The Origins of Progressivism
Jan 18, 2016
The Origins of Progressivism
SAT Question of the Day
September 10, 2012
How would you describe life at the end of the
19th/beginning of the 20th Centuries?
Do Now
What can you tell me about it? Some living with great with and some living in
extreme poverty Monopolies Businesses taking advantage of labor force Corruption in government
Remember the Gilded Age?
Movement whose goal was to restore
economic opportunities and correct injustices in American life.
Progressives wanted the US gov’t to make progress by reforming society’s problems
Progressivism
Poor Housing Areas Transportation Issues Unsafe Drinking Water Poor Sanitation Standards Excessive Crime Fire Hazards
Problems Facing Urban Areas
Jacob Riis Photographer Muckraking
How the Other Half Lives
Housing Options:
Buy house on outskirts of town (tough commute)
Rent cramped room in urban center Row houses develop:
Single family homes that share a wall Tenements become common:
Overcrowded apartment buildings
Housing
NYC attempts Reform
Minimum plumbing and ventilation Landlords add airshafts
Dumbbell Apartments Every room has a window Tenants dump trash between buildings
Attempts to Reform
No easy way to get to work Mass Transit develops
Move large numbers of people 1873: Street cars in San Francisco 1897: Electric subways in Boston
Transportation
Drinking water usually unsafe NY & Cleveland built public waterworks
Most still didn’t have indoor plumbing Water allowed spread of disease
Cholera, Typhoid Fever, Dysentery 1870’s: Cities begin using water filtration 1908: Cities begin chlorinating water
Water Problems
Drinking water usually unsafe NY & Cleveland built public waterworks
Most still didn’t have indoor plumbing Water allowed spread of disease
Cholera, Typhoid Fever, Dysentery 1870’s: Cities begin using water filtration 1908: Cities begin chlorinating water
Water Problems
Open sewers ran along sides of streets Horse manure piled up on streets Factories sent dangerous chemicals into air Garbage dumped on streets
No garbage trucks Pigs
1900: Underground sewer lines developed
Sanitation Problems
As population increased, crime increased NYC, 1844
First full time police force Other cities followed
Too small to impact crime
Crime
Contstant danger
No water supply Wooden buildings Candles and kerosene heaters Fires spread quickly and were deadly
Cities turned to brick & stone buildings Cincinatti, OH
First full time fire department
Fire
The
Progressives
Not a unified movement
Different people/groups had different goals Each movement had at least one of the
following goals Promoting social welfare Promoting moral improvement Economic reform Creating and supporting efficiency
Progressivism
Make life better for those negatively affected
by industrialization Help the poor YMCA* Salvation Army*
Slum brigades taught hard work and temperance Florence Kelly
Illinois Factory Act - 1893
Social Welfare
Many felt that the PEOPLE
needed to change, not the workplace.
This would be the key to helping poor people
Moral Improvement
Carrie Nation
1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1895 1900 1905 1910 19150
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Year
Gallon
s p
er
Cap
ita
Total Alcohol Consumed
Prohibition
Banning of alcoholic beverages Anti-Saloon League* Women’s Christian Temperance Union*
Went into bars and preached Became very popular, particularly among
women Grew to a national group of 245,000 members
by 1911 Largest Women’s group in US History(at that
time)
Moral Improvement
What is going on in these pictures?
Describe this photo
From 1900-1917, half of the states prohibit the sale, production, and use of alcohol. Many individual towns do the same
Do you Think the WCTU was successful?
Why was prohibition appealing to so many
women?How do you think
immigrants felt about the prohibition movements?
More than just “anti booze”
Opened kindergartens for immigrants Visited inmates in prisons & asylums Worked for suffrage
Impact of the WCTU Expanded the public role of women, justifying
giving them voting rights (but that doesn’t happen yet)
WCTU con’t
“I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.”
Economic Reform
Panic of 1893 (this SHOULD be review…)
15,000 businesses & 500 banks closed 3 million lost their jobs 20% of workforce was unemployed
Made some Americans question capitalism What IS capitalism? Many embraced socialism
Economic Reform
Eugene V. Debs
Founds American Socialist Party* in 1901 Ordinary people had no power against the
government and big business. Most progressives did not join his party, but
agreed with some of what he said Big business DID get favorable treatment from
government, but they also ______________________
Economic Reform
Muckrakers
Journalists who exposed corruption
How do you think they contributed to reform movements?
Economic Reform
Reforming
Government
Cities were controlled by political leaders
Tammany Hall in NYC Reformers wanted to make gov’t more
responsible
Some mayors made changes to taxes, public transportation, corruption, unemployemnt assistance, parks, schools
Cleaning up Local Gov’t
Some Governors wanted change Robert LaFollette (WI)*
Regulated big business
Protecting Child Workers Why hire children? National Child Labor Committee*
Investigated child labor conditions Supported by labor unions Eventually, child labor band & max hours set in
nearly every state
Reform at the State Level
Limiting hours
Muller v. Oregon* Limited workday for women to 10 hours
What happens if you get hurt on the job? Workers compensation
Reform at the State Level
Oregon leads the way
Initiative A bill that comes from the people, not lawmakers Citizens vote on the initiative. This is called a
referendum Recall
Voters can remove public officials by making them have another election.
20 states have at least ONE of these procedures by 1920
Reforming Elections
Old way of choosing candidates = Politicians
nominated their friends/allies
1899, MN has the people choose candidates (direct primary election)
By 1915, 2/3 of states have this process
Primary Elections
What is a Senator? Who are YOUR 2 Senators?
Frank Lautenberg & Robert Menendez
Before 1913 You vote for state legislators, and they choose
Senators What is bad about this?
Who are the Senators REALLY working for? 1917, 17th Amendment passes.
The people now vote for their own Senators
Direct Election of Senators