The Progressive Response

5 major problems faced 5 major problems faced America at the turn of the America at the turn of the

Century:Century: 1. poor working conditions2. Consumer fraud3. Unfair practices by large

corporations and trusts4. Political corruption 5. The destruction of the wilderness

areas to fuel the build up of industrial and urban America

A group called the Progressives emerged to fight these problems. > generally white, middle-class professionals from both parties

> accepted industrialization, but believed significant reform was needed

President Theodore Roosevelt

His plan for reform was called the Square Deal

plan included: - regulation of unfair

business practices,- consumer protection, - increased rights for

workers, - protection of natural

resources

President Woodrow Wilson

• Clayton Anti-Trust Act - law passed in 1914 to strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890; specified big business activities that were forbidden.

                                                         

Robert LaFollette

Governor of Wisconsin and a U.S. Senator

Nicknamed “Fighting Bob”

First step in reformExpose the problems to the

publicMuckrakers – group of men and women who brought these conditions to the public eye, in print and through vivid images.

They investigated a wide range of social problems.

Ida Tarbell – History of Standard Oil Company – exposed the

ruthless tactics of Rockefeller

Examples:

Lincoln Steffens – The Shame of Cities – exposed city corruption

Upton Sinclair

The Jungle – exposed the Chicago meat-packing industry

The Jungle• "Here was a population, low-class and mostly

foreign, hanging always on the verge of starvation, and dependent for its opportunities of life upon the whim of men every bit as brutal and unscrupulous as the old-time slave drivers; under such circumstances immorality was exactly as inevitable, and as prevalent, as it was under the system of chattel slavery. Things that were quite unspeakable went on there in the packing houses all the time, and were taken for granted by everybody; only they did not show, as in the old slavery times, because there was no difference in color between master and slave." Chapter 10

The JungleThe meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the

shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one-- there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit.

There was no place for the men to wash their hands before they ate their dinner, and so they made a practice of washing them in the water that was to be ladled into the sausage. There were the butt-ends of smoked meat, and the scraps of corned beef, and all the odds and ends of the waste of the plants, that would be dumped into old barrels in the cellar and left there.

Under the system of rigid economy which the packers enforced, there were some jobs that it only paid to do once in a long time, and among these was the cleaning out of the waste barrels. Every spring they did it; and in the barrels would be dirt and rust and old nails and stale water--and cartload after cartload of it would be taken up and dumped into the hoppers with fresh meat, and sent out to the public's breakfast. Ch. 14

The source of genuine reform in this matter is an

enlightened public opinion!!!!!

I aimed at the public’s heart and by accident

hit its stomach.

Upton Sinclair

Example: Steel workers worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a weekTextile workers worked 60 to 84 hours a week (primarily

women and children)

NO Unemployment insuranceNO workman’s compensation

FEW pension plansWorksites unsafe

child labor freely permitted

Roosevelt generally sided with labor unionsEx. 1902, coal miners strike in Pennsylvania. Roosevelt threatened to take over the mines and run them with federal troops if owners did not negotiate.

1st time government had used it’s power to benefit labor.

1900: only 3% of America’s workers belonged to Unions

Created the Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903 – made activities of industry open to public scrutiny in an effort to keep them honest

Late 1800’s Industrial growth led to reduction in quality goods

• No safeguards against poor quality or misleading advertisement

Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) – barred the use of harmful additives in food and forbade the use of misleading statements in the advertisement of drugs

Progressives typically disliked monopolies

because they amassed great power and often

had consumers at their mercy.

Roosevelt- “Trust BusterRoosevelt- “Trust Buster”” - intolerant of abuse of power - believed in government supervision and regulation of business

Federal Trade Federal Trade Commission Commission **established in 1914 by the established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Federal Trade Commission ActAct*Empowered to prevent *Empowered to prevent large companies from large companies from destroying destroying small ones = more small ones = more competitioncompetition

Clayton Anti – trust ActClayton Anti – trust Act*Prohibited pricing policies that might *Prohibited pricing policies that might destroy competition & outlawed the destroy competition & outlawed the buying of stock of competing buying of stock of competing companiescompanies

• Make the government more Make the government more responsible to the will of the responsible to the will of the peoplepeople

• Allowing voters to have a greater Allowing voters to have a greater direct impact on public policydirect impact on public policy

- political power was in the hands of a network of men who could be influenced through bribes and favors, controlled many city governmentsOnce elected politicians had little accountabilityOnce elected politicians had little accountability

•Primary elections•The power of initiatives & referendums

•Recall elections* see chart on page 392* see chart on page 392

Progressives pushed for:Progressives pushed for:

1913 – 17th Amendment > direct election of US senators

1920 – 19th Amendment > women’s suffrage

Roosevelt is often Roosevelt is often referred to as the referred to as the

father of the father of the national park national park

system.system.WHY?WHY?

He had the foresight

to preserve huge tracts of

Wilderness areas during a time

period of tremendousurban and industrial

development

W.E.B DuboisW.E.B Dubois – most prominent leader of the NAACP- 1st African American to receive a PhD from Harvard- historian and outspoken leader of the black community

In its early years NAACP defended blacks that had been arrested unjustly, fought for anti-lynching laws & investigated riots

By 1914, NAACP had a national membership of 6000 & offices in 50 cities.

Create an acrostic of the Progressive Era in your spiral. You may use your notes or the text to

complete the acrostic. Draw and color an illustration for 5 of your sentences.

P

Ratified the 19th Amendment, which allowed women’s suffrage.

O

G

R

E

S

S

I

V

E

S