Two leading reformers1. Henry George – 1879 – wrote

Progress and Poverty to explain why poverty continued in an

advance society Believed that land speculation prevented

others from using land productively Promoted taxing landowners

2. Edward Bellamy – 1888 – Looking Backward A man undergoes hypnosis in 1887 and

awakens in 2000 to a changed America In his year 2000 there is no poverty, harsh

working conditions, and political corruption. Instead, the government owns the big

businesses and everything is based on human need rather than profit!

Led to the development of a socialist movement!

Socialists wanted to distribute wealth more equally

1901 – The Socialist Party of America was formed

Socialists wanted•End of capitalism•Distribution of wealth more equally•Nationalize American industries

Unions focused on1.Reducing hours2.Gaining better wages3.Gaining better working conditions

Unions grew slowly in the 1890sOften courts would issue injunctions or

court orders to prohibit strikes

International Ladies Garment Workers Union formed in 1900

1909 – 20,000 New York women went on strike and won the right to bargain collectively (negotiate contracts) with employers

Reformers hoped to eliminate corruption within cities by getting rid of political bosses

Argued for a civil service system for city (Municipal) jobs rather than by favors

Many wanted cities to have home rule instead of being controlled by the state government

The term referred to journalists for newspapers who wrote articles about wrongdoings in government and business(working conditions and slums).

President Theodore Roosevelt called journalists “muckrakers”

The term comes from a 1678 book Pilgrim’s Progress

a muckrake is used to rake filth

Lincoln Steffens was a New York reporter who exposed political corruption in St. Louis and other major cities

He wrote The Shame of the Cities

Ida Tarbell wrote The History of Standard Oil Company in 1904

One of the first investigative reporting•Focused on the abuses of Rockefeller and his trust

Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle in 1906.Focused on the horrors of the meat packing industry

Led to the creation of a federal meat inspection program

Click the picture to watch a video!

This era is made up of numerous groups working to bring progress in society. Nativists Prohibitionists Charity reformers Social gospel adherents Settlement house workers muckrakers

They didn’t want to lose a high standard of living

They didn’t want to lose personal liberty

They didn’t want to lose democracy and capitalism

They WANTED to free government of corruption so that workers and the poor can be protected

Progressives wanted government to REGULATE business.

Progressives wanted social welfare programs to help with unemployment, health insurance, and accidents

1. attacked political bosses2. Cities took over public utilities

such as water, gas, and electricity3. public playgrounds4. free kindergartens

1. Direct primaries – election in which voters cast ballots to select nominees for upcoming elections (by 1916, all but 3 states had direct primaries)

2. 17th amendment – 1913 – people in each state were allowed to directly elect Senators (party leaders had previously selected Senators)

3. Initiative – Citizens can propose laws by getting enough signatures on a petition, then placed on a ballot and voted on

4. Referendum – citizens may demand by petition for laws passed by legislatures be “referred” to the people

5. Recall – people have the ability to remove elected officials

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire – 1911 –New York

146 died Exits were locked to prevent theftLed to reforms in safety standards in

businesses

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt intervened in the 1902 United Mine Workers Strike

Because of a coal shortage, Roosevelt decided to arbitrate (allow a third party to settle the dispute)

Both sides had to agreeRoosevelt called this a Square Deal

for both sidesBecame the slogan for his presidency

Under Theodore Roosevelt▪ 1906 – Meat Inspection Act

▪ Required federal inspection of meat passed across state lines

▪ Pure Food and Drug Act▪ Prevented the manufacture, sale, or

transportation of food or medicine containing harmful ingredients.

▪ Also required food and medicine containers to have accurate ingredient labels.

Political Cartoons for Discussion

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By 1909, the government had filed 42 anti-trust actions Beef trust, Standard Oil, and American

Tobacco Company were forced to reorganize

Roosevelt was not anti-business.He felt some trusts were good as long as

they weren’t harmful to the public

Northern Securities Company J.P. Morgan, James Hill, and E.H. Harriman

joined their railroads together to eliminate competition.

TR order the US Attorney to sue the Northern Securities Company for violating the Sherman Anti-trust Act.

Supreme court ruled against the Northern Securities Company

▪ Elkins Act 1903▪ Forbid the railroads from accepting

rebates.▪ Ensured that all rail customers paid the

same rate for shipping▪ Hepburn Act 1906

▪ Strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission giving them power to set maximum railroad rates

▪ Also gave the ICC power to regulate any companies engaged in interstate commerce

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• TR believed that each generation had a duty to protect and conserve national resources for future generations

• Newlands Reclamation Act 1902• Allowed Federal Government to create

irrigation projects to make dry lands productive.

• 1905 TR established the US Forest Service with Gifford Pinchot as Chief

• 1906 Antiquities Act • Created 18 national monuments

• Conservation is TR’s greatest legacy

Roosevelt set aside 200 million acres of land for national forests, mineral reserves, and water projects

1913 – The Department of Labor was added to the Cabinet

16th amendment 1913 – Federal Income Tax

Allowed the government to not totally rely on tariffs

18th amendment – 1919 – illegal to make, sell or import liquor

William Howard Taft

1908 ElectionBeat William Jennings Bryan

Click on the picture for a video…

Taft eventually angered the progressives more by not supported environmental concerns and other progressive topics

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Secretary of Interior – Richard Ballinger allowed a private group of business people to obtain several million acres of public lands

Pinchot (head of Forest Service) felt that Ballinger was wrong

Progressive Conservationists were angered

Even though Taft had “busted” more trusts than TR and helped regulate business, he lost support of the progressives

He had supported the Children’s Bureau, the 16th and 17th amendments, and the Mann Elkins Act

Mann Elkins – government could regulate telephone and telegraph rates

Theodore Roosevelt – decided to challenge Taft for President

Roosevelt’s New NationalismThere was no amendment limiting

presidential terms

Taft won the Republican nomination

The progressives formed the Progressive Party and nominated Theodore Roosevelt (He said “I feel as fit as a bull moose”)

Thus the party became known as the Bull Moose Party

Tariff Reduction Women’s suffrage Regulation of business End of child labor

TR -Shot in Milwaukee while giving a speech Continued his speech for an hour and a half “It takes more than this to kill a bull moose” He showed his blood stained shirt

Promised to enforce anti trust laws without threatening free economic competition

1914 – Clayton Anti-Trust law – strengthened the Sherman law by allowing unions and making more rules for business

Federal Trade Commission was developed in 1914

1913 – Federal Reserve System – reorganized federal banking

1916 – Federal Farm Loan Board -

Wilson won a second term promising to keep the country out of the war raging in Europe

End of Progressivism – Beginning of World War I in 1914

Called for as early as 1848 at the Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York

Feminists disagreed after 1870 on how to proceed with the women’s suffrage movement

Many thought that women should have been included in the 15th amendment in 1870

Civil Disobedience – a nonviolent refusal to obey a law in an effort to change the law

Many women attempted to vote even though it was against the lawShe was a part of the National American Woman Suffrage Association

Don’t forget to click on the picture to see the video!

Anthony was arrested and fined $100 (she refused to pay it) for leading a group of women to the polls in New York

Two methods to get women’s right to vote

Women were divided over whether to pursue a national solution or to get each state to allow women the right to vote

An amendment had been introduced in Congress as early as 1878, but it never made

By 1914, 500,000 women took part in a parade in Washington DC

1914-1918 – World War I saw an increase in women active in society

1918 – Congress formally proposed the 19th amendment

August 24, 1920 – Tennessee became the necessary 36th state to ratify the 19th amendment!!!

LAST MAJOR REFORM FROM THE PROGRESSIVE ERA