PROGRESSIVISMAmendments XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX

16, 17, 18, 19

ORIGINS OF PROGRESSIVISM

• As America entered the 20th century, reformers at the local, state, and national levels addressed the problems of the Gilded Age, including:• Economic inequities• Environmental issues• Social welfare • Working conditions• Rights for women and children

PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT (1900-1920)

• Goal was to correct political, economic, and moral abuses that resulted from America’s rapid industrialization• Progressives believed that the new system of “big business” had corrupted politicians.• These politicians ignored the problems of industrialization

• Progressives felt that they had to REFORM government to stop the put a stop to the problems from industrialization

PROTECT SOCIAL WELFARE

• Industrialization in the late 19th century was largely unregulated. Employers felt little responsibility toward their workers.• As a result, settlement houses and churches served the community and organizations like the YMCA and the Salvation Army took on service roles.

PROMOTE MORAL DEVELOPMENT

• Some reformers felt that the answer to society’s problems was personal behavior. They proposed such reforms as prohibition.• Groups wishing to ban alcohol included the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

SECURE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• The Panic of 1893 prompted some Americans to question the capitalist economic system. • As a result, some workers embraced socialism. Eugene Debs organized the American Socialist Party in 1901.

PROTECTING WORKING CHILDREN

• As the number of child workers rose, reformers worked to end child labor.• Children were more prone to accidents caused by fatigue.• Nearly every state limited or banned child labor by 1918

EFFORTS TO LIMIT HOURS

• The Supreme Court and the states enacted or strengthened laws reducing women’s hours of work.• Progressives also succeeded in winning worker’s compensation to aid families of injured workers.

ELECTION REFORM

• Citizens fought for and secured such measures as secret ballots, referendums, and recalls. Citizens could petition and get initiatives on the ballot.• In 1899, Minnesota passed the first statewide primary system.

TRUST-BUSTING

• By 1900, trusts – legal bodies created to hold stock in many companies – controlled 80% of U.S. industries. • Roosevelt and Taft filed many lawsuits under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act• This is an example of reforming the corrupt economic system

“THE JUNGLE” LEADS TO FOOD REGULATIONS

• After reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Roosevelt pushed for passage of the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.• The act mandated cleaner conditions for meatpacking plants.

WOMEN IN PUBLIC LIFE

• Before the Civil War, American women were expected to devote their time to home and family.• By the late 19th and early 20th century, women were visible in the workforce.

WOMEN LEAD REFORM

• Many of the leading Progressive reformers were women. Middle and upper class women entered the public sphere after graduating from the new women’s colleges such as Vassar and Smith.

Why did the west grant women suffrage before the east?

THE MODERN PRESIDENT

• When Roosevelt was thrust into the presidency in 1901, he became the youngest president ever at age 42.• He quickly established himself as a modern president who could influence the media and shape legislation.

LIMITS ON PROGRESSIVISM

• While the Progressive era was responsible for many important reforms, it failed to make gains for African Americans. Like Roosevelt and Taft, Wilson retreated on Civil Rights when he entered office.

The KKK reached a membership

of 4.5 million in the 1920s

AMENDMENT XVI (16)

• The original Constitution did not allow Congress to tax individuals directly on their income• The Constitution had the “rule of apportionment” which stated that Congress could tax the states according to their population• Amendment 16 gave Congress the power to place a direct tax on personal incomes• This was a progressive income tax, which requires people with higher incomes to pay a higher percentage of their income than people with lower incomes

AMENDMENT XVII (17)

• During the first 125 years of this nation, Americans did not directly vote for U.S. Senators. The Constitution said that they would be elected by the state legislatures (state congress)• In some states, powerful political machines were able to gain control over state legislatures so many Americans looked at the Senate as the “millionaires club” serving only private interests• Progressives pushed for Amendment 17 which changed the election of U.S. Senators to direct election by voters of the state

AMENDMENT XVIII (18)• Progressives were in favor of legislating, or making laws about, moral improvement. Protestant reformers saw alcohol as the primary cause of family poverty and crime• Leaders of the prohibition movement believed that shutting down the businesses that made these products would turn people away from drinking• Leaders of the Temperance Movement, including Francis Willard, fought for Amendment 18, which banned the sale of alcoholic beverages.• During prohibition, it is believed that alcohol-related deaths declined dramatically

AMENDMENT XIX (19)

• Over 100 years after Abigail Adams asked her husband to “Remember the ladies,” the government was finally doing it!• During WWI, when men were fighting abroad, many women filled their jobs in factories, mills, and mines. After the war, it was difficult for men to deny equality to women.• Amendment 19 stated that no state could deny a citizen the right to vote on the basis of gender.• It was a true step towards democracy, a government of ALL the people.• Women continued to face discrimination in virtually every realm of life.