Populism and the Progressive Era 1880’s-1914 Chapter 16 & Chapter 18 See Page 498!

Patronage (Spoils system) When government jobs were given to friends of the winning party. Jobs were based on favor and not merit Is that fair? Pendleton Act – 1883: Candidates for government jobs had to pass an exam to show they were qualified for the position. (They cannot be picked by friends now). This occurred because President Garfield was assassinated and people wanted to reform the spoils system. The Pendleton Act was intended to cancel the spoils system

Garfield’s assassination James Garfield was assassinated in a Washington DC railway station by Charles Jules Guiteau, a native of Illinois, but of French descent. He thought the President “owed” him a job because he was on his campaign commmittee and helped get him elected. He had only been President for 4 months  He survived 79 days after being shot but died from internal bleeding.

Wabash vs. Illinois With all of the unrest in the cities many strikes and unions were arguing about the price of the railroad. RR companies were charging higher prices to small business and lower rates to large corporations. This was called the Rebate System. Supreme Court ruled only the Federal Gov’t could regulate interstate trade not a state. This severely limited states rights and led to the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Interstate Commerce Commission Established to regulate the RailRoads and to ensure fair competition. The ICC was later used to regulate most trade and business activity.

Tariffs Tariff – when you buy a good that is IMPORTED from a foreign country it is taxed by the gov’t (makes it more expensive). This encourages goods to be bought in the US. Good – protect against foreign competition Bad – raised prices of goods

Sherman Anti-Trust Act - 1890 Made any trust illegal that restrains trade across state lines. It looked good to the public eye but was hard to enforce. It ended up going after monopolies more than trusts.

What is Populism? What – The movement to increase farmers’ political power and to work for laws in their interest. Who – Farmers (Grange) When – 1890’s Why – Economic crisis because farm technology causes prices of crops to drop. (More crops = greater supply = less demand). Farmers felt they were losing power and influence to big businesses. Also the McKinley tariff severely hurt farmers because they were in competition with foreign markets (price of crops and farm machinery)

$$$ Money Supply $$$ During the 1890s, the money was backed up by gold or silver coins. After the Civil War, the U.S. produced millions of dollars that could not be traded in for gold or silver. This money was called Greenbacks. (this causes Inflation) So, the Gov’t stopped printing greenbacks and therefore deflation occurs. (As money increased in value, prices began to fall) Who does this hurt?_______

This hurts farmers! Farm prices dropped due to new technology. Farmers sold their crops for less money. Too many farmers (competition) High tariffs Interest rates soared, so farmers started going into debt. GRANGE forms – farmers organization. But it soon fails to help the economic status. Farmers believed big business interests were hurting them.

Economic Depression of 1893 Several large RR companies went broke causing a major Panic! Worst ever economy in U.S. history up until that point. 18% unemployment Bank failures Stock market crashed This all lead to a money crisis…

How do the farmers respond? The pressured state governments to regulate the shipping prices of the railroad They put their resources together so that they could manipulate the supply and demand (worked together) They joined the National Party Wanted to print more greenbacks (money)

What do the Populists want? Unlimited coinage of silver. Graduated income tax Stronger government 8 hour workday Restrict immigration

Goldbugs v. Silverites Many people started trading in their paper money and gov’t bonds for gold…this caused the gold in the treasury to go dangerously low. Gold v. Silver started to divide people. Hence, Goldbugs v. Silverites. Why gold? Republicans - Economy would be stable. Why silver? Democrats - Silver could be minted in limitless amounts thus Farmers get more money for their goods. ***This becomes the basis for the 1896 election.

Goldbugs v. Silverites Goldbugs Versus Silverites Currency should be gold Currency should be silver (unlimited) Republicans Democrats Bankers (wealthy) Farmers Supported Deflation Supported Inflation Big Lenders of $$ - they liked getting repaid in currency with interest Wanted Free-silver - it would increase their crop prices

1896 Election William v. William The“Populist”party (farmers) William Jennings Bryan (D) vs William McKinley (R). Bryan was an amazing speaker, while McKinley had the Rep party campaign for him. The $$$ issue was behind the campaign. McKinley won!

Populist video – 3 min.

The end of populism – why? New gold discoveries in Candada and South America increased the money supply of gold, which improved farmers economic situation and canceled the economic crisis. Since the Republicans won, they adopted a Gold Standard so there was little to argue about now.

