The Progressive Movement

THE ERA OF PROGRESSIVE REFORM

1900-1914

PROGRESSIVISM

• A call for government regulation

• An attempt to bring order to a chaotic, free market economy

– An attack on: concentration of economic power

– Inequitable taxation

– Waste of natural resources

– Corruption in politics

– Slums, sweatshops and child labor

THE PROGRESSIVE IDEA

• Called for-

– consumer protection

– direct election of senators

– municipal ownership of utilities

– breakup of monopolies

– city-manager system local government

– factory inspections and laws protecting women

– prohibition

THE MUCKRAKERS

• Journalists out to expose corruption in American society

• Goal: to awaken public opinion to the problems of inequality in the United States

– Term used first by Theodore Roosevelt

– Jacob Riis, John Spargo, Upton Sinclair, Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell

– Wanted to save democracy

THE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD

• Radical Progressives; Marxist in philosophy

• Nicknamed “The Wobblies” (by TR)

– Organized in 1905 in Chicago

– Called for overthrow of capitalism

– Supported strikes, boycotts, and sabotage

– Strong among miners, migrant workers, and lumberjacks in the West

– Songbook called for class warfare

PROGRESSIVES IN THE STATES

• The WISCONSIN Idea: Robert La Follette

– Primary elections for candidates

– Controls on campaign spending

– the initiative: voters can pass laws

– referendum: voters approve laws passed by legislature

– recall: voters can remove officials between elections

OTHER STATE SOCIAL LEGISLATION

• Protect women and children from abuse

• Provide protection for industrial workers and miners

• Workmen’s compensation

• Municipal ownership of utilities

• Reform the tax structure

• Support prohibition and women’s suffrage

POLITICAL REFORM IN THE CITIES

• Break-Up political machines

• Elect honest mayors and aldermen

• Close down saloons

• Make city government run more like a business

• A city manager should be hired to run city efficiently and honestly; avoid politics

THE 17th Amendment

• Seventeenth Amendment (1913)

– Direct Election of Senators

– Muckrakers had condemned Senate as a “rich man’s club.”

– Under original Constitution senators had been elected by state legislatures

19th Amendment

• Ratified in 1920

– Prohibits federal or state governments from restricting the right to vote “on account of sex”

– Culmination of the Woman Suffrage movement

– Carrie Chapman Catt and Anna Howard Shaw were two prominent leaders

– First call for voting rights came in 1848

AN AGE OF REFORM

1. The Progressive Presidents

2. Theodore Roosevelt

3. William Howard Taft

THEODORE ROOSEVELT (1858-1919)

• 26th President (1901-1908)

– A Republican progressive from New York

– 42 years old when McKinley assassinated

– Pursued “the strenuous life”

– Denounced “malefactors of great wealth”

– Advocated “trust-busting” and conservation

– Demanded a “square deal” for labor

– Called for regulation of corporations and banks

THE SQUARE DEAL

• “I stand for the square deal . . . I stand for having these rules changed so as to work for a more substantial equality of opportunity and reward.”

• Human welfare was more important than rights of private property.

– Theodore Roosevelt, Speech in 1910

THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION

• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

– Fought by business lobbies; called it “socialistic”

– The Jungle (1906) by Upton Sinclair called attention to conditions in stockyards

– Public demand led Congress to act

– Passed meat inspection law and FDA

– Also took action against “patent medicines”

CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES

• Conservatives argued needs of business and economy should come first

• Progressive liberals argued for preserving resources for the future

• And saving some areas entirely from exploitation by mining or lumber industry

• TR set aside vast areas in west to Forest Service Bureau under Gifford Pinchot

PROGRESSIVES AND MINORITY RIGHTS

• Generally ignored crossing the “color line”

• TR invited B. T. Washington to White House

• Lynching continued to be a problem; but “states rights” issue prevented federal action

• Brownsville Riot, August 1906

– TR dishonorably discharges 3 companies of African American soldiers for involvement

NAACP AND REFORM

• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (February 1909)

– Organized in New York City

• In aftermath of Springfield, IL Race Riot

– Began with false charge of rape

– 8 Blacks killed; 2,000 fled city

– Whites who did not fire black employees received death threats

THE NAACP PROGRAM

• Published in “The Call”; first membership was 47 whites and 6 blacks.

