PROGRESSIVE ERA (20 TH CENTURY)

WHAT WAS THE PROGRESSIVE ERA?  First 2 decades of the 20 th Century  the politics of the period was dominated by reformers who wanted “progress” in various areas  Progressive reformers worked to improve the lives of workers, immigrants, rural people, and the poor; they worked to improve education and public health  tried to reform people’s morals, through efforts like Prohibition — the banning of alcohol

DESCRIBE REFORM AND THE NEW ERA  1900 Americans put President McKinley (Republican) in office.  Americans celebrated 3 things during this time  Successful outcome with the Spanish American War  Restoration of prosperity  Effort to obtain new things through the Open Door Policy  In 1901 McKinley wins office again but short lived. n September 1901, while attending an exposition in Buffalo, New York, he was shot down by an assassin, the third president to be assassinated since the Civil War.  Theodore Roosevelt becomes president.  The years 1902 to 1908 marked the era of greatest reform activity, as writers and journalists strongly protested practices and principles inherited from the 18th ‑ century rural republic that were proving inadequate for a 20th ‑ century urban state.

WHAT WERE ROOSEVELT'S REFORMS?  8 hour work day established.  Workman’s compensation laws, which made employers legally responsible for injuries sustained by employees at work.  New Revenue Laws enacted (taxes, inheritance, etc.)  initiated a policy of increased government supervision through the enforcement of antitrust laws  Congress had created a new Cabinet Department of Commerce and Labor  called for stronger railroad regulation  The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 prohibited the use of any “deleterious drug, chemical, or preservative” in prepared medicines and foods.  The Meat Inspection Act of the same year mandated federal inspection of all meat- packing establishments engaged in interstate commerce

WHAT WERE NEW AMENDMENTS RATIFIED DURING THIS TIME PERIOD?  16 th Amendment- authorized federal income tax  17th Amendment- mandated the direct election of senators by the people, instead of state legislatures.

EXPANDING ROLES OF WOMEN  In the early twentieth century, women increasingly became involved in politics — even though in most states they could not yet vote.  White middle-class women organized women’s clubs that promoted causes such as temperance (limiting or banning the drinking of alcohol), poor relief, the improvement of schools, and the beautification of cities.  “Club women” argued that women had a unique role in reforming society because women were naturally more moral than men.  Women’s clubs provided women the opportunity to learn a variety of skills, such as leadership, public speaking, book keeping, fund raising, organizing rallies and parades, writing legislation, and publishing newsletters and pamphlets.

PROGRESSIVE ERA SCHOOL HOUSES

IMPROVING SCHOOL HOUSES  The Woman’s Association for the Betterment of Public School Houses was founded in 1902 in Greensboro.  The group was composed of some two hundred women from the State Normal and Industrial College of Greensboro.  Goal: renovate and refurbish school houses across North Carolina and to raise money for school supplies and books for libraries.  At the turn of the 20th century, women began to play a greater role in the public and political life of N.C., and this association was one of many causes that women took up.  They were professional women (school teachers) who took it upon themselves to improve the condition of their work places (the schools) through the creation of a charitable organization.

STATEWIDE PROHIBITION  On May 26, 1908, by a referendum vote of 62 percent to 38 percent, North Carolina became the first southern state to enact statewide prohibition of alcoholic beverages.  Increasingly after 1865, opposition to the traffic in liquor became a crusade against the saloon, which was depicted as a source of evil and corruption.  The sale of alcohol was forbidden near churches or schools.  Townships were permitted to call special elections to decide whether or not to allow the licensing of liquor sales in the township, and special legislation prohibited alcohol in specific towns and counties.  Over the next 20 years the dry forces improved their organization and allied themselves closely with the Methodist and Baptist Churches which supported prohibition strongly.  The manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in North Carolina thus ended eleven years before the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution brought prohibition to the entire country.

THE JUNGLE (NOVEL)  In his novel The Jungle, American author Upton Sinclair exposed working conditions in Chicago’s meat-packing industry. Sinclair, a socialist, did not believe that business owners left to themselves would act responsibly. He hoped that his novel would inspire readers to take action to improve the lives of workers.  But the public was far more horrified by Sinclair’s descriptions of how its meat was being processed in factories  The Jungle raised such an outcry that President Theodore Roosevelt called for an investigation of the meat-packing industry.  The Jungle is an example of “muckraker” journalism, which became popular in the early twentieth century. A “muckraker” was someone who dug up dirt — or raked up mud — to expose social and political evils.