What is progressivism?  The belief that American society was capable of improvement and continued growth and advancement.  Progressives believed progress would ONLY occur through human intervention to solve problems.

Who started Progressivism?  The ‘Muckrakers.’  Progressive journalists who worked to expose corruption within society, to inspire others to join their cause for PROGRESS.  ‘The pen is sometimes mightier than the sword.’  Upton Sinclair: ‘The Jungle’  Jacob Riis: ‘How the Other Half Lives’  Lincoln Steffens: ‘Shame of the Cities’  Ida Tarbell: ‘History of Standard Oil’

What were the Progressive Movements?  Political Reforms  Women’s Rights  Temperance  Immigration  Business Reform

Political Reform  Municipal Reforms  Numerous cities were plagued by government loyalty to political bosses.  City councils were put in place to make local government more loyal to the voters  Utilities became more publicly owned, to reduce corruption.  State Reforms  Spurred by progressive governors, many states passed laws to regulate railroads, mines, mills, telephone companies and other large businesses.  Nearly ever state passed legislation banning child labor and setting maximum working hours.  Growth of socialism in America  After years of being taken advantage of by big business, many workers favored a SOCIALIST system, in which wealth was shared more equally

Women’s Rights  Suffrage  The liquor industry feared that granting women the right to vote would lead to prohibition while the textile business worried women voting would lead to restrictions on child labor.  As of 1910 however, women had federal voting rights in only Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Washington, and Idaho.  However, the suffrage movement was given new strength by growing numbers of college-educated women.  In 1919, during WWI, Congress passed the 19 th Amendment, granting women the right to vote.  Higher Education  New colleges and universities for women made higher education possible.  By the late 19 th century, marriage was no longer a woman’s only option.  ‘New Woman’

Temperance  Women’s Christian Temperance Union led the crusade for prohibition.  By 1916, 19 states had prohibition laws  The temperance movement, to reform social life, took hold locally before moving to a national scale in the 1920’s.  th Amendment passed, going into effect in January 1920.

Immigration  Immigration Restriction Laws  Chinese Exclusion  Gentlemen’s Agreement with Japan  Settlement  Many middle class women helped ‘Americanize’ immigrants by establishing settlement houses.  From these settlement houses, women reformers pushed immigrants away from the ‘vices’ of urban life, like drinking, gambling, and engaging in political machine voting.

Business Reform  Monopolies and the breakup of monopolies  By 1900, trusts controlled about 4/5 of the industries in the US.  In the early 1900’s, president Teddy Roosevelt worked to dissolve trusts, to reestablish competition in industry.  These laws mostly benefited the consumer, as prices and goods were more regulated.  Labor reforms/worker protections  Women, and later men, were limited to a 10-hour workday by the Supreme Court.  Progressives succeeded in winning workers’ compensation to aid the families of workers who were hurt or killed on the job.  Eventually, all states passed laws requiring employers to pay benefits to workers’ families who had died on the job.