The Progressive Era 1890-1920

Background Problems Industrialization=low wages, unsafe working conditions, long hours, child labor discrimination in pay Urbanization= tenements, unsafe housing, disease Immigration= illiteracy, language barriers, discrimination Political= Government Corruption, Corrupt Elections

Big Idea The Progressive Movement used new ideas and honest, efficient government to bring lasting reforms for social justice. Similar to Populist Movement of the late 1800s Both desired to get rid of government corruption, make it more responsive to peoples needs and stop abuses of big businesses.

PROGRESSIVISM Civi l Rights Muckrackers Suffragettes Labor Popul Unions Popul ists Temperance 4

Muckrakers Socially conscious journalists who pushed for social reform

Lincoln Steffens Editor of McClure’s magazine Uncovered political corruption in Philadelphia Governments allowed utility companies to charge high fees Politicians bribing and threatening voters

Jacob Riis Photographer for NY Evening Sun Published How the Other Half Lives Showed crowded, unsafe, rat-infested tenement housing

John Spargo Wrote The Bitter Cry of the Children 1906 Focused attention on the dangerous and difficult lives of child workers

Bitter Cry of the Children Work in the coal breakers is exceedingly hard and dangerous. Crouched over the chutes, the boys sit hour after hour, picking out the pieces of slate and other refuse from the coal as it rushes past to the washers. From the cramped position they have to assume, most of them become more or less deformed and bent-backed like old men…The coal is hard, and accidents to the hands, such as cut, broken, or crushed fingers, are common among the boys. Sometimes there is a worse accident: a terrified shriek is heard, and a boy is mangled and torn in the machinery, or disappears in the chute to be picked out later smothered and dead. Clouds of dust fill the breakers and are inhaled by the boys, laying the foundations for asthma and miners' consumption.

Ida Tarbell Wrote The History of Standard Oil Reported John D. Rockefeller’s ruthless methods He ruined competitors Charged higher prices to reap huge profits

Upton Sinclair Wrote novel The Jungle Exposed the despair of immigrants working in Chicago’s meatpacking plants and its unsanitary conditions

Jane Addams Opened Hull House in Chicago It was a successful settlement house- a community center that provided social services to the urban poor

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire March 1911-fire at Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City Managers locked workers inside the building 146 worker (mostly women) were killed Some states passed laws for safety and workers’ compensation

Women Make Progress Ida B. Wells African American teacher Formed National Association of Colored Women Set up daycare centers to protect and educate African American children Wrote about the horror of lynching

Theodore Roosevelt 1901-He became 26th president Promised a Square Deal- Reform to keep the wealthy and powerful from taking advantage of small business owners and the poor

Trustbusting Hepburn Act- regulated the Railroads by giving the Interstate Commerce Commission the authority to set and limit shipping costs Roosevelt used the Sherman Anti-trust Act in 1904 to break apart the Northern Securities Company-railroad company, and others

Regulating Food and Drug Industries Upton Sinclair’s “Jungle” sparked outrage Meat Inspection Act- allowed federal agents to inspect any meat sold across state lines and required inspection of meat- processing plants Pure Food and Drug Act- placed controls on food and drugs, banned the shipment of impure food and mislabeling of food and drugs

African Americans Leaders Booker T. Washington-believed that African Americans had to achieve economic independence before civil rights. W.E.B. Du Bois- believed African Americans had to demand their social and civil rights

African American Movements NAACP 1909- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People formed Formed by African American and European American progressives to use courts to challenge unfair laws Urban League 1911- network of groups to help poor African Americans in cities