The Progressive Era Problems moving into the Progressive

The Progressive Era

Problems moving into the Progressive Era 1. Poor living conditions/Urbanization 2. Poor working conditions/Labor 3. Unsafe/unregulated products (meat & medicine) 4. Problems with the environment/pollution 5. Political machines/ corruption government 6. Social Differences among classes

Urbanization • By 1900 40% of Americans lived in the city – Caused by rural to urban migration and immigration • 100 years earlier six percent lived in urban areas • What did the city offer? • Evidence of industrial progress: – Skyscrapers – “Palaces of Merchandise” large department stores – Mansions • Census reveals diverse America – 12 Million Immigrants in a 50 Year Span

Poor Living Conditions • Urban poor lived in slums and tenements – 90, 000 people per square mile in New York City! • Infrastructure: Facilities and equipment required for a community to function – Roads, sewage, power systems, transportation, etc. – Very poor quality • Couldn’t support increasingly large numbers • Sanitation problems promoted disease

Problems in the Workplace “Life in a factory is perhaps, with the exception of prison life, the most monotonous life a person can live. ” • The workplace was unsafe and unsanitary – No regulations for safety/sanitation • Many workers were sick, injured, or killed • Many times whole families were employed – Wages were too low • Injury only meant poverty – Workers were replaced if they were injured or unable to work

Unsafe Products • Food and medicine was not regulated by the government – Led to contaminated/unsafe food – Medicine could include nearly anything • ‘doctors’ could make any claims about a medicine working even if it didn’t…just to make money

Environmental Problems • Industrialization, Mining, farming practices, and lack of government regulation – Deforestation – Unsafe water/lack of drinking water – Polluted air

Corrupt Government/Politics • Spoils System gave power to the wrong people – Incapable of doing their job – Many were corrupt • Political Machines had limitless power – Cities were ran by ‘bosses’ who controlled everything • Many of the poor and immigrants were indebted to the bosses • Bribery was common – Many politicians/government employees took bribes • Caused a lack of Justice and more social problems

Progressives Drive Reform: Uncovering Problems at the Turn of the Century

Who were Progressives? • Believed social problems could be fixed: – Education, safe environment/workplace – Government could be a tool for change • Believed in the vision of American democracy • Come from middle-class – Lived mainly in cities – Well educated (college) • Mostly teachers, social workers, journalists • Worked to: – Expose corporate greed – Combat fear of immigration

Muckrakers • Newspapers and magazines began to reach a larger audience. • Investigative reporters, writers, and social scientists – Exposed industrial and governmental corruption. • Became known as Muckrakers, because they raked up all the muck or the dirt of American life.

The Muckrakers • Examined the rise of industry and the abuses that were often used in the effort to become rich. • Examined business practices and the negative effects they had on the consumers and the lives of the very poor. • Muckrakers are often considered to be the first Progressives.

Upton Sinclair He exposed dangerous Working conditions and Unsanitary practices in meat packing industry in his book The Jungle. • Government passed the – “Meat Inspection Act” • set standards of cleanliness and required federal inspection of meat plants. – “Pure Food & Drug Act” • required foods to be pure and accurately labeled.

Excerpt from “The Jungle” Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle portrayed the new industrial economy as unsanitary, inhumane, destructive, and uncaring. “The meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one – there were things that went into the sausage that in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit. There was no place for the men to wash their hands before they ate their dinner, and so they made a practice of washing them in the water that was ladled into the sausage. ”

Meat Inspection Act • Passed because of Upton Sinclair’s novel ‘The Jungle’ – Government and public were horrified at what was exposed

Pure Food & Drug Act This law required foods and drugs be pure and accurately labeled.

Ida Tarbell – Exposed Standard Oil’s ruthless business tactics of forcing others out of business and thereby creating a monopoly. • Fought for regulations against Monopolies Problem – trusts and monopolies had an unfair advantage among businesses. Government passed Sherman Anti-Trust Act outlawing monopolies.

