the expansion of industry. the gilded age gilded means covered with thin layer of gold term used to...
TRANSCRIPT
The Expansion of Industry
The Gilded Age• Gilded means covered with thin layer of gold• Term used to describe the thin layer of prosperity that covered the poverty and
corruption of much of society• Wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few, while many people were very
poor.
Technological Revolution• technology is high priority
– Patents-owners have exclusive rights to make, use, and sell inventions
– 500,000 patents issued from 1860-1890
• Financing came from investors willing to take chance to make profit– Stocks sold to raise capital
– Productivity increases standard of living
Edwin L. Drake• Sent by Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co to drill for oil• Titusville, Pennsylvania• Used steam powered engine• 1859 struck oil• Oil became major industry
Thomas Edison• Got $40,000 bonus for improving stock ticker• Left job to be inventor (age 23)• 1880 light bulb invented• 1882 created power station that powered
several buildings in NYC
Lewis Latimer• Son of escaped slaves• Improved filament on
light bulb to last longer than a few days
• Self-taught mechanical drawing
• Did patent drawing for Bell’s telephone
• Invented toilet that worked on moving trains
• Supervised construction of lighting system in NYC and other cities
George Westinghouse• Used transformers and power stations to run
electricity over long distances• By 1898 3,000 power stations; 2 million
homes in U.S. with power• Invented air brakes for trains (safety
improvement)
Electricity’s impact on life• Factories run 24/7• Sewing machines=ready made clothes• Thousands of jobs, including women, children,
immigrants• Refrigeration• Rural areas did not have electricity for decades
(Alabama in 1930s)
telegraph• Telegraph invented
before Morse• Morse patented it• Invented Morse
code• Granville Woods-
used telegraph to communicate w/ moving train=fewer collisions
Time Zones
• Created to help reduce delays in train traveled• Called RR time
Why We Have Time-Zones.
Railroads and industry
• Faster and practical-higher speeds/move more goods
• Lowered cost of production-received raw materials and transported finished products quicker
• Created national markets Model for big business
• Stimulation of other industries-ex. Iron rail for steel rails
Transcontinental Railroad
• Funded by Congress• Central Pacific Railroad from
Sacramento, CA• Union Pacific Railroad from
Omaha, Nebraska• Met at Promontory Point,
Utah-golden spike• Immigrant workers (many
Chinese)
Bessemer Process• Made it easier and cheaper to remove impurities
from steel• Made steel lighter, stronger, and more flexible• Allowed for mass production of steel• Allowed for building of Brooklyn Bridge-
completed May 24, 1883
The Growth of Big Business
Big BusinessRobber barons• Made money by
steeling from public/on backs of workers
• Drained natural resources
• Stretched laws
Captains of Industry• Served nation by
building factories, schools, etc
• Increased productivity• Created higher standard
of living
Andrew Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth
• Make as much money as you can and then give it away
• 80% of his wealth went toward some form of education
• Funded over 3000 free public libraries• Gave over $350 million away during lifetime• “The Workingman’s Prayer” Comparison.
Social Darwinism
• Government should not interfere in business
• If left alone, fittest businesses would survive and become rich
Carnegie Steel
• Used vertical consolidation
• Bought up all aspects of production
• Created larger profit margin for own company
Standard Oil Company• Used horizontal consolidation• Used large size of company to negotiate lower prices for doing
business• Cut prices of oil to drive competition out of business• Bought out many firms in the same business• Created a trust
Sherman Antitrust Act• Attempted to limit the control
businesses would have over an industry
• Outlawed combining companies that restrained interstate trade or commerce
• Ineffective for 15 years: vague and large companies drug out court fights
• Used in reverse against labor unions
Immigrants/urbanization• Factories needed labor to function• Immigrants and farmers moved to cities in large
numbers to find work• Workers were either paid piece work, by the job, or by
the hour.• Many sweatshops sprang up with horrible conditions
and low wages
The Principles of Scientific Management
• By Fredrick Winslow Taylor• Designed to improve efficiency by breaking
down tasks and increasing productivity
Work environment• Difficult for farmers and
immigrants to adapt to working by the clock
• Unsafe• Child labor- 5% of labor force
in 1880, one in five children age 10-16 was employed
• Some children as young as 6 worked
• Social Darwinism supported bad conditions=poverty was result of weakness
The Great Strikesstrike: to stop work as a coercive message
• Why would workers strike?– Workers’ wages too low to afford
consumer products even though high productivity lowered prices
– Richest 9% control 75% of wealth– Some believed that wealth should
be equally distributed and turned to the socialist ideas of Marx and Engels
Labor Unions• Knights of Labor-recruited skilled and unskilled laborers,
African-Americans, women; led by Terrance Powderly; wanted eight hour workday, end of child labor; membership declined by 1890s due to violence
• American Federation of Labor- led by Samuel Gompers; organized skilled laborers only; used collective bargaining; closed shop
• Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Wobblies- organized unskilled workers, full of Socialists, violent strikes
Employers Feared Labor Unions
• If paid higher wages and other demands, costs would rise and profits would fall
• Fired union members• Yellow dog contracts• Refused collective bargaining
Great RR Strike of 1877• Baltimore and Ohio RR company-10% wage cut & said would run double
headers (lay off workers)• Workers clashed with the company and with local militias• Pres. Hayes sent in troops to restore order• Rioters burned RR property ($5 mill damage)• Federal and state govs sided w/ companies
Eugene V. Debs• Instrumental in the formation of the American Railways Union,
an industrial union, that replaced craft unions in railway industry• Canton, Ohio Speech-Mark Ruffalo
Haymarket Riot 1886• McCormick Reaper factory• Riots b/t strikers and scabs• Police killed several workers• Anarchists joined strikers to protest actions of police at
Haymarket Square• Bomb thrown at police by anarchist, riot erupts, dozens dead• Unions looked down upon by public as violent and anti-American
Homestead Strike, 1892• Carnegie Steel in Homestead, Penn• Henry Frick cut wages• Frick used Pinkerton Security to put
down strike• Shoot out b/t Pinkerton and strikers
left many dead• Attempted assassination of Frick by
anarchist• Public outcry against union violence• Carnegie Steel, later U.S. Steel,
remained un-unionized until 1930s
Pullman Strike, 1894• Pullman Sleeping Car (RR) company• Had built town to house workers• Company held tight control over town• Cut wages, maintained rent/food prices• Workers went on strike w/ aid of Debs and ARU; strikes prevented western
mail delivery• Co. turned to gov for help• Used Sherman Anti-trust Act to say that union was preventing trade• Pres. Grover Cleveland sent in 2,500 troops
Politics, Immigration, and Urban Life
Spoils System• after winning an election, politician gives government jobs to supporters
as a reward for working toward victory• Often jobs given to people who were completely unqualified • term was derived from the phrase "to the victor go the spoils."
