Progressivism

Early twentieth-century reform movement that pushed the government to resolve problems created by urban industrialism

problems like poverty, racism, child labor, vice, and exploitation of labor.

At the grassroots level, in the cities, in reaction to the Gilded Age excesses.

An example of Grassroots Progressivism

•College-educated women, i.e. Jane Addams wanted to “civilize the city”

•supported labor unions•supported woman’s suffrage

•A strike held against New York’s garment industry in 1909 was supported by women workers and middle class women

•20,000 workers went on strike•They won some concessions•Labels sewn into garments made by union workers

146 died, many jumping nine stories to their deaths.

proved that the factories were not safe for workers.

•Social Darwinism came out of the Gilded Age and held that human progress came out of “survival of the fittest” and that reform movements were a waste of time.

•Reform Darwinism was a social theory that said if humans changed the social environment, it could improve the lot of humans faster

Reform Darwinism vs. Social Darwinism

1. A belief that environment, not heredity alone, determines human potential

2. A sense of optimism that conditions can be corrected without radically changing economy or institutions

3. A profound trust in “experts” and scientific data

4. A willingness to take action

The book was instrumental in exposing the meat packing industry “muckraking” (The Jungle is an example) Passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act 1906 “I aimed at the public’s heart, but I hit them in the stomach.”

•When Roosevelt took office, 45 million acres of land as government reserves; when he left, it was 150 million acres

Anti-Trust, filed suit to enforce the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 which was being ignored. He won.

Labor negotiator, United Mine Workers•“square deal”

A newspaper editor wrote,

“Wall Street is paralyzed at the thought that a President of the United States would sink so low as to try to enforce the law.”

The Square Deal • Campaign slogan from Roosevelt’s election in 1904• Came from his enforcement of the Sherman Antitrust Act

Roosevelt the Reformer• Used the moral and political authority of the presidency• Roosevelt and Conservation

“Speak softly but carry a big stick”Roosevelt believed that “civilized nations” should police the world and hold “backward” countries in line. . . . he relied on military strength and diplomacy

MONROE DOCTRINE ROOSEVELT COROLLARY

A declaration by President James Monroe in 1823 that the Western Hemisphere was closed to any further colonization or interference by European powers. In exchange, Monroe declared that the US would not get involved in European conflicts.

A declaration in 1904 that the US would not intervene in Latin America as long as nations there conducted their affairs with “decency.” It made the US the policeman of the Western Hemisphere and allowed it to enforce repayment of European debts.

US offered Columbia $10 million and an annual rent of $250,000

Columbia refused At the prompting of some investors in New

York, Panamanians staged an uprising, 1903

Within 24 hours, Roosevelt government recognized the new Panama, and the new country accepted the $10 million and the canal was begun.

Enforcement of Monroe Doctrine

Formulating the Roosevelt Corollary

Endorsing the uprising in Panama

Taft sided more often with big business

Progressive Party nominated Roosevelt in 1912

Nicknamed the “Bull Moose Party” Nominated former President

Theodore Roosevelt Platform:

•Presidential primaries•Conservation of natural resources •An end to child labor•Minimum wages for women•Workers’ compensation•Social security•Federal income tax

Democrat Wilson wins election of 1912

He turns out to be “progressive”•Federal Reserve Act, 1913

•Federal Trade Commission

Authored “Souls of Black Folk” 1903

Founded the Niagara Movement, precursor to the NAACP

Lifelong radical, later investigated by the FBI

advocated cooperation over competition and urged people to shake free from private ownership

Hull House and other settlement houses

Muller v. Oregon, 1908, limited workday for women to 10 hours

Upton Sinclair’s novel of 1906, The Jungle

Conservation of 150 million acres of natural landscape

Jim Crow laws Nativism Prohibition