A 1916 suffrage parade. - EdTechnology, educational …edtechnology.com/ushistory/TEXTBOOK/HIS AMERICAN… · · 2016-11-05Political reformers ... 11.2.9 Understand the effect of

304 CHAPTER 9

McKinley isassassinated;Theodore Rooseveltbecomes president.

1901

William McKinleyis elected president.

1896William McKinleyis reelected.

1900

TheodoreRoosevelt iselected president.

1904

MarieCurie discoversradium.

1898Commonwealth ofAustralia is created.

1901

A 1916 suffrage parade.

USAWORLD 1900190018901890

Eiffel Toweropens for visitors.1889 Boer War

in South Africabegins.

1899

The Progressive Era 305

I N T E R A C TI N T E R A C TW I T H H I S T O R YW I T H H I S T O R Y

It is the dawn of the 20th century, and

the reform movement is growing.

Moral reformers are trying to ban alco-

holic beverages. Political reformers

work toward fair government and

business practices. Women fight for

equal wages and the right to vote.

Throughout society, social and eco-

nomic issues take center stage.

What kinds ofactions can bringabout socialchange? Examine the Issues

• What types of actions might pres-sure big business to change?

• How can individuals bring aboutchange in their government?

• How might reformers recruit others?

William H.Taft iselectedpresident.

1908

WoodrowWilson iselectedpresident.

1912 NineteenthAmendmentgrants women the right to vote.

1920

Mexicanrevolutionbegins.

1910 China’sQin dynastytopples.

1912 World War Ibegins in Europe.1914 Mohandas

Gandhi becomesleader of theindependencemovement inIndia.

1919

WoodrowWilson isreelected.

1916 EighteenthAmendment outlaws alcoholicbeverages.

1919

W. E. B. Du Bois helpsfound theNationalAssociation forthe Advancementof Colored People (NAACP).

1909

1920192019101910

Visit the Chapter 9 links for more informationabout The Progressive Era.

RESEARCH LINKS CLASSZONE.COM

http://www.classzone.com/books/americans_rec05/

306 CHAPTER 9

The Origins of ProgressivismTerms & NamesTerms & NamesMAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

One American's Story

•progressivemovement

•Florence Kelley•prohibition•muckraker•scientificmanagement

•Robert M. La Follette

•initiative•referendum•recall•SeventeenthAmendment

Political, economic, andsocial change in late 19thcentury America led to broadprogressive reforms.

Progressive reforms in areassuch as labor and voting rightsreinforced democraticprinciples that continue to exist today.

WHY IT MATTERS NOWWHY IT MATTERS NOW

Camella Teoli was just 12 years old when she beganworking in a Lawrence, Massachusetts, textile mill tohelp support her family. Soon after she started, amachine used for twisting cotton into thread tore offpart of her scalp. The young Italian immigrant spentseven months in the hospital and was scarred for life.

Three years later, when 20,000 Lawrence millworkers went on strike for higher wages, Camella wasselected to testify before a congressional committeeinvestigating labor conditions such as workplace safetyand underage workers. When asked why she had goneon strike, Camella answered simply, “Because I didn’tget enough to eat at home.” She explained how shehad gone to work before reaching the legal age of 14.

A PERSONAL VOICE CAMELLA TEOLI

“ I used to go to school, and then a man came up to my houseand asked my father why I didn’t go to work, so my father saysI don’t know whether she is 13 or 14 years old. So, the man sayYou give me $4 and I will make the papers come from the oldcountry [Italy] saying [that] you are 14. So, my father gave himthe $4, and in one month came the papers that I was 14. I wentto work, and about two weeks [later] got hurt in my head.”

—at congressional hearings, March 1912

After nine weeks of striking, the mill workers won the sympathy of the nationas well as five to ten percent pay raises. Stories like Camella’s set off a national inves-tigation of labor conditions, and reformers across the country organized to addressthe problems of industrialization.

Four Goals of ProgressivismAt the dawn of the new century, middle-class reformers addressed many of theproblems that had contributed to the social upheavals of the 1890s. Journalists andwriters exposed the unsafe conditions often faced by factory workers, including

Mill workers onstrike in 1912.

▼

A CHILD ONSTRIKEThe Testimony of Camella Teoli, Mill Girl

CALIFORNIA STANDARDS

11.2.4 Analyze the effect of urbanpolitical machines and responses tothem by immigrants and middle-classreformers.

11.2.7 Analyze the similarities anddifferences between the ideologies ofSocial Darwinism and Social Gospel(e.g., using biographies of WilliamGraham Sumner, Billy Sunday, DwightL. Moody).

11.2.9 Understand the effect of politi-cal programs and activities of theProgressives (e.g., federal regulationof railroad transport, Children’sBureau, the Sixteenth Amendment,Theodore Roosevelt, Hiram Johnson).

11.3.2 Analyze the great religiousrevivals and the leaders involved inthem, including the First GreatAwakening, the Second GreatAwakening, the Civil War revivals, the Social Gospel Movement, the riseof Christian liberal theology in thenineteenth century, the impact of the Second Vatican Council, and therise of Christian fundamentalism incurrent times.

11.5.3 Examine the passage of theEighteenth Amendment to theConstitution and the Volstead Act(Prohibition).

HI 2 Students recognize the complexityof historical causes and effects, includ-ing the limitations on determiningcause and effect.

A

307

women and children. Intellectuals questioned the dominantrole of large corporations in American society. Politicalreformers struggled to make government more responsive to the people. Together, these reform efforts formed the progressive movement, which aimed to restore economicopportunities and correct injustices in American life.

Even though reformers never completely agreed on theproblems or the solutions, each of their progressive effortsshared at least one of the following goals:

• protecting social welfare

• promoting moral improvement

• creating economic reform

• fostering efficiency

PROTECTING SOCIAL WELFARE Many social welfarereformers worked to soften some of the harsh conditions ofindustrialization. The Social Gospel and settlement housemovements of the late 1800s, which aimed to help the poorthrough community centers, churches, and social services,continued during the Progressive Era and inspired even morereform activities.

The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), forexample, opened libraries, sponsored classes, and builtswimming pools and handball courts. The Salvation Armyfed poor people in soup kitchens, cared for children in nurs-eries, and sent “slum brigades” to instruct poor immigrantsin middle-class values of hard work and temperance.

In addition, many women were inspired by the settle-ment houses to take action. Florence Kelley became anadvocate for improving the lives of women and children. Shewas appointed chief inspector of factories for Illinois after shehad helped to win passage of the Illinois Factory Act in 1893.The act, which prohibited child labor and limited women’sworking hours, soon became a model for other states.

PROMOTING MORAL IMPROVEMENT Other reformers felt that morality, notthe workplace, held the key to improving the lives of poor people. These reform-ers wanted immigrants and poor city dwellers to uplift themselves by improvingtheir personal behavior. Prohibition, the banning of alcoholic beverages, wasone such program.

Prohibitionist groups feared that alcohol was undermining American morals.Founded in Cleveland in 1874, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union(WCTU) spearheaded the crusade for prohibition. Membersadvanced their cause by entering saloons, singing, praying, and urging saloonkeepers to stop selling alco-hol. As momentum grew, the Union was trans-formed by Frances Willard from a small midwest-ern religious group in 1879 to a national organi-zation. Boasting 245,000 members by 1911, theWCTU became the largest women’s group inthe nation’s history.

WCTU members followed Willard’s “doeverything” slogan and began openingkindergartens for immigrants, visiting

KEY PLAYERKEY PLAYER

FLORENCE KELLEY1859–1932

The daughter of an antislaveryRepublican congressman fromPennsylvania, Florence Kelleybecame a social reformer whosesympathies lay with the power-less, especially working womenand children. During a long career,Kelley pushed the government tosolve America’s social problems.

In 1899, Kelley became generalsecretary of the NationalConsumers’ League, where shelobbied to improve factory condi-tions. “Why,” Kelley pointedlyasked while campaigning for a federal child-labor law, “are seals,bears, reindeer, fish, wild game inthe national parks, buffalo, [and]migratory birds all found suitablefor federal protection, but not children?”

In the 1890s, Carry Nationworked for prohibition by

walking into saloons,scolding the customers,

and using her hatchetto destroy bottles

of liquor.

▼

Vocabularytemperance:refraining fromalcoholconsumption

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

A

AnalyzingMotives

Why did theprohibitionmovement appealto so manywomen?

inmates in prisons and asylums, and working for suffrage.The WCTU reform activities, like those of the settlement-house movement, provided women with expanded publicroles, which they used to justify giving women voting rights.

Sometimes efforts at prohibition led to trouble withimmigrant groups. Such was the case with the Anti-SaloonLeague, founded in 1895. As members sought to closesaloons to cure society’s problems, tension arose betweenthem and many immigrants, whose customs often includ-ed the consumption of alcohol. Additionally, saloons filleda number of roles within the immigrant community such ascashing paychecks and serving meals.

CREATING ECONOMIC REFORM As moral reformerssought to change individual behavior, a severe economicpanic in 1893 prompted some Americans to question thecapitalist economic system. As a result, some Americans,especially workers, embraced socialism. Labor leaderEugene V. Debs, who helped organize the AmericanSocialist Party in 1901, commented on the uneven balanceamong big business, government, and ordinary peopleunder the free-market system of capitalism.

A PERSONAL VOICE EUGENE V. DEBS

“ Competition was natural enough at one time, but do youthink you are competing today? Many of you think you arecompeting. Against whom? Against [oil magnate John D.]Rockefeller? About as I would if I had a wheelbarrow and com-peted with the Santa Fe [railroad] from here to Kansas City.”

—Debs: His Life, Writings and Speeches

Though most progressives distanced themselves from socialism, they saw thetruth of many of Debs’s criticisms. Big business often received favorable treatmentfrom government officials and politicians and could use its economic power tolimit competition.

Journalists who wrote about the corrupt side of business and public life in masscirculation magazines during the early 20th century became known as muckrakers(mOkPrAkQr). (The term refers to John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,” in which acharacter is so busy using a rake to clean up the muck of this world that he does notraise his eyes to heaven.) In her “History of the Standard Oil Company,” a month-ly serial in McClure’s Magazine, the writer Ida M. Tarbell described the company’scutthroat methods of eliminating competition. “Mr. Rockefeller has systematicallyplayed with loaded dice,” Tarbell charged, “and it is doubtful if there has been atime since 1872 when he has run a race with a competitor and started fair.”

FOSTERING EFFICIENCY Many progressive leaders put their faith in expertsand scientific principles to make society and the workplace more efficient. Indefending an Oregon law that limited women factory and laundry workers to aten-hour day, lawyer Louis D. Brandeis paid little attention to legal argument.Instead, he focused on data produced by social scientists documenting the highcosts of long working hours for both the individual and society. This type of argu-ment—the “Brandeis brief”—would become a model for later reform litigation.

Within industry, Frederick Winslow Taylor began using time and motion stud-ies to improve efficiency by breaking manufacturing tasks into simpler parts.“Taylorism” became a management fad, as industry reformers applied these scien-tific management studies to see just how quickly each task could be performed.

308 CHAPTER 9

SPOTLIGHTSPOTLIGHTHISTORICALHISTORICAL

ANTI–SALOON LEAGUEQuietly founded by progressivewomen in 1895, the Anti-SaloonLeague called itself “the Churchin action against the saloon.”Whereas early temperanceefforts had asked individuals tochange their ways, the Anti-Saloon League worked to passlaws to force people to changeand to punish those who drank.

The Anti-Saloon Leagueendorsed politicians who opposed“Demon Rum,” no matter whichparty they belonged to or wherethey stood on other issues. It alsoorganized statewide referendumsto ban alcohol. Between 1900and 1917, voters in nearly half ofthe states—mostly in the Southand the West—prohibited thesale, production, and use of alco-hol. Individual towns, city wards,and rural areas also voted them-selves “dry.”