Gilded Age Political PartiesRepublicans• Appealed to industrialists,
bankers, eastern farmers, blacks,
• Favored tight money supply backed by gold, high tariffs to protect business, gov aid to RR, limits on immigration, and blue laws
Democrats• Less fortunate people,
northern urban immigrants, laborers, southern planters, western farmers
• Claimed to represent ordinary people
• Favored increase money supply backed by silver, lower tariffs on imported goods, higher farm prices, less gov aid to big business, fewer blue laws
Blue laws
• Laws forbidding “immoral” activities• For example: men and women could not live
together before marriage, stores could not open on Sunday, liquor could not be sold on Sunday
• No prostitution
Reforming the Spoils System• 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes elected presidents. • Hayes refused to use the spoils system /• Began to reform civil service jobs (non-elected
jobs like postal carriers, civilian employees on military bases)
• fired Chester Arthur from the New York state Customs House.
1880 election• Republicans split into Stalwarts,
supporters of Conkling who supported the spoils system; Half-Breeds, followers of Senator James Blaine who wanted to reform the spoils system from w/i the Rep. party, and Independents who opposed the spoils system all together.
• Republicans nominated James A. Garfield, a Half-Breed, for president and Chester Arthur a Stalwart for Vice-President
Garfield assassinated!•Charles Guiteau shot the President. •Garfield lay in the White House for weeks. •Alexander Graham Bell tried unsuccessfully to find the bullet with device which he had designed. •On September 19, 1881, died from an infection and internal hemorrhage. •He had been president for 6 months and 15 days. The second shortest term in history.
Chester Arthur became President
• Arthur had supported the spoils systems during his campaign
• After becoming president supported civil service reform
• Used death of Garfield to push through the Pendleton Civil Service Act, which created the Civil Service Commission to test applicants for government jobs. Jobs would now be based on merit, not favor.
1884 presidential election
• Campaign focused on scandals rather than issues• Cleveland opponents said that he had fathered
child out of wedlock• Cleveland became the first Dem elected pres since
1856, despite scandal, thanks to the mugwumps, a group of Republicans that decided that Blaine was too corrupt to support.
Ma, Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa?
He’s in Washington. Ha! Ha! Ha!
Grover Cleveland
• Favored tight money Favored tight money policy, which favored big policy, which favored big business (this is normally a business (this is normally a republican policy)republican policy)
• Oppose high tariffs • Took back 80 acres of RR
land• Supported RR regulation
Railroad Regulation• Munn vs. Illinois 1887 allowed states to
regulate RR practices w/i their borders• Most RR traffic crossed state lines • any lawyers for RR said that only fed gov could
regulate interstate commerce*** established the constitutional
practice of public regulation of private business that serves the public interest
1887 Interstate Commerce Act• Allowed gov to regulate RR• Rates had to be set in proportion to distance traveled,
outlawed special rates, outlawed free tickets.• Set up Interstate Commerce Commission, but it was
very weak. Lost most cases that it tried in court (15 out of 16 b/t 1887-1905)
1888 presidential election
• Cleveland lost to Rep Benjamin Harrison
• Harrison favored higher tariff and won business support
• Made choices as president that harmed the economy (pensions to Civil War soldiers, and high tariffs)
1892 presidential election
• Grover Cleveland became the only president in U.S. history elected to two non-consecutive terms
• 1893 Panic-millions of workers lost jobs, wages cut, gov offered no help
• Coxey’s Army marched on Washington D.C. to demand that the gov create jobs
1896 election• Cleveland did not win his
party’s nomination; Republicans nominated William McKinley
• William Jennings Bryan nominated by both Populists and Democrats
• McKinley won due to support from the urban workers and the middle class; won a second term in 1890 on the slogan “a full dinner pail” (prosperity)
McKinley’s assassination• On Sept. 6, 1901, McKinley
was at the Temple of Music, greeting the public. Leon Frank Czolgosz waited in line with a pistol in his right hand concealed by a handkerchief.
• at 4:07 P.M. Czolgosz fired twice at the president. The first bullet grazed the president’s shoulder. The second went through McKinley's stomach, colon, and kidney, and finally lodged in the muscles of his back.
What happened to Czolgosz?• Czolgosz was later found guilty of murder, and was electrocuted at
Auburn Prison on October 29, 1901.
Immigrant Experience
•Between 1865 and 1890, 10 million people entered the US•Individuals hope for personal liberties /social mobility•education, cheap land, and religious freedom
•majority of immigrants traveled in steerage•at first men came alone to establish themselves in the New Country•men were called “birds of passage”
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•Leaving their homes required great courage.
