance rail traffic b/t Chicago

and west coast• b/c the company was involved in interstate

commerce, Sherman Anti-Trust applied

Roosevelt: first term

• “Trust-buster”– Elkins Act (1904)

• Prohibited railroads from giving rebates to large shippers– (Elkins was actually supported by RRs, who didn’t WANT to have to

give kickbacks)

– Creates Department of Commerce, which includes:• Bureau of Corporations: has (limited) power to investigate

companies engaged in interstate commerce

– Note: • support for the above strengthened by publication of

muckraker Ida Tarbell’s damning History of the Standard Oil Company

Source: Joyous TrustsDate: 1902"An Alphabet of Joyous Trusts" was Fredrick Opper's subject in a 1902 series of cartoons. Predictably, "B" stood for the Beef Trusts. The same Trust figure is back (compare it with the one in Opper's Roosevelt Cartoon), although here Opper plays on the monopolist's traditional control over market prices rather than on the unsanitary practices of the meat packing industry. The simple, powerful expressions of political issues are often well illustrated in cartoons as the cartoonist relies on visual imagery rather than language. People with varying levels of literacy and facility with the English language can thus understand them. This fact was not lost on the newspaper publishers in America's largest cities, whose surging immigrant populations had become a commercial and political force. This cartoon satirizes the overwhelming power of the Trusts. As you examine this image, consider how cartoons such as this one might have shaped the ways in which the government dealt with the Trusts.

No lack of big game.

Roosevelt: first term

• TR intervenes in anthracite coal miners strike– Miners get better wages and working conditions• Still no recognition of their union• Significance: suggests fed gov’t moving toward more

even-handed stance on labor and business disputes

Roosevelt: first term

• Conservation:– Newlands Reclamation Act

• Favors agricultural development;• Provides funds from sale of public lands to promote

irrigation and reclamation projects

– Creates national parks and monuments• E.g., Grand Canyon

– Creates U.S. Forest Service• Run by Gifford Pinchot• Controls US’s forest reserves; manages and protects

undeveloped forests

Election of 1904

Democrats• For Pres: Alton B. Parker

– Repudiated pro-silver stance– Cozied up w/ Northeastern

business wing of Democratic Party

Republicans• For Pres: Teddy Roosevelt

– Able to win control of Republican party, despite Progressive insurgents (Robert La Follette, WI; George W. Norris, Nebraska) and probusiness conservatives

– Calls for “Square Deal” for the American people (few details)

– Landslide victory• Also running:

• Socialist Party: Eugene V. Debs (3% of popular vote)• Populist Party (>1% of popular vote)

Election of 1904

Roosevelt’s Progressivism– Roosevelt’s “Square Deal”: enforce anti-trust laws on the books and tighten

controls on big business• With help of courts, breaks up RR monopoly• Brings miners, owners to table after 1902 coal strike in PA; threatens to take over

the mines using the military—forced owners hands and brought partial victory for miners

• Breaks up beef trust in Swift and Company v. United States (1905): – SC crafts “stream-of-commerce” doctrine:

» b/c livestock and meat products move in the stream of interstate commerce, federal gov’t can regulate them

Roosevelt: 2nd term

• Key issue: power of big businesses– Progressive reformers (e.g. La Follette) had strong

voice in Senate• Want regulation of trusts, esp. railroads• Anti-tariff, which is protecting monopolies

– TR takes a middle road (see next)

Source: Will She?Date: 30 May 1906This cartoon of Lady Liberty posed with a broom outside of Packingtown appeared on the editorial page of The World, a leading New York City newspaper, on June 7, 1906. This cartoon is important for the sheer symbolism depicted in the skulls piled up behind her and her determined pose. Historians closely examine cartoons because they both express and help create a symbolic language shared by a wide public. The simple, powerful expressions of political issues are well illustrated in the visual imagery the cartoonists use, rather than just language. People with varying levels of literacy and facility with the English language can thus understand them. This fact was not lost on the newspaper publishers in America's largest cities, whose surging immigrant populations had become a commercial and political force. This cartoon satirized the very personal and individual results of the meatpacking scandal in its final, legislative stage. As you examine this image, consider how cartoons such as this one might have shaped the meatpacking act of 1906.

Source: Muck-Raking!Date: 6 May 1906This cartoon of Theodore Roosevelt racking up scandalous affairs appeared on the editorial page of The World, a leading New York City newspaper, on May 6, 1906. Historians closely examine cartoons because they both express and help create a symbolic language shared by a wide public. American political cartooning assumed its modern form through the work of Thomas Nast during the Civil War. After the war, he turned his art to political reform, defining through his caricatures the popular perception of politicians such as Boss Tweed and his infamous political machine, Tammany Hall. By the time of the meatpacking scandal, editorial cartoons were prominent features of the periodicals of the day. Simple, powerful expressions of political issues, cartoons rely on visual imagery rather than language. People with varying levels of literacy and facility with the English language can thus understand them. This fact was not lost on the newspaper publishers in America's largest cities, whose surging immigrant populations had become a commercial and political force. This cartoon satirized the presidential aspect of the meatpacking scandal as it entered its final, legislative stage. As you examine it, consider how cartoons such as this one might have shaped the meatpacking act of 1906.

