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The Progressive Era

Reform shifts from the farm to the city and climbs the ladder of government from the local to the state and then to the national level. The Progressive Era.

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The Progressive Era

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  1. Reform shifts from the farm to the city and climbs the ladder of government from the local to the state and then to the national level. The Progressive Era

  2. Def.: reform mov’t seeking to return control of the gov’t to the people, restore economic opportunities, and to correct injustices in American life.

  3. I. The Problems of the 1890’s • Huge Gap between rich and poor • Tremendous economic and political power of the rich • Wealthy were insensitively flaunting their wealth before a poorer public

  4. I. Problems of the 1890’s (cont.) • Industrial workers hideously poor, living in squalor and working in dangerous conditions • Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives (1890) • Little concern for Black America

  5. II. Progressive Reformers

  6. A. Streams of Reform • Origins: Greenbacks, Populist Party • The “Social Gospel” movement --Walter Rauschenbusch: Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907) • Settlement House Workers --Jane Addams, Hull House in Chicago (1889)

  7. A. Streams of Reform (cont.) • Young, socially-conscious lawyers • Investigative Journalists -- “Muckrakers” --Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, and Upton Sinclair • Small businessmen

  8. B. Features of Progressive Reform • Desire to remedy problems through government initiative • Reliance on “experts” -- Robert Lafollette’s “Wisconsin Idea” • Wanted reform not revolution

  9. B. Features of Progressive Reform (cont.) • Desire to make society more moral and more just • Desire to distribute income more equitably • Desire to broaden opportunities for individual advancement • Women were active in progressivism --Suffragettes like Susan B. Anthony

  10. B. Features of Progressive Reform (cont.) • Middle-class reform movement • Operated on all three levels of government

  11. III. Sample Progressive Reforms

  12. Progressive Goals1. Protect social welfare2. Promote moral improvement3. Create Economic reform4. Foster efficiency at work

  13. A. Political Reforms • Tried to put more power into the hands of the people • Innovative changes in city government --city managers and commission model • The Direct Primary • Initiative, Referendum and Recall • The Secret Ballot • Direct Election of Senators and the Vote for Women

  14. B. Social Reforms • Child labor laws • Ten-hour work days --The “Brandeis brief” --Muller v. Oregon (1908)-(Lochner vs. N.Y.) --Bunting v. Oregon (1917) • Prohibition initiatives • Moral Purity campaigns --Mann Act (1910) *Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

  15. B. Social Reforms (cont.) • Minimum safety standards on the job • Minimum standards for housing codes • “City Beautification” movement • Immigration Restriction • Eugenics --Buck v. Bell (1927) • Little Help for Blacks --NAACP (1909) -- “Birth of a Nation”

  16. IV. Progressive Amendments to the Constitution • 16th Amendment (1913)—federal income tax • 17th Amendment (1913)—direct election of senators • 18th Amendment (1919)—prohibition • 19th Amendment (1920)—vote for women

  17. V. Presidential Progressivism: Theodore Roosevelt • Great drive, energy and exciting personality • TR’s interests and early years • NYC police commissioner • Spanish-American War experience -- “Rough Riders” • Political Rise from NY Governor to Vice-President

  18. A. First Term as President (1901-1904) • McKinley’s assassination • Cast every issue in moral and patriotic terms --The “Bully Pulpit” • Square Deal: control corporations, consumer protection, conservation, reform railroads • Coal Miner Strike- threatened seizure of mine

  19. B. “Trust-Buster”? • Wants to regulate in order to get businesses to act right • Making an example of the Northern Securities Co. • The Elkins Act (1903) and the Hepburn Act- regulation of the RR

  20. C. Second Term as President (1905-1909) • More vigorous progressivism • Federal Meat Inspection Act (1906) • Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) • Conservation Policy --Preservation vs. Conservation

  21. VI. “A Tough Act to Follow”: The Presidency of William Howard Taft (1909-1913) • The Election of 1908 • Dollar Diplomacy-use foreign policy to protect Wall Street Dollars • Mann-Elkins Act (1910)- increased power of ICC; control of telegraph and telephone

  22. VI. Presidency of Taft (cont.) • Controversy over the Tariff • More conservative than TR, but also more trust suits • The “Ballinger-Pinchot” Affair • Growing tension with Teddy Roosevelt

  23. VII. The Election of 1912 • Growing split within the Republican Party • Creation of the “Bull Moose” Party • Progressive Party Platform: “New Nationalism” • Democrats drafted Woodrow Wilson

  24. VIII. Democratic Progressivism: The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) • True progressive and dynamic speaker • Sympathetic to small businessmen

  25. A. “New Freedom” • Wilson’s brand of progressivism • Wants to recreate the “golden age” of small American businesses • Wilson wants to open channels for free and fair competition

  26. B. Key Wilsonian Legislation • Underwood Tariff Act (1913) • Federal Reserve Act (1913) • Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914) • Federal Trade Commission (1914)

  27. Other Wilson Laws • Federal Farm Loan Act • Child Labor Act • Minimum Wage

  28. C. Congressional Progressivism After 1914 • Wilson was not a strong progressive when it came to social reform • Congress takes over the progressive agenda • Examples of congressional progressive legislation after 1914 --Federal Highways Act (1916) Prohibition, Suffrage, Civil Rights

  29. IX. The Waning of the Progressive Movement • Progressive movement peaks by 1917 • Success of the movement led to its decline • Advent of World War I also hurt progressive activism • Progressives themselves began to weary of their reform zeal—as did the nation as a whole • Ironically, voter participation has steadily declined since the election of 1912 • Schenck v U.S. (1919)- clear and present danger

  30. Wilson’s Foreign Policy • Anti-imperialistic • Jones Acts (1916,17)- independence for the Philippines and citizenship for Puerto Rico • Sent troops to Nicaragua, Haiti, Dominican Republic • Mexican Revolution let to U.S. involvement in Mexico; Pancho Villa and Gen. John Pershing

  31. Areas of the Progressive Era • Expansion of democracy • Efficiency- Frederick W. Taylor(Scientific Management), Robert M. La Follette • Regulation- trusts • Social Justice- settlement house mov't, labor legislation • Prohibition

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