BackgroundSee capitalismand socialismon pages R38 and R44 in theEconomicsHandbook.

B

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

BEvaluating

Whatcontribution didmuckrakers maketo the reformmovement?

However, not all workers could work at the same rate, and although the intro-duction of the assembly lines did speed up production, the system required peo-ple to work like machines. This caused a high worker turnover, often due toinjuries suffered by fatigued workers. To keep automobile workershappy and to prevent strikes, Henry Ford reduced the workday toeight hours and paid workers five dollars a day. This incentive attract-ed thousands of workers, but they exhausted themselves. As onehomemaker complained in a letter to Henry Ford in 1914, “That $5is a blessing—a bigger one than you know but oh they earn it.”

Such efforts at improving efficiency, an important part of pro-gressivism, targeted not only industry, but government as well.

Cleaning Up Local GovernmentCities faced some of the most obvious social problems of the new industrial age.In many large cities, political bosses rewarded their supporters with jobs and kick-backs and openly bought votes with favors and bribes. Efforts to reform city pol-itics stemmed in part from the desire to make government more efficient andmore responsive to its constituents. But those efforts also grew from distrust ofimmigrants’ participation in politics.

REFORMING LOCAL GOVERNMENT Natural disasters sometimes played animportant role in prompting reform of city governments. In 1900, a hurricaneand tidal wave almost demolished Galveston, Texas. The politicians on the citycouncil botched the huge relief and rebuilding job so badly that the Texas legis-lature appointed a five-member commission of experts to take over. Each experttook charge of a different city department, and soon Galveston was rebuilt. Thissuccess prompted the city to adopt the commission idea as a form of government,and by 1917, 500 cities had followed Galveston's example.

Another natural disaster—a flood in Dayton, Ohio, in 1913—led to the wide-spread adoption of the council-manager form of government. Staunton, Virginia,had already pioneered this system, in which people elected a city council to makelaws. The council in turn appointed a manager, typically a person with trainingand experience in public administration, to run the city’s departments. By 1925,managers were administering nearly 250 cities.


“ Everybody will be able to afford [a car], and abouteveryone will haveone.”HENRY FORD, 1909

Workers at theFord flywheelfactory cope withthe demandingpace of theassembly line toearn five dollars aday—a goodwage in 1914.

C

▼

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

CContrasting

Contrast thegoals of scientificmanagement withother progressivereforms.

REFORM MAYORS In some cities, mayors such as Hazen Pingree of Detroit,Michigan (1890–1897), and Tom Johnson of Cleveland, Ohio (1901–1909), intro-duced progressive reforms without changing how government was organized.

Concentrating on economics, Pingree instituted a fairer tax structure, low-ered fares for public transportation, rooted out corruption, and set up a system ofwork relief for the unemployed. Detroit city workers built schools, parks, and amunicipal lighting plant.

Johnson was only one of 19 socialist mayors who worked to institute pro-gressive reforms in America’s cities. In general, these mayors focused on dismiss-ing corrupt and greedy private owners of utilities—such as gasworks, waterworks,and transit lines—and converting the utilities to publicly owned enterprises.Johnson believed that citizens should play a more active role in city government.He held meetings in a large circus tent and invited them to question officialsabout how the city was managed.

Reform at the State LevelLocal reforms coincided with progressive efforts at the state level. Spurred by pro-gressive governors, many states passed laws to regulate railroads, mines, mills,telephone companies, and other large businesses.

REFORM GOVERNORS Under the progressive Republicanleadership of Robert M. La Follette, Wisconsin led theway in regulating big business. “Fighting Bob” La Folletteserved three terms as governor before he entered the U.S.Senate in 1906. He explained that, as governor, he did notmean to “smash corporations, but merely to drive them outof politics, and then to treat them exactly the same as otherpeople are treated.”

La Follette’s major target was the railroad industry. Hetaxed railroad property at the same rate as other business prop-erty, set up a commission to regulate rates, and forbade rail-roads to issue free passes to state officials. Other reform gover-nors who attacked big business interests included Charles B.Aycock of North Carolina and James S. Hogg of Texas.

PROTECTING WORKING CHILDREN As the number ofchild workers rose dramatically, reformers worked to protectworkers and to end child labor. Businesses hired childrenbecause they performed unskilled jobs for lower wages andbecause children’s small hands made them more adept athandling small parts and tools. Immigrants and ruralmigrants often sent their children to work because theyviewed their children as part of the family economy. Oftenwages were so low for adults that every family member need-ed to work to pull the family out of poverty.

In industrial settings, however, children were moreprone to accidents caused by fatigue. Many developed seri-ous health problems and suffered from stunted growth.

Formed in 1904, the National Child Labor Committeesent investigators to gather evidence of children working inharsh conditions. They then organized exhibitions with pho-tographs and statistics to dramatize the children’s plight. Theywere joined by labor union members who argued that childlabor lowered wages for all workers. These groups pressured

310 CHAPTER 9

D

JAMES S. HOGG, TEXASGOVERNOR (1891–1895)

Among the most colorful of thereform governors was James S.Hogg of Texas. Hogg helped todrive illegal insurance companiesfrom the state and championedantitrust legislation. His chief inter-est, however, was in regulating therailroads. He pointed out abusesin rates—noting, for example, thatit cost more to ship lumber fromEast Texas to Dallas than to ship itall the way to Nebraska. A railroadcommission, established largely asa result of his efforts, helpedincrease milling and manufacturingin Texas by lowering freight rates.


E

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

DSummarizing

How did citygovernmentchange during theProgressive Era?

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

E

AnalyzingCauses

Why didreformers seek toend child labor?

national politicians to pass the Keating-Owen Act in 1916. The act prohibited thetransportation across state lines of goods produced with child labor.

Two years later the Supreme Court declared the act unconstitutional due tointerference with states’ rights to regulate labor. Reformers did, however, succeedin nearly every state by effecting legislation that banned child labor and set max-imum hours.

EFFORTS TO LIMIT WORKING HOURS The Supreme Court sometimes took amore sympathetic view of the plight of workers. In the 1908 case of Muller v.Oregon, Louis D. Brandeis—assisted by Florence Kelley and Josephine Goldmark—persuasively argued that poor working women were much more economicallyinsecure than large corporations. Asserting that women required the state’s pro-tection against powerful employers, Brandeis convinced the Court to uphold anOregon law limiting women to a ten-hour workday. Other states responded byenacting or strengthening laws to reduce women’s hours of work. A similarBrandeis brief in Bunting v. Oregon in 1917 persuaded the Court to uphold a ten-hour workday for men.

Progressives also succeeded in winning workers’ compensation to aid thefamilies of workers who were hurt or killed on the job. Beginning with Marylandin 1902, one state after another passed legislation requiring employers to pay ben-efits in death cases.


History ThroughHistory Through

IMAGES OF CHILD LABORIn 1908, Lewis Hine quit his teaching job to docu-ment child labor practices. Hine’s photographs anddescriptions of young laborers—some only threeyears old—were widely distributed and displayed in exhibits. His compelling images of exploitationhelped to convince the public of the need for childlabor regulations.

Hine devised a host of clever tactics to gainaccess to his subjects, such as learning shop managers’ schedules and arriving during theirlunch breaks. While talking casually with the chil-dren, he secretly scribbled notes on paper hiddenin his pocket.

Because of their small size, spindle boys and girls (top) wereforced to climb atop moving machinery to replace parts. For four-year-old Mary (left), shucking two pots of oysters was a typicalday’s work.

SKILLBUILDER Interpreting Visual Sources1. Lewis Hine believed in the power of photography to move

people to action. What elements of these photographs doyou find most striking?

2. Why do you think Hine was a successful photographer?

SEE SKILLBUILDER HANDBOOK, PAGE R23.

312 CHAPTER 9

REFORMING ELECTIONS In some cases, ordinary citizens won state reforms.William S. U’Ren prompted his state of Oregon to adopt the secret ballot (alsocalled the Australian ballot), the initiative, the referendum, and the recall. The ini-tiative and referendum gave citizens the power to create laws. Citizens could peti-tion to place an initiative—a bill originated by the people rather than lawmak-ers—on the ballot. Then voters, instead of the legislature, accepted or rejected theinitiative by referendum, a vote on the initiative. The recall enabled voters toremove public officials from elected positions by forcing them to face another elec-tion before the end of their term if enough voters asked for it. By 1920, 20 stateshad adopted at least one of these procedures.

In 1899, Minnesota passed the first mandatory statewide primary system. Thisenabled voters, instead of political machines, to choose candidates for public officethrough a special popular election. About two-thirds of the states had adoptedsome form of direct primary by 1915.

DIRECT ELECTION OF SENATORS It was the success of the direct primary thatpaved the way for the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution. Before1913, each state’s legislature had chosen its own United States senators, which puteven more power in the hands of party bosses and wealthy corporation heads. Toforce senators to be more responsive to the public, progressives pushed for thepopular election of senators. At first, the Senate refused to go along with the idea,but gradually more and more states began allowing voters to nominate senatori-al candidates in direct primaries. As a result, Congress approved the SeventeenthAmendment in 1912. Its ratification in 1913 made direct election of senators thelaw of the land.

Government reform—including efforts to give Americans more of a voice inelecting their legislators and creating laws—drew increased numbers of womeninto public life. It also focused renewed attention on the issue of woman suffrage.

F

Economic Moral

ProgressiveReforms

PoliticalSocial

Welfare

•progressive movement•Florence Kelley•prohibition

•muckraker•scientific management•Robert M. La Follette

•initiative•referendum

•recall•Seventeenth Amendment

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.

MAIN IDEA2. TAKING NOTES (11.2.9)

Copy the web below on yourpaper. Fill it in with examples oforganizations that worked forreform in the areas named.

Which group was mostsuccessful and why?

CRITICAL THINKING3. FORMING GENERALIZATIONS

In what ways might Illinois,Wisconsin, and Oregon all beconsidered trailblazers inprogressive reform? Supportyour answers. Think About:

• legislative and electoralreforms at the state level

• the leadership of WilliamU’Ren and Robert La Follette

• Florence Kelley’s appoint-ment as chief inspector offactories for Illinois

4. INTERPRETING VISUAL SOURCES (11.5.3)This cartoon shows Carry Nation inside asaloon that she has attacked. Do you think the cartoonist had a favorable or unfavorableopinion of this prohibitionist? Explain.

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

FSummarizing

Summarizethe impact of thedirect election ofsenators.

(11.2.9)

Terms & NamesTerms & NamesMAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

•NACW•suffrage

•Susan B. Anthony•NAWSA

As a result of social andeconomic change, manywomen entered public life asworkers and reformers.

Women won new opportunitiesin labor and education that areenjoyed today.



In 1879, Susette La Flesche, a young Omaha woman, traveled east to translate intoEnglish the sad words of Chief Standing Bear, whose Ponca people had been forciblyremoved from their homeland in Nebraska. Later, she was invited with ChiefStanding Bear to go on a lecture tour to draw attention to the Ponca’s situation.

A PERSONAL VOICE SUSETTE LA FLESCHE

“ We are thinking men and women. . . . Wehave a right to be heard in whatever concernsus. Your government has driven us hither andthither like cattle. . . . Your government hasno right to say to us, Go here, or Go there,and if we show any reluctance, to force us todo its will at the point of the bayonet. . . . Doyou wonder that the Indian feels outraged bysuch treatment and retaliates, although it willend in death to himself?”

—quoted in Bright Eyes

La Flesche testified before congressional committees and helped win passageof the Dawes Act of 1887, which allowed individual Native Americans to claimreservation land and citizenship rights. Her activism was an example of a new rolefor American women, who were expanding their participation in public life.

Women in the Work ForceBefore the Civil War, married middle-class women were generally expected todevote their time to the care of their homes and families. By the late 19th centu-ry, however, only middle-class and upper-class women could afford to do so.Poorer women usually had no choice but to work for wages outside the home.

