Chapter 6 Section 1

Jacob Riis

• Newspaper reporter, reformer, and photographer; his book How the Other Half Lives shocked Americans with its descriptions of slum conditions and led to tenement housing legislation in New York.

Progressivism

• A reform movement started in the late 1800s that arose to address many of the social problems that industrialization created: workers problems, poor sanitation, political corruption

muckrakers

• A term coined for journalists who “raked up” and exposed corruption and the problems of society.

Ida Tarbell

• Investigative journalist; she wrote a report condemning the business practices of John D. Rockefeller in McClure’s magazine. These articles became the basis for her book, The History of the Standard Oil Company.

Lincoln Steffens

• Muckraker and managing editor of McClure’s magazine, he wrote about government corruption in his 1904 book, The Shame of Cities

Robert M. La Follette

• Progressive American politician; he was active in local Wisconsin issues and challenged party bosses. As governor, he began the reform program called the Wisconsin Idea to make state government more professional

Last 4

• Seventeenth Amendment • Initiative • Referendum• Recall

What was Progressivism?

• Late 1800s movement that was headed by the Progressives

• They wanted to improve living conditions, questioned the power and practices of big business, and called for the government to be more honest and responsive to the people

• The first people to expose many of the social problems are writers.

• Popular magazines printed the writers first hand accounts of problems and issues that they witnessed

Muckrakers and Reforming Society

• Mostly focused on business and political corruption• Some wrote about insurance and stock manipulation• Exploitation of child labor, etc• Reforming Society

– Problems because of the rising population in cities

• Housing Reform– Tenement Act of 1901- required landlords to install lighting in

hallways and at least one toilet for every two families– Eventually ban outhouses from New York City– Helped to drop the death rate in NYC

Civil Rights

• Civil Rights– In 1909 National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People (NAACP) was created: fight for the rights of African Americans

• Fought to censor movies, fight federal government segregation

– Sigmund Livingston A Jewish man founded the Anti-Defamation League (ADL): fought against anti-Semitism or hostility toward Jews

• Fought the use of negative stereotypes of Jews in newspapers, magazines, in films, and on stage

Work Place Reform

• Progressives took up the cause of women and children workers; men were represented by Union– 1893 (Florence Kelly) First Success in Illinois eliminated child labor

and limited the hours women were allowed to work– 1904 Kelly helped to form National Child Labor Committed which

helped to persuade all states to ban child labor• Not successful most companies still hired children and many states did

not enforce child labor laws

– Worked to create minimum wage (Mass. was first in 1912)• National Minimum wage in 1938

Courts and Labor Laws / Triangle Fire

• Business begin fighting back against labor laws taking them to court– Lochner v. New York : Supreme Court sided with business owners; refused

to uphold law creating a 10 hr work day for bakers.– Muller v. Oregon : Court upheld state law creating a 10 hr work day for

women in laundries and factories: state lawyer argued working long hours affected their health (became known as the Brandeis brief used in every case thereafter to support laws)

– Bunting v. Oregon : Upheld a 10 hr workday for men in mills and factories

• Triangle Shirtwaist Fire– New York 1911: 800 men and women worked in factory that made

women’s shirts. Fire broke out on 8th floor and spread quickly escape was difficult: doors locked to prevent theft, weak fire escapes. Over 140 men and women died. Strengthened Progressive movement. NY passed toughest fire-safety laws in country after accident

The Unions