Roosevelt: 2nd termRoosevelt as pro-big business

• Saw big business as inevitable, desirable in that it creates efficiencies

• Action: no support for new, sweeping antitrust legislation (which La Follette supported)

Roosevelt as “trust-buster”

• Power of big business unacceptable• Action:

– allow Justice Dept. to use Sherman Antitrust Act to prosecute worst abusers

– Support Hepburn Act (1906)• Railroads must adopt uniform bookkeeping

practices• Interstate Commerce Commission gets to set max

freight rates– Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

• Creates FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to test and certify drugs

– Meat Inspection Act (1906)• Allows Dept. of Ag to inspect and label meat

– Note: Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906) helped overwhelm conservative opposition to the last two acts mentioned above

Roosevelt: 2nd term

• Limits of Progressive reform– Conservative Republicans in Congress block

additional reform on matters such as• Stronger antitrust legislation• Child labor protections• Protection for injured workers• Lowering tariffs• Taxes on the wealthy

– Conservative Supreme Court continues to protect business, works to slow reform

Election of 1908

Republicans• For Pres: Wm. Howard Taft

– Handpicked by TR; was TR’s Sec. of War

– Personal views:• Antilabor, but also “leery of

big business” (Maier 650)– Platform:

• Supported by progressive Republicans, but platform largely probusiness

Democrats• For Pres: Wm. Jennings

Bryan– Motto: “Shall the people

rule?”– Platform: progressive, pro-

labor• Lower tariffs• Strong regulations on bus.• 8 hr day for gov’t workers• Limit injunctions against

unions• Also running:

• Socialist Party: Eugene V. Debs

Election of 1908

Taft: a moderate, buffeted by reform

• Reform movement gains momentum in both parties– Pushing for

• Women’s suffrage• Prohibition• Immigration restriction• Labor protections• Regulation of business• Direct election of senate

• Taft: strike balance b/t reformers and conservatives• Congress and Taft’s accomplishments:

– Robust antitrust action—breaks up Standard Oil and American Tobacco Company– Strengthens ICC– Establishes Federal Children’s Bureau (to improve standard of living of children—

combat infant mortality, disease, poverty, child labor, etc.)– Pres. given power to lower tariffs as part of trade agreements– 16th amendment: fed gov’t gets power to levy income tax (Taft lukewarm)

Toward the Election of 1912: Republicans splinter

• Taft unable to hold conservatives and progressives together– Fights over extent of regulation, tariffs

• La Follette and other reformers form Progressive Republican League (1910)– Attacks corrupt ties b/t conservative wing of Republican party and business– Pro-regulation– Anti-Taft in 1912– Pro-direct election of senators– Pro-Initiative, Referendum, and Recall at national level

• T. Roosevelt re-enters politics, essentially trying to take place of both Taft and La Follette– According to archives.gov: “Taft proved more conservative than Roosevelt had

anticipated [in 1908], and eventually he regretted his endorsement. In Roosevelt's eyes, Taft had too frequently sided with the corporate giants and political bosses he had so relentlessly battled.” (Source: http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/election-cartoons/)

Election of 1912

The cartoons above “satirize Roosevelt's reversal of his anti-third term promise and his assumption of leadership of the Progressive Party. Both La Follette and Roosevelt lost the Republican nomination to the incumbent, Taft, who still controlled the national convention delegates. Roosevelt, however, had swept 9 of the 12 states with primaries, including Taft's home state of Ohio.” (Source: http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/election-cartoons/)

Election of 1912

The “primary battle is characterized in the…political cartoon picturing Ohio as the "Mother of Presidents." Victories in these primaries made Roosevelt and his progressives confident that they represented the will of the people. They officially announced their Progressive Party and challenged Taft and the Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson. The fourth…political cartoon, displays the three candidates shortly before election day in 1912.” (Source: http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/election-cartoons/)

Election of 1912:

Democrats• For Pres: Woodrow Wilson

• Gov of NJ; former president of Princeton

• Anti-privilege• Pro-states rights; favored

limiting federal power• Progressive: direct primary

elections; min. wage; max hours; end child labor; oppose restricting immigration

• “New Freedom”: preserve and restore competition—break up big businesses, prevent monopolies

Progressive Republicans/Bull Moose

• For Pres: T. Roosevelt• Former President of US

• Pro-federal power• Progressive: direct primary

elections; min. wage; max hours; end child labor; oppose restricting immigration

• “New Nationalism”: accepts value of some “good trusts” but other “bad trusts” need to be broken up by fed gov’t

