Progressives NCSCOS Goal 7 page 40

-continuation of prior reforms -Grange Reforms Continue -continuation of prior reforms -Grange Farmers who want to regulate railroads -Populists Farmers who wanted free silver and regulated railroads -Suffragists Women fighting for the right to vote -Temperance Fighting to end the use of alcohol Progressives at the turn-of-the-century wanted to allow the American society to progress forward. One of the major progressive movements was the crusade for women’s suffrage. Women had been fighting for voting rights since 1848. At the turn-of-the-century, this movement will gain new steam.

Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer Inequality -Wealth Gap existed Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer -lack of social services People need services Political machines help The wealth gap at the turn-of-the-century was noticeable to everyone. The Progressives wanted this wealth gap to close, and they wanted to make government more responsible to its citizens by offering solutions to urban problems.

social welfare improve peoples’ lives Inequality -Needed Improvements social welfare improve peoples’ lives moral improvement personal behavior economic reform socialism? efficiency in industry and government Although assembly lines sped up production, the system required people to work like machines. This caused high worker turnover, often due to injuries suffered by fatigued workers. To keep automobile workers happy and to prevent strikes, automobile maker Henry Ford reduced the workday to eight hours and paid workers $5 a day, a good wage at the turn-of-the-century. The Progressives want to use this sort of efficiency in business and government.

-”Progress and Poverty” -Single Tax Concept Socialist Ideas Government control of businesses and property, equal distribution of wealth -fear of revolution -Henry George -”Progress and Poverty” -Single Tax Concept -Edward Bellamy -”Looking Backward” -tale of ideal socialist society Edward Bellamy As moral reformers sought to change individual behavior, a severe economic panic in 1893 prompted some Americans to question the capitalist economic system. Writers like Henry George and Edward Bellamy, for example, criticized the laissez faire theory—the belief that government should leave the economy alone. Bellamy called the capitalist ideal of competition a “brutal and cowardly slaughter of the unarmed and overmatched by bullies in armor.”

Overthrow of capitalism -Eugene V. Debs Socialist Fears Overthrow of capitalism -Eugene V. Debs Questioned the uneven balance among big business, government, and ordinary people American Socialist Party -I.W.W. Industrial Workers of the World Wobblies The IWW's goal was to promote worker solidarity; its motto was "an injury to one is an injury to all," which improved upon the 19th century Knights of Labor’s creed, "an injury to one is the concern of all." The Wobblies believed that all workers should organize as a class

~Eugene Debs, Socialist Candidate “Competition was natural enough at one time, but do you think you are competing today? Many of you think you are competing. Against whom? Against Rockefeller? About as I would if I had a wheelbarrow and competed with the Santa Fe [railroad] from here to Kansas City.” ~Eugene Debs, Socialist Candidate

Progressives Emerge -Mostly middle class reformers And women -Social Gospel -thought that people need to help those less fortunate -religious groups -Salvation Army -opposite of Social Darwinism Gov. responsible to help those who are less fortunate Hull House, begun by reformer Jane Addams, was a beginning to the Progressive Movement. Progressives wanted to improve life for American citizens. She did so by beginning her settlement house in Chicago, which helped immigrants and the urban poor get food, clothing, and education.

-journalist who exposed graft and corruption in society Muckrakers -journalist who exposed graft and corruption in society Expose the dirt in society -Ida Tarbell Exposed Standard Oil Trust’s corrupt business practices -Upton Sinclair Exposed the meat-packing industry; better food and drug standards -Lincoln Steffens Exposed businesses and government In her “History of the Standard Oil Company” the muckraking writer Ida M. Tarbell described the company’s cutthroat methods of eliminating competition. “ Mr. Rockefeller has systematically played with loaded dice and it is doubtful if there has been a time since 1872 when he has run a race with a competitor and started fair.”