FARM WOMEN On farms in the South and the Midwest, women’s roles had notchanged substantially since the previous century. In addition to household tasksfarm women handled a host of other chores such as raising livestock. Often thewomen had to help plow and plant the fields and harvest the crops.

WOMEN IN INDUSTRY As better-paying opportunities became available intowns, and especially cities, women had new options for finding jobs, even thoughmen’s labor unions excluded them from membership. At the turn of the century,


Women in Public Life



11.8.7 Describe the effects on societyand the economy of technologicaldevelopments since 1945, includingthe computer revolution, changes incommunication, advances in medicine,and improvements in agriculturaltechnology.

CST 1 Students compare the presentwith the past, evaluating the conse-quences of past events and decisionsand determining the lessons that were learned.

REP 4 Students construct and testhypotheses; collect, evaluate, and em-ploy information from multiple primaryand secondary sources; and apply it inoral and written presentations.

HI 2 Students recognize the complexityof historical causes and effects, includ-ing the limitations on determiningcause and effect.

HI 3 Students interpret past eventsand issues within the context in whichan event unfolded rather than solelyin terms of present-day norms andvalues.

one out of five American women held jobs; 25 percent ofthem worked in manufacturing.

The garment trade claimed about half of all womenindustrial workers. They typically held the least skilled posi-tions, however, and received only about half as muchmoney as their male counterparts or less. Many of thesewomen were single and were assumed to be supportingonly themselves, while men were assumed to be supportingfamilies.

Women also began to fill new jobs in offices, stores, andclassrooms. These jobs required a high school education,and by 1890, women high school graduates outnumberedmen. Moreover, new business schools were preparing book-keepers and stenographers, as well as training female typiststo operate the new machines.

DOMESTIC WORKERS Many women without formaleducation or industrial skills contributed to the economicsurvival of their families by doing domestic work, such ascleaning for other families. After almost 2 million African-American women were freed from slavery, poverty quicklydrove nearly half of them into the work force. They workedon farms and as domestic workers, and migrated by thethousands to big cities for jobs as cooks, laundresses, scrub-women, and maids. Altogether, roughly 70 percent ofwomen employed in 1870 were servants.

Unmarried immigrant women also did domestic labor, especially when theyfirst arrived in the United States. Many married immigrant women contributed tothe family income by taking in piecework or caring for boarders at home.

Women Lead ReformDangerous conditions, low wages, and long hours led many female industrialworkers to push for reforms. Their ranks grew after 146 workers, mostly youngwomen, died in a 1911 fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City.Middle- and upper-class women also entered the public sphere. By 1910, women’sclubs, at which these women discussed art or literature, were nearly half a millionstrong. These clubs sometimes grew into reform groups that addressed issues suchas temperance or child labor.

WOMEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION Many of the women who became active inpublic life in the late 19th century had attended the new women’s colleges. Vassar

314 CHAPTER 9

Telephoneoperatorsmanually connectphone calls in 1915.

NOWNOW THENTHEN

TELEPHONE OPERATORSToday, when Americans use thetelephone, an automated voiceoften greets them with instruc-tions about which buttons topress. In the 19th century, everytelephone call had to be handledby a telephone operator, a personwho connected wires through aswitchboard.

Young men, the first telephoneoperators, proved unsatisfactory.Patrons complained that themale operators used profane lan-guage and talked back to callers.Women soon largely replacedmen as telephone operators, andwere willing to accept the ten-dol-lar weekly wage.

Department stores advertisedshopping by telephone as a con-venience. One ad in the Chicagotelephone book of 1904 declared,“Every [telephone] order, inquiry,or request will be quickly andintelligently cared for.” The adpictured a line of female tele-phone operators.

A

▼

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

A

AnalyzingCauses

What kinds ofjob opportunitiesprompted morewomen tocomplete highschool?

College—with a faculty of 8 men and 22 women—accepted its first students in1865. Smith and Wellesley Colleges followed in 1875. Though Columbia, Brown,and Harvard Colleges refused to admit women, each university established a sep-arate college for women.

Although women were still expected to fulfill traditional domestic roles,women’s colleges sought to grant women an excellent education. In her will,Smith College’s founder, Sophia Smith, made her goals clear.

A PERSONAL VOICE SOPHIA SMITH

“ [It is my desire] to furnish for my own sex means and facilities for educationequal to those which are afforded now in our College to young men. . . . It is notmy design to render my sex any the less feminine, but to develop as fully as maybe the powers of womanhood & furnish women with means of usefulness, happi-ness, & honor now withheld from them.”

—quoted in Alma Mater

By the late 19th century, marriage was no longer a woman’s only alternative.Many women entered the work force or sought higher education. In fact, almosthalf of college-educated women in the late 19th century never married, retainingtheir own independence. Many of these educated women began to apply theirskills to needed social reforms.

WOMEN AND REFORM Uneducated laborers started efforts to reform workplacehealth and safety. The participation of educated women often strengthened exist-ing reform groups and provided leadership for new ones. Because women werenot allowed to vote or run for office, women reformers strove to improve condi-tions at work and home. Their “social housekeeping” targeted workplace reform,housing reform, educational improvement, and food and drug laws.

In 1896, African-American women founded the National Association ofColored Women, or NACW, by merging two earlier organizations. Josephine Ruffinidentified the mission of the African-American women’s club movement as “themoral education of the race with which we are identified.” The NACW managednurseries, reading rooms, and kindergartens.

After the Seneca Falls convention of 1848, women split over the Fourteenthand Fifteenth Amendments, which granted equal rights including the right tovote to African American men, but excluded women. Susan B. Anthony, a lead-ing proponent of woman suffrage, the right to vote, said “[I] would sooner cutoff my right hand than ask the ballot for the black man and not for women.” In1869 Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton had founded the National WomenSuffrage Association (NWSA), which united with another group in 1890 to

Suffragists recruitsupporters for amarch.

B

▼

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

B

AnalyzingEffects

What socialand economiceffects did highereducation have onwomen?

become the National American Woman Suffrage Association,or NAWSA. Other prominent leaders included Lucy Stoneand Julia Ward Howe, the author of “The Battle Hymn of theRepublic.”

Woman suffrage faced constant opposition. The liquorindustry feared that women would vote in support of prohi-bition, while the textile industry worried that women wouldvote for restrictions on child labor. Many men simply fearedthe changing role of women in society.

A THREE–PART STRATEGY FOR SUFFRAGE Suffragistleaders tried three approaches to achieve their objective.First, they tried to convince state legislatures to grant womenthe right to vote. They achieved a victory in the territory ofWyoming in 1869, and by the 1890s Utah, Colorado, andIdaho had also granted voting rights to women. After 1896,efforts in other states failed.

Second, women pursued court cases to test theFourteenth Amendment, which declared that states denyingtheir male citizens the right to vote would lose congression-al representation. Weren’t women citizens, too? In 1871 and1872, Susan B. Anthony and other women tested that ques-tion by attempting to vote at least 150 times in ten states andthe District of Columbia. The Supreme Court ruled in 1875that women were indeed citizens—but then denied that citi-zenship automatically conferred the right to vote.

Third, women pushed for a national constitutionalamendment to grant women the vote. Stanton succeeded inhaving the amendment introduced in California, but it waskilled later. For the next 41 years, women lobbied to have itreintroduced, only to see it continually voted down.

Before the turn of the century, the campaign for suffrageachieved only modest success. Later, however, women’s

reform efforts paid off in improvements in the treatment of workers and in saferfood and drug products—all of which President Theodore Roosevelt supported,along with his own plans for reforming business, labor, and the environment.

316 CHAPTER 9


SUSAN B. ANTHONY1820–1906

Born to a strict Quaker family,Susan B. Anthony was not allowedto enjoy typical childhood enter-tainment such as music, games,and toys. Her father insisted onself-discipline, education, and astrong belief system for all of hiseight children. At an early age,Anthony developed a positive viewof womanhood from a teachernamed Mary Perkins who educat-ed the children in their home.

After voting illegally in the presi-dential election of 1872, Anthonywas fined $100 at her trial. "Nota penny shall go to this unjustclaim,” she defiantly declared.She never paid the fine. C

•NACW •suffrage •Susan B. Anthony •NAWSA


MAIN IDEA2. TAKING NOTES (HI 2)

In a chart like the one below, fill indetails about working women in thelate 1800s.

What generalizations can you makeabout women workers at this time?

CRITICAL THINKING3. SYNTHESIZING (11.2.9)

What women and movements duringthe Progressive Era helped dispelthe stereotype that women weresubmissive and nonpolitical?

4. MAKING INFERENCES (REP 4)Why do you think some collegesrefused to accept women in the late19th century?

5. ANALYZING ISSUES (HI 3)Imagine you are a woman during the Progressive Era. Explain how you might recruit other women tosupport the following causes: improving education, housingreform, food and drug laws, the right to vote. Think About:

• the problems that each move-ment was trying to remedy

• how women benefited from eachcause

FactoryWorkers

DomesticWorkers

Women Workers:Late 1800s

FarmWomen

White-Collar

Workers

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

C

MakingInferences

Why didsuffragist leadersemploy a three-part strategy forgaining the right tovote?


Teddy Roosevelt’s Square DealTerms & NamesTerms & NamesMAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

•Upton Sinclair•The Jungle•TheodoreRoosevelt

•Square Deal

•Meat InspectionAct

•Pure Food and Drug Act

•conservation•NAACP

As president, TheodoreRoosevelt worked to givecitizens a Square Dealthrough progressive reforms.

As part of his Square Deal,Roosevelt’s conservationefforts made a permanentimpact on environmentalresources.


When muckraking journalist Upton Sinclairbegan research for a novel in 1904, his focus wasthe human condition in the stockyards of Chicago.Sinclair intended his novel to reveal “the breakingof human hearts by a system [that] exploits thelabor of men and women for profits.” What mostshocked readers in Sinclair’s book The Jungle(1906), however, was the sickening conditions ofthe meatpacking industry.

A PERSONAL VOICE UPTON SINCLAIR

“ There would be meat that had tumbled out on thefloor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers hadtramped and spit uncounted billions of consumption[tuberculosis] germs. There would be meat stored ingreat piles in rooms; . . . and thousands of ratswould race about on it. . . . A man could run his handover these piles of meat and sweep off handfuls ofthe dried dung of rats. These rats were nuisances,and the packers would put poisoned bread out forthem; they would die, and then rats, bread, andmeat would go into the hoppers together.”

—The Jungle

President Theodore Roosevelt, like many other readers, was nauseated bySinclair’s account. The president invited the author to visit him at the WhiteHouse, where Roosevelt promised that “the specific evils you point out shall, iftheir existence be proved, and if I have the power, be eradicated.”

A Rough-Riding PresidentTheodore Roosevelt was not supposed to be president. In 1900, the young gover-nor from New York was urged to run as McKinley’s vice-president by the state’spolitical bosses, who found Roosevelt impossible to control. The plot to nominateRoosevelt worked, taking him out of state office. However, as vice-president,

Upton Sinclair poseswith his son at thetime of the writing ofThe Jungle.

▼


11.2.1 Know the effects of indus-trialization on living and workingconditions, including the portrayal of working conditions and food safety in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.

11.2.6 Trace the economic developmentof the United States and its emergenceas a major industrial power, includingits gains from trade and the advan-tages of its physical geography.


11.5.2 Analyze the international anddomestic events, interests, and philoso-phies that prompted attacks on civilliberties, including the Palmer Raids,Marcus Garvey’s “back-to-Africa”movement, the Ku Klux Klan, andimmigration quotas and the responsesof organizations such as the AmericanCivil Liberties Union, the NationalAssociation for the Advancement ofColored People, and the Anti-Defamation League to those attacks.

