Download The Progressive Era

The Progressive Era
1890-1920
The Reformers of the
Progressive Era
• What was the Progressive Era?
• Most historians consider the thirty year time period between
1890-1920 to be the period of the Progressive Era.
• Progressivism: The political orientation of those who favor
progress toward better conditions in government and society.
• A period in United States history when American
reformers tried to fix the political, social, and economic
problems in America, and create a better society for all
Americans.
The Reformers of the
Progressive Era
• What did the Progressives want to change?
• Progressive reformers wanted to end corruption in government.
• Many national (i.e., senators, congressmen), state (i.e., governors), and
local (mayors) politicians were corrupt.
• They lied, cheated, and took bribes from robber barons who wanted to control
government policies.
• Robber barons bribed U.S. politicians to keep them from passing laws to
protect American workers and the environment.
• Political machines: A group of individuals (the machine) that control the
activities of a political party.
• Political machines rigged elections by bribing voters (i.e., giving people gifts,
jobs, and favors in exchange for votes.)
• In exchange for favors, many politicians received kickbacks, A kickback is a
illegal payment of money made in return for a favor or service.
• The most famous of these institutions was the Democratic political
machine of New York City, led by Boss Tweed.
The Reformers of the
Progressive Era
• Progressive reformers wanted to regulate and control big
business (Robber Barons).
• Reformers wanted the government to break up trusts and end
corrupt business practices.
• Reformers wanted the government to pass laws to
• Ensure that big business owners provided safe working conditions
• Limit the amount of hours a person can work in one day,
• Provide compensation for workers injured at a factory or other
business.
• Reformers wanted the government to pass laws to ensure that
Americans were eating clean food and taking safe
medications.
The Reformers of the
Progressive Era
• Progressive reformers wanted to help the poor and
improve their living conditions.
• In 1900, 1.7 million children were working full time jobs.
• Reformers wanted the government to pass laws to improve
the health conditions in poor neighborhoods.
• Reformers wanted the government to pass laws to help
educate the poor.
• Reformers wanted to ensure that the poor in America’s
cities were living in safe buildings.
The Muckrakers
The Muckrakers
• How did reformers spread their message for change during the
Progressive Era?
• By media sources, including books, newspapers, and magazines.
• Reformers who used the media to spread their views became
known as muckrakers.
• Muckraker: Progressive investigative journalists who exposed
the unpleasant side of American life at the turn of the twentieth
century.
• Muckrakers wrote books, and newspaper and magazine articles
about America’s political, social, and economic problems.
The Muckrakers
Author
Jacob Riis
Literary
Work
Purpose
How the Other • Exposed the awful and often dangerous living
Half
conditions experienced by New York City’s poor
Lives(1890)
population on a day-to-day basis.
Ida
Tarbell
The History of
the Standard
Oil Company
(1904)
• Exposed the corrupt business practices of
John Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company.
• Exposed Standard Oil as a monopoly.
Lincoln
Steffens
The Shame of
the Cities
(1904)
• Exposed the corrupt practices of political machines in
local government.
• Steffens exposed politicians taking bribes from big
business owners to allow them to break safety laws.
Upton
Sinclair
The Jungle
(1906)
•Exposed the unsanitary and unsafe conditions present in
the meat packing industry.
The Muckrakers
• The books and articles written by muckrakers informed
millions of Americans of the political, social, and
economic problems present in the nation at the turn of
the century.
• The muckrakers, who risked their personal well-being to
expose the corrupt practices of big business and
government, uncovered the stories that made the
American public demand reform.
• Americans wanted their local, state, and national leaders
to pass laws to solve the political, economic, and social
problems present in American society at the turn of the
century.
Local, State, & Federal
Reform
Local, State, & Federal
Reform
• Local Reform: The Progressives were able to pass laws on the
local (city/region) level that improved the living and working
conditions of America’s poor.
• “Gas & Water Socialism” – Many cities took control of private utility
companies (water, gas, etc) and made them public utility companies
(departments of the city governments) to end corrupt business
practices that affected the public.
• New York City, New York: Mayor Seth Low improved the public
transportation system, and oversaw the implementation of the
Tenement House Law (1901): The tenement house law stated that
tenement apartments must have windows, fire escapes, indoor
plumbing, fireproofing, and courtyards.