•The voyage across was often miserable.
•Most immigrants could afford only the cheapest accommodations
•Ship owners jammed up to 2000 people on the ships
•In these close quarters, disease is spread rapidly. Diseases like the measles infected many immigrants.
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Political and religious persecution pushed many people to leave their homes. In the late 1800s, the Russian government supported pogroms, organized attacks on Jewish villages. Millions of Jews fled Russia and Eastern Europe to settle in American cities.
Ellis Island and Angel Island
• 70% came through Ellis (European descent)• Asians enter through Angel Island in San
Francisco or through Seattle• Faced quarantine for disease• After 1890 huge shift in where immigrants
came from=most now from eastern and southern Europe
1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980
THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE: 1820-1980THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE: 1820-1980
BritishIsles
GermanyScandinavia
South/EastEurope
Latin AmericaAsia
Imm
igra
tio
n i
n 1
000s
Push Factors Pull Factors+1840s: Irish Potato Famine +Economic Opportunity+1850-1920: Overpopulation, War +Political/Religious Freedom+Recent: Overpopulation, War, Oppression +Land Availability
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
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Statue of Liberty welcomed immigrants on Manhattan Island through the “Golden Door” after 1886.
The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame."Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries sheWith silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
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Ellis Island-immigrants faced the dreaded medical inspection. Doctors examined eyes, ears and throats. The sick were quarantined to keep the disease from spreading. Officials had only minutes to check each new arrival.
Angel Island• Chief port of entry for Chinese immigrants from
1910-1940 whose entry was excluded but for some exceptions
• The Chinese on Angel Island spent weeks, months, even years detained
• Angel Island’s purpose was to keep immigrants out– Erika Lee, At America’s Gate
Detention
• Men and women—even husband and wife—were separated until they were admitted
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Many immigrants heard stories that the streets of the United States were paved with gold. Once in the United States, the newcomers had to adjust their dreams to reality. They immediately set out to find work. Through friends, relatives, labor contractors, and employment agencies they found jobs.
Dream vs. Reality
***How did the dream of the immigrant contrast sharply with the reality of the experience?
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***Immigrants adjusted to their new lives by settling in neighborhoods with their own ethnic group, usually at port of entry.
CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT OF 1882• This act provided 10-year moratorium on Chinese
labor immigration. For the first time, Federal law denied entry of an ethnic working group on the premise that it endangered the good order of certain localities. It was not repealed until 1943.
CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT1882
• Chinese immigrants worked for low wages.• Labor groups pressured politicians to restrict
Asian immigration.• Banned all but a few Chinese immigrants.• Not lifted until 1943.
Impact of Chinese Exclusion Act
1869
1882
1892
1902
1943
GENTLEMEN’S AGREEMENT:– Japan stop sending immigrants if schools stop
segregating Asian students
MEXICANS COME TO U.S. TOO• Some became U.S. citizens when the nation acquired Mexican
territory in 1848 as a result of the Mexican War.• About 1 million Mexicans arrived b/w 1910 to 1930 to escape
turmoil in their country.• U.S. needed workers after severe limitations placed on other
workers from Asia
Urbanization
If you are an immigrant, is your life at all like what you expected in America?
What were you “promised”?
What did you actually find?
Rural to Urban migration
• Migration to the cities occurs in the early 1900s as a result of the technology that is present on the farm. Not as many farmhands are needed to accomplish the work.
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City LifeMany poor families crowded into the cities oldest sections. Middle-class people lived father out in row houses or new apartment buildings. Beyond them, the rich built fine homes with green lawns and trees.
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Poor families:
•crowed slums
•streets were jammed with people, horses, pushcarts, and garbage
•living space limited so builders devised new kind of apartment to hold more people
• put up buildings six or seven stories high=tenements w/no windows, heat, or indoor bathrooms
•Typhoid and cholera and raged for the tenants. Tuberculosis was the biggest killer.
Dumbbell Apartments
Dumbbell Apartments• Jacob Riis wrote “How the
Other Half Lives”
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African Americans:
•hard times of prejudice and violence
•blacks headed to northern cities
•1890’s, the south side of Chicago had a thriving African-American community. Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, and other northern
cities had growing African American neighborhoods.
Urbanization - Sanitation
• Horse manure piled up on streets
• Sewage flowed through open gutters
• Factory smoke filled the air
• Garbage was dumped in the streets (no formal trash collection)
Urbanization - Fire• Building materials were flammable• No fire departments• No water• Overcrowding• Fires occurred in every major city (2 major examples):
– Chicago (1871): 24 hours, 250 ppl died, 100,000 homeless, 3 sq mi destroyed, $2 bil in damages, 18,000 buildings destroyed
– San Francisco (1906): 4 days, 1,000 ppl died, 200,000 left homeless, 5 sq mi destroyed, $500 mil in damages, 28,000 buildings destroyed
Political MachineOrganized group that controlled the activitiesof a political party in a city and offered services to voters and businesses in exchange for political or financial support.
Ward Boss
Local Precinct WorkersAnd Captains
City Boss
Political Machine continued• Precinct Workers – Worked to gain voters’ support on a
city block or in a neighborhood and reported to the ward boss.
• Ward Boss – Helped the poor and gained votes by doing favors or providing services. In return for votes they would provide city jobs, contracts or appointments.
• City Boss – Controlled thousands of municipal jobs, including police, fire and sanitation departments. Controlled business licenses and inspections. Had a lot of influence over courts and other municipal agencies.
