Slide 1A time when Americans adopted important reforms to meet the new problems posed by industrialization and urbanization.
Essential Questions: Progressive Era
How did farmers respond to the problems they faced in the late nineteenth century?
How did muckrakers and other Progressives reform American society?
What has been the legacy of the Progressive Presidents?
How was the move toward realism reflected in American art and literature?
Write these on page 12 of your ISN.
The Problems of Farmers: 1870 - 1900
The extension of farming to the Great Plains and the greater use of machinery and fertilizer led to an abundance of crops.
Farmers experienced increasing difficulties as food prices began to drop, while their own expenses remained high.
1866: 1 bushel of corn = $0.66
1889: 1 bushel of corn = $0.10
Reasons for Farmers’ Economic Problems
Agricultural Overproduction.
High Costs.
Farmer Indebtedness.
Periodic Natural Disasters.
The opening of the West greatly increased the amount of land cultivated.
Machinery and improved farming techniques increased productivity per acre.
Farmers produced more crops, prices fell.
Farmers had to ship their crops to market and were forced to pay whatever railroads charged.
Railroads often took advantage of the lack of competition on local routes by charging higher rates for shorter distances.
Farmers often borrowed to make improvements or to buy machinery.
During a poor harvest, farmers also borrowed, using their farm as security.
Banks viewed farmers as poor credit risks and charged them high interest rates.
Farmers were subject to droughts, insect invasions, and floods.
One bad year to their crops could wipe out a family’s savings from many good years.
The Grange Movement
Founded in 1867
Original purpose was to serve as a social club for farmers to help them overcome rural isolation and to spread information about new farming techniques.
By 1877, had 1.5 million members and began urging economic and political reforms.
Granger Cooperatives
Tried to eliminate middlemen by forming farmers’ cooperatives to buy machinery, fertilizers, and manufactured goods in large numbers at a discount.
Cooperatives sold their crops directly to city markets.
Many failed due to a lack of business experience.
A lithograph from 1875. Shows the farmer at the center of society.
The Granger Laws
Blamed the railroads for their difficulties
Felt they were being overcharged by railroads and by grain storage operators.
Elected candidate to state legislatures who promised reforms
These states passed laws regulating railroad and grain storage rates.
Munn v. Illinois
The Supreme Court upheld the right of a state to regulate businesses that affected the public interest within the state.
The Granger Laws
1886 – The Supreme Court reversed the Munn v. Illinois decision
Grangers turned to congress for help.
1887 – Interstate Commerce Act was passed.
Prohibited railroads from charging more for short hauls than for long hauls over the same route.
The Interstate Commerce Commission was created to investigate complaints and to enforce the act
The first federal government agency to regulate unfair business practices.
The Populist Party: 1891 - 1896
The grangers gave their support to this new political party in 1892
Party represented the “common man” in the battle against banking and railroad interests
Women played a prominent role in the movement as speakers and organizers.
The Populist Platform
Were convinced the rich industrialists and bankers had a stranglehold on government.
Wanted the government to take a larger role, ending oppression, injustice, and poverty.
1892 – Populist Convention in Omaha, Nebraska
Unlimited Coinage of Silver.
Direct Election of Senators
Term Limits for President
Instead of by state legislators
Permitting only a single term in office
To protect voters from intimidation.
Of railroads, telegraphs, and telephones.
Graduated Income Tax
Immigration Restrictions
With quotas
Shorter Work Day
8 hour day
Election of 1892
Populists elected 5 Senators and received over a million votes for their Presidential candidate.
Depression of 1893 – economy collapsed
Populists blamed the Depression on the scarcity of currency.
Demanded the unlimited coinage of silver to raise prices.
Election of 1896
Democratic party nominated William Jennings Bryan for President.
“Cross of Gold” speech praised farmers and denounced bankers for “crucifying mankind on a cross of gold.”
Populist party supported Bryan
Lost the election to Republican William McKinley
A pro-business candidate
William Jennings Bryan
“My friends, the question we are to decide is: upon which side will the Democratic Party fight; upon the side of the ‘idle holders of idle capital’ or upon the side of ‘the struggling masses’? That question the party must answer. You tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard; we reply that the great cities rest upon our broad fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic. But destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.”
Election of 1900
Brought an end to the populist party
New gold discoveries, higher farm prices, and rural migration to the cities weakened national interest in a separate farmer’s party in later years.
The Legacy of Populism: The Role of Third Parties
Third parties often have an impact on the political process
Provide an outlet for minorities to voice grievances and generate new ideas
Many of the populist party’s ideas were later adopted by one of the larger political parties.
Graduated income tax
Flourished between 1900 and the start of World War I
Took their name from their belief in “progress”
Mainly middle-class city dwellers, rather than farmers and workers
Writers, lawyers, ministers, and college professors provided leadership
Primary goal:
To correct the political and economic injustices that had resulted from America’s industrialization.
