1. Essential Question:
How did the chaotic conditions of urban America in the Gilded Age contribute to “progressive” reforms in the early 20th century?
Quick Class Discussion: Why did the U.S. need “progressive” reform after the Gilded Age?
Lesson Plan for Tuesday, January 6, 2009: Warm-up question: Mindsparks for Progressives; Social Progressivism Notes

2. What is Progressivism?
From 1890s to 1920, progressives addressed the rapid economic & social changes of the Gilded Age
Progressive reform had wide appeal but was not a unified movement with a common agenda
Progressive reforms included prostitution, poverty, child labor, factory safety, women’s rights, temperance, & political corruption
Democrats, Republicans, & Socialists all found reasons to support progressivism
Progressive reform began in the late Gilded Age, especially during the Panic of 1893 which exposed serious flaws in the American political, economic, & social fabric
Some histories mark the end of Progressivism in 1917 when the USA entered WWI; others mark the end at 1920 with the 19th amendment
Some reformers targeted local community problems, others aimed for state changes, & others wanted national reforms

3. What is Progressivism? Progressive Themes
Social Gospel taught Christians that it was their duty was to end poverty & inequality
Optimism & belief in progress (“investigate, educate, & legislate”)
But, Progressive reform had distinguishing characteristics:
Progressive Themes
Looked to the government to help achieve goals
Desire to “humanize” industry & urbanization
Desire to use government as agency of human welfare
Their actions impacted the entire nation; not regions like the Populists
Led by educated middle-class “experts” who developed “rational” solutions
Change the environment in order to change people (no Social Darwinism)

4. Reforming America’s Cities

5. Reforming America’s Cities
Progressive reform 1st began in cities in the 1890s to address factory, tenement, labor problems:
Early reformers realized that private charity was not enough to cure all social ills
The church suffered because they were irrelevant to the problems of the day (especially with the gospel of wealth)
: liberal Protestants started to adapt religious ideas to modern culture, reject biblical literalism, & align themselves with the Social Gospel movement

6. Reforming America’s Cities
The Social Gospel movement was a new religious philosophy that focused on improving society & saving individual souls
Walter Rauschenbusch & Washington Gladdens
The Sermon on the Mount was the science of society
Some argued socialism was logical outcome of Christianity

7. The YMCA created gyms and libraries to help young men and children
Urban reformers tried to improve the lives of poor workers and children
The YMCA created gyms and libraries to help young men and children
The Salvation Army created nurseries and soup kitchens

8. An early reformer was Jane Addams who created Hull House in Chicago
The Female Dominion
Some of the 1st reformers were educated, middle-class women:
They were indispensable
Women found reform was a way to improve their communities & to break out of their traditional, 19th century social roles
An early reformer was Jane Addams who created Hull House in Chicago
Hull House was the first settlement house which offered baths, cheap food, child care, job training, health care to help the poor
It inspired other movements like Lillian Wald’s Henry Street house in NY in 1893.

9. Hull House in Chicago

10. Settlement houses became centers for activity
Settlement houses became centers for activity. Women saw this as an extension of the traditional role of a wife or mother.
Florence Kelley fought to create child labor laws and laws limiting women to a 10 hour day

11. The Female Dominion Women were key leaders in:
Literary Clubs turned social activistis
Charity Org Society—collected data on poverty & slums; led to the NY Tenement Commission
Nat’l Conference of Social Work used professional social workers & called for minimum wages, maximum hours, widow pensions
National Consumers League (1899)
Women’s Trade Union League (1903)
New federal departments in Dept of Labor: Children’s Bureau & Women’s Bureau

12. In 1900, there was 1 saloon for every 200 people in big cities.
The Female Dominion
There was significant concern over dangers of alchol, which was connected with prostitution
Women’s groups, like the WCTU, helped gain key reforms:
Prohibition—Shocking reports of alcohol abuse led 19 states to outlaw booze & the passage of the 18th Amendment (1920)
Prostitution—By 1915, almost all states banned brothels & the Mann Act banned the interstate transport of “immoral” women
In 1900, there was 1 saloon for every 200 people in big cities.

13. Many reformers saw alcohol abuse as serious problem
Reformers Frances Willard and Carrie Nation led the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) to fight for prohibition laws
Frances Willard
Carrie Nation

14. Prohibition of alcohol in the states prior to 1920
The Anti-Saloon League also increased statewide prohibition

15. Attacking Political Machines
Mugwumps were reformers who strove to end corruption among political machines in cities:
More specifically, they were reform minded Republicans who did not like Blaine in the 1884 election and went over to the Democrats  Cleveland won
The Gilded Age saw the height of urban machines whose politicians controlled lawmaking, police departments, & courts
The “Good Gov’t” Movement found ways to shift power from bosses to mayors & city councils
Cleveland tried award jobs based on merit but eventually gave in to the Democrats

16. Nast’s Favorite Target: Boss Tweed
Thomas Nast was the Gilded Age’s most important Mugwump cartoonist
Tweed’s Downfall: “Those damn pictures”

17. Muckraking Journalism
New “muckraking” journalism drew attention to social problems, such as urban poverty, corruption, & big business practices.
Term coined by TR in 1906
Muckrakers believed that the cure for social ills of American democracy was more democracy.
They counted on publicity and the public conscience to push for change.

