GeorgiaGeorgia and the American Experienceand the American Experience

Chapter 10:Chapter 10:The Progressive EraThe Progressive Era

©2005 Clairmont Press

Georgia Georgia and the American Experienceand the American Experience

Section 1: Section 1: The Progressive MovementSection 2: Section 2: Southern Politics in ActionSection 3: Section 3:

The Continuing Fight for Civil RightsSection 4: Section 4: Business in GeorgiaSection 5: Section 5: World War I

©2005 Clairmont Press

Section 1: The Progressive Section 1: The Progressive MovementMovement ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

What changes were goals of the progressive movement?

The Progressive MovementThe Progressive Movement• Progressive believed that government (local, state, and

national) was best equipped to correct ills of society.

• The Progressive Movement worked to improve society in three ways.

1. Help Citizens2. Regulate Business3. Increase Voter Participation in Government

• Progressives justified the disfranchisement of African Americans on the grounds that the black vote could be bought

The Progressive MovementThe Progressive MovementGoal: Progress!

Society Business Government•fight poverty •improve working conditions•votes for women•prison reform•outlaw alcohol

•break up large corporations•regulate businesses•decrease corporate power in government

•greater voice of “the people”•more voters•did not seek to increase participation of blacks in elections

Prison ReformPrison Reform1908: end of convict lease systemWork camps and chain gangs replaced the lease

systemBlack-and-white uniformsChained togetherPoor food & housingNo preparation for life after prison

Progressive legislators created the Juvenile Court System

Labor ReformsLabor ReformsMeatpacking Jungle

Low wages in factories (10¢ per hour)12 hour work daysMany workers were children

Factory ConditionsUnsafeJob related accidents and deaths were common in

factories and minesPeople who tried to form labor unions were punished or

fired

Labor UnionsLabor UnionsLow wages in factories (10¢ per hour)Labor Unions organized workers

Strikes could halt work in the factoryAFL – American Federation of Labor

Georgians didn’t support unions – factories were often in small communities where people knew each other

Mill towns: factory owner owned the workers’ houses – workers feared losing their homes

Child Labor LawsChild Labor Laws (video)

Progressives increased regulation to protect child laborers in the following ways:Minimum wageCompulsory school attendance lawsLaws protecting children against work in dangerous

places and using dangerous equipment (for example: mines)

In Georgia, most child workers in cotton fields or textile factories

In the North, child workers were in “sweatshops”

Section 2:Section 2: Southern Politics in Action Southern Politics in Action ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What were the goals of the populists in Georgia?

The People’s PartyThe People’s PartySilent Clip-Populist Party

Populism: political idea that supported the rights of the “common” people in their struggle with the wealthy peopleSupported: eight hour work day, income tax, restrictions on

immigration, and government ownership of railroads, telephone and telegraph services.

Poor farmers and low wage workers were followers of the Populists

Grange and Farmer’s Alliance worked to protect farmers’ rights – joined with unions to create People’s Party

Wanted “Australian ballot” – printed by the government, not local political parties, then collected and locked in ballot boxes

Tom WatsonFamous Georgia populist, worked for Rural

Free Delivery bill to deliver mail to rural areas for free

Georgia’s Progressive EGeorgia’s Progressive Erara GovernorsGovernors

Hoke Smith: worked to concentrate political power in the rural counties instead of larger counties and citieswhite supremacist led passage of law requiring land ownership

before a person could vote – excluded many blacksbetter funding of public schoolschild labor laws passedSmith-Lever Act (1914): created Agricultural Extension

Service to teach improved farming methodsSmith-Hughes Act: helped establish vocational schools for

youth

The County Unit SystemThe County Unit System1917: Neil Primary Act created “county unit system” Plan designed to give small counties more power in

state governmentSmaller counties had more county unit “votes” even

though they had fewer votersThe 8 most populated got 6 CU votes each = 48 totalNext 30 counties got 4 CU votes each = 120 totalThe 121 counties left got 2 CU votes each = 242 total

The 30 largest counties had 2/3 of the states voters, but the smaller counties could decide a state election.

The County Unit SystemThe County Unit SystemPeople could be elected to office without getting a

majority of votesDeclared unconstitutional in 1962

Click to return to Table of Contents.

QuestionsWhat reform supported by the Populist party was

eventually implemented and is still in use today?The Australian ballot

What were the reasons people opposed the county unit system?Urban citizens—because political power was in the hands of

rural counties even though population growth was in cities and urban areas. People elected without majority vote.

What were reasons people supported the county unit system?Supporters claimed it was fair because it allowed the smaller

and less populated counties to have same power and influence as larger ones.

Section 3: The Continuing Section 3: The Continuing Fight for Civil Rights Fight for Civil Rights

ESSENTIAL QUESTION In what ways did Georgians fight for civil rights

during the progressive era?