11.8.6 Discuss the diverse environmen-tal regions of North America, theirrelationship to local economies, andthe origins and prospects of environ-mental problems in those regions.

11.10.7 Analyze the women’s rightsmovement from the era of ElizabethStanton and Susan Anthony and thepassage of the Nineteenth Amendmentto the movement launched in the1960s, including differing perspectiveson the roles of women.


When thepresident spared a bear cub on ahunting expedition,a toymakermarketed apopular newproduct, the teddy bear.

Teddy Rooseveltenjoyed an activelifestyle, as this1902 photoreveals.

Roosevelt stood a heartbeat away from becoming president. Indeed,President McKinley had served barely six months of his second term beforehe was assassinated, making Roosevelt the most powerful person in thegovernment.

ROOSEVELT’S RISE Theodore Roosevelt was born into a wealthy NewYork family in 1858. An asthma sufferer during his childhood, young Teddy

drove himself to accomplish demanding physical feats. As a teenager,he mastered marksmanship and horseback riding. At Harvard College,Roosevelt boxed and wrestled.

At an early age, the ambitious Roosevelt became a leader in NewYork politics. After serving three terms in the New York State Assembly,

he became New York City’s police commissioner and then assistant secre-tary of the U.S. Navy. The aspiring politician grabbed national attention,

advocating war against Spain in 1898. His volunteer cavalry brigade, the RoughRiders, won public acclaim for its role in the battle at San Juan Hill in Cuba.Roosevelt returned a hero and was soon elected governor of New York and thenlater won the vice-presidency.

THE MODERN PRESIDENCY When Roosevelt was thrust into the presidency in1901, he became the youngest president ever at 42 years old. Unlike previouspresidents, Roosevelt soon dominated the news with his many exploits. While inoffice, Roosevelt enjoyed boxing, although one of his opponents blinded him inthe left eye. On another day, he galloped 100 miles on horseback, merely to provethe feat possible.

In politics, as in sports, Roosevelt acted boldly, using his personality and pop-ularity to advance his programs. His leadership and publicity campaigns helpedcreate the modern presidency, making him a model by which all future presidentswould be measured. Citing federal responsibility for the national welfare,Roosevelt thought the government should assume control whenever states provedincapable of dealing with problems. He explained, “It is the duty of the presidentto act upon the theory that he is the steward of the people, and . . . to assume thathe has the legal right to do whatever the needs of the people demand, unless theConstitution or the laws explicitly forbid him to do it.”

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318

Roosevelt saw the presidency as a “bully pulpit,” from which he could influ-ence the news media and shape legislation. If big business victimized workers,then President Roosevelt would see to it that the common people received whathe called a Square Deal. This term was used to describe the various progressivereforms sponsored by the Roosevelt administration.

Using Federal PowerRoosevelt’s study of history—he published the first of his 44 books at the age of24—convinced him that modern America required a powerful federal govern-ment. “A simple and poor society can exist as a democracy on the basis of sheerindividualism,” Roosevelt declared, “but a rich and complex industrial societycannot so exist . . . .” The young president soon met several challenges to hisassertion of federal power.

TRUSTBUSTING By 1900, trusts—legal bodies created to hold stock in manycompanies—controlled about four-fifths of the industries in the United States.Some trusts, like Standard Oil, had earned poor reputations with the public by theuse of unfair business practices. Many trusts lowered their prices to drive com-petitors out of the market and then took advantage of the lack of competition tojack prices up even higher. Although Congress had passed the Sherman AntitrustAct in 1890, the act’s vague language made enforcement difficult. As a result,nearly all the suits filed against the trusts under the Sherman Act were ineffective.

President Roosevelt did not believe that all trusts were harmful, but he soughtto curb the actions of those that hurt the public interest. The president concen-trated his efforts on filing suits under the Sherman Antitrust Act. In 1902,Roosevelt made newspaper headlines as a trustbuster when he ordered the JusticeDepartment to sue the Northern Securities Company, which had established amonopoly over northwestern railroads. In 1904, the Supreme Court dissolved thecompany. Although the Roosevelt administration filed 44 antitrust suits, winninga number of them and breaking up some of the trusts, it was unable to slow themerger movement in business.


A

BackgroundSee trust on page R47 in theEconomicsHandbook.

AnalyzingAnalyzing

“THE LION-TAMER”As part of his Square Deal, President Roosevelt aggressively used the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 to attack big businessesengaging in unfair practices. His victory over his first target, theNorthern Securities Company, earned him a reputation as a hard-hitting trustbuster committed to protecting the public interest. This cartoon shows Roosevelt trying to tame the wild lions that symbolize the great and powerful companies of 1904.

SKILLBUILDER Analyzing Political Cartoons1. What do the lions stand for?2. Why are all the lions coming out of a door labeled “Wall St.”?3. What do you think the cartoonist thinks about trustbusting? Cite

details from the cartoon that support your interpretation.


MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

ASynthesizing

What actionsand characteristicsof Teddy Rooseveltcontributed to hisreputation as thefirst modernpresident?

1902 COAL STRIKE When 140,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania went on strikeand demanded a 20 percent raise, a nine-hour workday, and the right to organizea union, the mine operators refused to bargain. Five months into the strike, coalreserves ran low. Roosevelt, seeing the need to intervene, called both sides to theWhite House to talk, and eventually settled the strike. Irked by the “extraordinarystupidity and bad temper” of the mine operators, he later confessed that only thedignity of the presidency had kept him from taking one owner “by the seat of thebreeches” and tossing him out of the window.

Faced with Roosevelt’s threat to take over the mines, the opposing sides final-ly agreed to submit their differences to an arbitration commission—a third partythat would work with both sides to mediate the dispute. In 1903, the commissionissued its compromise settlement. The miners won a 10 percent pay hike and ashorter, nine-hour workday. With this, however, they had to give up theirdemand for a closed shop—in which all workers must belong to the union—andtheir right to strike during the next three years.

President Roosevelt’s actions had demonstrated a new principle.From then on, when a strike threatened the public welfare, the fed-eral government was expected to intervene. In addition, Roosevelt’sactions reflected the progressive belief that disputes could be settledin an orderly way with the help of experts, such as those on thearbitration commission.

RAILROAD REGULATION Roosevelt’s real goal was federal regulation. In 1887,Congress had passed the Interstate Commerce Act, which prohibited wealthy rail-road owners from colluding to fix high prices by dividing the business in a givenarea. The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was set up to enforce the newlaw but had little power. With Roosevelt’s urging, Congress passed the Elkins Actin 1903, which made it illegal for railroad officials to give, and shippers to receive,

rebates for using particular railroads. The act also specifiedthat railroads could not change set rates without notifyingthe public.

The Hepburn Act of 1906 strictly limited the distribu-tion of free railroad passes, a common form of bribery. Italso gave the ICC power to set maximum railroad rates.Although Roosevelt had to compromise with conservativesenators who opposed the act, its passage boosted the gov-ernment’s power to regulate the railroads.

Health and the EnvironmentPresident Roosevelt’s enthusiasm and his considerable skillat compromise led to laws and policies that benefited bothpublic health and the environment. He wrote, “We recog-nize and are bound to war against the evils of today. Theremedies are partly economic and partly spiritual, partly tobe obtained by laws, and in greater part to be obtained byindividual and associated effort.”

REGULATING FOODS AND DRUGS After reading The Jungleby Upton Sinclair, Roosevelt responded to the public’s clam-or for action. He appointed a commission of experts to inves-tigate the meatpacking industry. The commission issued ascathing report backing up Sinclair’s account of the disgust-ing conditions in the industry. True to his word, in 1906Roosevelt pushed for passage of the Meat Inspection Act,

320 CHAPTER 9

“ In life, as in afootball game, theprinciple . . . is:Hit the line hard.”THEODORE ROOSEVELT B

NOWNOW THENTHEN

MEAT INSPECTIONDuring the Progressive Era, peo-ple worried about the kinds ofthings that might fall—or walk—into a batch of meat beingprocessed. Today, Americansworry more about contaminationby unseen dangers, such as E. coli bacteria, mad cow dis-ease, and antibiotics or otherchemicals that may pose long-range health risks to people.

In July 1996, Congress passedthe most extensive changes instandards for meat inspectionsince the Meat Inspection Act of1906. The costs of the new,more scientific inspectionsamount to about a tenth of apenny per pound of meat. TheFDA has also adopted restrictionson importation of feed and live-stock from other countries to pre-vent the spread of disease.

Vocabularycollude: to acttogether secretlyto achieve anillegal or deceitfulpurpose

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

B

AnalyzingEffects

What wassignificant aboutthe way the 1902coal strike wassettled?


Coal Mining in the Early 1900s

Most underground mines hadtwo shafts—an elevator shaft(shown here) for transportingworkers and coal, and an airshaft for ventilation.

The miners’ main tool was the pick. Many also used drilling machines.

Donkeys or mules pulled thecoal cars to the elevators,which transported the coalto the surface.

Coal played a key role in America’s industrial boom around the turn of the century,providing the United States with about 90 percent of its energy. Miners often hadto dig for coal hundreds of feet below the earth’s surface. The work in thesemines was among the hardest and most dangerous in the world. Progressive Erareforms helped improve conditions for miners, as many won wage increases andshorter work hours.

The coal mines employedthousands of children, like thisboy pictured in 1909. In 1916,progressives helped securepassage of a child labor law thatforbade interstate commerce ofgoods produced by childrenunder the age of 14.

Like these men working in 1908,miners typicallyspent their days in dark, crampedspaces underground.

▼

Most mines used a room-and-pillar method for extractingcoal. This entailed digging out “rooms” of coal off a seriesof tunnels, leaving enough coal behind to form a pillar thatprevented the room from collapsing.

pillars room elevator shaft

room

air shaft

▼

C

which dictated strict cleanliness requirements for meatpackers and created the pro-gram of federal meat inspection that was in use until it was replaced by moresophisticated techniques in the 1990s.

The compromise that won the act’s passage, however, left the governmentpaying for the inspections and did not require companies to label their cannedgoods with date-of-processing information. The compromise also granted meat-packers the right to appeal negative decisions in court.

PURE FOOD AND DRUG ACT Before any federal regulations were establishedfor advertising food and drugs, manufacturers had claimed that their productsaccomplished everything from curing cancer to growing hair. In addition, popu-lar children’s medicines often contained opium, cocaine, or alcohol. In a series of

lectures across the country, Dr. Harvey WashingtonWiley, chief chemist at the Department of Agriculture,criticized manufacturers for adding harmful preserva-tives to food and brought needed attention to this issue.

In 1906, Congress passed the Pure Food andDrug Act, which halted the sale of contaminatedfoods and medicines and called for truth in labeling.Although this act did not ban harmful products out-right, its requirement of truthful labels reflected theprogressive belief that given accurate information, peo-ple would act wisely.

CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCESBefore Roosevelt’s presidency, the federal governmenthad paid very little attention to the nation’s naturalresources. Despite the establishment of the U.S. ForestBureau in 1887 and the subsequent withdrawal frompublic sale of 45 million acres of timberlands for anational forest reserve, the government stood by whileprivate interests gobbled up the shrinking wilderness.

322 CHAPTER 9

Governmentworkers inspectmeat as it movesthrough thepackinghouse.

A typical late-19th-centuryproductadvertisement. ▼

▼

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

CComparing

Whatsimilarities did theMeat InspectionAct and Pure Foodand Drug Actshare?

In the late 19th century Americans had shortsightedly exploited their natur-al environment. Pioneer farmers leveled the forests and plowed up the prairies.Ranchers allowed their cattle to overgraze the Great Plains. Coal companies clut-tered the land with refuse from mines. Lumber companies ignored the effect oftheir logging operations on flood control and neglected to plant trees to replacethose they had cut down. Cities dumped untreated sewage and industrial wastesinto rivers, poisoning the streams and creating health hazards.

