The Progressive Movement

Q: Which invention had the greatest effect on the

Progressive Era?

A: The CAMERA!

Lewis Hine was a photographer who used his camera to promote social reform. He is most famous for his pictures of child labor.

SuffrageCivil Rights

PovertyTrusts

Conservation

Consumer Protection

Progressive Reform Areas

Democracy

Alcoholism

Education

Roots of the Progressive Movement

Progressive Movement: actually a collection of many movements, but generally a term that described the years from 1890-1920, when many Americans tried to improve many of America’s social problems. They were generally urban and middle class citizens, and they felt that the government should do more to help fix America’s problems.

Muckrakers• Muckraker: a journalist that investigated social

conditions and exposed government corruption• their articles often brought attention to social

problems and put pressure on government officials to make reforms

Magazines• magazines became popular at this time

and some, like McClure’s, often supported the articles of muckrakers

• some popular articles became a series of articles and eventually were turned into books

Authors• Ida Tarbell’s History of the Standard Oil

Company exposed how John D. Rockefeller amassed his wealth

• Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle exposed the unsanitary conditions in the nation’s meat packing industry

• Jacob Riis wrote How the Other Half Lives, revealing the terrible living conditions of the urban poor

• Lincoln Steffens wrote The Shame of the Cities, telling about political corruption in cities

Populist Connection

• many of the ideas of the Progressive Movement were born in the old Populist Movement

• both were “grass roots” (from the people) organizations

• each optimistically believed that they could cause great changes to society through their actions

Aspects of the Progressive Movement

• The Progressive Movement – Economic Issues• Monopoly and Trusts:• Sherman Antitrust Act: 1890 – made trusts

illegal.• also addressed price fixing and restraint of trade

practices• not well enforced at first – but is important

because of the indication of government regulation of businesses

Child Labor• at first reduced – then eliminated

• marked the beginning of the creation of mandatory public schooling for children

Consumer Protection• Meat Inspection Act (1906): set

standards for meat packing cleanliness and federal inspections

• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906): prohibited the manufacture, sale, or shipment of impure or falsely labeled food and drugs

Working Conditions• Progressives had mixed results in attempts to

limit working hours at first:• Lochner v. New York: ruled against limiting

hours in bakeries because it violated the original contract between the employer and the employees

• Muller v. Oregon: allowed women’s hours to be limited in order to protect the health of the women. This often kept women out of higher paying jobs.

• In general though, the labor union movement did grow in importance during this time

The Progressive Movement:

Social Issues

The Urban poor• The gap between the Rich and Poor grew wider during this

time, especially in the cities• water and sewage systems began to be improved – to

stop the spreading of diseases• building codes were written to create better housing

conditions• Settlement Houses: located in working class areas,

offered child care, education, job search help and social activities – often for new immigrants

• - Hull House was famous in Chicago (started by Jane Addams)

• - Henry Street Settlement in New York City

Hull House in Chicago, IL

Women’s Rights

• Suffrage (the right to vote) was the leading issue concerning women at this time, but others included:

• Education: More colleges and universities were accepting women

• Birth Control: led by Margaret Sanger, this controversial issue was intended to help inform women about family planning options

Suffrage (right to vote)• this was the big issue for women’s rights• begun in the mid-1800’s in Seneca Falls, NY• led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B.

Anthony• Fueled again in the early 1900’s by the Progressive

Movement, women leaders changed their attempt to win suffrage state-by-state – and pushed for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution

• The role of women in World War I helped change many people’s minds

• The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920

African Americans• Booker T. Washington: promoted vocational

training for African-Americans to support them economically

• W.E.B. Du Bois: founded the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) He advocated for better educational opportunities for African-Americans

• Ida B. Wells: journalist that wrote against lynching of African-Americans

• Marcus Garvey: a separatist and nationalist, wanted African-Americans to go back to Africa

Booker T. Washington W.E.B. Dubois

Temperance

• Many social problems were seen as the result of alcohol consumption

• Reformers first tried to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed

• later, a push for alcohol prohibition was begun

The Progressive Movement:

Political Issues

Imperfect Democracy

• a variety of reforms came about to make America more democratic than it had become in reality – as compared with the ideal vision of a democratic institution

Solutions• policies were enacted to encourage more

participation of citizens – in order to have more say in their government’s activities– Initiative: citizens can initiate legislation at the grass

roots level– Referendum: statewide public vote on a proposed

legislation that originated through the initiative of the public

– Recall: state voters can “recall” an elected official based on a collective feeling of “no confidence”

– Direct Primaries: major political parties allow party members to actively participate in the process by which candidates are selected to run for offices

Progressive Presidents

Theodore Roosevelt• Trust Buster:• President Roosevelt worked to end any kind of monopolies in

business:• felt there were “good” trusts, which needed to be regulated and

“bad” trusts which needed to be dissolved• Northern Securities Case: Roosevelt sued the Northern Securities

Railroad Company because it controlled too many of the railroads in the Northwest, and won

• Conservation:• Newlands Reclamation Act: money from sale of public lands was

used to pay for irrigation, dams, and land development projects• Tripled the amount of land set aside for public use as national

forests, national parks, wildlife refuges, and national monuments• Pushed for the U.S. Forest Service to manage millions of acres of

public lands

Woodrow Wilson• New Freedom: the name given to President

Wilson’s progressive domestic policies• Armed with a mandate from the American

people (Wilson won a huge Electoral College majority), and a Democratically controlled Congress, with bi-partisan support for change, Wilson was in a great position to make changes

• Reduced the tariff on imported goods• Led reform of the inept national banking system• Strengthened the Sherman Act to combat trusts