• Toledo, Ohio: Mayor Samuel Jones oversaw the establishment of a
minimum wage for city employees, built public recreation centers,
and reformed the penal code.
Local, State, & Federal
Reform
• State Reform: The Progressives were able to pass
laws that allowed the public to have more political
power.
• “The Wisconsin Idea:” Established by Governor
Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin.
• A system of honest government that allowed people to
have more power in the political process.
• States adopted the direct primary system: In which voters,
rather than political party bosses, selected candidates to
run for office.
• The creation of a legislative reference library to help
lawmakers create bills.
Local, State, & Federal
Reform
• Other State Reforms: Many states adopted the
following legislative procedures during the
Progressive Era.
• The initiative: By the use of a petition, the citizens of a
state could introduce a bill before their state legislature.
• The referendum: The citizens of a state have the right
to vote on state legislation (laws). The citizens of a
state can approve a law or get rid of it.
• The recall: Citizens of a state can vote an elected
official out of office if they are unhappy with his or her
performance.
Local, State, & Federal
Reform
Local, State, & Federal
Reform
• During the Progressive Era, most state governments adopted
• Laws limiting the amount of hours men, women, and children
could work in one day.
• Child labor laws.
• Laws that allowed American workers accident insurance and
pensions.
• Laws that established a minimum wage for workers.
• The federal government did not always support the Progressive
laws passed by state legislatures.
• Lochner v. New York: In 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a state
law limiting the workday for bakers to ten hours violated the 14th
Amendment.
• Muller v. Oregon: In 1908, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Oregon
state law limiting the amount of hours women could work in the
laundry industry.
President Theodore Roosevelt
President Theodore Roosevelt
• In September 1901, President William McKinley was
assassinated by an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz at the
Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.
• Theodore Roosevelt, McKinley’s vice-president, became
the 26th President of the United States.
• Theodore Roosevelt, to the dismay of the Republican
Party, supported many Progressive ideas.
President Theodore Roosevelt
•
As President, Theodore Roosevelt would:
• Increase the executive power of the United States by issuing executive orders
rather than overseeing the passage of a bill through Congress.
• Pass laws to control big business.
• Pass laws to conserve America’s natural resources.
• President Roosevelt’s first successes:
• The Newlands Act (1902): A law that stated money earned by the government
through public land sales would be used to fund federal irrigation projects.
• The Elkins Act (1903): Strengthened the powers of the Interstate Commerce
Commission.
• Rebates were made illegal.
• Railroad corporations had to adhere to their published (shipment) rates.
President Theodore Roosevelt
•
President Roosevelt believed the best way to solve problems associated
with big business was through regulation.
• In 1901, J.P. Morgan and James J Hill created a trust known as the Northern
Securities Company. The trust controlled all of the railroad corporations in the
American West.
• The American public was angered and feared the power held by Morgan and Hill
by the formation of the Northern Securities Company.
• Roosevelt ordered his Attorney General, Philander C. Knox to bring a case
against the Northern Securities Company.
• In 1904, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Northern Securities
Company was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890), and the
company was dissolved.
• President Roosevelt became known as the “trustbuster.”
•
President Roosevelt oversaw the filing of 44 antitrust suits during his two
terms as President.
President Theodore Roosevelt
• The “Square Deal:”
• Up until this point in U.S. history, the government
always sided with big business during labor disputes.
• IN 1902, members of the United Mine Workers
(UMW) union went on strike in the Anthracite coal
fields of Eastern Pennsylvania. The strike became
known as the anthracite coal strike of 1902. The union
wanted
• An eight-hour work day.
• Higher wages.
• Recognition of their union by mine owners.
President Theodore Roosevelt
•
The anthracite coal strike, started in June 1902, continued through the
summer and fall months.
•
With winter approaching, Americans, including President Roosevelt,
feared there would be a coal shortage in the country.
•
President Roosevelt told mine owners that unless they negotiated with the
union, he would order federal troops to seize and operate the anthracite
coal fields.
•
The anthracite mine owners agreed to negotiate with the miners, and in
March of 1903 the miners gained a 10% raise, and a nine-hour work day.
•
Following the strike, Roosevelt declared that both sides received a “square
deal.”