CONSERVATION MEASURES Roosevelt condemned the view that America’sresources were endless and made conservation a primary concern. John Muir, anaturalist and writer with whom Roosevelt camped in California’s YosemiteNational Park in 1903, persuaded the president to set aside 148 million acres offorest reserves. Roosevelt also set aside 1.5 million acres of water-power sites andanother 80 million acres of land that experts from the U.S. Geological Surveywould explore for mineral and water resources. Roosevelt also established morethan 50 wildlife sanctuaries and several national parks.

True to the Progressive belief in using experts, in 1905 the president namedGifford Pinchot as head of the U.S. Forest Service. A professional conservationist,Pinchot had administrative skill as well as the latest scientific and technical infor-mation. He advised Roosevelt to conserve forest and grazing lands by keepinglarge tracts of federal land exempt from private sale.

Conservationists like Roosevelt and Pinchot, however, did not share theviews of Muir, who advocated complete preservation of the wilderness. Instead,conservation to them meant that some wilderness areas would be preservedwhile others would be developed for the common good. Indeed, Roosevelt’s fed-eral water projects transformed some dry wilderness areas to make agriculturepossible. Under the National Reclamation Act of 1902, known as the Newlands

40°N40°N

30°N

20°N

130°W

110°W 90°W 80°W 70°W150°W160°W 140°W

Created 1909–1996

Created 1901–1908

Created 1872–1900

Federal Conservation Lands

0 200 400 kilometers

0 200 400 miles

N

S

E

W


Federal Conservation Lands, 1872–1996

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER1. Region Prior to 1901, which regions had the

greatest amount of conservation lands?2. Human Enviroment Interaction Describe

the effects of Roosevelt’s conservation effortsand the impact he had on the environment?

Act, money from the sale of public lands in the West fundedlarge-scale irrigation projects, such as the Roosevelt Dam inArizona and the Shoshone Dam in Wyoming. The NewlandsAct established the precedent that the federal governmentwould manage the precious water resources of the West.

Roosevelt and Civil RightsRoosevelt’s concern for the land and its inhabitants was notmatched in the area of civil rights. Though Roosevelt's fatherhad supported the North, his mother, Martha, may wellhave been the model for the Southern belle Scarlet O’Hara inMargaret Mitchell's famous novel, Gone with the Wind. Inalmost two terms as president, Roosevelt—like most otherprogressives—failed to support civil rights for AfricanAmericans. He did, however, support a few individual AfricanAmericans.

Despite opposition from whites, Roosevelt appointed anAfrican American as head of the Charleston, South Carolina,customhouse. In another instance, when some whites inMississippi refused to accept the black postmistress he hadappointed, he chose to close the station rather than give in.In 1906, however, Roosevelt angered many African Americanswhen he dismissed without question an entire regiment ofAfrican-American soldiers accused of conspiracy in protect-ing others charged with murder in Brownsville, Texas.

As a symbolic gesture, Roosevelt invited Booker T.Washington to dinner at the White House. Washington—head of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, an all-

black training school—was then the African-American leader most respected bypowerful whites. Washington faced opposition, however, from other African

324 CHAPTER 9

Civil rights leadersgather at the 1905Niagara Fallsconference.


D

▼MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

DSummarizing

SummarizeRoosevelt’sapproach toenvironmentalproblems.

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARKThe naturalist John Muir visitedthe Yosemite region of centralCalifornia in 1868 and made ithis home base for a period of sixyears while he traveled through-out the West.

Muir was the first to suggestthat Yosemite’s spectacular landformations had been shaped byglaciers. Today the park’s impres-sive cliffs, waterfalls, lakes, andmeadows draw sports enthusi-asts and tourists in all seasons.

Americans, such as W. E. B. Du Bois, for his accommodationof segregationists and for blaming black poverty on blacksand urging them to accept discrimination.

Persistent in his criticism of Washington’s ideas, Du Boisrenewed his demands for immediate social and economicequality for African Americans. In his 1903 book The Souls ofBlack Folk, Du Bois wrote of his opposition to Washington’sposition.

A PERSONAL VOICE W. E. B. DU BOIS

“ So far as Mr. Washington preaches Thrift, Patience, andIndustrial Training for the masses, we must hold up his handsand strive with him. . . . But so far as Mr. Washington apolo-gizes for injustice, North or South, does not rightly value theprivilege and duty of voting, belittles the emasculatingeffects of caste distinctions, and opposes the higher trainingand ambition of our brighter minds,—so far as he, the South,or the Nation, does this,—we must unceasingly and firmlyoppose them.”

—The Souls of Black Folk

Du Bois and other advocates of equality for AfricanAmericans were deeply upset by the apparent progressiveindifference to racial injustice. In 1905 they held a civil rightsconference in Niagara Falls, and in 1909 a number of AfricanAmericans joined with prominent white reformers in NewYork to found the NAACP—the National Association for theAdvancement of Colored People. The NAACP, which hadover 6,000 members by 1914, aimed for nothing less than fullequality among the races. That goal, however, found little sup-port in the Progressive Movement, which focused on the needsof middle-class whites. The two presidents who followedRoosevelt also did little to advance the goal of racial equality.


•Upton Sinclair•The Jungle

•Theodore Roosevelt•Square Deal

•Meat Inspection Act•Pure Food and Drug Act

•conservation•NAACP



Create five problem-solution diagramslike the one below to show how thefollowing problems were addressedduring Roosevelt’s presidency: (a) 1902 coal strike, (b) NorthernSecurities Company monopoly, (c) unsafe meat processing, (d) exploitation of the environment,and (e) racial injustice.

Write headlines announcing thesolutions.

CRITICAL THINKING3. FORMING GENERALIZATIONS (11.2.9)

In what ways do you think theprogressive belief in using expertsplayed a role in shaping Roosevelt’sreforms? Refer to details from thetext. Think About:

• Roosevelt’s use of experts tohelp him tackle political, eco-nomic, and environmental prob-lems

• how experts’ findings affectedlegislative actions

4. EVALUATING (11.2.6)Research the coal strike of 1902. Do you think Roosevelt’sintervention was in favor of thestrikers or of the mine operators?Why?

5. ANALYZING ISSUES (11.5.2)Why did W. E. B. Du Bois opposeBooker T. Washington’s views onracial discrimination?

Problems Solutions

Vocabularyaccommodation:adapting ormakingadjustments inorder to satisfysomeone else

BackgroundThe NiagaraMovement wascomprised of 29black intellectuals.They met secretlyin 1905 tocompose a civilrights manifesto.


W. E. B. DU BOIS1868–1963

In 1909, W. E. B. Du Bois helpedto establish the NAACP andentered into the forefront of theearly U.S. civil rights movement.However, in the 1920s, he faced apower struggle with the NAACP’sexecutive secretary, Walter White.

Ironically, Du Bois had retreatedto a position others saw as dan-gerously close to that of BookerT. Washington. Arguing for a sep-arate economy for AfricanAmericans, Du Bois made a dis-tinction, which White rejected,between enforced and voluntarysegregation. By mid-century, DuBois was outside the mainstreamof the civil rights movement. Hiswork remained largely ignoreduntil after his death in 1963.

326 CHAPTER 9

AMERICAN

LITERATURE

The MuckrakersThe tradition of the investigative reporter uncovering cor-ruption was established early in the 20th century by the writ-

ers known as muckrakers. Coined by President Theodore Roosevelt, the term muck-raker alludes to the English author John Bunyan’s famous 17th-century religiousallegory The Pilgrim’s Progress, which features a character too busy raking up themuck to see a heavenly crown held over him. The originally negative term soon wasapplied to many writers whose reform efforts Roosevelt himself supported. Themuckraking movement spilled over from journalism as writers such as UptonSinclair made use of the greater dramatic effects of fiction.

1902–1917

IDA M. TARBELLIda M. Tarbell’s “The History of the Standard Oil Company”exposed the ruthlessness with which John D. Rockefeller hadturned his oil business into an all-powerful monopoly. Her writingadded force to the trustbusting reforms of the early 20th century.Here Tarbell describes how Standard Oil used lower transporta-tion rates to drive out smaller refineries, such as Hanna,Baslington and Company.

Mr. Hanna had been refining since July, 1869. . . . Some timein February, 1872, the Standard Oil Company asked [for] aninterview with him and his associates. They wanted to buy hisworks, they said. “But we don’t want to sell,” objected Mr.Hanna. “You can never make any more money, in my judg-ment,” said Mr. Rockefeller. “You can’t compete with theStandard. We have all the large refineries now. If you refuse tosell, it will end in your being crushed.” Hanna and Baslingtonwere not satisfied. They went to see . . . General Devereux,manager of the Lake Shore road. They were told that theStandard had special rates; that it was useless to try to competewith them. General Devereux explained to the gentlemen thatthe privileges granted the Standard were the legitimate andnecessary advantage of the larger shipper over the smaller. . . .General Devereux says they “recognised the propriety” of hisexcuse. They certainly recognised its authority. They say thatthey were satisfied they could no longer get rates to and fromCleveland which would enable them to live, and “reluctantly”sold out. It must have been reluctantly, for they had paid$75,000 for their works, and had made thirty per cent. a yearon an average on their investment, and the Standard appraiserallowed them $45,000.

—Ida M. Tarbell, “The History of the Standard Oil Company” (1904)

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11.2.1 Know the effects of industrialization onliving and working conditions, including theportrayal of working conditions and food safetyin Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.

HI 1 Students show the connections, causal andotherwise, between particular historical eventsand larger social, economic, and political trendsand developments.


LINCOLN STEFFENSLincoln Steffens is usually named as a leading figure of the muckraking movement.He published exposés of business and government corruption in McClure’sMagazine and other magazines. These articles were then collected in two books:The Shame of the Cities and The Struggle for Self-Government. Below is a sec-tion from an article Steffens wrote to expose voter fraud in Philadelphia.

The police are forbidden by law to stand within thirty feet of the polls, butthey are at the box and they are there to see that the[Republican political] machine’s orders are obeyed and thatrepeaters whom they help to furnish are permitted to votewithout “intimidation” on the names they, the police,have supplied. The editor of an anti-machine paper whowas looking about for himself once told me that a wardleader who knew him well asked him into a pollingplace. “I’ll show you how it’s done,” he said, and hehad the repeaters go round and round voting againand again on the names handed them on slips. . . . Thebusiness proceeds with very few hitches; there is morejesting than fighting. Violence in the past has had itseffect; and is not often necessary nowadays, but if it isneeded the police are there to apply it.

—Lincoln Steffens, The Shame of the Cities (1904)

UPTON SINCLAIRUpton Sinclair’s chief aim in writing The Jungle was to expose the shocking conditionsthat immigrant workers endured. The public, however, reacted even more strongly to thenovel’s revelations of unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry. Serialized in1905 and published in book form one year later, The Jungle prompted a federal investi-gation that resulted in passage of the Meat Inspection Act in 1906.

Jonas had told them how the meat that was taken out of picklewould often be found sour, and how they would rub it up with[baking] soda to take away the smell, and sell it to be eaten onfree-lunch counters; also of all the miracles of chemistry whichthey performed, giving to any sort of meat, fresh or salted, wholeor chopped, any color and any flavor and any odor they chose. . . .

It was only when the whole ham was spoiled that it came intothe department of Elzbieta. Cut up by the two-thousand-revolu-tions-a-minute flyers, and mixed with half a ton of other meat, noodor that ever was in a ham could make any difference. There wasnever the least attention paid towhat was cut up for sausage;there would come all the wayback from Europe old sausagethat had been rejected, and thatwas moldy and white—itwould be dosed with borax andglycerine, and dumped intothe hoppers, and made over

again for home consumption.

—Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (1906)

▼

THINKING CRITICALLYTHINKING CRITICALLY

1. Comparing and Contrasting State the main idea ofeach of these selections. What role do details play inmaking the passages convincing?