Boss Tweed• Thomas Nast’s cartoons in
Harper’s Weekly helped strip Tweed of his power
• Tweed was charged with fraud and extortion
• His machine was dismantled• Mr. Tweed is quoted as telling Nast at
one point that "Let's stop those @#!% pictures. I don't care so much what the papers write about me -- my constituents can't read, but *!@# it, they can see pictures.”
• Thomas Nast: The Impact of proper Journalism
Section 4REFORMERS HELP THE POOR:
• Social Gospel movement…Early reform program. Leaders preached that people reached salvation by helping the poor.
• Attack causes of poverty and vice, not blame poor
Social Gospel preached charity and justice.
• Labor reform• English classes• Child care• Clothing• Established settlement houses
• Usually founded by college educated men and women
• Community centers to serve needs
• Founders lived in poor neighborhoods
• Most famous was Hull House, founded by Jane Addams
Settlement houses
Nativism• The new immigrants were not as eager to
become “Americanized” as earlier immigrants
• Nativists believed that Anglo-Saxon Protestants were superior to all other ethnic groups
• The Immigration Restriction Act, 1897, required literacy tests in English before entry into the US
• Immigration Restriction Act of 1921 severely limited immigration from Europe and Asia
Temperance Movement• Sought to ban alcohol• Seen as root of evil, poverty,
abuse• 3 major groups supported
Prohibition, or the legal banning of alcohol: Prohibition Party, Woman’s Christian Temperance Movement, Anti-Saloon League
• Maine=1st “dry” state
Carry Nation• Most famous prohibitionist• Famous for smashing bars with hatchet and Bible• Blamed alcohol for links b/t saloons, immigrants, and
political bosses
Purity Crusaders
• Vice became big business in cities• Gambling, alcohol, prostitution, drugs• Tried to end “vice” in community; take back
the neighborhood.• Result: laws like the Comstock Law that
prohibited the sending of obscene material through the mail, like birth control info
• Remember Victoria Woodhull?
Populismand Politics 1877-1900
• Nationwide interest in politics• Shaped largely by two major
parties• Many divisions in politics in late
1800s• Suffrage?• Local concerns over national
concerns• Success attributed to Party loyalty
Voters in this “Democracy?”
• Immigrants?• African-Americans in North and South?• Again the Political parties are directly involved.• Remember what we discussed about voting in the 19th
century?• So which party was dominate?• Hence the importance of these intense campaigns.• Not about the economy during this time period.• Most communities were party loyal. Why do you think?
The Presidency: A Long Way from King Andrew
• Weak and Restricted. Why do you think?• Remember President Johnson?• Also President Grant-always deferring to Congress• And finally…• Republicans-Hayes, Garfield, and Arthur• Democrat-Cleveland (Maybe the only exception-VETO)• Republican-Harrison• Remember the Zinn Reading: Conservative-Proposed
very little, with good reason…different position.
What About Congress?• Powerful but inefficient• Hit me!• Also, why having an even political playing field
cause problems?• What measures were in place to prevent passing
reform?• Some centralization required due to increased
business before Congress; Remember nationalizing economy.
• Speaker of the House
State Governments• Closer to people-Regulatory power• Collected taxes• State constitutions restricted public authority• Gradually expanded their role…again due to the
economy• Regulate industries• All were not effective…especially in the South• Important: Public responsibility for social
welfare and economic life.• Leads to Federal Regulation.
Farmers suffered financially due to economic and natural causes
• Drought, boll weevils, debt, tenant farming• Farmers were against the high tariffs that had been
passed to help businesses.• High tariffs hurt farmers: raised the price of
manufactured goods, like farm machines and European countries retaliated by raising the tariff on farm crops.
The Illustrious Life of the Tariff
• Tariffs protected manufactured goods in the United States by placing a tax on imported goods.
• Farmers saw tariffs as proof that the government favored businesses in the Northeast.
Money Issue• Farmers favored inflation which was directly
tied to the money supply (how much money is in circulation). Inflation caused the price of farm goods to increase. It also helped farmers who had borrowed money.
• Deflation helped people who loaned money. Less money in circulation meant that loaners would receive payments that were worth more than the money they loaned.
Monetary policyShould the government decrease the amount of
money in circulation or increase??• The government had to decide if the
monetary policy of the United States would be based on gold or silver.
• In 1873, the government decided to use gold as the standard for which was supposed to stabilize the economy and prevent inflation.
• This act favored lenders (“gold bugs") who would be paid back with currency based on the amount of gold held by the government.
“Silverites”• Mostly silver miners and western farmers• Farmers were hurt by the gold standard and
“deflation”.• They favored, free silver, or the unlimited
coining of silver to increase the money supply.
Bland-Allison Act 1878
• Required federal gov to coin more silver
• Vetoed by Pres. Hayes; would cause inflation
• Over ridden by Congress• Limited effect b/c gov
refused to coin more than the minimum amount of silver
Sherman Silver Purchase Act 1890• Forced gov. to purchase and coin more silver• Gold reserves dwindled; caused Panic• Remember who actually had gold? Zinn Reading?• Cleveland blamed Silver Purchase Act; and saw to the
repeal of the Act in 1893, the year of the worst economic Panic
The Grange• Organization to help
farmers• Founded by Oliver Kelley• Bought goods in large
quantities at lower prices• Pressured state
legislators for policies favorable to farmers; RR regulation, etc.
Interstate Commerce Act• Passed under pressure from farmers to
regulate RR• Signed by Cleveland in 1887• Regulated RR prices charged to ship goods b/t
states, outlawed special rates, outlawed free tickets to politicians
The Populists• Nickname for the People’s Party • Formed by farmers and workers to demand change
in government economic and social policy• Wanted: increase in $ circulation, unlimited minting
of silver, progressive income tax, gov. ownership of communication and transportation systems
• Advocated 8 hr work day• Wanted to united black and white farmers to
support to same causes
William Jennings Bryan• Made “Cross of Gold” speech… “You
shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!”