Segregation

How do Democrats remain in power in the South? They continue to appeal to the white farmer’s racism explaining to them that if the two parties joined there would be a return of the “Black Republican” South. They also created difficult ways for the African Americans to vote in the south called Jim Crow Laws Segregation –separation of blacks and whites

The Rise of Segregation Jim Crow Laws – laws that separated AAs and whites (enforced discrimination). Lynching – execute without proper trials Poll Tax – tax minorities had to pay before voting Grandfather Clause – if you had one grandparent who was white, you could vote (since many of the whites had problems with all the others, they created this to “make sure” AA couldn't vote. Literacy Tests – a test they had to take before voting (sometimes written in German)

Plessy v. Ferguson - 1896 Homer Plessy was an AA in Louisiana in 1892 who was forced to ride an all black railroad car. He said no and rode on the “all-white” railroad car. Needless to say, he was arrested and the case of Plessy v. Ferguson went all the way to the Supreme Court. The court ruled that “separate but equal” was legal. Therefore, you could have colored and white facilities as long as they were ‘equal’…were they? What Act did this overturn? Civil Rights Act of 1875

Read Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois Article Write a Venn Diagram comparing/contrasting these two men (Booker T and Dubois)

Progressivism Chapter 18

What is Progressivism? Who: People who wanted to reform or change the problems that they believed plagued American society. What: A collection of ideas and thoughts on how to fix these problems and change American society. When: 1890-1920

Intro to Progressive Era – 1 min.

Progressives believed the government needed to be reformed or remade so that they could control more of society because they saw Laissez-Faire and Capitalism as bad. In order to pass reforms, the gov’t needed to be reformed Progressives based this belief off of what they saw, such as: poverty, crime, filthy cities, dangerous factories, corrupt politicians and businessman.

Journalists who started to expose the corruption and problems during this era.

Ida Tarbell Exposed Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company

17th Amendment - 1913 Voters could now directly elect Senators. Before State Legislatures and governments named the Senators. Good: More democracy to the people and ended corruption. Bad: Took away one of the states check on Federal government power.

Other Reforms made to Government Initiative – citizens can make/introduce ideas/laws. Referendum – laws approved by voters. Recall – citizens can vote to remove someone from office before their term ends 19th Amendment (1920) – Suffrage (women’s voting)

Suffrage (Women’s Voting) 19th Amendment: Women were effective in lobbying, first at the state level. Their defeat of local candidates was especially helpful in convincing Congress to pass the 19th Amendment.

Child Labor In 1904 NCLC was established to set limits on child Labor. Laws were also passed requiring children to attend school.

Triangle Fire - 1911 Led to Changes in working conditions.

Empire State Building Slides taken by Lewis Hines

Health and Safety Codes Zoning Laws for Cities (residential, Commercial, etc) Building Codes (fires, health, light, air, etc) Workman's compensation funds set up for injured employees.

Temperance Movement Movement to eliminate Alcohol from Society. Many believed it was destructive to families, communities, production.

Progressive Programs –5 min.

Progressives go after Big Business Socialism – idea that the government should own and operate businesses and control the economy. (this is anti-capitalism) Eugene Debs – won only 1 million votes in election of 1912 running as a Socialist. Why would some people want this?

Teddy Roosevelt (R) – 1901-1909 Believed in progressive policies. Was known as the “trust-buster” for his breaking up of monopolies. Youngest president at 42! Interstate Commerce Commission – what was that? Fun fact page 558.

Pure Food & Drug Act Meat Inspection Act - 1906 As Muckrakers exposed unsanitary conditions new laws were passed. See Page 571!

Conservation Roosevelt was an avid outdoorsman and believed in preserving the nations resources and lands, especially the timber and wildlife. He established 5 new national parks, 51 federal wildlife reservations and other conservation programs. See Page 560!

William Howard Taft (1908-1912) While Roosevelt gets credit for the breaking of Trusts (monopolies) and Conservation, Taft actually was as strong as Teddy on conservation and reforms; and broke up twice as many Trusts (monopolies). This should be our real “trust-buster” Many progressives felt Taft had abandoned their cause after he pushed to lower Tariffs.

The Election of 1912 Taft (R) vs. Roosevelt (R) vs. Woodrow Wilson (D) Roosevelt re-runs, splitting the Republican party. Roosevelt forms his own progressive party called the Bull Moose Party.

Woodrow Wilson (D) Wins

Federal Reserve Act -1913 Set up a national bank who could control the money supply and interest rates on loans. The “Fed” has 12 districts and these 12 banks lend money to all of it’s member banks. Leader of the Fed is appointed by the president.

The 16th Amendment - 1913 Made it legal for the federal government to directly tax the income if individuals and corporations. The constitution originally prohibited this as it was to be the states that paid the income taxes to the fed gov’t based on the population of each state.

Progressivism’s Legacy Overall, the Progressive party drastically expanded the powers of the Federal Government and the President. Many people now expected the federal government to play a role in regulating business and society.

Progressive Era Video Clip – 30 minutes

1st block period: Progressive Groups Mary Carter Devin Hayden Jennarose Brad Beth Alex W. Josh Carlie Jalen Logan Arionna Sophia Garret Hannah Eddie Christina Madison CJ Marisa Lydia Evan

2nd block period: Progressive Groups Kim Ryan Madison Brad Dalton Matt Kelsey Scott Alex Abby Michael David Jessica Madeline Joe Tori Sara Jack Andrew Megan Bryan Adam