• Fair business practices in America.
President Theodore Roosevelt
• In 1904, Theodore Roosevelt was elected to a second
term as president by the American people.
• Roosevelt declared he would continue to reform
American society through his powers as President of the
United States of America.
• The Hepburn Bill (1906): At the insistence of President
Roosevelt, Congress passed the Hepburn Bill, which gave
the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to:
• Inspect the financial records of railroad corporations.
• Set maximum shipping rates for railroad corporations.
• Control other businesses associated with transportation.
President Theodore Roosevelt
•
In 1906, Upton Sinclair published the The Jungle, a book that
exposed the unsanitary conditions present in Chicago
slaughterhouses.
•
The American public was outraged to learn of what was
happening in the slaughterhouses.
•
In response, President Roosevelt pressured Congress to pass two
laws that would improve sanitary and safety conditions for
Americans.
• The Meat Inspection Act (1906): The United States government was
given the power to inspect all meat produced in factories before it could
be sold to consumers.
• The Pure Food and Drug Act (1906): Prevented the manufacture, sale,
or transportation of food or medicine that was poisonous,
contaminated, or mislabeled.
President Theodore Roosevelt
• President Roosevelt & Conservationism:
• Conservation: The preservation and careful management of the
environment and natural resources.
• President Roosevelt placed 150 million acres of forest land
under protection of the federal government during his
presidency.
• In total, President Roosevelt protected 230 million acres of land
while in office. That equals 84,000 acres a day during the 7 ½
years that he was the President of the United States.
• At the end of his second term, President Roosevelt requested
that his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, should
succeed him and become the next “Progressive” President of
the United States.
President William Howard
Taft
President William Howard
Taft
• In the 1908 presidential election, William Howard
Taft defeated William Jennings Bryan to become the
27th President of the United States.
• Taft was a supporter of many of Roosevelt’s
progressive policies, including the “square deal,”
trust-busting, and conservation.
• However, Taft did not share his predecessors skills in
the realm of physical stamina, extreme dedication to
the office, and the ability to communicate with many
different individuals with different ideas.
President William Howard
Taft
• However, during his one term as President, Taft passed
important progressive measures to help American
Society.
• The Mann-Elkins Act (1910): Granted the Interstate
Commerce Commission the power to suspend rate increases
made by railroads or telephone companies. The Act also
established a Commerce Court.
• Taft also oversaw the passage of several laws to help
American workers including:
• An eight-hour work day for all people employed under
government contracts.
• Mine safety laws.
President William Howard
Taft
• President Taft was very successful in breaking up trusts under
the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890).
• Oversaw the filing of 90 antitrust suits during his four years as
President.
• President Taft was also a conservationist, and expanded the
acreage of the United States national forest reserves.
• President Taft had a falling-out with his predecessor, Theodore
Roosevelt over the use of executive power to conserve
America’s natural resources (The Ballinger-Pinchot Affair).
• The conflict between the two former friends would lead to one
of the most interesting and studied presidential elections in
American history.
The Election of 1912
The Election of 1912
The Election of 1912
•
At the 1912 Republican Convention, the republican party split its
support between Roosevelt and Taft.
•
The Republicans nominated President Taft as their candidate in
the 1912 presidential election.
•
Roosevelt supporters formed a new political party, the Progressive
Party, and choose Theodore Roosevelt to be their candidate in the
1912 presidential election.
•
The Democratic Party choose Woodrow Wilson, the Governor of
New Jersey, to be their candidate in the 1912 presidential election.
•
The Socialist Party, at its highest membership in United States
History, selected Eugene V. Debs as their candidate in the 1912
presidential election.
The Election of 1912
•
Party Platforms:
•
Woodrow Wilson (Democrat):
•
•
New Freedom: A policy that would restore competition amongst America’s business class.
•
The government must break up trusts.
•
•
Establish fair business practices.
Create harsh punishments for business owners who violate business laws.
Theodore Roosevelt (Progressive):
•
New Nationalism: A policy that advocated expanding the power of the federal government in order to regulate big
business, and passing legislation that would provide Americans with social justice.
•
•
•
William Howard Taft (President) (Republican):
•
“Old Guard” Conservative Republicanism
•
•
Government regulation of corporations.