• Nominated by both Democrats and Populist for President
• Won in West and South, but did not win election because he could not carry the heavily urbanized and industrialized Midwestern and northern states. They feared inflation due to free silver.
• Even though Bryan lost election, Populist ideas lived on in the Democratic Party
Chapter 21The Progressive Reform Era
The Early Twentieth Century
• The Populists Movement? Legacy?• Encouraged change through politics• Populism=Progressives
– Similar Goals: • Direct Election of Senators• Opposition to Monopolies• 1900-1920-Dominant period• Difference? Populists vs. Progressives
The Progressive Movement
• Why did populism fail?• Why were the progressives successful?• Answer: Money, time, influence, and…• Most important? Remember sectionalism• Progressive=Northern and Middle Class• Success similar to reformers in 1830s
Key Progressive Measures
• W.E.B. DuBois (NAACP)• Feminist Movement-Sanger. Nineteenth
Amendment• Robert LaFollette-State leaders…leader.• Increased voter power:
– Ballot initiative– Referendum– Recall Election– Workplace Improvement
Key “Progressive” Presidents
• Theodore Roosevelt–“Trustbuster”–Food and Drug Administration–National Parks–Protecting Land
Key “Progressive” Presidents
• William Howard Taft–Two Key Amendments:
• Sixteenth Amendment…Anyone?• Seventeenth Amendment…Anyone?• Also attacked trusts
Key “Progressive” Presidents
• Woodrow Wilson• 1912-Monumental Election• Reminiscent of Hamilton vs. Jefferson• New Nationalism vs. New Freedom• Complex Figure…like so many others.• The “Progressive” Presidents and the Era that
defined them.-Clip
The Turning Point• Remember Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and John Locke?• What about their views on government?• Progressive Era- Turning point in government involvement.• For example, Prohibition.• Wilson gets away from Jefferson
– Fed. Gov responsible for protecting man’s freedom– Roosevelt, Wilson, and trusts…– Wilson’s view of government’s role:
• Restore competition• How?• Remember the tariff issue?
Key “Wilsonian” Creations
• Federal Trade Commission• Clayton Anti-trust Act-1914• Federal Reserve System• Key Question:• How long did “Progressivism” last?• “Goodbye to all that.”• “A beautiful shade of red comrade.”• Did it eat itself?
At the end of the 1800s, problems resulting from rapid industrialization, immigration, and urban growth spurred the creation of many reform movements during what is known as the Progressive Era. This period lasted from 1890-1920.
Children in New York slums, 1900
"In a room not thirteen feet either way slept twelve men and women, two or three in bunks set in a sort of alcove, the rest on the floor. A kerosene lamp burned dimly in the fearful atmosphere, probably to guide other and later arrivals to their 'beds' for it was only just past midnight....one of hundreds of unlicensed lodging houses...a Bayard St. tenement...shelter for 'five Cents a Spot.'" Photo by flashlight, 1888, used as the basis for an illustration in Riis' "How the Other Half Lives."
The "spacious" grounds surrounding tenement livingThis photo shows the general unsanitary conditions of the tenements. There are not enough garbage boxes as the landlords are not made (by law) to supply enough. The first house on the right is a small dilapidated, single-family frame house now housing three families. 1900.
•Roots of reform came from earlier movements like nativism, prohibition, purity crusades, social gospel philosophy, and settlement houses.
•Governments had expanded some city services, but corruption in business and government kept those benefits from reaching the people that needed help the most.
•Private charities and social organizations could not solve problems on such a large scale.
Lodging house , 1872
Why were progressives from the middle class and not immigrant, poor, working class people?
Goals of the Progressive EraGovernments should do all of the following:1. Be accountable to its citizens2. Curb the power of wealthy special interests3 Expand powers to improve the lives of all citizens4. Become more efficient and less corrupt
*This is the first time that citizens had looked to the governmentto solve their problems and assume responsibility for their welfare.
Journalists and other writers influenced public opinion and government policy.
•Henry George wrote Progress and Poverty•said that poverty remained because land speculators bought and then held onto land until the price rose “Single tax” clubs sprang up
and supported Henry George’s ideas.
Edward Bellamy wrote a book called Looking Backward in 1888 about a Boston man who was hypnotized in 1887 and woke up in 2000. The man found that America had become a utopian society where the government had taken over all companies with the goal of restructuring them to meet human needs.
Utopia-an imaginary place where everyone lives in harmony; a place where everything is right and for the best.
The term muckraker was used by Theodore Roosevelt to describe journalists and writers who wrote about corruption in business and politics.
Upon reading Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, Teddy Roosevelt wrote the author, “the specific evils you point out shall, if their existence be proved, and if I have power, be eradicated.
Workers walk over the meat and put it back into the line to be processed. Rats will crawl over the meat and workers will spread poison around for them to die. When the rats have been killed, the rats and the leftover poison will then be packed together in the meat.
Packingtown-from Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle
The Shame of Cities by Lincoln Steffens exposed political corruption in major cities like St. Louis, Philadelphia, and New York. It focused on how political machines controlled the vote.
From The Shame of Cities
Ida Tarbell wrote The History of Standard Oil to reveal the abuses committed by the Standard Oil Trust.
The Labor Movement
•Union membership grew very slowly in the 1890s•courts on the side of big business•issued an injunction, a court order that prohibits certain activities, to prevent workers from going on strike
Pinkerton Guards escort strikebreakers (scabs)
•Some workers attracted to socialism, an economic and political philosophy favoring public or government control of property and income.
