Political Ideology Progressive Age
Ideology Politics Social concerns Moral concerns Economics Diplomacy A set of beliefs, attitudes, and ideas: Politics Social concerns Moral concerns Economics Diplomacy Changes from time to time
Ideology Liberal Conservative Challenge existing attitude and practices, prefer new approaches, seek to change society and seek to change/or improve behavior Embrace conventional wisdom of their time, prefer tradition, accept the status quo, and prefer small, incremental change
Progressive Era Ideology Liberal (Left) Conservative (Right) Regulate big business: trusts Insure free market competition Government is an agent of social change Federal gov’t governs Level playing field for all More secular Manage natural resources Loose Construction “survival of the fittest” States’ rights Limited government Property Rights Individual Rights Regulate morality More religious Use natural resources Strict Construction
Progressive Era Ideology Socialism Eugene Debs Government owns (nationalization) important businesses: oil, steel, transportation Democratic Provides equal power relationships between management and workers Provides safety net for all: social and economic Popular around 1900-1920 “Those who produce should have, but we know that those who produce the most - that is, those who work hardest, and at the most difficult and most menial tasks, have the least.”
Progressivism: Conservative Movement? Preserve market system (capitalism) and remove it from the “plutocracy” through reform Feared that American values and democracy were undermined by labor unions and immigration (Moral Progressives) wanted to regulate individual behavior Immigrants: main source of crime, poverty, and vice Xenophobia: feared Catholicism and Judaism, new languages and customs, and foreign ideas Order and stability to chaotic patterns of urbanization and industrialization Reforms were band-aids; did not address the fundamental problems of the socio-economic structure Mark Hanna: Chair of the Republican Party
Progressivism: Conservative Movement? Ignored the Rise of Jim Crow Preserving the free market system Segregation furthered Ignored the plague of lynching Drive for women’s suffrage prolonged Supreme Court struck down the Keatings-Owens Act Prohibition: 18th amendment Mann Act Narcotics Tax Act Nativism: Literacy tests Americanization: public school system Elimination of gambling; Blue Laws Anti-gambling laws Establishment of professional standards: ABA, AMA, Chamber of Commerce, etc.
Suffrage Map
Progressivism: Liberal Movement? Federal government governs, not the trusts Government is an agent of social change or activism Role of Federal government must change with the times “the bully pulpit” Elimination of corruption at the state and local levels Square deal Increased democracy Australian Ballot Initiative, Referendum, Recall Direct Primaries Private social programs Settlement house movement National Consumers League NAACP
Progressivism: Liberal Movement? Conservation Antiquities Act Forest Service National Park System Consumer Protection Railroad Regulation Federal Reserve System Clayton Anti-Trust Act Northern Securities Case Federal Trade Commission 16th Amendment 17th amendment 19th amendment
Conservative or Liberal? "The Progressive movement from 1895 to 1917 was a triumph of conservatism rather than a victory for liberalism.” Using your knowledge of the period, assess the validity of this statement.