Establishment of a federal minimum wage, child labor laws, worker compensation laws.
Progressive, but believed American politicians had to follow the political powers granted to them in the United States
Constitution.
Eugene V. Debs. (Socialist):
•
•
Campaigned that only the Socialist Party represented the interests of labor in the United States.
Claimed that the Republican, Progressive, and Democratic Party were all financed by trusts.
The Election of 1912
The Election of 1912
•
The Results: Woodrow Wilson won the election, becoming the 28th President of the
United States, and the third and final Progressive President.
•
The Election of 1812:
•
Woodrow Wilson (Democrat)
• 435 electoral votes; 6,286,820 popular votes.
•
Theodore Roosevelt (Progressive)
• 88 electoral votes; 4,126,020 popular votes.
•
William Howard Taft (Republican) (Incumbent)
• 8 electoral votes; 3,483,922 popular votes.
•
Eugene V. Debs (Socialist)
• 0 electoral votes; 897,000 popular votes.
President Woodrow Wilson
President Woodrow Wilson
• President Wilson oversaw the passage of many progressive
laws through Congress.
• The Underwood Tariff (1913): The First tariff (tax on imports)
reduction bill since before the civil war. The bill also included a
gradual tax on personal incomes.
• The Federal Reserve Act (1913): Created a central banking
system in the United States.
• Federal supervision of the banking system.
• The United States was divided into 12 banking districts.
• The Federal Reserve was controlled by a Federal Reserve Board
located in Washington D.C.
• The Federal Reserve Board is responsible for regulating interest rates
and the amount of money in circulation.
• The Federal Reserve allowed the United States to have a flexible and
safe currency.
President Woodrow Wilson
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (1914):
• In 1914, Congress created the FTC to investigate unfair
business practices conducted by American
corporations.
• The Clayton Antitrust Act (1914):
• Outlawed specific business practices, including price
discrimination (a business tactic used by monopolies.)
• Exempted unions and agricultural organizations from
antitrust legislation.
President Woodrow Wilson
• The Progressive Amendments:
• 16th Amendment (February 1913): Established a graduated
income tax.
• People are taxed based upon their annual income.
• 17th Amendment (April 1913): Direct election of United States
Senators.
• State legislatures elected U.S. Senators prior to the passage of this
amendment, not the people.
• 18th Amendment (January 1919): Prohibition.
• Outlawed the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol in the
United States.
• 19th Amendment (August 1920): Women’s Suffrage.
• A national suffrage law that allowed American women to vote in
local, state, and federal elections.
The Suffrage Movement
The Suffrage Movement
• At the close of the nineteenth century, American women did not
have the right to vote in national elections. Many women’s suffrage
organizations were formed to help campaign for a national law that
would grant women the right to vote.
• The National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
was the most influential organization in the suffrage movement.
• The organization was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony,
and Carrie Chapman Catt.
• While the passage of a national suffrage amendment remained their goal,
they concentrated on gaining the right to vote at the state level.
• By 1914, women were allowed to vote in local and state elections in
Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Arizona, Nevada,
California, Oregon, and Washington.
The Suffrage Movement
The Suffrage Movement
•
In 1913, a new “militant” organization, the National Women’s Party (NWP),
led by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, took the lead on women’s suffrage.
•
The NWP held a protest outside the White House from January 1917 till June
1919 to convince President Wilson to support a constitutional amendment for
women’s suffrage.
• The NWP “silent sentinels” were arrested for protesting outside the White House, and
sentenced to sixty days in the Occoquan Workhouse.
• Many of the NWP members went on a hunger strike while imprisoned. Public support
turned against the actions of the government, and President Wilson pardoned the
suffragettes.
•
By 1919, the suffragettes gained the support of the majority of the American
public. Congress passed the 19th Amendment in 1919, and three-fourths of the
state legislatures ratified the Amendment by 1920…just in time for the
presidential election of 1920.
• American women could now vote in national, state, and local elections throughout the
United States.
The Suffrage Movement
The Suffrage Movement
The Suffrage Movement
The Suffrage Movement
The Suffrage Movement
The Suffrage Movement
The Suffrage Movement
The Suffrage Movement
The Suffrage Movement