18. Muckraking Journalism
New “muckraking” Popular monthly magazines (1902), like McClure’s, Collier’s, & Harper’s used investigative journalism & photos
Most influential was New York Nation launched by Edwin Godkin.
All wanted civil service reform, honest in government, and a moderate tariff.

19. Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives (1890) was the 1st exposé of urban poverty & slums

20. Muckraking Journalism
Other groundbreaking exposés:
Henry George’s Progress & Poverty (1879) showed the growing gap between rich & poor
Lincoln Steffan’s Shame of the Cities (1902) in McClure’s exposed corrupt political machine bosses
Ida Tarbell’s History of Standard Oil (1904) revealed Rockefeller’s ruthless business practices
David G. Phillips in Cosmopolitan wrote a series, “The Treason of the Senate,” accusing senators of representing trusts not people

21. Muckraking Journalism
Other groundbreaking exposés:
Henry Demarest Lloyd exposed corruption of Standard Oil as well in his Wealth Against the Commonwealth
Thorstein Veblen criticized the new rich in The Theory of the Leisure Class
Edward Bellamy published Looking Backward, a socialistic novel picturing a utopian government and a nationalized big business
Bellamy clubs sprang up and influenced reform movements

22. Muckraking Journalism
Lewis Hine’s Photography
Called attention to child labor and tried to put an end to it

23. Muckraking Journalism
Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906) led to federal investigation of the meatpacking industry, gov’t inspections, & improved sanitation
Sam H. Adams exposed the dangers of patent medicines which led to the Pure Food & Drug Act requiring listing of ingredients & banned “adulterated” drugs
“I aimed at the public’s heart & by accident I hit it in the stomach”
Samuel Hopkins Adams

24. Standardizing Education
Psychologist William James promoted the idea that one’s environment dictates behavior
School leaders applied these ideas to reform pubic education:
Schools became a primary vehicle to assimilate immigrants
John Dewey promoted “creative intelligence,” not memorization or strict teaching

25. Essential Question:
How did the chaotic conditions of urban America in the Gilded Age contribute to “progressive” reforms in the early 20th century?
Lesson Plan for Wednesday, January 7, 2009: RQ 21A, Finish Urban Progressives Notes, Discuss DuBois vs. Washington reading; Assign I

26. Working-Class Reform

27. Immigration to the USA, 1901-1920
From 1901 to 1920, 14.5 million “new” European, Mexican, & Asian immigrants traveled to America to join the U.S. labor force
By 1914, 60% of the U.S. work force was foreign born; Most immigrant laborers were unskilled, lived in poverty & in ethnic conclaves

28. Mexican Immigration to the USA, 1900-1920
Mexican immigrants worked in western farms, railroads, & mines as well as Southern & California agriculture
Mexican Immigration to the USA,

29. Angel Island, San Francisco
This was not like Ellis Island in NYC where immigration processing took hours; At Angel Island, processing took months

30. Conflict in the Workplace
The new industrial advances like mass production & management sped up production but led to:
Long hours, low wages, dangerous settings for workers
Labor unrest & strikes
Union membership jumped from 4% in 1900 to 13% by 1920
Progressive reforms for workers

31. Labor union membership during the Progressive Era, 1897-1920

32. Open to all workers regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, or skill
Organizing Labor
“It is our purpose to overthrow the capitalist system by forceful means if necessary… [There is nothing a worker can do that] will bring as much anguish to the boss than a little sabotage in the right place.”
—IWW co-founder “Big Bill” Haywood
The WTUL strike against Hart, Schaffer, & Marx Co led to the 1st collective bargaining victory in U.S. labor history
Gompers’ American Federation of Labor was the largest U.S. union but it was exclusive; led to:
Women’s Trade Union League (1903) formed to help working women & educate the public
Industrial Workers of the World (1905) urged revolution & the creation of a workers’ republic via sabotage & strikes
Open to all workers regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, or skill
Called the “Wobblies”
WTUL Supported Triangle demands for safer factory in 1909

33. Did not threaten to overthrow the capitalist system
Organizing Labor
Did not threaten to overthrow the capitalist system
Eugene V. Debs formed the Socialist Party of America & applied Marxist ideas into a moderate & appealing political platform

34. The need for Progressive reform for factory workers was made evident in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire

35. Working with Workers
Many businesses used violence to break up strikes, but others improved workers’ conditions to keep a loyal, happy workforce:
Henry Ford introduced an 8-hour workday & the “5 dollar day”
The Amoskeag textile factory in NH used paternalism & benefits, like playgrounds & health care
No strike at Amoskaeg from 1885 to 1920

36. Amoskeag Textile Company
Amoskeag built playgrounds & baseball fields for families & their children
Amoskeag Textile Company
Amoskeag hired whole families
…and provided company housing

37. The Women’s Movement & Black Awakening

38. Families & Women in the City
Stressful  no longer connected to extended family
Everyone had to work, even children as young as 10
Delays in marriage, decline in birth rate, & increase in divorce
Role of children changes from more people to harvest & help to more mouths to feed and a greater chance of poverty

39. “Women’s vote will help cure ills of society”
The Women’s Movement
Successful progressive reforms led by women strengthened calls for women’s rights & suffrage:
The National Association of Colored Women advocated for the rights of black women
The National American Woman Suffrage Association was key in getting the 19th Amendment passed in 1920
Founded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony
Carrie Catt: linked traditional role of women to suffrage
“Women’s vote will help cure ills of society”
Keating-Owens Act (1916) & Second Child Labor Act (1919) both overturned by Supreme Court

40. Women’s Suffrage Before 1900
Why is the West always the most democratic region in America?

41. The Women’s Movement
Margaret Sanger championed the cause for increased birth control:
Sanger hoped birth control education would reduce the social stresses caused by too many immigrant children
Her journals provided contraceptive information for poor & middle-class women
In 1916, Sanger opened the 1st birth control clinic in the U.S.

42. The Women’s Movement
Florence Kelley Illinois’ 1st chief factory inspector & leader of National Consumer’s League (1899)
Landmark case: Muller v. Oregon (1908): Attorney Louis D. Brandeis persuaded Supreme Court to accept constitutionality of laws protecting women workers
Setback case: Lochner v NY: invalidated a NY law that established 8 hour day for bakers
After Triangle Fire new laws in NY
By 1917, 30 states with worker’s comp laws

43. African-American Reforms
To ensure that poor & uneducated whites could vote, states created grandfather clauses which allowed white men to vote if a relative voted prior to the Civil War
Plessy v Ferguson (1896):
Segregation does not violate the 14th amendment & can be used a public policy as long as separate facilities are equal (“separate but equal”)
By 1900, African-Americans were in desperate need of progressive reform
80% of African-Americans lived in rural areas, most as sharecroppers
Poll taxes, literacy tests, property qualifications limited black suffrage
The Plessy v Ferguson (1896) case strengthened Jim Crow laws allowed segregation in public areas (restaurants, hotels, schools)
By 1900, (& grandfather clauses)

44. African-American Reforms
Progressive reform did occur in Southern state government, but:
Reform focused on regulating RR & industries in order to benefit white farmers
Social reform did not occur; keeping blacks from voting was seen as necessary
Due to this inequity, black civil rights leaders demanded reform

45. African-American Reforms
But, black leaders were divided on how to address racial problems
Booker T Washington was Harvard educated, studied black urban culture, & was 1st president of Tuskegee University
His “Atlanta Compromise” stressed black self-improvement (not lawsuits or agitation against whites)
BTW was 1st prez of Tuskegee; WEBD was Harvard & Univ of Berlin educated, became sociologist who studied black urban pop of Phila & wrote The Souls of Black Folk (1903)

46. African-American Reforms
“[African-Americans] have a right to know, to think, to aspire… We must strive for the right which the world accords to man.”
—W.E.B. DuBois
W.E.B. DuBois was more aggressive
Dubois led the Niagara Movement in 1905 calling for immediate civil rights, integrated schools, & promotion of the “Talented 10th” to be the next generation of black civil rights leaders
Washington vs. DuBois Reading
Compare view of Booker T Washington and WEB DuBois (CPUS book lesson 32): Have students read the passages and discuss their varying viewpoints on African-American civil rights

47. The Niagara Movement & NAACP
In 1909, National Assoc for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed by William Walling & others; Du Bios was put in charge of The Crisis publication
The NAACP had some victories:
Guinn v U.S. (1915) ended Oklahoma’s grandfather clause
Buchanan v Worley (1917) ended KY housing segregation
CFL Lesson #33

48. Conclusions: The Impact of Urban Progressive Reform

49. Conclusions
Social progressivism led to successful reforms in American cities by attacking corruption & advocating for the less fortunate
Urban reformers drew national attention to:
The plight of women & blacks (with mixed results)
The need for reform at the state & national levels

50. Washington vs. Dubois Examine reading provided:
What were various economic, political, & social problems facing blacks by 1900?
What were the differing perspectives of civil rights leaders on possible solutions?
Which leader, Washington or DuBois, had the better plan for African-Americans by 1900? Why?

51. For Homework: Read excerpts from Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle & answer the questions provided