Lincoln Steffens Exposed corruption in city and state governments in his book, “The Shame of the Cities” Problem – city and state leaders were often corrupt, took bribes or broke the law. Government passed the Pendleton Act requiring exams for Civil Service employees and exact qualifications

Jacob Riis He exposed the poverty, living conditions, and disease in urban poor communities His book “How the Other Half Lives” Problem – the horrible living conditions of the poor in the cities. Led to New York City passing building codes to promote safety and health. Other Cities across the country began to work to promote safety and health

Women’s Suffrage Movement • In the early 19 th century: – The United States was a ‘patriarchal’ society – men held the positions of authority and women were considered inferior. • Women lacked the right to vote, to serve on juries, or to hold public office. – Excluded from public life and were left in charge of the home and children. • In most states, once a woman married, she lost control of her property and wages to her husband.

Women’s Suffrage Movement • By the middle of the 19 th century: – Some women began to organize to gain more rights. – In 1848, they held a convention at Seneca Falls, New York. • The convention passed a resolution that paraphrased the Declaration of Independence. • It proclaimed that women were equal to men and deserved the right to vote, or suffrage.

Susan B. Anthony • In 1872, Susan B. Anthony attempted to vote, exercising her 14 th Amendment right (citizenship). – A judge refused to grant her the right to vote. • In 1874, the Supreme Court ruled that women were citizens, but they couldn’t vote, because voting was not a privilege of citizenship.

Women’s Suffrage Movement • By 1890: – Several women’s suffrage groups joined together to form the National American Women Suffrage Association. • This group was led by reformers: – Susan B. Anthony – Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Nineteenth Amendment • During World War I, women had taken the place of the fighting man in the work place – Women stepped up to meet the challenges of war • It became hard to deny them suffrage. • As a result of World War I and women’s involvement, the U. S. Congress passed 19 th Amendment. – The 19 th Amendment stated that no state could deny a citizen the right to vote based on their sex.

Impact of the th 19 Amendment • A step forward in making the USA a true democracy – System of government by the people (All people) • It did not lead to dramatic changes in our political system – Women did not sweep men out of public office. • Even today many women face discrimination and some are paid less than a man doing the same work.

Social Gospel • Religious social-reform movement (1870 to 1920) – Believed to be welcomed into heaven required social as well as individual salvation – Sought the betterment of industrialized society – Believed in the biblical principles of charity and justice. • Labor reforms most prominent concern – Abolition of child labor, a shorter workweek, a living wage, and factory regulation

Social Reformers Jane Addams • Founded a settlement house called Hull House – Help immigrants and needy find a place to live, jobs, or get an education • (Beginning of social services like Youth Shelter, and Food Bank)

Social Reformers W. E. B. Du Bois • Help found the NAACP to help African Americans gain civil rights. • First African American to earn a Ph. D. from Harvard. • W. E. B. felt African Americans should achieve immediate racial equality and supported open protests.

Social Reformers Booker T. Washington • Argued that African Americans should gain equality by focusing on job training, not by demanding. • Founded the Tuskegee Institute • An African American school in Alabama devoted to training teachers • Help to form the National Negro Business League

Social Reformers Ida B. Wells • Lynching: • Murder by beating, and then hanging • Common tactic used to intimidate African Americans, especially in the South. • After 3 of her friends were wrongfully lynched for crimes they didn’t commit, she started a national anti-lynching campaign.

Temperance Movement • Social Movement against alcohol – Believed alcohol was the root of all the social problems – Worked to get legislation passed banning liquor • Mostly older women – Traditional – Often tied into Christian teachings/sermons • Eventually leads to the passing of the 18 th Amendment – Ban on the sale, manufacturing and distribution of alcohol

Social Legislation • States passed laws to overcome some of the worst effects of industrialization. – Abolished child labor – Improved the working conditions in the factories. – New regulations concerning the construction and safety of urban housing.

