Georgia and the American Experience

Chapter 10:The Progressive Era

Study Presentation

Georgia and the American Experience

Section 1: The Progressive MovementSection 2: Southern Politics in ActionSection 3: The Continuing Fight for Civil

RightsSection 4: Business in GeorgiaSection 5: World War I

SS8H7 The student will evaluate key political, social, and economic changes that occurred in Georgia between 1877 and 1918.

SS8E3A nation's ideals influence social, political, and economic development.

Section 1: The Progressive Movement

• ESSENTIAL QUESTION:–What changes were goals of the

progressive movement?

Section 1: The Progressive Movement

• What words do I need to know?– progressive movement– muckraker– chain gang– labor union– strike – sweatshop– prohibition– 18th & 19th Amendments– suffragette

The Progressive MovementGoal: Progress!

Society Business Government

•fight poverty •improve working conditions•votes for women•prison reform•outlaw alcohol

•break up large corporations•regulate businesses•decrease corporate power in government

•greater voice of “the people”•more voters•did not seek to increase participation of blacks in elections

Progressives believe that government is best-equipped to take care of the problems of society.

Prison Reform• 1908: end of convict lease system• Work camps and chain gangs replaced

the lease system– Black-and-white uniforms– Chained together– Poor food & housing– No preparation for life after prison

• Progressive legislators created the Juvenile Court System

Labor Unions• Low wages in factories (10¢ per hour)• Labor Unions organized workers

– Strikes could halt work in the factory– AFL: American Federation of Labor

• Georgians didn’t support unions – factories were often in small communities where people knew each other

• Mill towns: factory owner owned the workers’ houses – workers feared losing their homes

Child Labor Laws• Progressives increased regulations to

protect child laborers– Minimum wage– Compulsory school attendance laws– Laws protecting children against work in

dangerous places and using dangerous equipment (for example: mines)

– In Georgia, most child workers in cotton fields or textile factories

– In the North, child workers were in “sweatshops”

Progressives increased regulations to protect child laborers.

Child laborers in a GA textile mill.

Temperance Movement• WCTU: Women’s Christian Temperance

Movement – wanted to end production and use of alcoholic beverages

• Carrie Nation – famous for raiding saloons with a hatchet and making speeches against alcohol

• Progressives in Georgia restricted alcohol sales near schools and churches, and allowed counties to vote to be “wet” or “dry”

• 1919: 18th Amendment banned manufacture, sale, transport of alcoholic beverages in USA; gave rise to organized crime (“The Mafia”)

Carrie Nation addressing a crowd on the subject of temperance. She often appeared with a Bible in one hand and a hatchet in the other.

Women’s Suffrage• Suffrage: the right to vote• Seneca Falls, NY – famous meeting of

suffragettes • 1920: 19th Amendment gives women

the right to vote – Georgia did not ratify (approve) the amendment

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America

A typical garment factory in the early 20th Century.

The shirtwaist was a popular garment and was produced at the Triangle Factory.

Fire engines race to the Triangle Building in response to several fire alarms set off when the blaze began.

Hoses did not have sufficient pressure to reach the fire on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors.

NYCFD had new ladder trucks but the ladders were 30’ too short to help the victims. Some leaped from the windows and tried unsuccessfully to catch hold of the ladders as they fell.

Bodies of jumpers are visible against the wall in the background.

Policemen stand by bodies and watch helplessly as more victims choose to jump rather than to be burned alive. About 150 people died in the fire, which only lasted approximately 20 minutes.

Firemen lowered the victims’ bodies to the ground with ropes and pulleys.

Policemen identified bodies by tying tags on the toes.

The building’s fire escape ended abruptly in mid-air, directly above a large glass skylight.

The 9th floor after the blaze.

Policemen gathered the personal effects of the victims.

Huge crowds gathered at the makeshift morgue to attempt to identify the remains of their loved ones.

Placing the bodies in coffins.