2.

Visit the links for American Literature: The Muckrakersto learn more about the muckrakers. What topics didthey investigate? How did they affect public opinion?What legal changes did they help to bring about? Writea summary of the muckrakers’ impact on society.

IINTERNET ACTIVITY CLASSZONE.COM


328 CHAPTER 9

Terms & NamesTerms & NamesMAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA


Progressivism Under Taft

•Gifford Pinchot•William HowardTaft

•Payne-AldrichTariff

•Bull Moose Party•Woodrow Wilson

Taft’s ambivalent approach toprogressive reform led to asplit in the Republican Partyand the loss of the presidencyto the Democrats.

Third-party candidates continueto wrestle with how to becomeviable candidates.


Early in the 20th century, Americans’ interest in thepreservation of the country’s wilderness areas intensified.Writers proclaimed the beauty of the landscape, and newgroups like the Girl Scouts gave city children the chance toexperience a different environment. The desire for preser-vation clashed with business interests that favored unre-stricted development. Gifford Pinchot (pGnPshIQ), headof the U.S. Forest Service under President Roosevelt, took amiddle ground. He believed that wilderness areas could bescientifically managed to yield public enjoyment whileallowing private development.

A PERSONAL VOICE GIFFORD PINCHOT

“ The American people have evidently made up theirminds that our natural resources must be conserved. That isgood. But it settles only half the question. For whose benefitshall they be conserved—for the benefit of the many, or for theuse and profit of the few? . . . There is no other question beforeus that begins to be so important, or that will be so difficult tostraddle, as the great question between special interest andequal opportunity, between the privileges of the few and therights of the many, between government by men for human wel-fare and government by money for profit.”

—The Fight for Conservation

President Roosevelt, a fellow conservationist, favored Pinchot’s multi-use landprogram. However, when he left office in 1909, this approach came under increasingpressure from business people who favored unrestricted commercial development.

Taft Becomes PresidentAfter winning the election in 1904, Roosevelt pledged not to run for reelection in1908. He handpicked his secretary of war, William Howard Taft, to run againstWilliam Jennings Bryan, who had been nominated by the Democrats for the thirdtime. Under the slogan “Vote for Taft this time, You can vote for Bryan any time,”Taft and the Republicans won an easy victory.

Gifford Pinchot

▼



11.4.4 Explain Theodore Roosevelt’sBig Stick diplomacy, William Taft’sDollar Diplomacy, and WoodrowWilson’s Moral Diplomacy, drawing on relevant speeches.

11.8.6 Discuss the diverse environmen-tal regions of North America, theirrelationship to local economies, andthe origins and prospects of environ-mental problems in those regions.

11.11.5 Trace the impact of, need for,and controversies associated withenvironmental conservation, expan-sion of the national park system, andthe development of environmentalprotection laws, with particularattention to the interaction betweenenvironmental protection advocatesand property rights advocates.

CST 2 Students analyze how changehappens at different rates at differenttimes; understand that some aspectscan change while others remain thesame; and understand that change iscomplicated and affects not only tech-nology and politics but also values and beliefs.

REP 1 Students distinguish validarguments from fallacious argumentsin historical interpretations.

TAFT STUMBLES As president, Taft pursued a cautiouslyprogressive agenda, seeking to consolidate rather than toexpand Roosevelt’s reforms. He received little credit for hisaccomplishments, however. His legal victories, such as bust-ing 90 trusts in a four-year term, did not bolster his popu-larity. Indeed, the new president confessed in a letter toRoosevelt that he never felt like the president. “When I amaddressed as ‘Mr. President,’” Taft wrote, “I turn to seewhether you are not at my elbow.”

The cautious Taft hesitated to use the presidential bullypulpit to arouse public opinion. Nor could he subdue trou-blesome members of his own party. Tariffs and conserva-tion posed his first problems.

THE PAYNE–ALDRICH TARIFF Taft had campaigned on aplatform of lowering tariffs, a staple of the progressive agen-da. When the House passed the Payne Bill, which loweredrates on imported manufactured goods, the Senate pro-posed an alternative bill, the Aldrich Bill, which made fewercuts and increased many rates. Amid cries of betrayal fromthe progressive wing of his party, Taft signed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff, a compromise that only moderated thehigh rates of the Aldrich Bill. This angered progressives whobelieved Taft had abandoned progressivism. The presidentmade his difficulties worse by clumsily attempting todefend the tariff, calling it “the best [tariff] bill theRepublican party ever passed.”

DISPUTING PUBLIC LANDS Next, Taft angered conserva-tionists by appointing as his secretary of the interior Richard A. Ballinger, awealthy lawyer from Seattle. Ballinger, who disapproved of conservationist con-trols on western lands, removed 1 million acres of forest and mining lands fromthe reserved list and returned it to the public domain.

When a Department of the Interior official was fired for protesting Ballinger’sactions, the fired worker published a muckraking article against Ballinger inCollier’s Weekly magazine. Pinchot added his voice. In congressional testimony heaccused Ballinger of letting commercial interests exploit the natural resources thatrightfully belonged to the public. President Taft sided with Ballinger and firedPinchot from the U.S. Forest Service.

The Republican Party SplitsTaft’s cautious nature made it impossible for him to hold together the twowings of the Republican Party: progressives who sought change and conserva-tives who did not. The Republican Party began to fragment.

PROBLEMS WITHIN THE PARTY Republican conservatives and progressivessplit over Taft’s support of the political boss Joseph Cannon, House Speakerfrom Illinois. A rough-talking, tobacco-chewing politician, “Uncle Joe” oftendisregarded seniority in filling committee slots. As chairman of the House RulesCommittee, which decides what bills Congress considers, Cannon often weak-ened or ignored progressive bills.

Reform-minded Republicans decided that their only alternative was to stripCannon of his power. With the help of Democrats, they succeeded in March 1910with a resolution that called for the entire House to elect the Committee onRules and excluded the Speaker from membership in the committee. William Howard Taft

BackgroundSee tariff on page R46 in theEconomicsHandbook.

A

DIFFICULTDIFFICULT

DECISIONSDECISIONS

CONTROLLING RESOURCESHistorically, conservationists suchas Gifford Pinchot have stood forthe balanced use of naturalresources, preserving some andusing others for private industry.Free-market advocates like RichardBallinger pressed for the privatedevelopment of wilderness areas.Preservationists such as JohnMuir advocated preserving allremaining wilderness.

1. Examine the pros and cons ofeach position. With which doyou agree? What factors do youthink should influence deci-sions about America’s wilder-ness areas?

2. If you’d been asked in 1902 to decide whether to develop orpreserve America’s wildernessareas, what would you havedecided? Why?


MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

A

AnalyzingIssues

How did Taft’sappointee RichardBallinger angerconservationists?

By the midterm elections of 1910, however, theRepublican Party was in shambles, with the progressives onone side and the “old guard” on the other. Voters voicedconcern over the rising cost of living, which they blamedon the Payne-Aldrich Tariff. They also believed Taft to beagainst conservation. When the Republicans lost the elec-tion, the Democrats gained control of the House ofRepresentatives for the first time in 18 years.

THE BULL MOOSE PARTY After leaving office, Rooseveltheaded to Africa to shoot big game. He returned in 1910to a hero’s welcome, and responded with a rousingspeech proposing a “New Nationalism,” under which thefederal government would exert its power for “the welfareof the people.”

By 1912, Roosevelt had decided to run for a thirdterm as president. The primary elections showed thatRepublicans wanted Roosevelt, but Taft had the advantageof being the incumbent—that is, the holder of the office.At the Republican convention in June 1912, Taft support-ers maneuvered to replace Roosevelt delegates with Taftdelegates in a number of delegations. Republican progres-sives refused to vote and formed a new third party, theProgressive Party. They nominated Roosevelt for president.

The Progressive Party became known as the Bull MooseParty, after Roosevelt’s boast that he was “as strong as a bullmoose.” The party’s platform called for the direct electionof senators and the adoption in all states of the initiative,referendum, and recall. It also advocated woman suffrage,workmen’s compensation, an eight-hour workday, a mini-mum wage for women, a federal law against child labor,and a federal trade commission to regulate business.

The split in the Republican ranks handed theDemocrats their first real chance at the White House sincethe election of Grover Cleveland in 1892. In the 1912 pres-idential election, they put forward as their candidate areform governor of New Jersey named Woodrow Wilson.

Democrats Win in 1912Under Governor Woodrow Wilson’s leadership, the previously conservative NewJersey legislature had passed a host of reform measures. Now, as the Democraticpresidential nominee, Wilson endorsed a progressive platform called the NewFreedom. It demanded even stronger antitrust legislation, banking reform, andreduced tariffs.

The split between Taft and Roosevelt, former Republican allies, turned nastyduring the fall campaign. Taft labeled Roosevelt a “dangerous egotist,” whileRoosevelt branded Taft a “fathead” with the brain of a “guinea pig.” Wilson dis-tanced himself, quietly gloating, “Don’t interfere when your enemy is destroyinghimself.”

The election offered voters several choices: Wilson’s New Freedom, Taft’s con-servatism, Roosevelt’s progressivism, or the Socialist Party policies of Eugene V.Debs. Both Roosevelt and Wilson supported a stronger government role in eco-nomic affairs but differed over strategies. Roosevelt supported government actionto supervise big business but did not oppose all business monopolies, while Debs

330 CHAPTER 9


WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT1857–1930

William Howard Taft never wantedto be president. After serving oneterm, Taft left the White House,which he called “the lonesomestplace in the world,” and taughtconstitutional law at Yale for eightyears.

In 1921, President Hardingnamed Taft chief justice of theSupreme Court. The man whosefamily had nicknamed him “BigLub” called this appointment thehighest honor he had everreceived. As chief justice, Taftwrote that “in my present life Idon’t remember that I ever wasPresident.”

However, Americans rememberTaft for, among many other things,initiating in 1910 the popular pres-idential custom of throwing outthe first ball of the major leaguebaseball season.

Vocabulary“old guard”:conservativemembers of agroup

B

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

BContrasting

What were the differencesbetween Taft’s and Roosevelt’scampaignplatforms?

•Gifford Pinchot•William Howard Taft

•Payne-Aldrich Tariff•Bull Moose Party

•Woodrow Wilson



Re-create the chart below on yourpaper. Then fill in the causes Taftsupported that made peoplequestion his leadership.

Which causes do you think wouldupset most people today? Explain.

CRITICAL THINKING3. HYPOTHESIZING (11.4.4)

What if Roosevelt had won anotherterm in office in 1912? Speculateon how this might have affected the future of progressive reforms.Support your answer. Think About:

• Roosevelt’s policies that Taft didnot support

• the power struggles within theRepublican Party

• Roosevelt’s perception of whatis required of a president

4. EVALUATING (REP 1)Both Roosevelt and Taft resorted to mudslinging during the 1912presidential campaign. Do youapprove or disapprove of negativecampaign tactics? Support youropinion.


called for an end to capitalism. Wilsonsupported small business and free-mar-ket competition and characterized allbusiness monopolies as evil. In a speech,Wilson explained why he felt that allbusiness monopolies were a threat.

A PERSONAL VOICEWOODROW WILSON

“ If the government is to tell big busi-ness men how to run their business,then don’t you see that big businessmen have to get closer to the govern-ment even than they are now? Don’tyou see that they must capture thegovernment, in order not to berestrained too much by it? . . . I don’tcare how benevolent the master isgoing to be, I will not live under a mas-ter. That is not what America was cre-ated for. America was created in orderthat every man should have the samechance as every other man to exercisemastery over his own fortunes.”