Protecting the Environment • Preservation- the protecting of wilderness lands from all forms of development • Conservation- the limited use of resources • Roosevelt: created the U. S. Forest Service • Protected forests and other natural areas from excessive development. Set aside 150 million acres of national forest • Taft added 2. 7 million acres to the National Wildlife Refuge System • Wilson: created the National Park Service • Manage national parks for preservation and public use. • Yellowstone

Progressive Era and Labor • Public attitude towards labor unions began to change. – The violence associated with the labor unions caused a loss of public support for unions. • The government often had to use the military against the union protests.

Progressive Era and Labor Triangle Shirtwaist Factory • In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory caught fire – Immigrant women and girls worked on the upper floor in a sweatshop making clothing. – Fire spread rapidly and to make matters worse: • the doors were bolted shut • the sprinkler system failed, • the fire escape was faulty.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory • The fire department was not in time to save the girls – They either died in the fire or jumped to their death on the street below. – In all 146 people died due to conditions in the factory. • Congress passes laws sympathetic to unions – Called for safer conditions.

Effects of Triangle Fire • Department of Labor (1913) – Congress created a Cabinet post to study the problems of labor & to “promote the welfare of working people and improve their working conditions” • Clayton Anti-trust Act (1914) – Prevented courts from restricting activities of unions. • Child Labor Act (1916) – Prohibited sale of goods made by child labor.

Protection for Consumers and Workers – Taft and Wilson expanded worker protections • Taft established the Children’s Bureau to investigate child labor. • Wilson passed the Keating Owen Child Labor Act in 1916 – Prohibited companies from hiring children under the age of 14. – Taft and Wilson also supported an 8 hour work day • Under Taft the 8 hour day became the rule for government employees.

Addressing the Effects of Industrialization and Big Business • Protecting Consumers and Workers – The Meat Inspections Act and The Pure Food and Drug Act • Established the FDA (food and drug administration) to test and approve drugs – Roosevelt helped coal miners by pressuring the miners and owners to submit to arbitration • a legal process in which neutral outside party helps resolve a dispute. • BUSTING TRUSTS – Roosevelt passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act • Became known as a “trustbuster” by breaking up J. P. Morgan’s Northern Securities Company and limiting the power of the Railroads – Taft brought 90 lawsuits against trusts during his presidency – Wilson strengthened the Sherman Anti-Trust Act by passing the Clayton Anti-Trust Act in 1914 - outlawed underselling and protected labor unions

Reforming State Governments • Progressive governors took steps to limit corruption and the influence of big business. – Governor Theodore Roosevelt of New York took steps to limit the powers of big business within the state.

Voting Reforms To give people more power, a direct voice in the government, and make it more responsive to the people. Progressives passed several laws. • Secret Ballot – to keep people from being intimidated or forced to vote a certain way. • Initiative – voters could introduce bills themselves. • Referendum – voters could force legislators to place a bill on the ballot to be voted on. • Recall – elected officials could be removed from office by voters in a special election. • Direct Election of Senators – 17 th Amendment Senators are elected by the people of a state.

Reforming the National Government Banking System: – Wilson: Federal Reserve Act in 1913 - this divided the country into 12 regions • Created the Federal Reserve System- a central bank of the United States. – “The Fed” would offer a safety net to private banks and would set the monetary policy to regulate the money in circulation. Taxes and Tariffs • Big business’s favored high tariffs-taxes on imported goods – Progressives felt this was unfair to consumers • Taft passed the 16 th Amendment – Income Tax • Wilson signed the Underwood Tariff Act in 1913 – Reduced tariffs and created the graduated income tax

Amendments – 16 th Amendment • Created an mandatory income tax – 17 th Amendment • Direct election of senators, gave the people more power – 18 th Amendment • Prohibition of “the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors” – 19 th Amendment • The right of citizens of the United states to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United states or by any state on account of SEX!

Civil Service Reform • Much of the corruption in government could be traced to the ‘spoils system’. – This gave government jobs as rewards to those who helped get a candidate elected. – These people were often not qualified for the job. • When President Garfield was assassinated by an office-seeker, Congress decided it was time to act.

Civil Service Reform • Pendleton Act (1883) passed by Congress – Created the Civil Service Commission. • Gave exams: selected government appointees based on merit, not on who they knew. • Helped to rid government of corruption and made it more efficient.