The bodies were propped up in their coffins, lanterns were placed at intervals, and the crowd filed past. Nurses were recruited to turn away the morbidly curious.

Some victims were so disfigured that they had to be identified by jewelry, shoes, or other personal effects.

A funeral is held for one of the victims on a rainy day . Others were buried in a mass funeral.

A news photo of the tragedy shows the collapsed fire escape and the damage done to the factory’s floors in less than 20 minutes.

Massive protests led to an investigation of the disaster and indictments for the Triangle’s owners.

The factory’s owners, Harris and Blanck, were tried for manslaughter. Despite overwhelming evidence, including a locked door knob from the 8th floor, they only paid a token fine. Within a few weeks they had opened their factory in another building.

What caused the Triangle shirtwaist Fire?

What were the effects of the fire?

Section 2: Southern Politics in Action

• ESSENTIAL QUESTION–What were the goals of the

populists in Georgia?

SS8H7 The student will evaluate key political, social, and economic changes that occurred in Georgia between 1877 and 1918.

SS8E3A nation's ideals influence social, political, and economic development.

Section 2: Southern Politics in Action

• What words do I need to know? – Populist party– Australian ballot– Rural Free Delivery bill– poll– Smith-Lever Act– Agricultural Extension Service– Smith-Hughes Act– county unit system– plurality

The People’s Party• Populism: political idea that supported the rights of the

“common” people in their struggle with the wealthy people• Poor farmers and low wage workers were followers of

Populists• Grange and Farmer’s Alliance worked to protect farmers’

rights – joined with unions to create People’s Party• Wanted “Australian ballot” – printed by the government, not

local political parties, then collected and locked in ballot boxes

• Tom Watson, famous Georgia populist, worked for Rural Free Delivery bill to deliver mail to rural areas for free

The Populist (or People's) Party platform in 1892 incorporated a host of popular reform ideas, including: • Australian (or Secret) Ballot • Popular Election of U.S. Senators • Direct Democracy • Banking Reform• Government Ownership of Railroads • Graduated Income Tax • Free and Unlimited Coinage of Silver • Prohibition

Dorothy represents an individualized ideal of the American people. The brainless Scarecrow represents the Midwestern farmers; Tin Man represents the nation's factory workers, dehumanized by the production line; and the Cowardly Lion represents William Jennings Bryan.

The Munchkins represent “little people” – those with little or no political and economic power.

The Wicked Witch of the East represents eastern financial-industrial interests.

The Winged Monkeys, the unwilling minions of the Witch of the West, represent the Plains Indians.

The witch Glinda is a good witch who, unlike her eastern counterpart, understands the power of Dorothy's silver shoes.

The Wizard, who "can take on any form he wishes," represents the politicians of the era.

The Emerald City represents the capital, Washington. “Oz” is the abbreviation for gold. The yellow brick road represents the gold standard, a “road to nowhere” for Americans.

Georgia’s Progressive Era Governors

• Hoke Smith: worked to concentrate political power in the rural counties instead of larger counties and cities– white supremacist – led passage of law requiring land ownership before a

person could vote – excluded many blacks– better funding of public schools– child labor laws passed– Smith-Lever Act (1914): created Agricultural Extension

Service to teach improved farming methods– Smith-Hughes Act: helped establish vocational schools

for youth• “Little Joe” Brown: son of Civil War era governor

Joseph E. Brown

The County Unit System

• 1917: Neil Primary Act created “county unit system”

• Plan designed to give small counties more power in state government

• Smaller counties had more county unit “votes” even though they had fewer voters

• People could be elected to office without getting a majority of votes

• Declared unconstitutional in 1962

Section 3: The Continuing Fight for Civil

Rights • ESSENTIAL QUESTION

– In what ways did Georgians fight for civil rights during the progressive era?

SS8H7 The student will evaluate key political, social, and economic changes that occurred in Georgia between 1877 and 1918.

