From the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era

Chapter 9 – Section 1

Pgs. 285-289

Viewing Guide #1

• Why was the Gilded Age called the Gilded Age?

Problems

• Unemployment, unsafe working conditions, & political corruption continued to be a problem

• Some wanted the government to get more involved in solving those problems

Viewing Guide #2

• Do you feel that the government should get involved in issues like poverty? Why or why not?

Henry George• 1879 Progress & Poverty

• Poverty caused by land speculation

• Solution = “Single-Tax”

• Result – Single-tax clubs formed in several cities

Edward Bellamy• 1888 Looking Backward

• Government takes over the largest companies

• Nationalist Clubs form

• His views are related to socialism

Socialism & Capitalism

• Socialism, general term for the political and economic theory that advocates a system of collective or government ownership and management of the means of production and distribution of goods.

• Capitalism, economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, in which personal profit can be acquired through investment of capital and employment of labor.

Viewing Guide #3

• The inherent problems of capitalism are obvious after looking at the Gilded Age. What are the inherent problems with socialism?

Labor Movement

• Goals of Unions:• Reducing hours

• Better wages

• Better working conditions

Injunctions – court orders prohibiting workers from

going on strike

Viewing Guide #4

• Do any of your parents belong to unions? What do they think of them?

Furman Owens, 12 years old. Can't read. Doesn't know his A,B,C's. Said, "Yes I want to learn but can't when I work all the time." Been in the mills 4 years, 3 years in the Olympia Mill. Columbia, S.C.

View of the Ewen Breaker of the Pa. Coal Co. The dust was so dense at times as to obscure the view. This dust penetrated the utmost recesses of the boys' lungs. A kind of slave-driver sometimes stands over the boys, prodding

or kicking them into obedience. S. Pittston, Pa.

Muckrakers

• Journalists that alerted the public to wrongdoings in politics & business

• Investigated concerns about slums & sweatshops

• Theodore Roosevelt borrowed the term to describe such writers from Pilgrim’s Progress –J. Bunyan 1687

Some Famous Muckrakers

• Lincoln Steffens – St. Louis corruption (many consider the first writer of Muckraking

• Ida Tarbell - Standard Oil Company- used being a woman to her advantage

• Upton Sinclair –The Jungle

Progressives

• Unlike Socialists, they didn’t support sweeping economic & political change

• Mostly were of average wealth• Wanted to free the government of

corruption• Wanted government to play a larger role in

regulating economic activity• Social Welfare programs help standard of

living for all Americans

Discussion

• How could Social Welfare programs benefit ALL of society?

Jane Addams --- Florence Kelly

• Hull House • Resident at Hull House

• From a prominent PA family

• National Consumers League – worked for child labor laws, protect women

Resistance to Progressive Reforms

• Poor families needed children to work, however, Progressives tried to “help” by passing child labor laws

• Viewing Guide #5• What is the conflict of interest there?

Let’s Wrap it Up

• What spurned change?

• How did change happen?