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The Progressive Era

The Progressive Era. 1900-1916. An Urban Age . Triangle Fire, 1911-Had an unrivaled impact on Public Consciousness Gap between rich and poor increased, 1900-1916 J.P. Morgan’s financial firm controlled 40 percent of all financial and industrial capital in U.S.

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The Progressive Era

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  1. The Progressive Era 1900-1916

  2. An Urban Age • Triangle Fire, 1911-Had an unrivaled impact on Public Consciousness • Gap between rich and poor increased, 1900-1916 • J.P. Morgan’s financial firm controlled 40 percent of all financial and industrial capital in U.S. • Progressive-Loosely defined political movement of individuals and groups who hoped to change American political and social life • Muckrakers-Journalists who exposed the “underside” of American life (harsh living conditions, child labor, e.g.)

  3. Immigrant Quest for Freedom • Period characterized by major immigration (35 million people, mostly from Europe) • In 1900, 1,000 foreign language newspapers published in United States • 1 in 7 Americans and 3/5 of factory laborers were foreign born in 1910 • “My people are not in America, they are under it” –Slavic priest, p. 732 • Discrimination against Jews, Irish, Southern/Eastern immigrants-some groups were denied access to schools and victims of policy brutality, especially if they were strikers

  4. American Lifestyle • Rise of mail order business and department store • Advertising permeated public life • More women entered workplace as secretaries and telegraph operators • Rise of Fordism • Unheard of $5 wage 1914 • Assembly line • Affordable cars • Philosophy “the worker must be able to afford an American lifestyle”

  5. Varieties of Progressivism Progressives: • Wanted Industrial freedom-Political liberty vs. Industrial slavery • Some turned to socialism. Socialists wanted a free college education, legislation to improve labor conditions and public ownership of railroads and factories. • Socialist Eugene V. Debs ran for president in 1912 (only gained 6 percent of the vote.) • Some joined the AFL American Federation of Labor(1.6 million members) and IWW Industrial Workers of the World p. 745

  6. Native Americans • Native American progressives wanted freedom and citizenship • Carlos Montezuma, founder of the Society of American Indians, wanted the Bureau of Indian Affairs abolished • Advocated freedom and citizenship for his people

  7. Women • Female progressives: 20,000 women garment workers striked in 1909(including the Triangle Shirt Waist Company women who later perished in the fire) • “New Feminism” –women wanted birth control, free sexual expression, reproductive choice AND the right to vote • The IWW and Socialist party supported Margaret Sanger’s birth control movement • Other women advocated social change • Jane Addams and Hull House p. 752 • Built kindergartens and playgrounds for children, established settlement houses for immigrants • Julia Lathrop headed the Children’s Bureau (1912) • 2 million women were members of the National American Women Suffrage Association by 1917

  8. Politics of Progressivism • The influence of socialism from Europe: The term “social legislation” meaning government action to address urban problems, originated in Germany with the writings of Karl Marx. • State and local governments increased property taxes to fund public property: parks, schools, public utilities • Alarmed by the upsurge in violent class conflict and the unrestricted power of corporations, Progressives believed that political reforms could help unite the nation • Progressives were in both the Democratic and Republican parties at the time and did not form their own party until 1912

  9. Progressive Presidents • Theodore Roosevelt • Became president after McKinley was assassinated in 1901, re-elected in 1904 • Good vs. Bad corporations • Prosecuted Northern Securities Company (railroads) under Sherman Antitrust Act • In 1904, Supreme Court ordered Northern Securities dissolved • Under Roosevelt, the Hepburn Act, Pure Food and Drug Acts were passed (see p. 765’s table) • First president to support conservation-creation of natural parks to preserve natural beauty in the U.S.

  10. Progressive Presidents • Taft elected in 1908, defeating William Jennings Bryan • Attacked big business including Standard Oil and American Tobacco • Ratified 16th Amendment which enacted a graduated income tax (tax higher for wealthier citizens) • Signed Payne-Aldrich Tariff-reduced rates on imported goods

  11. Election of 1912 • See p. 761 • Four way race democrat, republican, socialist, progressive • Former Pres. Roosevelt ran for the Progressive Party because Taft wasn’t environmentally conscientious and was too conservative • Wilson (Democrat) won

  12. Wilson’s version of Progressivism • Underwood Tariff-reduced duties on imports substantially • Graduated income tax on richest 5 percent • Clayton Act 1914-helped strikers • Keating-Owen Act of 1916 outlawing child labor • Adamson Act established 8 hour workday on railroads • Warehouse Act, extended credit to farmers • Established Federal Reserve System and Federal Trade Commission • The seventeenth amendment was ratified by the states in April of 1913. It took the election of senators from the state legislators and made it a popular vote by the people of the states. • Please read pgs. 761-762 (last two pages of the chapter) in detail to better understand Wilson’s reforms

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