•American socialists wanted to end the capitalist system, distribute wealth more equally, and have government ownership of American industries.
•1901 Socialist Party of America formed
•Won about 1000 city government offices by 1912
•Most Americans against socialism and still favored capitalism!!
Emma Goldman: An Exceedingly Dangerous Woman
“What is patriotism?”
• A Menace to Liberty• The last refuge of scoundrels• Sandra Oh Reading.
Many women believed that they had to have the right to vote in order to institute progressive reforms that they believed in.
•Women and children faced horrible conditions in factories•Many women’s organizations sought to reform the workplace
Child mine worker
Child textile workerMany women work in crowded factories, such as this lock and drill department in Ohio in 1902
The Lowell Mill Girls
Florence Kelley-against child labor
Florence Kelley was the daughter of a United States congressman.She studied at Cornell University and the University of Zurich. While in Europe she became a follower of Marx and Engels.
Kelley moved to New York City where she married a fellow member of the Socialist Labor Party. The marriage was not a success and in December 1891 she left him and moved to Chicago with her three children. Soon after arriving in Chicago, she joined Jane Addams’s Hull House.
Kelley was placed in charge of investigating labor conditions in Chicago. Because of her efforts, in 1893 Illinois passed a law prohibiting child labor, limiting working hours for women, and regulating sweatshop conditions. When she became frustrated that the attorney general would not enforce the law, she earned a law degree to take action herself. Later in life she would fight tirelessly to improve health conditions for women and children
Mary Harris “Mother” Jones
With President CoolidgeWith miner children
Mother Jones’s husband and four children died in a yellow fever epidemic. She then lost everything that she had in the Chicago fire in 1871. She was forced to go to work to support herself. It was then that she appealed to the Knights of Labor for help and took on their cause of improving working conditions. She organized unions for both men and women. She became best known for her work improving mining conditions in West Virginia and Colorado. Well into her eighties, she was still making pro-union speeches. In 1905 she helped to found the International Workers of the World (IWW).
In one mill, I got a day-shift job. On my way to work I met a woman coming home from night work. She had a
tiny bundle of a baby in her arms.
"How old is the baby?"
"Three days. I just went back this morning. The boss was good and saved my place."
"When did you leave?"
"The boss was good; he let me off early the night the baby was born."
"What do you do with the baby while you work?"
"Oh, the boss is good and he lets me have a little box with a pillow in it beside the loom. The baby sleeps there and
when it cries, I nurse it.“
From Mother Jones’s autobiography
Mother Jones Reading
Veteran labor organizer “Mother” Mary Jones, age 88,
urges steel workers to vote “Yes” for a strike against the steel
corporations
Progressives often met with resistance from the very people that they were trying to help. •Poor people needed their children to work to help support the family•If progressives succeeded in outlawing child labor, many families would have to survive on even less money.
Some people did not believe that it was the government’s responsibility to be so involved in the lives of its citizens- that the government should not interfere in housing, health care, and even moral issues like alcohol consumption.
Progressive legislation
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
• March 25, 1911, New York City• Employees were mostly young Italian and Jewish girls• Fire was fed by fabric and trash• Doors and window were locked to prevent women from
taking breaks• Fire escape was old and in disrepair and collapsed when
women piled onto it.• Fire department ladders not long enough to reach upper
floors where women worked• Water pressure would not reach upper floors• 146 workers died
•Few of the terrified workers on the 9th floor knew that a fire escape was hidden behind iron window shutters•The ladder descended next to the building forcing those fleeing to climb down through flames•Other shutters stuck open across their path•Design had been deemed inadequate and the material from which it was made was insubstantial•After a few made their way down, the heat of the fire and weight of the people caused the ladder to twist and collapse
Fire fighters arrived soon after the alarm was sounded but ladders only reached the 6th floor and pumps could not raise water to the highest floors of the 10-story building. Still the fire was quickly controlled and was essentially extinguished in half an hour. In this fire-proof building, 146 men, women, and children lost their lives and many others were seriously injured.
•Protesting voices arose, bewildered and angry at the lack of concern and the greed that had made this possible.
•Outraged cries called for action to improve the unsafe conditions in workshops.
Max Blank and Isaac Harris, owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, were indicted on April 11th in the death of Margaret Schwartz. The trial began 8 months later only to finish in 18 days. The task of the jurors had been to determine whether the owners knew that the doors were locked at the time of the fire. On December 27th factory owners were acquitted of responsibility. Three years later 23 individual suits were settled at a rate of $75 per death.
Aberstein, Julia 30 - Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 27, 1911
-
Adler, Lizzie 24 324 East 6th Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Altman, Anna 16 33 Pike Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Ardito, Anna 25 509 East 13th Street Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - April 2, 1911
-
Astrowsky, Becky 20 108 Delancey Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Bassino, Rosie 31 57 West Houston Street NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Belatta, Vincenza 16 625 Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ
NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Bellotta, Ignazia - Triangle Fire by L. Stein -
Benanti, Vincenza 22 17 Marlon Street NYT - March 27, 1911 Her cousin Tessa Benanti, who also worked at Triangle, survived the fire.
