1. The Progressive Movement
Roots of progressivism. Roosevelt and Taft. The Wilson Years

2. Review
Gilded – lots of wealth, new inventions, many job opportunities, growth of cities
Not Gilded – child labor, poverty, bad working conditions, low pay, segregation, disease, crime, corruption in industry and government

3. The Progressive Movement
Influenced by the Populists
Attempts to reform issues of the Gilded Age - Women’s rights, poverty, child labor, lack of regulation for big business, reduce alcohol abuse
“Progress” – (what they want to accomplish)
Move away from laissez-faire
Gov’t more responsive to the people
Improve workers, poor and immigrants rights
Clean up cities

4. Muckrakers Middle class journalists
Goal was to expose problems of American society – corruption & poverty
Ida Tarbell wrote “History of the Standard Oil Company”
Lincoln Steffens photographed the conditions of slums and wrote about the corrupt practices of urban political machines
Jacob Riis 1890 wrote/photographed “How the Other Half Lives” about the poverty, disease, and crime afflicting many immigrant neighborhoods.
Upton Sinclair wrote “The Jungle”

5. Excerpt from The Jungle

6. Reforming Government More efficient and less corrupt government
Keeping power out of one person’s hands and giving it back to the people
Federal Level –
Direct election of senators – 17th amendment
Income tax – 16th amendment
City level –
Divide city departments
Council-manager system

7. Remember Social Problems & Solutions from Gilded Age
Lack of sanitation led to spread of diseases like dysentery
No public housing or welfare problems to support the urban poor
tenements
Charity Organizations
Settlement houses – Jane Addams “Hull House”
Social Gospel Movement – preached salvation and assistance to the poor. YMCA

8. Reforming the Workplace
Labor unions organized in the late 1800s
Higher wages and better working conditions
Florence Kelley – 10hr workday for women
By states had passed child labor laws but were not always enforced
5yr old shrimp picker and oyster shucker 1911 Biloxi Mississippi

9. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
1911 NYC
500 women worked producing blouses
Fire killed 140
Led to fire safety laws, inspections and sanitation laws

10. Prohibition Blamed alcohol for many of the problems in society
States passed laws to ban the manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol
18th amendment passes in 1920

11. Suffrage Women advocated for the right to vote
Seneca Falls Convention 1848 – Elizabeth C Stanton declares rights of women
National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) formed to press for political reform
19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920

12. Progressive Presidents – Roosevelt & Taft

13. Progressives vs. Big Business
Progressives wanted regulation
Pushed for gov’t to pass laws
Some advocated Socialism
Gov’t to buy large businesses
Equal system
Lack of support for socialism
Too much power for the gov’t
Eugene V Debs won a million votes in the election of 1912 – American Socialist Party

14. Theodore Roosevelt Social Darwinist when it comes to foreign affairs
Progressive in domestic affairs
Square Deal
Big business had too much power
Made the Sherman Antitrust Act and ICC stronger
Created the Department of Commerce and Labor
Investigated businesses to prevent corruption – “Trust Buster”
Conservationist and Environmentalist

15. Roosevelt’s Reforms
Northern Securities v US – gov’t sued 3 companies for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act
Court ruled that the gov’t has the power to regulate interstate commerce – movement of goods across state lines
Hepburn Act – Gave the ICC the right to set rates for goods transported on railroads
Strengthened the role of the federal gov’t
Gov’t is finally starting to regulate bug business

16. Taft Roosevelt’s successor
Increased taxes on imports and split the Republican Party
Hated monopolies
Wanted to break up all trusts completely
Roosevelt upset at Taft’s decision to break up the US steel monopoly
Established the Children’s Bureau
Dealt with child abuse prevention, foster care and adoption

17. Bull Moose Party Roosevelt thought Taft failed as a Progressive
Ran against him in the Election of 1912
Formed the Progressive Party aka the “Bull Moose Party
Democrats nominated Woodrow Wilson
Clash between two Progressives

18. Roosevelt’s Legacy
Solved many problems of the Gilded Age through gov’t intervention
Increased the role of the President
Passed the Hepburn Act and strengthened anti-trust laws
Passed the Meat Inspection Act
Monitored businesses to make sure they weren’t corrupt
Formed many national parks

19. The Wilson Years

20. Election of 1912 Roosevelt Bull Moose v Wilson
2 different approaches to Progressivism
Roosevelt accepted monopolies, and favored laws for women, children and workers’ compensation – New Nationalism
Wilson was against regulated monopolies and wanted to destroy them – New Freedom
Wilson wins

21. Wilson’s Economic Reforms
Passed tariff laws to reduce prices on imported goods – this benefited American consumers and manufacturers
16th Amendment – Income tax 1913
Federal Reserve reformed banking system
Controls money supply
National supervision of banking system
Federal Trade Commission monitored businesses
Power to investigate companies that were trading unfairly

22. Wilson’s Political Reforms
Opinion’s on big business change
Realizes big businesses are efficient
Now wants to limit big businesses instead of removing them completely
Clayton Antitrust Act 1914
Businesses could not charge different customers different prices
Gave unions the right to exist
Stronger than the Sherman Antitrust Act

23. Social Reforms
Child Labor Act – prohibited employment of children under age 14
8hr workday
Federal Farm Loan Act gave farmers lower interest rates
Pure Food and Drug Act
Prohibited the manufacture, sale or shipment of impure or falsely labeled food and drugs

24. Limits to Progressivism
Progressives failed to address racial and religious discrimination
African American begin to unify against prejudice
Formed the NAACP in 1909
Pushed for rights and acceptance
Jewish people targeted for religious beliefs
Anti Defamation League failed to be supported by Wilson