Main Ideas
Populists and Progressives were part of longer tradition of reform
Tradition of association – Tocqueville Shared belief that humans could understand
and change society for the better Reform could take many shapes, small “p”
progressive, radical, and right-wing Different methods and goals of reform efforts
Tradition of Association and Reform
Populists and Progressives were part of much longer tradition of American association and reform
Tocqueville: Americans associate, form groups for common interests, more than Europeans
Previous reform movements: abolition, women’s rights, utopian settlements, labor, temperance, socialists
Populists, 1880s and 1890s
Primarily midwestern and southern farmers Built on tradition of farmer-labor reform Built on yeoman tradition, republican beliefs Previous or overlapping groups formed basis for
local PP support : the Grange, Farmers Alliance, both worked for farmers’ interests
Like Henry George and Knights of Labor, believed producers were rightful beneficiaries of economy: “Wealth belongs to him who creates it” (1892 PPP)
Populists defended theproducers – workers andfarmers against “the moneyed classes”
They criticized the negativeaspects of the new industrialeconomy
They celebrated pasteconomy of small producers, people whomaintained independence
Populist Beliefs and Reforms Document, People’s Party Platform, 1892: Problem: Grievances against railroads (unfair rates
for shipping crops, monopoly) Reform: nationalize railroads, “owned and operated
by the government in the interest of the people” Problem: Eastern banking interests (controlled govt.
and politcal parties, farmers’ debts to buy farms, seeds, supplies)
Reform: coin silver money, expand money supply, cause deflation, make it easier to pay off debts
Reform: graduated income tax; tax wealthy to pay for projects to benefit producers
William Jennings Bryan – People’s Party/DemocraticParty Presidential Candidate
“Cross of Gold” speech(transcript and audio)
Populist Beliefs and Reforms(continued) Problem: Lack of political power to get what they
wanted b/c of corruption and established parties Reforms: civil service reform, secret ballot, initiative
and referendum to more easily pass popular legislation, one-term limit for Pres. and VP, election of Senators, formed own third-party
Problem: low wages and competition for land and jobs
Reform: support unions, 8-hour day, restrict immigration, restrict alien ownership of land
Problem: Boom and bust economy, price fluctuations of crops on world market
Reform: build cooperative or govt. crop storage – crops could be stored until prices rose
Impact of Populists Many of the reforms they advocated eventually
became law A major factor in local, state, and national politics –
elected representatives on every level Failed Presidential bids – W.J. Bryan Political apparatus and ideals co-opted by Democrats
– lost to Republicans in 1896, dooming Populist Party Major impact: kept small “r” republican tradition (“the
producers”) alive and strong in American reform tradition
Both radical and exclusionary aspects – uniters and dividers
The Progressives, 1900s-1920s
Many diff. varieties of reform, hard to lump together
Ranged across political spectrum from left to right, socialist to nativist
Sometimes overlapping in same individuals or groups
Tackled some of the biggest problems in American life: the Labor Question, Big Business, Immigration, Racial Inequality, Women’s Rights, Urban problems
Varieties of Reform
Anti-monopoly: anti-trust laws, T.Roosevelt, muckraker journalism to expose trusts
Pro-labor: support for unions, workman’s comp., safety in workplace
Pro-immigrant: Hull House, unions, pro-citizenship Anti-immigrant: Immigration Restriction, 1924 Women’s rights: suffrage (19th Amend.), higher
wages for women workers, protecting women workers – arguments for equality and difference, deserved protection b/c diff. than men)
Varieties of Reform (continued)
African American Civil Rights Anti-lynching: Ida B. Wells, journalism, political
pressure W.E.B. DuBois: talented tenth will lead way, prove
equality NAACP founded in 1909 – political equality Booker T. Washington: start with lower-skilled
trades and jobs to earn a living, gain respect, before fighting for political rights or equality
Varieties of Reform (continued)
Political and government reform democratic – referendum, initiative, direct election
of Senators (17th Amend., 1912) undemocratic – usually based on distrust of
people or racism Plessy vs. Ferguson, 1896, upheld Jim Crow,
separate and unequal public accommodations Successful efforts to take away black vote: poll tax,
literacy tests, grandfather clauses city managers – experts should run cities (unelected)
Varieties of Reform (continued)
Conservation Movement: against waste of natural resources; national parks; preservation of wild areas for production of masculine males Gifford Pinchot, conservationist: management of federal
lands for “the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run” – managed use
John Muir, preservationist: preserve wild areas T.Roosevelt, tended towards conservation, but also added
National Parks and wild areas to fed. lands All of them were opposed by those who believed that
unused lands were wasted and that fed. govt. shouldn’t control lands
Long-range Impact of Reform
Populists and many Progressives called for increased fed. govt. involvement in economy
WWI needs reaffirmed fed. govt. power Many Progressive ideas became part of New
Deal Section, race, class, and gender, divided and
weakened reform movements
Video Links
PBS, American Experience, Triangle Fire HBO, Triangle: Remembering the Fire, March
21, 2011 YouTube Triangle Fire Documentary
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, NYC, March 25, 1911
WebLink CornellSite: GarmentWorkand ProtestBeforeFire
146 NYC garment workers, mostly young women, died during fire at the TriangleShirtwaist Factory
NYC morgue was too small to hold all of the victims, so temporary morgue wasset up at a city pier. Family filed past victims to identify them.
Critics and Reformers
What kind of problems needed to be solved?
Workplace safety Immigrant rights Women’s rights Labor rights Political reform Economic system
Progressive Reform & the Triangle Fire
From To
1909 ILGWU Strikers Post-Fire Investigations
Difference?
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, 1911
History of the Needlecraft Industry (1938), by Ernest Feeney, High School of Fashion and Industry. A mural commissioned by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGW)
New Deal-era mural commemorating the Triangle Fire and victims – connection between Progressive and New Deal issues and reform efforts