CH – 29 PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT

1899-1909McKinley

Teddy RooseveltWoodrow Wilson

Progressivism and Roosevelt

• “Progressive” – proponents for social justice, purification of government and efficiency– Oppositions:

1. monopoly2. Corruption3. Inefficiency 4. Social Injustice

Progressive Movement

• Reform– “use government as an agency of human welfare”

– Social and economic issues become too complicated for govt. officials

– Progressives felt they held onto ancient Jeffersonian ideals

*Socialism evident in America*

Supporters of Progressivism – “Progressives”

• Every supporter of Progressivism tweaked its teachings to their liking– Bound in religious doctrine– Social reform– Women involved to improve living conditions

• Each person adheres to their own agenda

Muckrackers – Yellow Journalism

• Yellow Journalists who did extensive research on taboo issues– Boomed circulation with scandalous exposes– Reformed writers– Illustrated the inequities in American society

*Lincoln Steffen* reporter who revealed the corrupt alliance between big business and municipal govt.– Exposed life insurance companies & tariff lobbying

Exposed! Societal issues

• Female human sex trafficking• Slums • Industrial accidents• Illiteracy• Poverty

» All were issues of Progressive ideals» Muckrackers became personification of Prog. Ref. Movt.

In order to get to the solution, you must identify the problem

• Publicizing domestic societal issues is the first step to public awareness

• The public was know what is wrong before they can begin to solve the problem

• Progressives relied on publicity and public awareness. NOT POLITICAL REFORM

• GOAL: Cleanse capitalism. NOT overthrow it

Goals: Prog. Movt.

• Use state power to curb thrusts – HOW? Improve conditions of life and labor

• Stem socialist threat

Politics• Objective: Regain power & distribute to the

people – Take it out of the hands of the “trusts”

• Direct democracy: the people choose who represents them

— Primary elections— Direct legislation— Proposition (by-pass legislation)— “referendum”

Politics

• “Recall”: voters remove elected officials & vote for themselves– Eliminates graft

• State legislatures passed acts limiting $ spent on election– Restricted gifts from corporations

• 17th Amendment – direct election of senators– Popular election of senators (primary elections)

Cities

• City govt. ran by corrupt big business proponents– 1901 Texas appoints staffed commissions to

manage city affairs– Communities adopt the city-manager system • Removes politics from municipal administration

Urban issues

• Prostitution• Juvenile delinquency• Slums– Crimes were overseen because police were

corrupt – Took bribes

Robert La Follette

• Progressive Republican leader• Governor of Wisconsin• Regulated public utilities• Gave control of lumber and RR industry to

people

Women: Settlement House Movt.

• Exposed social problems to middle class women– Poverty– Political corruption– Unsafe working conditions

• Gave skills to fight back– Literacy clubs– Educated women desired to improve life with

poetry and prose

“Separate Spheres”

• Women placed in homes (settlement homes)• Immigrants and non-wealthy middle class– Activities were extension of traditional female

roles– Drawn to maternal & moral issues • Child labor• Sweat shops• Disease• Achieving pensions• Safe food products

Organizations

• Women’s Trade Union League• National Consumers League (mobilized female

consumers to advocate women and child labor laws)

• All of these orgs. were Dept. of Labor programs– Children’s Bureau– Women’s Bureau

Jane Addams – Hull House

• Settlement house in Chicago• Open to immigrants in 1889• Educational, artistic and social programs• Provided social and educational opportunities for

working, middle class people• Residents educated themselves and implemented

these programs• Self-sustaining program• Designed to improve opportunities for success for

immigrants

Florence Kelley

• Former Hull House resident• Became state of Illinois’s first chief factory

inspector • One of nation’s leading advocates for

improved factory conditions• National Consumers league leader

Muller v. Oregon (1908)

• Supreme court case that accepted the constitutionality of laws protecting women workers

• Prosecution showed evidence suggesting harmful effects to women who worked in unsanitary factory conditions

• Supreme Court decision to limit the work day of a female to 10 hours (if in a laundry, factory or mechanical manufacturer)

Reasoning and definition of the law

• “The physical organization of a woman, her maternal functions, the rearing and education of children and the maintenance of the home.”

• The case defined women as a class needing protection based on traditional concepts of a woman’s role in society

• Compared to children and demonstrated physical weakness and reliance on men

• Incapable of or incompetent to enter into their own labor contract