Bernstein, Essie 19 77 Essex Street Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 28, 1911
-
Bernstein, Jacob 28 224 East 13th Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Bernstein, Morris 19 309 East 5th Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Bernstein, Moses 800 East 5th Street NYT - March 26, 1911 -
Bierman, Gussie 22 8 Rivington Street Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 27, 1911
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Binevitz, Abraham 20 474 Powell Street, Brooklyn
NYT - March 26, 1911 -
Brenman, Rosie 257 East 3rd Street NYT - March 31, 1911 -
Brenman, Surka (Sarah)
257 East 3rd Street Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - April 2, 1911
-
Brodsky, Ida 16 306 102d Street NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Brodsky, Sarah 21 205 East 99th Street NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Brooks, Ida 18 126 Graham Avenue, Brooklyn
NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Brunette, Laura 17 160 Columbia Street, Brooklyn
NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Caputta 17 81 Degraw Street, Brooklyn
NYT - March 26, 1911 -
Carlisi, Josephina 31 502 East 12th Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Caruso, Albina 20 21 New Bowery NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Harris, Esther 21 131 Chester Street, Brooklyn
NYT - March 27/28,1911 broken back coming down elevator chute
Herman, Mary 40 511 5th Street A. McFarlane, "Fire and the Skyscraper" McClure’s Magazine Sept., 1911; NYT - March 28, 1911
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Jakobowski, Ida - "The Washington Fire Place" The Independent, April 20, 1911
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Kaplan 20 - NYT - March 26, 1911 woman
Keober 30 - NYT - March 26, 1911 -
Kessler, Becky - Triangle Fire by L. Stein -
Klein, Jacob 23 1301 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn (120 Stanton Street)
March 26 and 28,1911 — NYT; "The Washington Fire Place" The Independent, April 20, 1911
-
Konowitz, Ida 18 238 Clinton Street NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Kupla, Sara 1503 Webster Avenue, Brooklyn
Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 28, 1911
fracture of right leg; St. Vincent's Hospital (3/26)
Launswold, Fannie 24 - NYT - March 26, 1911 -
Lefkowitz, Nettie 28 27 East 3rd Street NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Lehrer, Max 19 114 Essex Street NYT - March 26, 1911 -
Lehrer, Sam - "The Washington Fire Place" The Independent, April 20, 1911
-
Leone, Kate 14 515 East 11th Street NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Lermack, Rosie D. 19 177 East 100th Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Leventhal, Mary 22 604 Sutter Place, Brooklyn
Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - April 1, 1911
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Levin, Jennie 19 - Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - April 1, 1911
-
Levine, Abe Brooklyn NYT — March 26, 1911 -
Levine, Max - NYT — March 26, 1911 -
Levine, Pauline 19 380 South 4th Street NYT — March 27, 1911 -
Maltese, Catherine - Triangle Fire by L. Stein; -
Maltese, Lucia 20 35 2nd Avenue Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 27, 1911
-
Maltese, Rosalie(Rosari)
14 35 2nd Avenue Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 27, 1911
-
Manara, Mrs. Maria 27 227 East 28th Street NYT — March 27, 1911 -
Manofsky, Rose 22 412 East 74th Street NYT — March 27, 1911 multiple injuries; Bellevue Hospital
Marciano, Mrs. Michela
25 272 Bleecher Street NYT — March 27, 1911 -
Mayer, Minnie - - -
Meyers, Yetta 19 11 Rivington Street March 30,1911-NYT -
Miale, Bettina 18 135 Sullivan Street Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 27, 1911
-
Miale, Frances 21 135 Sullivan Street Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 28, 1911
-
Midolo, Gaetana 16 8 Commerce Street NYT — March 28, 1911 -
Nebrerer, Becky 19 10 or 19 Clinton Street NYT — March 26, 1911 operator,fractured right leg and arm, burned body; New York Hospital
Nicholas, Annie 18 126 East 110th Street NYT — March 27, 1911 died; New York Hospital
Nicolose, Nicolina (Michelina)
22 440 East 13th Street Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 26, 1911
-
Novobritsky, Annie 20 143 Madison Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Nussbaum (Nausbaum), Sadie
18 641 East 6th Street Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 27, 1911
-
Oberstein, Julia 19 53 Avenue A NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Oringer, Rose - NYT - March 27, 1911 died; St. Vincent's Hospital
Ozzo, Carrie 22 1990 2nd Avenue NYT - March 27, 1911 died of multiple injuries; Bellevue Hospital
Pack, Annie 18 747 East 5th Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Panno, Mrs. Providenza
48 49 Stanton Street NYT - March 29, 1911 -
Pasqualicca, Antonietta
16 509 East 13th Street NYT - March 26, 1911 -
Pearl, Ida 20 355 East 4th Street NYT - March 29, 1911 -
Pildescu, Jennie 18 515 East 7th Street NYT - March 29, 1911 -
Pinello, Vincenza 30 136 Chrystie Street NYT - March 29, 1911 -
Poliny, Jennie 20 152 East 3rd Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Prato, Millie 21 93 Macdougal Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Reivers, Becky 19 215 Madison Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Robinowitz, Abraham - NYT - March 27, 1911 jumped from 8th story; crushed to death
Rootstein, Emma - NYT - April 1,1911 -
Rosen, Israel 17 - Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - April 1, 1911
-
Rosen, Julia(widow) 35 78 Clinton Street Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 28, 1911
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Rosen, Louis (or Leob) 38 174 Attorney Street surviving family -
Rosenbaum, Yetta 22 802 East Houston Street NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Rosenberg, Jennie 21 242 Broome Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Rosenfeld, Gussie 22 414 East 16th Street Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - April 2, 1911
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Rosenthal, Nettie 21 104 Monroe Street NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Rother, R 25 - NYT - March 26, 1911 -
Rother, Theodore 22 1991 Washington Avenue, Bronx
NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Sabasowitz, Sarah 14 202 Avenue B NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Salemi, Sophie 24 74 (174) Cherry Street (3/26/11)
Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 29, 1911
-
Saracino, Sara - - -
Saracino, Serafina 25 118 East 119th Street NYT - March 29, 1911 -
Saracino, Tessie 20 118 East 119th Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Schechter, Violet 21 740 East 5th Street NYT - March 27, 1911 The name appears in various newspapers as Schochep.