SS8E3A nation's ideals influence social, political, and economic development.

Section 3: The Continuing Fight for Civil Rights

• What words do I need to know?– civil rights– Jim Crow laws– injunction– Atlanta Compromise speech– lynching– Back-to-Africa movement– grandfather clause– poll tax– gerrymander– martial law– National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People (NAACP)– National Urban League

Section 3: The Continuing Fight for Civil Rights

• What people do I need to know?–Booker T. Washington–W.E.B. DuBois–John & Lugenia Burns Hope–Leo Frank

Separate But Equal• Civil Rights: rights a person has as a citizen• “Jim Crow” laws were passed in the South

to separate blacks and whites• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Supreme Court

decision which approved Jim Crow laws – decision in place until 1954

• Cummings V. Richmond County Board of Education (1899): Supreme Court decision supporting segregated schools in Georgia

Booker T. Washington• Outstanding civil rights leader of the era• President of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama• Supported good relations between blacks and

whites• Worked to improve the lives of African Americans

through economic independence• Believed social and political equality would come

with improved economic conditions and education

• Famous “Atlanta Compromise” speech (1895)

W. E. B. DuBois• Professor at Atlanta University• Believed in “action” if African Americans

and whites were to understand and accept each other

• Thought Booker T. Washington was too accepting of social injustice

John Hope• Civil rights leader from Augusta, GA• President of Atlanta University• Like DuBois, believed that African

Americans should actively work for equality• Part of group that organized NAACP• Hope’s wife, Lugenia, worked to improve

sanitation, roads, healthcare and education for African American neighborhoods in Atlanta

A Loss of Voting Rights• Laws created to keep African Americans in

Georgia from voting– Grandfather clause: only those men whose

fathers or grandfathers were eligible to vote in 1867 could vote

– Poll tax: a tax paid to vote– Voters had to own property– Voters had to pass a literacy test (which was

determined by the poll worker and could be different for different people)

– Gerrymandering: election districts drawn up to divide the African American voters

Race Riots in Atlanta

• 1906: various leaders and newspapers created a climate of anger and fear

• Two-day riot began with over 5,000 people• Martial law: military forces used to control

civilians• 21 people killed; hundreds wounded• Extensive of property damage

African Americans Organize

• NAACP (1909): worked for the rights of African Americans

• W.E.B. DuBois left Atlanta to work for the NAACP in New York

• National Urban League formed in 1910– Worked to solve social problems of African

Americans in cities– Assisted people moving from rural South to

urban North

The Trial of Leo Frank• 1913: man accused of killing a 14-year-old

employee, Mary Phagan in Atlanta• Mr. Frank was a Jewish man from New York• Little evidence against Mr. Frank, but he was

convicted and sentenced to death• Governor John Slayton commuted death

sentence to life imprisonment• Armed men took Frank from the prison, and he

was lynched• White supremacist Ku Klux Klan reborn at Stone

Mountain as a result

Mary Phagan’s dress, hat, shoes, and the cord used to strangle her.

Prison barracks from which Leo Frank was abducted.

The Lynching of Leo Frank

A Postcard Made From a Photograph of the Frank Lynching.

Many participants in lynchings were very proud of what they had done.

Note that children are in the crowd which gathered at the scene of the Frank lynching.

Between 1822 and 1968, 4,472 people (1,297 white, 3,445 black) were lynched in the United States.

Section 4: Business in Georgia

• ESSENTIAL QUESTION– How did Georgia businesses grow

during the progressive era?

SS8H7 The student will evaluate key political, social, and economic changes that occurred in Georgia between 1877 and 1918.

SS8E3A nation's ideals influence social, political, and economic development.

Section 4: Business in Georgia

• What words do I need to know?– scrip

SS8H7 The student will evaluate key political, social, and economic changes that occurred in Georgia between 1877 and 1918.

SS8E3A nation's ideals influence social, political, and economic development.

