HIS 112 Chapter 22 The Progressive Era

Presidents : Grover Cleveland : Benjamin Harrison : Grover Cleveland : William McKinley : William McKinley, assassinated by Leon Czolgosz; shot 6 Sept. & died 14 Sept : Teddy Roosevelt

The Progressive Era Was between 1895 – 1920 Characterized as a series of movements, aimed in some way at reforming or restoring American Society – its values and its institutions Wanted to reform, not destroy

3 Goals End abuses of power in business and politics Replace corrupt power with reformed social institutions Apply the principles of science and efficiency on a nationwide scale to all social, economic, and political institutions

Changing America More moving to cities Rising middle class Influx of immigrants New business elite Industry with its advantages and disadvantages Cities growing too rapidly Jobs and lay-offs

Progressives = Reformers who wished to correct the wrongs of society Most were native-born Protestant middle class – both men and women They worked in white collar jobs: lawyers, doctors, teachers, engineers, technicians, social workers, ministers, business professionals, & librarians

Progressivism was not one cohesive program of reform It was a series of movements Reformers had their own pet projects Stricter regulation of business Laws to protect workers & urban poor Reforms for government Others wanted to restrict immigration, curb immorality, abolish prostitution and saloons

Lincoln Steffens who wrote Shame of the Cities in 1904 helped to make progressivism a national movement Writers, reporters who investigated and attacked social, economic, and political wrongs were often called muckrakers – coined by Teddy Roosevelt

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was published in 1906; it was about the sale of tainted meat, fraudulent insurance schemes, and prostitution Very influential book This book helped get the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act passed into law in 1906

Progressives believed they could restore order through research, legislation, and enlightened social thinking There was also a repressive component One group tried to impose its morality on others, sometimes by law

They campaigned against: Gambling Amusement Parks Dance Halls Saloons Prostitution The Movies

The Temperance Movement and the Anti-Saloon League of 1895 wanted to get rid of alcohol and then the abuses from it would lessen Child abuse Domestic abuse Prostitution Poverty

Reformers worked to get drugs regulated Bayer Drug Company used to sell heroin in 1898 Reformers wanted cocaine removed from Coca-Cola; it contained cocaine until 1900

Some progressives wished to restrict immigration The Immigration Restriction League (1894) of Boston wanted immigrants to pass literacy tests in English before being allowed in Pseudo-scientific studies in 1911 said statistics proved new immigrants were degenerate with low mental capacities

Eugenics Movement Wished to control reproduction to alter characteristics of a species Carnegie Foundation funded genetics research and Charles Davenport, a zoologist, racist, and anti-Semite who was for immigration restrictions He influenced the passage of sterilization laws in some states

Push for Rights Both women and blacks pushed for their rights Booker T. Washington was the foremost black leader from 1890s to 1915 born a slave in Virginia in 1856 Attended a freedmen’s school 1881, began Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, a vocational school

Washington said that in order for blacks to get ahead, they needed to acquire useful vocational skills, so they could prove their economic value He felt then racism would fade away Washington made these statements in in a speech known as the Atlanta Compromise

W.E.B. DuBois, a Ph.D. from Harvard, challenged this view he said blacks needed to agitate for equality He said blacks must resist all forms of racial discrimination and get an education These issues were discussed in 1905 at a meeting in Niagra

That meeting became known as The Niagra Movement W.E.B. DuBois and a group of white reformers founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP, in 1910 DuBois was its leader

Margaret Sanger Born in of 11 children Saw poverty connected to large families Married and had 3 children but wanted more Frequented Greenwich Village and became familiar with young radicals

These radicals- Eugene Debs, Emma Goldman, and Bill Haywood- were determined to improve the conditions of the world Sanger joined the Industrial Workers of the World, the IWW, and became a nurse She tried to teach women about hygiene and their own bodies

Sanger wrote pamphlet that were banned in the mail She became concerned about women who were denied contraceptives; they needed their husband’s permission So Sanger learned all she could about contraception and wrote pamphlet about it

1916 She opened the first birth control clinic in Brooklyn and was sent to jail for 30 days for it She formed the New York Birth Control League to push for laws to help physicians who wished to prescribe birth control

1921 She started the American Birth Control League The Catholic Church opposed it Others like Eleanor Roosevelt joined the movement

1940 Eleanor Roosevelt came out officially in support of family planning 1940s, all states but Connecticut and Massachusetts approved the distribution of birth control Margaret Sanger helped found Planned Parenthood

1966 When Margaret Sanger died, the FDA had just approved the use of the birth control pill

Other Changes New Pastimes Football Movies Vaudeville Music – Ragtime and Jazz New dances New painting styles New poetry All seemed to be changing