1906: Upton Sinclair, a writer and journalist, sickened the American public with his publishing The Jungle. A gruesome novel based on his investigations of the meat-packing industry.

Sinclair and others like him became leading figures in an era of reform movements that spread throughout American society at the turn of the twentieth century.

Many of these new reform movements were an outgrowth of earlier reform groups, such as Populists Many of the new reform movements arose in the cities of the Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast.

The new reformers were reacting to the effects of the era’s rapid industrialization, immigration, and urbanization. Industrialization had brought prosperity but at a cost to some members of society.

Working and living conditions for the poor were deplorable. Slums and congestion plagued many urban areas.

The government tried to expand public services, but political corruption often kept these services inadequate. Historians refer to the period from 1890 to 1920 as the Progressive Era.

Progressivism was not a single unified movement. Progressives’ goals fell into four categories: social, moral, economic, and political. Progressives included Republicans, Democrats, and members of other political parties.

From the 1880s into the new century, lively debates emerged about how to reform society. The ideas of journalists and other writers had enormous influence on public opinion.

1879: journalist Henry George wrote Progress and Poverty, an effort to explain why poverty continued to plague such an advanced civilization.

George’s ideas had a powerful effect. “Single tax” clubs sprang up everywhere.

1888: newspaper editor Edward Bellamy published a novel Looking Backward. His novel was about forming the perfect utopian society.

It became a national bestseller. More than 150 “Nationalist” clubs formed to promote his ideas.

Journalists played a key role in alerting the public to wrongdoing in politics and business. Theodore Roosevelt called such writers muckrakers. Despite some author’s exaggerations, the muckrakers included many respected writers who identified serious abuses.

Journalist Lincoln Stevens exposed political corruption in St. Louis and other cities. Investigative journalist, Ida Tarbell revealed the abuses committed by the standard oil trust.

Americans read muckrakers’ novels and newspaper accounts with enthusiasm. Many Americans were inspired to take action by joining reform groups.

The union movement grew in the 1890s, but slowly. Employers discouraged union membership, preferring to deal with individual workers. If unions succeeded in forming, business leaders would often have courts issue injunctions.

The Progressive Era saw a rise in the popularity of socialism. Socialism: an economic and political philosophy favoring public or govt. control.

Many American Socialists of this era wanted to end the capitalist system, distribute wealth more equally, and have govt. ownership of American industries. 1901: the Socialist Party of America formed. 1912: the party had won more than 1,000 city govt. officers.

Women played a pivotal role in the reform movements of the Progressive Era. Influential women’s organizations formed around nearly every major reform issue.

One leading women’s group was the National Consumer’s League. (NCL) organized in Because so many urban women and children worked in factories, women’s organizations took a special interest in workplace reforms.

A leader in the work for labor reform. Joined Jane Addams’ Hull House in Chicago in 1891.

1893: Through her efforts, Illinois passed a law prohibiting child labor, limiting working hours for women, and regulating sweatshop conditions. Served as secretary of the NCL and spearheaded their national movement to outlaw child labor and protect workers, esp. women.

An Irish immigrant who lost both her husband and four children to the yellow fever epidemic in Tennessee in : she lost everything in the Great Chicago Fire. Appealed to the Knights of Labor for assistance, and became interested in labor reform.

Became a national speaker on behalf of both unions and child labor. 1905: helped found the International Workers of the World. (IWW)

Progressives sought increased govt. involvement in people’s lives: in housing, health care, and even in the content of the movies.

This aspect of progressivism provoked resistance, often among the very people Progressives were trying to help.