Warm-up: What did the 18th Amendment do?

Progressives & Discrimination

Progressive Discrimination Progressive reformers worked to change society Jane Addams – settlement house—Hull House Community centers that provided social services for immigrants and the poor Prejudice and discrimination continued even during the Progressive Era Minorities, including African Americans, Latinos, Catholics, Jews and Native Americans worked to help themselves Their efforts paved the way for the era of civil rights several decades later

As a result, they were often hostile to minority or immigrant cultures Status Quo Most Progressives were white, middle-class Protestants who held the racial and ethnic prejudices common in this period They envisioned a model America based on Protestant ethics and a white middle-class lifestyle As a result, they were often hostile to minority or immigrant cultures

Americanization Progressives believed assimilation would turn immigrants into loyal and moral citizens—introduced the Americanization movement While teaching English to immigrants, they also advised them to replace their customs with middle-class practices and values Progressives saw many immigrant customs as moral failures

African Americans Many Progressives supported racial prejudices. The Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case (1896), establishing “separate but equal” is legal, furthered discrimination in the North as well as the South By 1910 segregation was the norm nationwide After 1914, even federal offices were segregated because of policies approved by President Woodrow Wilson

African Americans were split over how to end racial discrimination Booker T. Washington Urged a patient, gradual effort based on earning equality through training and work in the skilled trades W.E.B. Dubois Demanded that African Americans receive all the constitutional rights immediately They disagreed over whether achieving equality was the burden of the nation or of the African Americans

NAACP After the 1908 riot against African Americans in Springfield, Illinois, Progressives joined with the Niagara Movement to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) The NAACP demanded voting and civil rights for African Americans The NAACP aimed to help African Americans become “physically free from peonage, mentally free from ignorance, politically free from disenfranchisement, and socially free from insult” Prominent Progressives were attracted to their cause

Ethnic Groups Jewish Americans: formed B’nai B’rith to provide religious education and support Anti-Defamation League was formed to defend Jews and others from physical & verbal attacks, false statements and to “secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike” Mexican Americans: Formed mutualistas that provided legal assistance and insurance Many Latinos were subject to unfair labor contracts that the mutualistas helped defeat

Ethnic Groups Native Americans In 1911 the Society of American Indians was formed to protest federal policy By 1932, two thirds of all tribal lands had been sold off Japanese Americans In 1913, California restricted land ownership to American citizens which excluded the Japanese because they were not allowed to become citizens In 1922, the Supreme Court allowed the limitation