The Progressive Presidents Between 1901 and 1919, three Presidents began a series of Progressive reforms. Teddy Roosevelt William Howard Taft Woodrow Wilson Committed to reform, challenged the industrial giants, expanded power of the presidency

Theodore Roosevelt 1901 – 1909 • Teddy Roosevelt came from a rich family – Teddy was actively involved in sports and hunting. • His accomplishments included: – New York City Police Commissioner – Rancher in the Dakotas – Officer in the Spanish American War – Governor of New York – He became President after the assassination of President William Mc. Kinley.

Theodore Roosevelt • His economic agenda was called the Square Deal. – New laws to protect the consumer’s health from false advertising: • Meat Inspection Act (1906) and Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) • Increased powers to regulate railroads, telephones, and the telegraph • Suspicious of big business, particularly trusts or monopolies. – Used the Sherman Anti-trust Act against some ‘bad trusts’ he felt acted against the public interest. • Roosevelt became known as the ‘Trust-busting President’

Theodore Roosevelt • The Coal Miners Strike (1902) • Proved he was willing to use the power of the federal government to protect the public interests. – The coal miners and the mine owners could not agree on a settlement, a strike looked near. – Roosevelt stepped in and threatened to use the military to keep the mines running for the good of the nation.

William Howard Taft 1909 - 1912 • Vice-President William Howard Taft – Nominated as Republican for President when Roosevelt decided to not run again. – Taft won the election of 1908 – Promised to continue with Roosevelt’s Progressive policies • Only lasted for a while.

William Taft • Taft was quiet, reserved, and cautious • Taft supported low tariffs in his party platform (during election time) – 1909 -signed the Payne-Aldrich Bill, which raised tariffs and tarnished his record as a progressive • Roosevelt supported President Taft – Until Taft began doing things not considered to be a part of the Progressive agenda. • Taft was nominated for President again in 1912, but Teddy decided to run against him.

Bull-Moose Party • Roosevelt wanted to run against Taft – Roosevelt started his own third party called the Bull Moose Party. • Teddy’s 3 rd Party split the votes and neither Taft nor Roosevelt would win in 1912.

Wilson and the Election of 1912 • Teddy Roosevelt (Bull Moose Party), William Taft for the Republicans • Woodrow Wilson was running for the Democrats and Eugene V. Debs for the Socialists. • • Wilson 42% (D) Debs 7% (Socialist) Taft-23% (R) Roosevelt 27. 5% • Wilson wins

Woodrow Wilson 1912 - 1916 • Wilson’s economic agenda was called the New Freedom – Big business needed to be tamed – Trusts should be broken up – Banking system needed fixed – Tariffs only benefitted the rich

Woodrow Wilson New Freedom Legislation • Underwood Tariff – – A tariff is a tax on imports. – Wilson felt tariffs benefitted the rich and he lowered the tariffs. – To make up for lost revenue ($) he introduced America’s first income tax. • Graduated Income Tax – – Means that rich taxpayers are taxed at a higher rate • 16 th Amendment gave Congress power to tax a persons income.

Woodrow Wilson • Federal Reserve Act – – Reformed the banking industry. – Federal Reserve Bank serves as a bankers bank, where the banks borrow their money. • Fed’s control interest rates and the amount of money a bank can loan. • Antitrust Legislation – – Clayton Antitrust Act gave government more power to regulate unfair business practices. – Federal Trade Commission protects consumers against unfair business practices by corporations.

Progressive Problem/Solutions Improve living conditions in the city Tenement Act, Build Parks, Clean Up Trash Children out of Factories and IN school Improving Conditions in the Workplace Reforming Local Government/Power away from political machines Reforming State Government/Power away from Big Business Women’s Rights No one under 14, minimum hours for those over 14 Women get less hours, worker’s compensation Elect progressive officials as oppose to corrupt officials African American’s Rights NAACP, Tuskegee Institute , end lynching Secret Ballots, Direct Primary, Recall, Initiative, Referendum Create NAWSA, suffrage movement, right to vote