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The Progressive Era1890s-1920s
What is Progressivism?
● Solution to the problems created by city and industry growth
● Both political and social reform movements
Progressivist Goals
● Social welfare
○ Safe food supply & working conditions, education for the
poor, support for unions
● Expand democracy
● Economic reform*
*change in order to improve
Muckrakers
● Emerged c. 1900
● Journalists who discovered and exposed muck (corruption)
in society
● Heightened interest in Progressivism
Who Did Progressivists Strive to Help?
● Those who were oppressed
○ The poor
○ The unemployed
○ Immigrants
○ Workers
○ Women
I: Oppression
What is Social Justice?● Both a process and a goal● Full and equal participation of all groups
When Does A Society Create Social Justice?
● Society meets the needs of all groups
● Equal resources for all
● Everyone is physically and psychologically safe and secure
Social justice is hindered by
Oppression
Understanding Oppression
● Oppression is prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control○ At individual, cultural, and institutional levels.
NOTE: Oppression still occurs today.
On a General Level
Constraints that significantly shape a person’s life chances and sense of possibility.
Example: A female child born in the U.S., especially if she is poor or of color, is still unlikely to imagine herself as president since, unlike many other countries, we have yet to elect a woman to this high office.
So What Does Oppression Look Like?
Dominant/Privileged Groups
1. More money and assets2. Hold positions of power3. Control institutions in
society
Oppressed Groups
1. Restricted life expectancy2. Increase in infant
mortality3. Less income, housing,
employment, and opportunities for education
Classism
When someone is treated differently, better or worse, because of their social class
Questions to Consider...
When looking at current dominant systems ask yourself…
1. In whose best interest does the system operate?2. Who benefits?3. Who pays?
Sexism (Gender Discrimination)
Prejudice or discrimination based on a person's sex or gender
Topics to Consider...
1. Assumptions about human nature2. Family life3. Gender roles and relations
How Did Progressivists Strive to Help the Oppressed?
● Est. community centers
○ Educational & employment services
● Minimum wage laws
● Limits on work hours
● Prohibition
○ Prevent the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol
II: Presidents & Legal Changes
Teddy Roosevelt3 C’s: Corruption, Consumers, and
Conservation
Teddy Roosevelt
● Spanish-American War hero
● Governor of NY
● Became president when William McKinley died
○ Youngest president ever at 42
● Gov’t should be active
● Known for fighting corrupt political machines
Roosevelt’s Goal
● Create a “square deal”
○ Government’s job to ensure fairness for workers,
consumers, and big business
Corruption
Solution:
● Sherman Antitrust Act
of 1890- illegal for
corporations to gain
control of industries by
forming trusts
Problem:
● Big businesses too
powerful and not
regulated
*Remember! A trust is when
businesses work together to
lower prices, squeeze out
competition, then raise
prices for larger profits
Solution:
● Roosevelt was the first
president to actually
enforce the Sherman
Antitrust Act
Problem:
● Trusts
Solution:
● Pendleton Civil Service
Act of 1883- Needed to
pass an exam for some
gov’t jobs
Problem:
● Patronage- Officials gave
out jobs based on
political support, not
ability
Solution:
● Direct primary- voters
chose candidates for
public office
Problem:
● Voters didn’t have a
direct say in gov’t
Voters Become More Involved
● Initiative- Voters directly propose laws
● Referendum- Voters approve proposed laws
● Recall- Elected officials can be voted out of office
Consumers
Solution:
● Meat Inspection Act-
illegal to misbrand meat
and produce it in
unclean conditions
● Pure Food and Drug
Act- banned sale of
impure food and
medicine
Problem:
● Unsanitary/unsafe food
and drug production
○ Consumers left
unprotected
Solution:
● Harrison Narcotic Act-
was a United States
federal law that
regulated and taxed the
production, importation,
and distribution of
opiates and coca
products
Problem:
● Cocaine used as an
anesthetic, cure for
alcoholism, and present
in many food and drink
products
Solution:
● Booker T. Washington-
early leader in achieving
equality
● First A.A. to be invited to
the White House for
dinner, however, still no
change
Problem:
● Jim Crow Laws- forced
segregation in public
places
Conservation
Solution:
● Preserved much of
America’s land and
resources
○ Grand Canyon
● Est. U.S. Forest Service
Problem:
● Conserving natural
resources
William Howard Taft
(1909-13)
Solution:
● 16th Amendment-
Congress can create
federal income taxes
● Spread cost of running
gov’t among more
people
Problem:
● Federal Revenue
Solution:
● 17th Amendment- gave
voters the right to elect
senators directly
Problem:
● People’s role in the gov’t
Solution:
● In four years, Taft
attacked almost twice as
many trusts as Roosevelt
did in eight
Problem:
● Trusts
Woodrow Wilson(1913-21)
FYI
● Please note that Wilson was president during World War I (1914-8)○ The U.S. did not officially enter the war until 1917
Solution:
● Clayton Antitrust Act-
gave the gov’t more
power to break up trusts,
legalized strikes, allowed
unions to expand
Problem:
● Monopolies and
competition
Solution:
● Federal Reserve Act- est.
the modern banking
system, distributed
money where needed
Problem:
● Banking systems
Solution:Problem:
● Wilson completely failed
at furthering civil rights
● Believed in segregation
● Gave Southerners the
most federal support
since the Civil War
III: Women’s Rights
Shifting Roles of Women
● Middle-class women wanted roles outside the home
● New inventions reduced housework
○ Factories make soap, clothing, and canned foods
○ Indoor running water and vacuum cleaners
New Job Opportunities
● Telephone operators
● Store clerks
● Typists
● College educated
○ Nurses
○ Teachers
Women and Progressivism
● Settlement houses- community centers that provided help to
immigrants and the poor
● Also worked to pass prohibition
Jane Addams the “Mother” of Social Work
● Jane Addams est. Hull House
○ Information bureau for new immigrants
○ Aided the unemployed
○ Offered kindergarten, nursery, youth clubs, health clinics,
and citizenship classes
● Programs run by young women residents
Prohibition
● Prohibition- ban on the production and sale of alcohol
● Carrie A. Nation
○ Prohibitionist leader
○ Extreme: smashed saloons with hatchets, often arrested
The Eighteenth Amendment
● Prohibited the making, transporting, and selling of alcoholic
beverages
Carrie Chapman Catt
● Supported President Wilson
● Volunteered NAWSA’s services in case of war
○ Nat’l American Women’s Suffrage Association
● Wilson passed the 19th Amendment, because it was “vital to
winning the war.”
The Nineteenth Amendment
● Granted suffrage to women
