Chapter 13

 Progressivism From about 1890 to 1920 Collection of different ideas and activities hoping to solve society’s problems Began partly as reaction to laissez-faire and unregulated market Progressives had a strong faith in science and technology

 The Muckrakers Journalists who investigated social conditions and corruption Ida Tarbell – wrote stories criticizing Standard Oil Lincoln Steffens – wrote stories on vote stealing and political corruption Jacob Riis – wrote How the Other Half Lives detailing poverty in immigrant neighborhoods

 Making Government Efficient Commission Plan – a city’s government would be divided into several departments answering to a board or city manager Galveston TX first city to use commission plan

 Robert La Follette Wisconsin governor Pressure legislature to require direct primaries to select party candidates Initiative – allowed citizens to introduce legislation Referendum – allowed proposed legislation to be submitted to voters for approval Recall – allowed voters t demand special election to remove elected officials

 Direct election of senators – 17 th Amendment  Suffrage Movement Right to vote Susan B. Anthony – worked for women’s equality National American Woman Suffrage Association – united women’s groups demanding vote Alice Paul – organized protest outside White House Carrie Chapman Catt – organized plan for final push for vote 19 th Amendment 1920 – granted women right to vote

 Campaign against child labor States passed laws setting limits on child labor States passed laws for compulsory education  Health and safety codes Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Workers insurance Building and health codes

 Prohibition Movement Temperance movement – advocated moderation or elimination of alcohol Women’s Christian Temperance Union – pressed for prohibition of alcohol  Progressives against big business Some called for government to break up big companies (Sherman Anti-Trust Act) Some wanted big companies regulated (Interstate Commerce Commission) Socialism – idea that government should own and operate industry Eugene Debs – leader of the Socialist Party

 TR was a progressive – believed government should act on behalf of society  TR’s reform programs were called Square Deal  TR wanted to regulate large corporations and trusts

 TR and many Americans alarmed by formation of new holding company called Northern Securities  TR believed it was in violation of Sherman Anti-Trust Act  In Northern Securities v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled against the company  TR became known as a “Trust Buster”

 The Coal Strike of 1902 The United Mine Workers (UMW) union called a strike in Pennsylvania The strike lasted months and coal became expensive TR called for both sides to accept arbitration - a settlement imposed by an outside party The mine owners refused TR threatened to order the army to run the mines – the mine owners gave in

 Despite his reputation as a trust buster, TR actually not opposed to big business  TR was a regulator not a buster  TR had Congress establish the Bureau of Corporations to investigate businesses  Many businesses (like US Steel) negotiated with TR rather than be taken to court  TR called this “Gentlemen’s Agreements”

 TR pushed the Hepburn Act of 1906 through Congress – strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)  The ICC worked with railroads to set rates and regulations

 Many companies making medicines with dangerous drugs such as opium and cocaine  Impure food also being produced  Upton Sinclair – The Jungle – exposed meatpacking industry  Meat Inspection Act  Pure Food and Drug Act

 Conservation Newlands Reclamation Act – authorized use of federal funds for irrigation and land development Gifford Pinchot – head of US Forest Service Added new national parks and wildlife preserves Yosemite National Park - California

 William Taft was hand- picked successor to Theodore Roosevelt  Election of 1908 – Taft easily beat Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan  The Payne-Aldrich Tariff – kept high tariffs against wishes of progressives

 The Ballinger-Pinchot Controversy Taft’s new Secretary of the Interior, Richard Ballinger, tried to make many government lands open to development Pinchot claimed Ballinger worked for a syndicate – a private business group Pinchot leaked the story and was fired for insubordination Progressives believed Taft had “sold out”

 Taft’s Progressive Reforms The Children’s Bureau – investigated problems with child labor Mann-Elkins Act – increased the power of the ICC Bureau of Mines – monitor mining companies Expanded national parks Taft and Roosevelt broke over Taft’s anti-trust lawsuit against US Steel

 Election of 1912 Republican Party split between Taft and Roosevelt Roosevelt joins Progressive Party (Bull Moose) Democratic nominee former NJ governor Woodrow Wilson

New nationalism – Roosevelt’s progressive platform for reform New Freedom – Wilson’s platform wanted to destroy monopolies Wilson elected president

 Wilson’s Reforms The Underwood Tariff – reduced the tariff to 30% Established the income tax (16 th Amendment) Federal Reserve Act – regulated banks and set interest rates Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – monitored American businesses for unfair trade practices (those that hurt competition)

Clayton Anti-Trust Act – banned business practices such as tying agreements and price discrimination  Act exempted unions Keating-Owen Child Labor Act – prohibited labor of children under age of 14 in factories  Act was overturned by Supreme Court Adamson Act – established 8 hour work day for railroad workers

 Legacy of Progressivism Americans now expected government to solve social problems and regulate business Failed to address rights of minorities Founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) by blacks and whites including W.E.B. Du Bois