– Moorfield Storey, a white lawyer, first president

– W. E. B. DuBois edited Crisis “A Journal of the Darker Races”, 1910-1933

– Sought political and civil equality

– Through court action and the Constitution

– Opposed segregation and violence

WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT

• A Republican-President (1909-1912)

– Defeated W. J. Bryan in 1908

– Broke with TR shortly after

• Differed on conservation and tariffs

• “Insurgents” in Congress fought for more progressive action

– Led in Senate by George Norris (R-Neb)

– Roosevelt calls for New Nationalism

Campaign Themes of 1912

• New Nationalism

– Supports right of community to regulate property for the public welfare

– An Industrial Comm. should be established

– Trusts not harmful if they are regulated

• New Freedom

– Federal government should stay out of regulating economy

– Free Men Need No Masters

– Trusts threatened the existence of free competition

BREAKUP OF REPUBLICAN PARTY, 1912

• Taft-Republican party—Traditional conservative

• TR-Progressive candidate (Bull Moose)

• Woodrow Wilson-Democrat—Governor of New Jersey

– Roosevelt’s New Nationalism v. Wilson’s New Freedom

– Socialist Eugene Debs gets 897,000 votes

– Democrats gain control of both Senate and House

WILSON AND THE NEW FREEDOM, FIRST TERM

• 28th President, 1913-1921

• Successes: 1913-1914

– Underwood Tariff (first reduction in 60 years)

– Federal Reserve System

– Federal Trade Commission-to regulate trusts

– Clayton Antitrust Act: forbade price fixing; exempted unions from law (because human beings were not commodities)

Ellis Island ca. 1894

Presidents and Politics, 1881-1900

Politics: Local, State, and National

Issues

Political Parties

Elections

POLITICAL ISSUES: Education and Religion

• Schools: what language should classes be taught in?

• Should religious schools (Catholic, Lutheran, or Jewish) be regulated by the government?

• Should religious schools receive government support?

LOCAL POLITICS:City Governments

• Machine politics dominated

– Bosses provided jobs for votes

– The “Machine” also provided social services for immigrants and the poor

– Machine bosses also noted for corruption, bribery, and vice (gambling and alcohol)

THE POLITICAL PARTIES

• REPUBLICANS

– The Grand Old Party (GOP)

– Supported by big business, Civil War veterans, Protestants

– 3 Factions: Stalwarts, Halfbreeds, and Mugwumps

• DEMOCRATS

– Supported by: Southern whites, northern immigrants, and Catholics

– 2 factions: rural whites and big city machines

JAMES GARFIELD: 1831-1881

• President, 1881; Republican from Ohio

– Defeated Winfield Scott Hancock

– Garfield supported: Civil Service Reform, a protective tariff, and Chinese restriction

– In elections, Republicans gain control of Senate and House

– On July 2, 1881--Garfield shot by Charles J. Guiteau; Garfield lives until Sept 20

The Presidency of Chester Alan Arthur (1830-1886)

• Republican from New York; Vice President under Garfield

– A reputation as a machine politician; had once been fired for corruption

– Supported Civil Service Reform; signed it into law in 1883, created Civil Service Commission

– Performed job of president honestly and with great dignity; supported naval expansion

The Presidency of Stephen Grover Cleveland (1837-1908)

• Democrat from New York; former mayor of Buffalo; fought corruption

– Defeated James Blaine in 1884 and Ben Harrison in 1892

– In 1884: Cleveland admitted fathering child out-of-wedlock—Religion an issue.