SeparateSeparate But Equal But EqualCivil Rights: rights a person has simply because he/she

is a citizen“Jim Crow” laws passed to separate blacks and whitesPlessy v. Ferguson: Supreme Court decision which

approved Jim Crow laws – decision in place until 1954Cummings V. Richmond County Board of Education:

Supreme Court decision supporting segregated schools in Georgia

BookerBooker T. Washington T. WashingtonOutstanding civil rights leader of the eraPresident of Tuskegee Institute in AlabamaSupported good relations between blacks and whitesWorked to improve the lives of African Americans through

economic independenceBelieved social and political equality would come with

improved economic conditions and educationFamous “Atlanta Compromise” speech (1895)

Define the following quotes: a. “It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours”b. “it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of those privileges”c. “The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house.”

W. E. B. DuBoisW. E. B. DuBoisProfessor at Atlanta UniversityBelieved in “action” if African Americans and whites

were to understand and accept each otherThought Booker T. Washington was too accepting of

social in equality.

John & Lugenia Burns John & Lugenia Burns HopeHope

Civil rights leader from Augusta, GAPresident of Atlanta UniversityLike DuBois, believed that African Americans should

actively work for equalityPart of group that organized NAACPHope’s wife, Lugenia, worked to improve sanitation,

roads, healthcare and education for African Americans

A Loss of Voting RightsA Loss of Voting RightsLaws created to keep African Americans in Georgia

from votingGrandfather clause: only those men whose fathers or

grandfathers were eligible to vote in 1867 could votePoll tax: a tax paid to voteVoters had to own propertyVoters had to pass a literacy test (which was

determined by the poll worker and could be different for different people)

Gerrymandering: election districts drawn up to divide the African American voters

Race Riots in AtlantaRace Riots in Atlanta1906: various leaders and newspapers created a

climate of anger and fearTwo-day riot began with over 5,000 peopleMartial law: military forces used to control civilians21 people killed; hundreds woundedLots of property damage

African Americans OrganizeAfrican Americans OrganizeNAACP (1909): worked for the rights of African

AmericansW.E.B. DuBois left Atlanta to work for the NAACP in

New YorkNational Urban League formed in 1910

Worked to solve social problems of African Americans in cities

Assisted people moving from rural South to urban North

The Trial of Leo FrankThe Trial of Leo Frank1913: man accused of killing a 14-year-old

employee, Mary Phagan in AtlantaMr. Frank was a Jewish man from New YorkLittle evidence against Mr. Frank, but he was

convicted and sentenced to deathGovernor Slaton changed death sentence to life

imprisonmentArmed men, also known as a mob, took Frank

from the prison, and he was lynchedWhite supremacist Ku Klux Klan reborn as a

resultClick to return to Table of Contents.

Section 4: Section 4: Business in GeorgiaBusiness in Georgia ESSENTIAL QUESTION

How did Georgia businesses grow during the progressive era?

Business in GeorgiaBusiness in Georgia1895: Cotton States and International Exposition

800,000 visitors in three monthsdesigned to show economic recovery in the Southencouraged investments in southern businesses

Atlanta Mutual Insurance Atlanta Mutual Insurance CompanyCompany

Alonzo Herndon started barber business1905: Purchased small insurance company and

managed it wellNow one of the largest African American businesses

in the USWorth over $200 million and operates in 17 states

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Section 5: Section 5: World War IWorld War I ESSENTIAL QUESTION

How did Georgians contribute to World War I?

Causes of WWI

World War I 1914-1918World War I 1914-1918Allied Powers

Leading CountriesCentral Powers

Leading CountriesFranceGreat BritainRussia(United States joined in 1917)

GermanyAustria-Hungary

President Woodrow Wilson declared the US would be a neutral country.

The United States Enters the WarThe United States Enters the WarPresident Wilson worked to keep the US out of the war

= neutral1915: German submarine sank passenger ship

Lusitania; killing 128 Americans Lusitania1917: sub attacks resumed sinking American shipsZimmerman telegram: Germany tried to get Mexico to

attack the USWilson finally joined the Allied powers

Georgia and World War IGeorgia and World War I±100,000 Georgians volunteered to join the US

armed forcesTraining in Georgia at

Camp Benning Fort McPherson Camp Gordon Camp Hancock

3,000 young Georgians killed in the warEnded November 11, 1918

Contributions:Contributions:Textile Mills: made fabric for uniformsRailroads: carried arms, ammunition, and soldiers

to ports where ships waited to sail for EuropeFarms: grew more food crops and raised livestockVictory Gardens: small gardens raised by town

residents to save foodRed Cross: women volunteered to help

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