—quoted in The New Freedom

Although Wilson captured only 42 percent of the popular vote, he won anoverwhelming electoral victory and a Democratic majority in Congress. As athird-party candidate, Roosevelt defeated Taft in both popular and electoral votes.But reform claimed the real victory, with more than 75 percent of the vote goingto the reform candidates—Wilson, Roosevelt, and Debs. In victory, Wilson couldclaim a mandate to break up trusts and to expand the government’s role in socialreform. C

CauseCauseCauseCause

Result: Taft’s Difficulties in Office

Presidential Election of 1912

Party Candidate Electoral votes Popular voteDemocratic Woodrow Wilson 435 6,296,547

Progressive Theodore Roosevelt 88 4,118,571

Republican William H. Taft 8 3,486,720

Socialist Eugene V. Debs 0 900,672

Roosevelt, 11Wilson, 2

4418

57143

8

7

54

4

34

3

3 3

6

8

10

10

5

512

13

18

20

9

10 10

91412

6

1315

29

1213

15 24

12

8 12

38

45

6

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

C

PredictingEffects

What might beone of Wilson’sfirst issues toaddress aspresident?

332 CHAPTER 9

Wilson’s New FreedomTerms & NamesTerms & NamesMAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

•Carrie ChapmanCatt

•Clayton AntitrustAct

•Federal TradeCommission (FTC)

•Federal ReserveSystem

•NineteenthAmendment

Woodrow Wilson establisheda strong reform agenda as aprogressive leader.

The passage of the NineteenthAmendment during Wilson’sadministration granted womenthe right to vote.


On March 4, 1913, the day of Woodrow Wilson’s inaugura-tion, 5,000 woman suffragists marched through hostilecrowds in Washington, D.C. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, theparade’s organizers, were members of the National AmericanWoman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). As police failed torestrain the rowdy gathering and congressmen demanded aninvestigation, Paul and Burns could see the momentum build-ing for suffrage.

By the time Wilson began his campaign for a second termin 1916, the NAWSA’s president, Carrie Chapman Catt, sawvictory on the horizon. Catt expressed her optimism in a let-ter to her friend Maud Wood Park.

A PERSONAL VOICE CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT

“ I do feel keenly that the turn of the road has come. . . . I really believe that wemight pull off a campaign which would mean the vote within the next six years ifwe could secure a Board of officers who would have sufficient momentum, confi-dence and working power in them. . . . Come! My dear Mrs. Park, gird on yourarmor once more.”

— letter to Maud Wood Park

Catt called an emergency suffrage convention in September 1916, and invit-ed President Wilson, who cautiously supported suffrage. He told the convention,“There has been a force behind you that will . . . be triumphant and for which youcan afford. . . . to wait.” They did have to wait, but within four years, the passageof the suffrage amendment became the capstone of the progressive movement.

Wilson Wins Financial ReformsLike Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson claimed progressive ideals, but he hada different idea for the federal government. He believed in attacking large con-centrations of power to give greater freedom to average citizens. The prejudicesof his Southern background, however, prevented him from using federal powerto fight off attacks directed at the civil rights of African Americans.


Carrie Chapman Catt

▼


11.1.4 Examine the effects of the CivilWar and Reconstruction and of theindustrial revolution, including demo-graphic shifts and the emergence inthe late nineteenth century of theUnited States as a world power.

11.2.5 Discuss corporate mergers thatproduced trusts and cartels and theeconomic and political policies ofindustrial leaders.


11.5.4 Analyze the passage of theNineteenth Amendment and thechanging role of women in society.

11.6.5 Trace the advances and retreatsof organized labor, from the creationof the American Federation of Laborand the Congress of IndustrialOrganizations to current issues of apostindustrial, multinational economy,including the United Farm Workers inCalifornia.

11.10.7 Analyze the women’s rightsmovement from the era of ElizabethStanton and Susan Anthony and thepassage of the Nineteenth Amendmentto the movement launched in the1960s, including differing perspectiveson the roles of women.

WILSON’S BACKGROUND Wilson spent his youth in the South during the CivilWar and Reconstruction. The son, grandson, and nephew of Presbyterian minis-ters, he received a strict upbringing. Before entering politics, Wilson worked as a lawyer, a history professor, and later as president of Princeton University. In1910, Wilson became the governor of New Jersey. As governor, he supported pro-gressive legislation programs such as a direct primary, worker’s compensation,and the regulation of public utilities and railroads.

As America’s newly elected president, Wilson moved to enact his program,the “New Freedom,” and planned his attack on what he called the triple wall ofprivilege: the trusts, tariffs, and high finance.

TWO KEY ANTITRUST MEASURES “Without the watchful . . . resolute inter-ference of the government,” Wilson said, “there can be no fair play between indi-viduals and such powerful institutions as the trusts. Freedom today is somethingmore than being let alone.” During Wilson’s administration, Congress enactedtwo key antitrust measures. The first, the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914,sought to strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The Clayton Act pro-hibited corporations from acquiring the stock of another if doing so would createa monopoly; if a company violated the law, its officers could be prosecuted.

The Clayton Act also specified that labor unions and farm organizations notonly had a right to exist but also would no longer be subject to antitrust laws.Therefore, strikes, peaceful picketing, boycotts, and the collection of strike bene-fits became legal. In addition, injunctions against strikers were prohibited unlessthe strikers threatened damage that could not be remedied. Samuel Gompers,president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), saw great value to workersin the Clayton Act. He called it a Magna Carta for labor, referring to the Englishdocument, signed in 1215, in which the English king recognized that he wasbound by the law and that the law granted rights to his subjects.

The second major antitrust measure, the Federal TradeCommission Act of 1914, set up the Federal TradeCommission (FTC). This “watchdog” agency was giventhe power to investigate possible violations of regulatorystatutes, to require periodic reports from corporations, andto put an end to a number of unfair business practices.Under Wilson, the FTC administered almost 400 cease-and-desist orders to companies engaged in illegal activity.

A NEW TAX SYSTEM In an effort to curb the power of bigbusiness, Wilson worked to lower tariff rates, knowing thatsupporters of big business hadn’t allowed such a reductionunder Taft.

Wilson lobbied hard in 1913 for the Underwood Act,which would substantially reduce tariff rates for the firsttime since the Civil War. He summoned Congress to a spe-cial session to plead his case, and established a precedent ofdelivering the State of the Union message in person.Businesses lobbied too, looking to block tariff reductions.When manufacturing lobbyists—people hired by manufac-turers to present their case to government officials—descended on the capital to urge senators to vote no, pas-sage seemed unlikely. Wilson denounced the lobbyists andurged voters to monitor their senators’ votes. Because of thenew president’s use of the bully pulpit, the Senate voted tocut tariff rates even more deeply than the House had done.


NOWNOW THENTHEN

DEREGULATIONIn recent years the railroad, air-line, and telecommunicationsindustries have all been deregu-lated, or permitted to competewithout government control. It ishoped that this will improve theirefficiency and lower prices.

During the Progressive Era,reformers viewed regulation as anecessary role of government toensure safety and fairness forconsumers as well as industrialcompetitors. Opponents of regu-lation, however, believed that gov-ernment regulation caused ineffi-ciency and high prices.

Modern critics of deregulationargue that deregulated businessesmay skimp on safety. They mayalso neglect hard-to-serve popula-tions, such as elderly, poor, ordisabled people, while competingfor more profitable customers.

A

Vocabularyinjunction: a courtorder prohibiting aparty from aspecific course ofaction

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

ASummarizing

What was theimpact of the twoantitrustmeasures?

FEDERAL INCOME TAX With lowertariff rates, the federal government hadto replace the revenue that tariffs hadpreviously supplied. Ratified in 1913,the Sixteenth Amendment legalized agraduated federal income tax, whichprovided revenue by taxing individualearnings and corporate profits.

Under this graduated tax, largerincomes were taxed at higher rates thansmaller incomes. The tax began with amodest tax on family incomes over$4,000, and ranged from 1 percent to amaximum of 6 percent on incomes over$500,000. Initially, few congressmenrealized the potential of the income tax,but by 1917, the government was receiv-ing more money on the income tax thanit had ever gained from tariffs. Today,income taxes on corporations and indi-viduals represent the federal govern-ment’s main source of revenue.

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM Next, Wilson turned his attention to financialreform. The nation needed a way to strengthen the ways in which banks wererun, as well as a way to quickly adjust the amount of money in circulation. Bothcredit availability and money supply had to keep pace with the economy.

Wilson’s solution was to establish a decentralized private banking systemunder federal control. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 divided the nation into 12districts and established a regional central bank in each district. These “banker’sbanks” then served the other banks within the district.

The federal reserve banks could issue new paper currency in emergency situ-ations, and member banks could use the new currency to make loans to their cus-tomers. Federal reserve banks could transfer funds to member banks in trouble,saving the banks from closing and protecting customers’ savings. By 1923, rough-ly 70 percent of the nation’s banking resources were part of the Federal ReserveSystem. One of Wilson’s most enduring achievements, this system still serves asthe basis of the nation’s banking system.

Women Win SuffrageWhile Wilson pushed hard for reform of trusts, tariffs, and banking, determinedwomen intensified their push for the vote. The educated, native-born, middle-class women who had been active in progressive movements had grown increas-ingly impatient about not being allowed to vote. As of 1910, women had federalvoting rights only in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Washington, and Idaho.

Determined suffragists pushed on, however. They finally saw success comewithin reach as a result of three developments: the increased activism of localgroups, the use of bold new strategies to build enthusiasm for the movement, andthe rebirth of the national movement under Carrie Chapman Catt.

LOCAL SUFFRAGE BATTLES The suffrage movement was given new strengthby growing numbers of college-educated women. Two Massachusetts organiza-tions, the Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government and theCollege Equal Suffrage League, used door-to-door campaigns to reach potential

334 CHAPTER 9

BackgroundSee taxation onpage R46 in theEconomicsHandbook.

B

Revenue from Individual Federal Income Tax,1915–1995

Total

Sources: Historical Statistics of the United States; Statistical Abstract of the United States,1987, 1995, 1999

Dolla

rs (

in b

illio

ns)

600

500

400

300

200

100

01915 1935 1955 1975 1995

SKILLBUILDER Interpreting Graphs1. About what year did income tax revenues first begin to

rise sharply?2. About how much revenue did the income tax bring in

1995?

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

BEvaluating

Why weretariff reform andthe FederalReserve Systemimportant?

supporters. Founded by Radcliffe graduate Maud Wood Park,the Boston group spread the message of suffrage to poorand working-class women. Members also took trolley tourswhere, at each stop, crowds would gather to watch theunusual sight of a woman speaking in public.

Many wealthy young women who visited Europe aspart of their education became involved in the suffragemovement in Britain. Led by Emmeline Pankhurst, Britishsuffragists used increasingly bold tactics, such as hecklinggovernment officials, to advance their cause. Inspired bytheir activism, American women returned to the UnitedStates armed with similar approaches in their own cam-paigns for suffrage.

CATT AND THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT Susan B.Anthony’s successor as president of NAWSA was CarrieChapman Catt, who served from 1900 to 1904 and resumedthe presidency in 1915. When Catt returned to NAWSAafter organizing New York’s Women Suffrage Party, she con-centrated on five tactics: (1) painstaking organization; (2) close ties between local, state, and national workers; (3) establishing a wide base of support; (4) cautious lobby-ing; and (5) gracious, ladylike behavior.

Although suffragists saw victories, the greater numberof failures led some suffragists to try more radical tactics.Lucy Burns and Alice Paul formed their own more radicalorganization, the Congressional Union, and its successor,the National Woman’s Party. They pressured the federalgovernment to pass a suffrage amendment, and by 1917Paul had organized her followers to mount a round-the-clock picket line around the White House. Some of the pick-eters were arrested, jailed, and even force-fed when theyattempted a hunger strike.

These efforts, and America’s involvement in World War I,finally made suffrage inevitable. Patriotic American womenwho headed committees, knitted socks for soldiers, and soldliberty bonds now claimed their overdue reward for support-ing the war effort. In 1919, Congress passed the NineteenthAmendment, granting women the right to vote. Theamendment won final ratification in August 1920—72 years after women had firstconvened and demanded the vote at the Seneca Falls convention in 1848.

