ProgressivismGoal 7

Populism’s Legacy• Legacy of Populism

        1. Populism failed as a 3rd Party cause but had political influence for 25 years after it's failure in the 1896 elections.         2. Populist ideas that carry forward:             a. railroad legislation (1903 & 1906)             b. income tax (16th Amendment -- 1912)             c. expanded currency and credit structure (1913, 1916))             d. direct election of Senators (17th Amendment -- 1913)             e.  initiative, referendum and recall (early 1900s)             f.  postal savings banks (1910)             g. subtreasury plan (1916)

• Though Populist ideas were geared to rural life, many of its ideas appealed to urban progressives who sought to regulate trusts, reduce the power of political machines, and remedy social injustice.

Rise of Progressivism

• Mugwumps desired a return to pre-monopoly America. – Men of wealth and social standing

lamented change in America’s political and social climate due to rise of industrialists: monopoly, plutocracy, oligarchy.

• 1884– Mugwumps were Republican reformers

who bolted from the party to support Grover Cleveland in the 1884 election.

Mugwumps• Emerging middle class sympathized with

Mugwump views and wanted return to equality of opportunity and moral reform

• Consist of political reformers, intellectuals, women, journalists, social gospelites, professionals.

• See themselves being unrepresented; meanwhile industrialists and immigrants are protected by bribery, labor unions, or political machines. – Nearly 1 in 7 Americans foreign-born by 1900.

The Progressives

•Believed efficient gov’t could protect public interest and restore order to society. ▫ Government is an agency of human

welfare

*****Progressive Goals*****• The break-up or

regulation of trusts • Killing political

machines • Reduce the threat

of socialism (by improving workers’ lives)

• Improve living conditions in the cities

• Improve working conditions for female labor and end child labor            

• Consumer protection Voting reform

• Conservation • banking reform • labor reform working

conditions and unionization)

• Prohibition of alcohol • Female suffrage

Trusts, Corruption, and Living Conditions •No Trusts! (aka Monopolies aka

Sherman Anti-trust Act)•End Political Machines (Prime Example:

Tammany Hall)▫Plutocracy: Most Government officials

(state and local gov’t were dominated by corruption)

•Sanitize! End Crime! (Police Force) Find Better Housing! (get out of tenements)

The Social Aspect of Progressivism• Education

▫ John Dewey…Learning by doing! (Kinda like my philosophy…I wonder where I got it…)

▫ Between 1870 and 1920, college enrollment increased 400%

▫ Kids: Go to School! (stay out of the factories)• Socialism

▫ centrally planned economy in which the government controls all means of production

▫ Progressives saw this as one of the largest threats to the country

▫ Comprised of mainly immigrants who will hate America’s capitalist system

▫ Eugene Debbs: Leader of the Socialist Party Laborer fighting for workers rights

▫ wanted equality for all workers

The Social Aspect of Progressivism•Social Gospel Movement

▫Emphasized the role of the church in improving life on earth rather than in helping individuals get into heaven.

▫Salvation thru service to the poor▫Early reform program in cities▫Hull House and Jane Addams

Newly arrived immigrants allowed to stay

Muckrakers

•Journalists who attempted to expose the evils of society ▫name coined by Theodore Roosevelt as

criticism of their journalism•Responsible for bringing down some of

the most unfavorable conditions theat people lived through during the 1900’s

Muckrakers • Jacob Riis

▫ Cover immigrants and child labor▫ Children of the Poor & How the Other Half Live

• Upton Sinclair ▫ Writes The Jungle – leads to the Meat Inspection

Act• Lincoln Steffens

▫ Exposes corruption in politics• Ida Tarbell

▫ Brings down Standard Oil – writes about ruthless business practices of Rockefeller

• Ida Wells Barnett▫ Exposes racial issues in the South (lynching)

• Thomas Nast▫ Brings down Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall w/ political

cartoons

Women & Child Labor Reform•Child Labor Laws (Illinois, 1893)

▫Ends child labor•Children of the Poor•Florence Kelley

▫Women’s rights & child labor▫National Consumer League▫Also help found NAACP

•National Child Labor Committee▫Worked to end child labor

Women• Sought improved living conditions in cities and

labor reform for women & children. • Cities had new opportunities for women

▫over 1million joined work force in 1890s • Social workers and secretaries, store clerks and

seamstresses, telephone operators and bookkeepers.

