Turn-of-the-Century Reform Movements

1. Turn-of-the-Century Reform Movements Social and Political Change in the United States at the Turn-of-the Century

2. Life in 1903 • Average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 • Only 14% of the homes had a bathtub. • Only 8% of the homes had a telephone. • Three minute call from Denver to NY city cost eleven dollars. • There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S. and only 144 miles of paved road. • Maximum speed limit in most cities was 10mph.

3. Average U.S. worker made between $300 and $500 per year. • More than 95% of all births in the U.S. took place at home. • Sugar cost .12 cents a pound. Eggs were .14 cents a dozen. Coffee cost .15 cents a pound. • Most women washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

4. There were 230 reported murders in the entire U.S. • Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any reason. • American flag had 45 stars. • Canned beer and iced tea hadn’t been invented. • No Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.

5. One in ten U.S. adults couldn’t read or write. • Only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school.

6. Progressive Movement • Progressives wanted to change society for the better • Women voting • Labor Reform • African American Rights • Stop drinking

7. Settlement House Movement • Well-educated young women and men hoped to relieve the effects of poverty by providing social services for people in the neighborhood. • Most famous of this experiment was Hull House in Chicago – opened by Jane Addams in 1889

8. Houses taught English to immigrants, pioneered early childhood education, taught industrial arts, and established neighborhood theaters and music. • By 1910 over 400 settlement houses. • These houses provided foundation for professional social worker. • Also political activists who crusaded for child-labor laws, housing reform and women’s rights.

9. Progressive Issues

10. Civil Rights • Minorities were ignored for the most part. • From 1900 to 1905 an African-American was lynched almost every other day! • Racial discrimination increased during the early 20th century. • Two key problems faced by African-Americans: • Money issues and no rights in society (second class citizens)

11. Racial Segregation • Based on Race • Directed primarily against African Americans, but other groups were kept segregated

12. Jim Crow Laws • Made discrimination legal • Unequal opportunities in housing, work, education, and government

13. Two Leaders Emerge • Booker T. Washington – Believed equality could be achieved through vocational education; accepted social separation www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ shows/race/art/washington.jpg

14. W.E.B Du Bois – believed in full political, civil, and social rights for African Americans www.americaslibrary.gov/.../ aa_dubois_subj_e.jpg

15. Women’s Movement • By late 19th century the “new woman” was emerging. More time outside the home: 10% never married and divorce rising. • Older generation of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton were Suffragists.

17. What did they want? • Increased educational opportunities • The right to vote • Equality

18. Labor (Work) Reform • Wanted to change the following bad things in the workplace • Child Labor (wanted to place restrictions) • Low wages and long hours (wanted to reduce work hours and increase pay) • Unsafe working conditions (wanted to improve the safety conditions)

19. Anti Trust Movement • Sherman Anti Trust Act 1890 • The act declared illegal "every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations." • Criminal penalties were provided for violators of the law, and aggrieved persons were entitled to recover three times the amount of losses suffered as a result of the violation.

20. Temperance Movement • People wanted to ban the making and consuming (drinking) of alcohol. • Supported the 18th Amendment which prohibited (didn’t let) people manufacture (make), sell, or transport alcoholic beverages.