Chapter 21 The Progressives Confront Industrial Capitalism The American People, 6 th ed.

I.The Social Justice Movement

Progressivism  Progressives were influenced primarily by the ideas of the Darwinian revolution, specifically the idea that the world was constantly in transition and fluid  Progressivism was the first modern reform movement; encompassed such diverse fields as environmentalism and birth control

Muckrakers  A new breed of journalist prevalent in the 1890s that was interested in the form of written whistle-blowing: telling the readership what was wrong in America  Targeted specific governments and businesses such as the meat-packing industry

Reformers  Instrumental in the establishment of child- labor legislation in the United States  Targeted length of workday for women, birth control and sexuality  Endorsed better housing and education, pointing to the detriment of urban overcrowding and establishing early fire codes  Crusaded against saloons, brothels and movie houses

II.The Worker in the Progressive Era

Immigrants and Industrial Labor  The industrial workforce of the era, composed largely of transient immigrants, had a fluid character and changed often  The principles of science were applied to the emerging field of management in order to increase efficiency and profits

Union Organizing and Reform  Samuel Gompers – American Federation of Labor – first large American labor union  Devastating fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company forced New York State to examine worker’s conditions in manufacturing  International Workers of the World – radical labor union impatient with the negotiation strategy

III.Reform in the Cities and States

Municipal Reformers  The continued growth of the cities in America caused a wide range of social problems  The inclusion of large populations of immigrants was the important difference between American and European cities  Municipal reform was chiefly concerned with making the operation and administration of the city as efficient as possible through innovative adaptations of business management techniques to government

Reform in the States  The American federalist system of government gave the actions of reform by the states an important place in the country’s overall growth  Most reform came in the form of laws increasing democracy, individual freedoms, social justice, and efficiency of government

IV.Theodore Roosevelt and the Square Deal

Trusts  Foremost on Roosevelt’s hit list was an attempt to control the actions of large industrial corporations that were constantly consolidating, growing bigger and more powerful  Directed the justice department to prosecute some of the largest corporations in the country under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act

Meat Inspection and the FDA  Roosevelt’s first major reform began in response to Upton Sinclair’s novel of the Chicago meatpacking industry The Jungle  Led to a Meat Inspection Act of 1906 that restored the country’s faith in the industry and increased its profits  The Pure Food and Drug Act corrected some of the worst abuses in American industry

Conservation  Roosevelt tripled the land set aside for national forests, bringing the total to more than 150 million acres  Worked to increase public awareness of the limited amount of resources in America

V.Woodrow Wilson and the New Freedom

Wilsonian Reform  Recommended reducing the national tariff to eliminate favoritism, freeing the banking system from Wall Street control, and restoring competition in industry  A compromise bill to retool the banking system resulted in a modest income tax and the creation of the Federal Reserve System

Moving Closer to a New Nationalism  In response to ongoing need to police the affairs of big business, Wilson submitted the Clayton Act to Congress in 1914 and endorsed the Federal trade Commission embedded with enough power to curtail companies guilty of restricting competition