8-1: The Call for progressive reforms, 1890-1900
Thematic Learning Objectives WXT 2.0 Explain how patterns of exchange, markets, and private enterprise have developed, and analyze ways that governments have responded to economic issues. WXT 3.0 Analyze how technological innovation has affected economic development and society. POL 2.0 Explain how popular movements, reform efforts, and activist groups have sought to change American society and institutions. POL 3.0 Explain how different beliefs about the federal government’s role in U.S. social and economic life have affected political debates and policies. GEO 1.0 Explain how geographic and environmental factors shaped the development of various communities, and analyze how competition for and debates over natural resources have affected both interactions among different groups and the development of government policies. CUL 3.0 Explain how ideas about women’s rights and gender roles have affected society and politics.
Key Concept Growth expanded opportunity, while economic instability led to new efforts to reform U.S. society and its economic system.
Overview Progressivism a response to Political corruption Economic instability Social concerns Call for greater government action
Origins of Progressivism Attitudes and Motives Response to Gilded Age excesses Income disparities Lavish lifestyles Practices of “robber barons” Rejection of Social Darwinism Government as a vehicle to solve social problems
Origins of Progressivism Goals Increase democracy Reform local governments Regulate big business
Origins of Progressivism Muckrakers Investigative reporters Exposed corruption Exposed urban problems Promoted reform Leading Muckrakers Upton Sinclair—meatpacking Ida Tarbell—trusts Jacob Riis—poverty Ida Wells—lynchings
Political Reforms Voter Participation Australian (Secret) Ballot Primaries Direct Election of Senators (17th Amendment) Initiatives, Referendums, Recalls
Political Reforms Municipal Reform State Reform Commissions and city managers Weakens power of political machines State Reform Temperance and Prohibition (18th Amendment/Volstead Act) Social Welfare Dorothea Dix—treatment of mentally ill Mann Act—prostitution illegal Child and Women Labor Working hours limited