– Supported lower tariffs, railroad regulation, and the gold standard

– Conservative on economic issues

THE PRESIDENCY OF BENJAMIN HARRISON

• Republican from Indiana; grandson of William Henry Harrison (president in 1841)

– Defeated Cleveland in 1888 (though Cleveland had won the popular vote); the tariff a key issue

– Harrison noted for honesty and integrity but the job of president seemed too much for him

– Threatened war with Chile in 1889; signed the Sherman Antitrust Act; raised tariff in 1890

GROVER CLEVELAND, 1892-1896

• Defeated Benjamin Harrison in 1892

– The People’s Party (Populists) ran a third candidate, James Weaver of Iowa

– Populists Platform: free silver, a graduated income tax, direct election of US senators, and regulation of banks and public utilities; and the secret ballot for voters

WILLIAM MCKINLEY, (1843-1901)

• Election of 1896

– Cleveland’s second term marked by worst depression in American history (1893-1897)

– 1896 election a “turning point” in American politics—Big Business candidate victorious

– McKinley defeated William Jennings Bryan

• Bryan condemned trusts, high tariffs, labor injunctions, and gold standard

• Republicans call for gold and higher tariffs

McKinley as President, 1897-1901

• Republicans win Congress and Presidency; a victory for “corporate America”

– A gold strike in Alaska helps restore prosperity

– Spanish-American War of 1898 a US victory

– Hawaii annexed in 1898; Cuba becomes a protectorate, and Philippine Islands become a territory (along with Puerto Rico and Guam)

– In 1900 defeats Bryan again; assassinated Sept 6, 1901

THE INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY

1865--1900

“ROBBER BARONS”

• J.P Morgan (1837-1913)

• John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937)

• Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877)

• Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)

• James J. Hill (1838-1916)

• Jay Gould (1836-1893)

MONOPLIES

• Eliminate competition

• Raise prices

• Huge profits

• Protected by high tariffs

• Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 1890

– Outlawed “every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in the restraint of trade.”

– Violators could be fined or jailed and required to pay damages

– Vagueness made it difficult to enforce

– As interpreted by courts it had little effect

1873-1893: DEPRESSION AND RESPONSE

• 1873: Beginning of an agricultural depression that lasted for two decades

– Thousands of farmers moved to cities

– Immigrants from Europe went to urban areas

• The “Working Class”

– Layoffs were common (perhaps 30% od workers were unemployed every year)

– Those with jobs were badly paid and overworked

“Scientific Management”

• Frederick Winslow Taylor

– An efficiency expert

– Measured efficiency with stop-watches

– Trying to get the maximum productivity out of every movement

Child Labor

• 1900: 3 million children working full time in American factories and mines

– Reformers like Jane Addams began a crusade to eliminate child labor

– National Child Labor Committee organized in 1904

– Many states refused to pass child labor laws

• Feared that a neighboring state might gain a competitive advantage

• In 1907 the Senate voted down a federal law

The Children’s Bureau

• Established in the Department of Commerce and Labor in 1912

– To “examine all matters pertaining to the welfare of children”

– Headed by Julia C. Lathrop

The Supreme Court
and Child Labor

• Congress passed a child labor law in 1916

– Outlawed interstate shipment of goods produced by children under 14 (mine workers had to be 16)

– Declared unconstitutional by Court in 1919

– It regulated “working conditions” which were not part of interstate commerce

• An attempt to add a constitutional amendment in 1924 failed

• The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act did outlaw full time employment of those under 16

– The Supreme Court upheld this law in 1941

INDUSTRIALIZATION AND CRIME

• In 1881 homicide rate in U.S. was 25 per million

• In 1898 it was 107 per million

• Income inequality and the gulf between rich and poor grew larger every year

BENEFITS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION

• A consumer-oriented economy emerged

– Processed food, ready-made clothing and telephones were now widely available

– Mass production made goods cheaper

• Leisure-time increased for Americans with some money

– Organized sports now open to all classes, not just the wealthy

– Most industrial workers still worked 10 to 12 hours a day—six days a week