Election of 1912

• Results:– Taft, Roosevelt split Republican vote– Wilson cruises to victory– Socialist: Eugene Debs gains ground—6% of

popular vote

Election of 1912

Wilson: successful start

• Appoints Wm. Jennings Bryan to Sec. of State• Delivers state of union address personally (1st

time in a century!)• Weekly press conferences• Works closely w/ Democratic Congress• 3 clusters of legislation passed: tariff revision,

banking reform, antitrust legislation (see next)

Wilson: successful start

• 1st cluster of legislation: tariff reform– Tariffs:• Dem. Leaders in congress painted Republican

protectionists as tools of corporate lobbyists• Underwood-Simmons Tariff (1913): Lowered most

tariffs by ~25%– stimulated competition and moved US toward free trade

– Graduated income tax (16th amendment)• Shifts burden to wealthy; reduces gov’t reliance on

tariffs to fund operations

Wilson: successful start

• 2nd cluster: banking reform– Areas of concern:

• Credit difficult to get outside financial centers in Northeast• Control of money supply (issuing credit is a way to expand the money

supply)• Need for a national banking system to enhance financial stability, restrict

individual banks

– Solution:• Federal Reserve Act (1913)

– Divides US into 12 districts, each w/ a regional central bank (called a federal reserve bank) which serves other banks in the region» Federal reserve banks:

• Issue new paper currency in emergency situations– Transfer funds to member banks in trouble– Control interest rates at which banks could borrow money; allowed for greater

control over economy: » raise rates to fight inflation (makes it difficult to borrow); » lower rates to stimulate business (makes it easier to borrow)

Wilson: successful start

• 3rd cluster: antitrust legislation– Clayton Act (1914)

• Expands Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)• To prevent anticompetitive practices:

– Specifies particular business activities that were illegal restraints on trade; specifies penalties for violations

– Provided for break-up of monopolies

• To provide legal guarantee of right to unionize:– Specifies that unions were NOT illegal combinations in restraint of trade and could

not be prosecuted as such– Limits ability of courts to issue injunctions against unions

– Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (1914)• Power to investigate and stop violations of antitrust laws by companies

engaged in interstate commerce– TR criticized it for not really doing what it was supposed to do—regulate business

(Wilson staffed it w/ industry insiders)

Wilson: successful start

• 3rd cluster: antitrust legislation– Why did many businesses LIKE Clayton Act and

FTC?• Legislation written w/ help of industry insiders• Lessened public anger at big business, since something

had been done to rein them in• Made rules of competition clearer, thus making

business more predictable• Federal regulations preferable to wide array of state

regulations (which could be harsher)

Wilson: additional successes

• Banned child labor (overturned by Supreme Court)• Created federal loan program for farmers

– Freed farmers from dependence on banks; allowed them to sell crops when market was favorable

• Increased income tax; created inheritance tax (1916)• Adamson Act: 8 hour day for railroads

– Helped make 8 hour day the norm in industry more broadly• Appoints Louis Brandeis to SC

– Pro social reform; pro-antitrust litigation = Pro- “New Freedom”

– First Jew on SC

Wilson’s less progressive side: limited interest in social justice

• Child labor: – No support for child labor leg. (leave it to the states)

• Women’s rights: – No support for federal amend for women’s suffrage

(initially)• Race:– Denounced KKK’s “reign of terror” but sympathized with

desire to restore white rule in South; blacks were “ignorant and hostile” and an “inferior race”

– With Wilson’s approval, members of his cabinet segregated their departments--sep. toilets, drinking fountains, break rooms

Election of 1916

Democrats• For Pres: Wilson

– Well positioned after successes of 1st term

– Campaigns as pro-reform– “He kept us out of war.”– Adamson Act brings urban

laborers into Democratic fold

Republicans• For Pres: Charles Evans

Hughes– Nominated by conservative

wing of Republican party– Justice on SC (resigned when

nominated for pres)– Anti-Adamson Act– Anti-income tax

• Note: TR abandoned the Progressive party, returned to Republicans in 1916

Election of 1916

Assessing the Progressive Era

• “Wilson, the reformer, had won a second term, but the Progressive Era was over” (Maier 655).– Exception: • 18th amendment: prohibition (1919)• 19th amendment: women’s suffrage (1920)

– Otherwise, attention turns to the Great War

Assessing the Progressive Era• Significant antitrust legislation passed (but large corporations still dominate

economy)• Federal Reserve increases stability (but centers of finance remain in northeast)• Workers solidify new rights, but no social safety net• Shift of financial burden of running federal gov’t from those paying tariffs toward

those with greater ability to pay• Democratic rights expand

– Direct election of senators– Initiative, Referendum, Recall (in some states)– Women’s suffrage

• Democratic rights limited:– African Americans in South disenfranchised– Immigrants in North face discrimination– Government is stronger

• Federal gov’t more activist than ever before, esp. as regulator• Racism, xenophobia prevalent, even among progressives

2003 AP DBQ (form B)

• Evaluate the effectiveness of Progressive Era reformers and the federal government in bringing about reform at the national level. In your answer be sure to analyze the successes and limitations of these efforts in the period 1900-1920.