Appalled at the increasing inequalities between the wealthy and the poor.
The Roots of the Progressive Movement
Arose out of a combination of Protestant Evangelicalism, the activities of journalists, Populism, and the reaction of the educated middle class to abuses in industry and government.
Felt threatened by the rise of big business, large labor unions, and corrupt political bosses
Acted out of a sense of moral responsibility, often based on their religious beliefs.
Placed great confidence in the ability of using a scientific approach to solve social problems.
Believed the government should take positive steps to identify problems and promote progress.
The Social Gospel Movement
Spearheaded by Protestant clergymen
Called for social reforms
Safer working conditions
Objected to the harsh realities of unregulated free enterprise
Emphasized the ancient idea that each man was his brother’s keeper.
Salvation Army
Emphasized the Christian duty to help those who were less fortunate
The Social Gospel Movement
Saw the horrible condition of workers and their families as evidence of the beginning of a new century in which Christians were called upon by God to perform acts of charity and goodness.
Strongly supported the Temperance Movement
Aimed to ban alcoholic beverages
Socialism
Abuses of industrial society led some critics to demand an end to the free enterprise system, capitalism
Socialists believed that government should take over basic industries
Communists believed that workers should seize control by force and abolish all private property.
The Muckrakers
Investigative reporters, writers and social scientists exposed the abuses of industrial society and government corruption.
These writers became known as “muckrakers”
Raked up the “muck” or dirt of American life
Examined the rise of industry and the abuses that had often led to the accumulation of large fortunes.
Examined business practices affecting consumers, and the lives of the very poor.
Famous Muckrakers
Jacob Riis
Ida Tarbell
Lincoln Steffens
Frank Norris
Upton Sinclair
Photographed conditions of the urban poor in How the Other Half Lives.
His book examined the conditions of the poor in America's cities.
In her History of the Standard Oil Company (1902), showed how John D. Rockefeller’s rise was based on ruthless business practices.
Exposed corruption in city and state governments in his book, The Shame of the Cities (1904)
Wrote The Octopus, a fictional work that depicted the stranglehold of railroads over California farmers.
In his novel The Jungle (1906), described the unsanitary practices of the meatpacking industry.
The Jungle
Upton Sinclair
“ 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 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 to be ladled into the sausage.”
Jane Addams
Built Hull House
A settlement house
An all purpose community center for poor people living in crowded city neighborhoods
Provided child care, nursing services, and English lessons to immigrants
Jane Addams and her volunteers actually lived at Hull House among the people they were trying to help.
Purpose according to Jane Addams was to…
“help the foreign-born conserve the value of their past life and to bring them into contact with a better class of Americans.”
Ida B. Wells
3 of Wells’ male friends were lynched for crimes they did not commit
Wells organized a national anti-lynching crusade
Her research revealed that 728 African American men and women had been lynched in the previous decade.
Booker T. Washington
A prominent African American leader
Argued that African Americans should seek gradual equality, focus on job training, and not be too demanding.
W. E. B. DuBois
The first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University
Became a noted historian
One of the founders of the NAACP (national association for the advancement of colored people)
Editor of its journal The Crisis
Disagreed with Washington
Wanted immediate equality
Supported open protests
Other Progressive Organizations
YMCA
YWCA
Municipal Reform
Sought to prevent corruption and to make local government more efficient
Many city governments were controlled by “political machines”
Progressives replaced the rule of “bosses” and “machines” with public-minded mayors
Expanded city services to deal with urban overcrowding, fire hazards, and the lack of public services.
The Reform of State Government
Robert LaFollette
Challenged political bosses and reduced the influence of railroad owners.
Initiative, Referendum, and Recall
Purpose was to end corruption and make state government more directly accountable to the people
Sought to raise the level of public participation in the political process and to give citizens more of a direct vote in state government by by-passing politicians.
Borrowed from the Populists!!
Direct Party Primaries
Voters were less subject to pressure and intimidation when they could vote in secret.
Voters could directly introduce bills in the state legislature and could vote on whether they wanted a bill passed.
Voters could compel legislators to place a bill on the ballot for approval.
Elected officials could be removed from office by voters in a special election.
Special elections were held to determine whom party members wanted to represent them as candidates in the general election.
Direct Election of Senators
Senators were elected directly by the people (17th amendment) instead of being chosen by state legislators.
Social Legislation
States enacted some of their own laws to overcome the worst effects of industrialization.
Regulated conditions in urban housing
Abolished child labor
Regulated safety and health conditions in factories
Limited the # of hours women could work
Forced employers to give compensation to workers injured on the job
Civil Service Reform
“spoils system” of the 19th century was to blame for much of the corruption in federal and state governments
Government jobs were used to reward people who made contributions to politicians or who helped in their campaigns
President James A. Garfield was assassinated in 1882 by a disappointed office-seeker
Congress decided it was time to act
Civil Service Reform
1883 – Pendleton Act
Gave competitive exams and selected appointees based on merit
1889 – Theodore Roosevelt became U.S. Civil Service Commissioner
Sought to reform the civil service system to attract the best people
Believed appointments to federal jobs should be based on merit, not on party views.