The Limits of ProgressivismDespite Wilson’s economic and political reforms, he disappointed Progressiveswho favored social reform. In particular, on racial matters Wilson appeased con-servative Southern Democratic voters but disappointed his Northern white andblack supporters. He placed segregationists in charge of federal agencies, therebyexpanding racial segregation in the federal government, the military, andWashington, D.C.

WILSON AND CIVIL RIGHTS Like Roosevelt and Taft, Wilson retreated on civilrights once in office. During the presidential campaign of 1912, he won the sup-port of the NAACP’s black intellectuals and white liberals by promising to treatblacks equally and to speak out against lynching.


WORLD STAGEWORLD STAGE

C

Vocabularyappease: pacify by grantingconcessions

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

C

AnalyzingEvents

Why do youthink women wonthe right to vote in1920, after earlierefforts had failed?

EMMELINE PANKHURSTAmerican women struggling forsuffrage received valuable tutor-ing from their English counter-parts, whose bold maneuvershad captured media coverage.

The noted British suffragistEmmeline Pankhurst, who helpedfound the National Women’sSocial and Political Union, oftenengaged in radical tactics.Pankhurst and other suffragistsstaged parades, organizedprotest meetings, enduredhunger strikes, heckled candi-dates for Parliament, and spat onpolicemen who tried to quietthem. They were often impris-oned for their activities, beforeParliament granted them the rightto vote in 1928.

History ThroughHistory Through

336 CHAPTER 9

SKILLBUILDER Interpreting Visual Sources1. What are the most striking differences between the two

houses? Cite examples that contrast the two buildings.2. How does Wright’s style reflect the progressive spirit?


▼

Wright's "prairie style" design features a low, horizontal,and well-defined structure made predominantly of wood,concrete, brick, and other simple materials. Shown hereis the Robie House (1909), one of Wright's most famousprairie-style structures, which incorporates thesearchitectural qualities.

▼

Architecture of the Gilded Age featuredornate decoration and detail, as seen here inthis Victorian-style house built between 1884and 1886. Wright rejected these showy anddecorative styles in favor of more simplisticdesigns.

FROM SPLENDOR TO SIMPLICITYThe progressive movement, which influenced numerous aspects ofsociety, also impacted the world of American architecture. One of themost prominent architects of the time was Frank Lloyd Wright, whostudied under the renowned designer Louis Sullivan. In the spirit ofprogressivism, Wright sought to design buildings that were orderly,efficient, and in harmony with the world around them.

As president, however, Wilson opposed federal antilynching legislation, argu-ing that these crimes fell under state jurisdiction. In addition, the Capitol and thefederal offices in Washington, D.C., which had been desegregated during Recon-struction, resumed the practice of segregation shortly after Wilson's election.

Wilson appointed to his cabinet fellow white Southerners who extended seg-regation. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, for example, proposed at a cab-inet meeting to do away with common drinking fountains and towels in hisdepartment. According to an entry in Daniel’s diary, President Wilson agreedbecause he had “made no promises in particular to negroes, except to do themjustice.” Segregated facilities, in the president’s mind, were just.

African Americans and their liberal white supporters in the NAACP feltbetrayed. Oswald Garrison Villard, a grandson of the abolitionist William LloydGarrison, wrote to Wilson in dismay, “The colored men who voted and worked foryou in the belief that their status as American citizens was safe in your hands aredeeply cast down.” Wilson’s response—that he had acted “in the interest of thenegroes” and “with the approval of some of the most influential negroes I know”—only widened the rift between the president and some of his former supporters.

On November 12, 1914, the president’s reception of an African-American del-egation brought the confrontation to a bitter climax. William Monroe Trotter,editor-in-chief of the Guardian, an African-American Boston newspaper, led thedelegation. Trotter complained that African Americans from 38 states had askedthe president to reverse the segregation of government employees, but that seg-regation had since increased. Trotter then commented on Wilson’s inaction.

A PERSONAL VOICE WILLIAM MONROE TROTTER

“ Only two years ago you were heralded as perhaps the second Lincoln, and nowthe Afro-American leaders who supported you are hounded as false leaders andtraitors to their race. . . . As equal citizens and by virtue of your public promiseswe are entitled at your hands to freedom from discrimination, restriction, imputa-tion, and insult in government employ. Have you a ‘new freedom’ for whiteAmericans and a new slavery for your ‘Afro-American fellow citizens’? God forbid!”

—address to President Wilson, November 12, 1914

Wilson found Trotter's tone infuriating. After an angry Trotter shook his fin-ger at the president to emphasize a point, the furious Wilson demanded that thedelegation leave. Wilson’s refusal to extend civil rights to African Americanspointed to the limits of progressivism under his administration. America’s involve-ment in the war raging in Europe would soon reveal other weaknesses.

THE TWILIGHT OF PROGRESSIVISM After taking office in 1913, Wilson hadsaid, “There’s no chance of progress and reform in an administration in which warplays the principal part.” Yet he found that the outbreak of World War I in Europein 1914 demanded America’s involvement. Meanwhile, distracted Americans andtheir legislators allowed reform efforts to stall. As the pacifist and reformer JaneAddams mournfully reflected, “The spirit of fighting burns away all those impuls-es . . . which foster the will to justice.”

International conflict was destined to be part of Wilson’s presidency. Duringthe early years of his administration, Wilson had dealt with issues of imperialismthat had roots in the late 19th century. However, World War I dominated most ofhis second term as president. The Progressive Era had come to an end.


•Carrie Chapman Catt•Clayton Antitrust Act

•Federal Trade Commission(FTC)

•Federal Reserve System•Nineteenth Amendment



Create a time line of key eventsrelating to Progressivism duringWilson’s first term. Use the datesalready plotted on the time line belowas a guide.

Write a paragraph explaining whichevent you think best demonstratesprogressive reform.

CRITICAL THINKING3. ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES

Wilson said, “Without the watchful . . .resolute interference of the govern-ment, there can be no fair playbetween individuals and . . . thetrusts.” How does this statementreflect Wilson’s approach to reform?Support your answer. Think About:

• the government’s responsibility tothe public

• the passage of two key antitrustmeasures

4. ANALYZING MOTIVES (11.2.9)Why do you think Wilson failed topush for equality for AfricanAmericans, despite his progressivereforms? Think About:

• progressive presidents beforeWilson

• Wilson’s background• the primary group of people

progressive reforms targeted

D

1913 1914 1915 1916

MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA

D

AnalyzingEffects

What actionsof Wilsondisappointed civilrights advocates?

(11.2.5)

CHAPTER ASSESSMENT

TERMS & NAMESFor each term or name below, write a sentence explain-ing its connection to the Progressive Era.

1. progressive movement 7. Gifford Pinchot2. muckraker 8. Woodrow Wilson3. suffrage 9. Clayton Antitrust4. Susan B. Anthony Act5. Theodore Roosevelt 10. Federal Reserve6. NAACP System

MAIN IDEASUse your notes and the information in the chapter toanswer the following questions.

The Origins of Progressivism (pages 306–312)1. What were the four goals that various progressive

reform movements struggled to achieve? (11.2.9)2. What kind of state labor laws resulted from progres-

sives’ lobbying to protect workers? (11.2.9)3. How did government change during the Progressive

Era? How were these changes important? (HI 2)

Women in Public Life (pages 313–316)4. In the late 1890s, what job opportunities

were available to uneducated women without industrial skills? (11.2.2)

5. Give two examples of national women’s organizationscommitted to social activism. Briefly describe theirprogressive missions. (11.2.9)

Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal (pages 317–325)6. What scandalous practices did Upton Sinclair expose

in his novel The Jungle? How did the American public,Roosevelt, and Congress respond? (11.2.1)

7. How did Roosevelt earn his reputation as a trust-buster? (11.2.9)

Progressivism Under Taft (pages 328–331)8. As a progressive, how did Taft compare with

Roosevelt? (11.2.9)9. Why did the Republican Party split during Taft’s

administration? (11.2.9)

Wilson’s New Freedom (pages 332–337)10. How did the Clayton Antitrust Act benefit labor? (HI 2)11. Cite two examples of social welfare legislation that

Wilson opposed during his presidency and the argu-ments he used to defend his position. (11.4.4)

CRITICAL THINKING1. USING YOUR NOTES Create a Venn diagram

to show some of the similarities and differencesbetween Roosevelt’s Square Deal and Wilson’s New Freedom. (11.2.9)

2. DEVELOPING HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE What social,political, and economic trends in American life do youthink caused the reform impulse during the ProgressiveEra? Support your answer with details from the text. (HI 2)

338

NewFreedom

SquareDeal Both

THE PROGRESSIVE ERAVISUAL SUMMARY

SOCIAL & MORAL

INDUSTRY

• women fight for the right to vote• Eighteenth Amendment bans

alcoholic beverages• Social services for women,

children, and the poor

• National Child Labor Committeeorganizes to end child labor

• reformers improve workplaceconditions and set maximumworking hours

• Roosevelt establishes a SquareDeal

• new tax system is instituted• Roosevelt breaks up trusts

ECONOMIC

POLITICAL

• elections are reformed• citizens given greater voice in

government: recall, initiative,referendum

• conservationists establish wilder-ness conservation areas andpreserve natural resources

• Pure Food and Drug Act protectsconsumers

HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT

✹PROGRESSIVISM


ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT (11.2.9, CST 2)

1. Recall your discussion ofthe question on page 305:

What kinds of actions can bringabout social change?Now that you have read Chapter 9, use your knowl-edge of the Progressive Era to answer these ques-tions:• How did Progressive Era reformers recruit

others?• How did progressive reformers bring about

changes in government?• What did progressives do to bring about changes

in business?• What else might Progressive Era reformers have

done to be more effective?

Explain your answers with examples.

2. LEARNING FROM MEDIA View theAmerican Stories video, “A Child on

Strike.” Discuss the following questions in a group;then do the activity.

• What was your reaction to Camella Teoli’s accident?

• What labor practices are taken for granted todaythat were not afforded to people living in 1910?

Cooperative Learning Activity In your group, imag-ine you are reporters covering the congressionalhearing. Write two articles—one that objectivelyreports on the findings of the hearings, and onethat shows bias in favor of the mill. Share the arti-cles with the class and analyze how language canaffect the reporting of information.

I N T E R A C TI N T E R A C TW I T H H I S T O R YW I T H H I S T O R Y

Use the quotation and your knowledge of U.S. history to answer question 1.

“ Labor began to organize itself in Trade Unionsand to confront the industrialists with a stiff bar-gaining power. These developments were to leadto a period of protest and reform in the early twen-tieth century. The gains conferred by large-scaleindustry were great and lasting, but the wrongsthat had accompanied their making were onlygradually righted.”

—Winston Churchill, The Great Republic: A History of America

1. In the passage, Winston Churchill attempts toexplain what prompted Progressive Era reformers. The passage explains the actions of which of the following labor reform leaders? (11.2.9)

A. Maria MitchellB. Carry NationC. Susan B. AnthonyD. Florence Kelley

2. The muckrakers served Progressivism by — (11.2.9)

A. informing people about abuses so that theycould protest.

B. enacting legislation to prevent political corruption.

C. cleaning up unhealthy meat processing plants.D. filing and prosecuting antitrust lawsuits.

3. In the presidential election of 1912, three candi-dates attempted to win the liberal, progressivevote. Which candidate for president in 1912 ran on a conservative platform? (11.2.9)

A. Woodrow WilsonB. William TaftC. Theodore RooseveltD. Eugene V. Debs

ITEST PRACTICE CLASSZONE.COM

Standardized Test Practice

ADDITIONAL TEST PRACTICE, pages S1–S33.


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