The Progressive Era

What Does it mean to be progressive? Who were some historical figures who were thought to be progressive? What were some major events in American History that were considered to be progressive? Can you make any connections to what we covered earlier this semester to any progressive movement or idea?

By the end of my lesson, students will be able to identify the reasons for Progressivism by examining the social movements as well as, the political deficiencies. At the end of the lesson, students will be able to understand and apply vocabulary terms from the chapter to the future content in the unit.

The start of the Progressive Movement, a populist movement aimed to restore economic opportunities and correct injustices faced by the American Public. Child labor, unsafe working conditions, and an imbalance of economic opportunities are some examples of these injustices. It is within the Progressive Movement we see the four main goals of Progressivism. 1. Protecting the Social Welfare 2. Promoting Moral Improvement 3. Creating Economic Reform 4. Fostering Efficiency

Social Welfare movement was set up to help those negatively affected by the conditions set forth by industrialization. The Social Gospel Movement and Settlement House Movements helped the poor through community centers, churches, and other social services. The Young Men’s Christian Movement (YMCA) and The Salvation Army were examples of Social Progressive Movements. We start to see Women’s Movements (which is a prelude to the next section) Florence Kelley became an advocate for improving the lives of women and children in the work place. Kelley was a chief factory inspector in the state of Illinois who helped with the passage of the Illinois Factory Act, which prohibited child labor and limited working hours for women.

Some progressive reformers thought morality through personal behavior, not the workplace needed reform. We see the growing issue of Prohibition (banning of alcohol) Women’s Christian Temperance Movement (WCTU) founded in Cleveland, headed this crusade against alcohol.

Remember the Panic of 1893??? This prompted Americans to distrust the Capitalistic System, and we start to see a support for Socialism. 1. Socialism is a social and economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and co-operative management of the economy, as well as a political theory and movement that aims at the establishment of such a system. Labor Leader Eugene V. Debs lead the American Socialist Party. Big business often received special treatment from government officials and politicians which lead to little economic competition. We start to see though the use of media. Journalists who wrote on corrupt big business were known as muckrakers, individuals who are focused on cleaning up society.

This is a more scientific approach to reform society and the workplace. Ex, data focused on the high costs of working long hours. See Scientific Management- breakdown of how quickly tasks can be preformed to improve efficiency. 1. Introduction of the Assembly Line to create speed for production, but lead to lots man hours and high turn- around.

Progressive Ideas didn’t just support social and economic reform, but also focused on political reform. At the local level, we see Reform Mayors, mayors who supported a fairer tax systems, lower fares for public transit, work relief for those who were unemployed, and built public schools for workers children.

Local reforms lead to progressive changes at the state level. Reform Governors like Wisconsin’s Robert M. La Follette, help to regulate big business, set up commissions to regulate rates and tax railroads.

Efforts to limit Working hours Reduced working hours for women and children Progressives succeeded in gaining workers compensation for injured workers or to families of workers who were killed on the job site. Reforms in Elections 1. We see the rise of initiatives or bills originated by people rather than lawmakers. We see Referendums, which are specific votes on the initiative. 2. We see the use of recall: which enabled voters to remove public officials from elected positions. 3. Direct Elections for Senators

Women in Public Life

Women on the Farm 1. Other than traditional womanly duties, women on the farm also plowed fields, raised cattle and worked alongside the men. Domestic Workers 1. Many women without formal education worked domestically for other families. Women in Industry 1. As more better paying opportunities became available, especially with urban sprawl, women gained employment in manufacturing jobs, high school teachers, offices, and department stores.

Women in Higher Education 1. Many women who became active in the women’s movement attended women’s colleges. Women and Reform 1. Educated women helped strengthen reform groups. 2. National Association of Colored Women, (NACW)

After the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Women Suffrage Association (NWSA). A women’s movement that lead to the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

1. Try and convince state legislature to grant women the right to vote. 2. Women pushed court cases to test 3. Women pushed for

1. Try and convince state legislature to grant women the right to vote. 2. Pushed for court cases to test the 14 th amendment. (The amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws, and was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War.) 3. Women crusaded for a national congressional amendment to grant women the right to vote.

Clayton Antitrust Act 1914 This Act Prohibited corporations from acquiring stock of another corporation to create a monopoly. It also specified that labor unions/farm organizations would no longer be subjected to antitrust laws. The Federal Trade Commission This agency was given power to investigate violations of regulatory statutes, which required periodic reports from big business corporations as a way to end to unfair business practices.

1913, The Underwood Act Reduced tariff rates Federal Income Tax 1. With lower tariff rates, the federal Government the revenue that tariffs provided. Ratified in 1913, the 16 th Amendment legalized a graduated federal income tax, which would provide revenue by taxing individual incomes and corporate profits.

The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 divided the nation into 12 districts, and established a regional central bank in each district. These banks could issue paper money, make loans, and transfer funds to other banks. By 1923, about 70% of the nation’s banking recourse were apart of the Federal Reserve System.

The Growing Suffrage Movement Gained Support from the growing number of college education women. Susan B. Anthony’s successor, Carrie Chapman Catt continued to lead the NAWSA. It was in 1920, that we finally see the 19 th Amendment ratified, about 72 years after the Seneca Falls Conference. ist=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s ist=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s

Despite Wilson’s economic reforms, he disappointed progressives who were in favor of social reforms. During his presidential campaign, Wilson spoke out against inequality, and even gained support from the NAACP. As president however, Wilson did little to fight for inequality. Wilson’s refusal to extended civil rights to African Americans pointed to limits of progressivisims.

With America at this time (1914), American Involvement in the first World War was inevitable, so we start to see issues of World War I start to surround the nation and Wilson’s presidency, and this is where we see the progressive movement start to come to an end.

Are there any specific connections between the finical reforms of Roosevelt and Wilson? Use your notes to complete this question for homework and bring it to class tomorrow.