• National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

• 19th Amendment, 1919 Women’s Suffrage

Political Reform!•Robert LaFollette & the "Wisconsin

Experiment" ▫Helped destroy the political machine, take control

away from lumber & railroad trusts & establish a progressive gov't

▫First of Republican "insurgents" to reach the Senate ▫Regulated public utilities by instituting public

utilities commissions that created legislation for workers’ safety, railroads, & regulation of public utilities.

▫Replaced the existing spoils system with state civil service

Political Reform!!•Direct primary

▫1903, LaFollette pressured the legislature to instituted an election open to all voters within a party

•Introduced the initiative, referendum, and recall ▫initiative -- allowed citizens to introduce a bill▫referendum: voters cast ballots for or against

proposed laws▫recall: gave citizens right to remove elected

officials from office

•Direct Primary a success! Leads to 17th Amendment (Direct Election of Senators)

Progressive Presidents

Teddy Roosevelt (TR) William Howard Taft Woodrow Wilson

Teddy Roosevelt:“Speak softly but carry a big stick”• Square Deal (3 C’s)

▫ Regulation of Corporations

▫ Consumer protection▫ Conservation of natural

resources

1904 Election

•Roosevelt wins reelection in 1904 ▫Very Popular▫Eugene Debs ran on Socialist ticket;

Prohibition party also on the ballot ▫Made himself a "lame duck" president by

announcing after his election that he would, under no circumstances, run for a third term

Teddy Still!!!!

•Meat Inspection Act ▫Preparation of meat shipped over state

lines would be subject to federal inspection throughout the meat making process

•Pure Food & Drug Act▫Prevented adulteration and mislabeling of

foods and drugs

Still Teddy…Because he is awesome!•Conservation (most significant and long-

lasting of Roosevelt’s legacies) ▫Sought intelligent use, not preservation:

recreation, sustain-yield logging, watershed protection & stock grazing on same expanse of federal land

•Newland’s Act▫Federal Government would manage the

precious water resources of the west.

T.R.’s Presidency• The “modern President” – very active in the public eye (steward

of the people) – “Square Deal”▫ Used popularity & publicity to get his programs advanced

• “Bully Pulpit” – used office of President to influence media and legislation to protect public

• Trustbusting▫ Teddy wanted to stop harmful trusts (not all trusts)▫ US v. Northern Securities, 1904▫ 44 antitrust lawsuits filed under Roosevelt

• 1902 Anthracite Coal Strike▫ Government intervened to stop strike (arbitration)

• Railroad regulation▫ Mann Elkins Act (no rebates) & Hepburn Act (free railroad passes)

• Conservation▫ Set aside 148 million acres of forest reserves▫ Also started wildlife sactuaries

Election of 1908 and William Taft• Taft (R) vs. William Jennings Bryan (D)

▫ Taft Wins, Bryan loses for the 3rd time in 12 years!• Not as outgoing as Roosevelt; not in the public eye as

much• Busted more trusts (90) than Roosevelt, but not given

credit• Signed Payne-Aldrich Tariff; high tariff which betrayed

many Progressive ideas▫ Republican party splits▫ Progressive party forms with Roosevelt as main candidate

(Bull-Moose party)• Splitting the Republican vote allows the Democrats and

Woodrow Wilson to win the 1912 Election▫ Wilson only gets 42% of the popular vote, but

overwhelmingly won the electoral vote.▫ T.R. gets another victory! Takes votes away from Taft and

reform is essentially voted for with the election of Wilson

Woodrow Wilson’s Presidency• Wilson’s Progressive ideas called “New Freedom”• Congress strengthens the Sherman Anti-Trust Act

▫ Clayton Antitrust Act▫ Federal Trade Commission (watchdog group)

• Wilson focused reforms on the economy▫ 16th Amendment – Federal Income Tax▫ Federal Reserve System – national banking system

Progressive Failures• Biggest area of failure was in Civil Rights• Segregation & unfair treatment of African

Americans continues until Civil Rights movement of 1950s & 1960s

Booker T WashingtonW.E. B. Dubois