The Duties of American Citizenship
Theodore Roosevelt - 1889
“Government jobs belong to the American people, not politicians, and should be filled only with regard to public service. Against nothing is fearless and specific criticism more urgently needed than against the ‘spoils system,’ which is the [disgrace] of American politics. What more irrelevant question could there be than that of the politician who asks a job seeker for his political favor, ‘Whom did you vote for in the last election?’ Certainly reform is needed when you think of the New York City treasurer who acknowledges his annual fees to be $85,000, and who pays a deputy $1,500 to do his work. Note the corruption in the New York legislature, where one man says that you should never allow the Constitution to come between friends!”
STOP HERE!!!
Do the Progressive Presidents next and then come back to this presentation!
Women’s Suffrage Movement
The U.S. was a patriarchal society in the early 19th century
Men held positions of authority and women were considered to be inferior
Women could not vote, serve on juries, or hold public office
1848 – Seneca Falls Convention
Passed a resolution paraphrasing the Declaration of Independence.
Proclaimed women were equal to men and deserved the right to vote.
After the civil war, women hoped that freed slaves and women would receive the right to vote at the same time.
14th amendment only gave freed men the right to vote, not women.
Susan B. Anthony
1872 – attempted to vote in Rochester, New York on the grounds that she was a citizen and had that right under the 14th amendment.
1874 – the Supreme Court ruled that although women were citizens, they could not vote.
1890 – became a leader of the National American Woman Suffrage Association with Elizabeth Cady Stanton
The 19th Amendment
Millions of women began working in factories when the U.S. entered WWI.
It became hard for opponents of women’s suffrage to deny that women were the equals of men.
The 19th amendment established that no state could deny a citizen the right to vote on the basis of sex.
Ratified in 1920
An editorial from the Hearst Newspapers by Arthur Brisbane - 1917
“ When women shall vote, the political influence of the good men in the community will be greatly increased. Men can deceive each other much more easily that they can deceive women – the latter being provided with the X-ray of intuitional perception. The blustering politician, preaching what he does not practice, may hold forth on the street corner or in a saloon, and influence the votes of others as worthless as himself. But among women his home life will more than offset his political influence. The bad husband may occasionally get the vote of a deluded or frightened wife, but he will surely lose the votes of the wives and daughters next door. Voting by women will improve humanity, because IT WILL COMPEL MEN TO SEEK AND EARN THE APPROVAL OF WOMEN.”
The Impact of the 19th Amendment
Did not lead to the dramatic changes to our political system that many of its opponents had predicted.
They feared men would be swept out of office and replaced by women
Few women were elected to political office
Failed to bring about the equality of economic opportunity between the sexes that some of its sponsors hoped for.
Most women continued to face discrimination and were paid less for the same work than their male counterparts.
American Art & Literature
A fertile environment for readers interested in understanding rapid shifts in culture.
Increasing rate of literacy
Rapid growth of urbanization
“nothing more or less than the truthful treatment of material”
Provided an opportunity to show the impact of industrialization and social change on people.
Horatio Alger
Wrote “rags-to-riches” stories
Mark Twain
Reflected the differences between pre-Civil War society and afterwards
Associated the Old South with romanticism and the present with realism.
William Dean Howells
Wrote from 1837-1920
An important magazine editor who promoted realism
His novel, The Rise of Silas Lapham, described the struggles of the new rich to find acceptance in established society.
Jack London
Wrote adventure stories from 1876 – 1916
The Call of the Wild 1903 – deals with conflict between civilization and nature
Traces a dog’s survival in nature with a wolf pack
Jack London participated in the Klondike Gold Rush
Henry James
Greatest master of the psychological novel
Each of his novels usually unfolds through the consciousness of the main character.
Focused on the differences between America and Europe
Depicted America’s wealthy upper classes.
Katie Chopin
Depicts the conflict between our inward and outward lives
Main character is a respected wife and mother who leads a routine life.
One summer she “awakens” when she falls in love and discovers passion, before committing suicide.
The book caused a scandal and was banned from many libraries across the nation.
James McNeill Whistler
Painter
Moved to Europe where he was influenced by modern French painters
Most famous painting:
“Whistler’s Mother”
Thomas Eakins
Realist painter
Made portraits of friends, family, and people in the arts, sciences, and medicine
Most famous painting is The Gross Clinic
Features Dr. Goss performing surgery on a young man, while his mother cringes in the corner.
Henry Ossawa Tanner
One of the most important African-American painters in this period
Focused on everyday scenes