Section 4: Business in Georgia

• What people do I need to know?–Alonzo Herndon–Asa Candler–Morris Rich

Business in Georgia• 1895: Cotton States and International

Exposition– 800,000 visitors in three months– designed to show economic recovery in the

South– encouraged investments in southern

businesses

Rich’s• Famous Atlanta department store• Started in 1867 by Morris Rich• Known as a store “with heart”

– took farmers’ produce in payment– took teachers’ scrip as money during the

Great Depression• Grew to be a regional shopping chain;

eventually bought out by Macy’s

• Invented in Atlanta in 1885 by John S. Pemberton as a patent medicine

• Business purchased and expanded by Asa Candler

• Sold company in 1919 for $25 million• Robert Woodruff grew company to billions

of dollars in sales each year• Woodruff and Candler generous givers to

worthy causes

Coca-Cola

patent medicines

Prohibition gave Coca-cola a huge increase in business. Note the ingredients listed in this old advertisement.

Atlanta Mutual Insurance Company

• Alonzo Herndon started barber business• 1905: Purchased small insurance

company and managed it well• Now one of the largest African American

businesses in the US• Worth over $200 million and operates in

17 states

Section 5: World War I

• ESSENTIAL QUESTION– How did Georgians contribute to

World War I?

SS8H7 The student will evaluate key political, social, and economic changes that occurred in Georgia between 1877 and 1918.

SS8E3A nation's ideals influence social, political, and economic development.

Section 5: World War I

• What words do I need to know?–World War I–neutral–propaganda–armistice

Atlanta Fire

• May 21, 1917• Lasted 10-12 hours• Seventy city blocks destroyed• 6,000-10,000 people left homeless

World War I1914-1918

Allied Powers Leading Countries

Central Powers Leading Countries

RussiaFranceGreat BritainUS (joined Allies in 1917)

Austria-HungaryGermanyOttoman Empire

President Woodrow Wilson declared that the US would be a neutral country.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo.Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, which was allied with Russia, so….

Russia declared war on Austria,which was Allied with Germany, so….

Germany declared war on Russia,which was allied with France, so…

France declared war on Germany, which was allied with the Ottoman Empire, so…

The Ottoman Empire declared war on France, which was allied with Great Britain, so...

Great Britain Declared war on the Ottoman Empire.

The United States entered the war In 1917 as a result of Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare.

How to Start a World War in Seven Easy Steps

Eugene Jacques Bullard• First African American combat

pilot – from Columbus, GA• Enlisted in French Foreign

Legion: 1914• Flew combat missions

against Germany• US Army Air Force refused

his services

The United States Enters the War• President Wilson worked to keep the US

out of the war• 1915: German submarine sank passenger

ship Lusitania killing 128 Americans• 1917: sub attacks resumed sinking

American ships• Zimmerman telegram: Germany tried to get

Mexico to attack the US• Because of unrestricted submarine warfare,

Wilson finally joined the Allied powers• US economy was its major contribution

The Sinking of the Lusitania

Georgia and World War I• ±100,000 Georgians volunteered to join

the US armed forces• Training in Georgia at Camp Benning,

Fort McPherson, and Camp Gordon helped Georgia economy

• Georgians contributed manufactured goods and farm produce

• 3,000 young Georgians killed in the war• Ended November 11, 1918

Thousands of men on both sides died charging machine gun emplacements.

This German railroad gun required its own train and crew. It had a range of 29 miles.

WWI Technology

German Zeppelins were used to attack British cities in the early days of the war.

Specialized aircraft were developed for dropping bombs. Fighters were also developed to defend against bombers and attack enemy fighters.

British Sopwith Camel French Nieuport 17

German Fokker DVII Albatross German Fokker Triplane

Baron Manfred Von Richtofen, the “Red Baron.”

Death of the Red Baron

Poison gas was perhaps the worst weapon used in WWI. Military use of gas was eventually banned by international agreement.