Schiffman, Gussie 18 535 East 59th Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Schmidt, Mrs. Theresa 32 141 1st Avenue NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Schneider, Mrs. Ethel 95 Monroe Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Schwartz, Margaret - Triangle Fire by L. Stein -
Selzer, Jacob 33 510 East 136th Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Shapiro, Rosie 17 149 Henry Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Shena, Catherine 30 - NYT - March 26, 1911 -
Sklaver, Berel (Sklawer, Bennie)
25 169 Monroe Street NYT - March 27, 1911; "The Washington Fire Place" The Independent, April 20, 1911
-
Sorkin, Rosie 18 382 Georgia Avenue, E. New York
NYT - March 27, 1911; "The Washington Fire Place" The Independent, April 20, 1911
-
Spear - NYT - March 26, 1911 man
Sprunt - NYT - March 26, 1911 -
Spunt, Gussie 19 823 East 8th Street NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Starr, Mrs. Annie 30 734 East 9th Street NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Stein, Jennie 18 120 East 3rd Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Stellino, Jennie 16 315 Bowery NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Stiglitz, Jennie 22 231 East 13th Street NYT - March 29, 1911 -
Tabick, Samuel 18 513 East 148th Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Terdanova (Terranova), Clotilde
22 104 President Street, Brooklyn
Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 27, 1911
-
Tortorella, Isabella 17 116 Thompson Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Ullo, Mary 20 437 East 12th Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Utal, Meyer 23 163 Chrystie Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Velakowsky(Vilakowsky), Freda(Freida)
20 639 East 123th Street Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 28, 1911
fracture of right leg and arm; New York Hospital
Vivlania, Bessie 15 352 East 54th Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Vovobritsky, Annie 20 143 Madison Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Weinduff, Sally 17 187 Ludlow Street NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Weiner, Rose 23 119 East 8th Street NYT - March 26 and 28,1911
-
Weintraub, Celia - Triangle Fire by L. Stein -
Weintraub, Sally (Sarah?)
17 187 Ludlow Street NYT - March 26 and 27,1911; A. McFarlane, "Fire and the Skyscraper" McClure’s Magazine Sept., 1911
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Welfowitz, Dora 21 116 Division NYT - March 28, 1911 -
Wilson, Joseph 21 528 Green Street, Philadelphia
Triangle Fire by L. Stein; NYT - March 27, 1911
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Wisner, Tessie 27 129 2nd Avenue NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Wisotsky, Sonia 17 303 East 8th Avenue NYT - March 27, 1911 -
Wondross, Bertha 205 Henry Street NYT - March 26, 1911 right leg broken, internal injuries; St. Vincent Hospital
Zeltner 30 - NYT - March 26, 1911 -
Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
William Howard Taft
Progressivism under Taft
• Promised to follow progressive lead of TR• TR had placed Gifford Pinchot, a strong conservative, over the
US Forest Service• Taft placed Ballinger, a man that supported business, over the
Department of Interior.• Ballinger allowed a businesses to take possession of coal rich
land in Alaska that was set aside as public lands• Pinchot complained publicly about Ballinger and Taft fired
Pinchot
Taft a failure as a Progressive President?
• Roosevelt returned from Africa and was furious about the job Taft was doing
• Taft was not excited about continuing with another term in the Presidency
Election of 1912• Roosevelt sought the
nomination from the Republican party but did not get it
• The Progressive (Bull Moose) Party created; Roosevelt presidential candidate
• Supported: women’s suffrage, child labor ban, worker’s compensation, and direct election of senators
• Basics of Election-Clip
Wilson: 42% Popular Vote T. Roosevelt 27% Popular VoteTaft: 23% Popular Vote Debs 8% Popular Vote
Woodrow Wilson-1912• President of Princeton University; religious man• Underwood Tariff -removed high tariffs• To make up for lost income to the country-
passed the 16th amendment for collecting federal income tax
• Clayton Anti Trust Act made Sherman Anti Trust stronger by protecting unions
• Created the Federal Trade Commission to watch businesses to make sure they were behaving and not attempting to become powerful monopolies
• Federal Reserve System to control cash flow and help stop economic panic
WILSON HAS BIG PLANS
• Progressive “New Freedom” platform
WILSON’S FAULTS
• Did not support Civil Rights• Allowed bathrooms to be segregated again at
the White House• Did not support Women’s Suffrage
“Dear Mr. Adams…”
The Women Get Organized
• 1st organization of women: Seneca Falls New York
• Lucretia Mott & Elizabeth Cady Stanton• Susan B. Anthony will join the movement• Susan B. Anthony argued that the 14th
amendment gave women the right to vote
14th Amendment
Amendment XIVSection 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
• •
In the 1800s, women in the United States had few legal rights and did not have the right to vote. Susan B. Anthony was arrested for casting an illegal vote in the presidential election of 1872. She was tried and then fined $100 but refused to pay.
Susan B. Anthony
3 ways to possibly acquire the vote
• 14th amendment• Each state pass a law allowing for women’s
suffrage• A Constitutional Amendment so that every
state would then have to recognize the amendment to the “Law of the Land”
NAWSA: National American Women’s Suffrage Association
• NAWSA continued to fight a state by state campaign and push for an amendment to the Constitution along with the Congressional Union
Congressional Union
• Lucy Burns and Alice Paul tried new tactics in their fight for suffrage
• They burned speeches Wilson had made
• Picketed the White House• Were arrested and started
hunger strikes in jailALICE PAUL
19TH AMENDMENT WAS PASSED IN 1920
“Not for Ourselves”
• Ken Burns- Overview of Women’s Suffrage-• (Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B.
Anthony)