Struggles for Justice – the Failures of the Progressives Guided Reading Activity Answer Guide

African Americans Confront Racism FILL IN THE BLANK. African Americans faced DISCRIMINATION in the NORTH as well as in the SOUTH. Landlords often refused to RENT HOMES in white areas to African Americans. Across the nation, they were restricted to the worst HOUSING and the POOREST jobs.

Tuskegee Institute in Alabama Booker T. Washington, Founder of Tuskegee Industrial and Agricultural Training

Booker T. Washington Washington was born as a slave in Virginia, and was denied a formal education as a youth. He worked in coal mines as a child, and went to school whenever he could. He was lucky enough to learn how to read and showed so much potential that he was offered the opportunity to attend school at Hampton Institute – right across the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel - a school which was reserved for African-American and Native American students. Washington believed that vocational education was essential if African-Americans hoped to gain economic and social equality with whites. He counseled African-Americans to remain patient, but also criticized whites whose racism undermine black progress. He stated: “One man cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining down in the ditch with him.” Booker T. Washington was the author of Up from Slavery, an autobiographical commentary on African-Americans experiences. He claimed, “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.”

Philanthropists Supported Booker T. Washington’s Trade Schools Andrew Carnegie John D. Rockefeller

W.E.B. DuBois Dubois was the first African- American to be awarded a doctorate from Harvard University. He was the founder of the magazine Crisis, which chronicled the plight of African-Americans in the United States. He wrote the novel The Souls of Black Folk, and was the founder of the Niagara Movement – a business coalition which demanded immediate economic and social equality for blacks.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

The NAACP was founded in 1909 The NAACP was founded in 1909 in order to confront the problems of racism, segregation, discrimination, and lynching in American society. The Springfield, IL Riot of 1908, pictured left, demanded a response.

The NAACP’s Crusade Against Lynching

Over 1000 African Americans were the victims of lynching during the 1890s A Duluth, MN Lynch Mob Murdered Three Lige Daniels of Center, TX, Murdered by a Mob

Ida B. Wells-Barnett Ida B. Wells was the author of A Red Record, a book which described the history of lynching across the South during the 19th Century and early 20th Century. She attempted to identify the murderers and publicly humiliate mob members, even if the court systems would not persecute them. Wells was also the editor of her own magazine, Free Speech, which attempted to expose murderers and organize boycotts in the towns where mob violence had resulted in the lynching of African Americans.

Woodrow Wilson Wilson, who was considered a Progressive President for his efforts at financial reform and the expansion of the vote to women during his Presidency, was openly racist and segregated all federal buildings in Washington during his time in office.

George Washington Carver George Washington Carver is most famous for his work as a botanist and scientist . His primary mission was to find alternative crops to the Southern staple crop, cotton. He studied the peanut, soybean, and sweet potatoes in order to maximize the value of each crop.

Revolution and Famine in Mexico Led to Migration Revolution tormented Mexico throughout the early 1900s, as a series of dictators and strongmen vied for power in the nation – Porfirio Diaz was overthrown by Francisco Madero; Madero was overthrown in a military coup by Victoriano Huerta; Huerta, in turn was overthrown by Venustiano Carranza. Meanwhile, Emiliano Zapata, illustrated to the left, led revolutionaries in the South and Pancho Villa led resistance in the North. The result was constant warfare, instability, economic depression, and famine across the nation. Thousands fled to the United States, finding low paying jobs north of the border. Most chose to remain in the Southwest, territory which had once belonged to Mexico.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

Segregated Public Schools in San Francisco In the Deep South, American had created a system of segregation, enforced it using “Jim Crow” laws, and created a racist and divided society. African-Americans there were treated a second class citizens. In the West, Native Americans, Mexican- Americans, and Asian immigrants were treated in much the same fashion. In San Francisco, Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino students attended segregated schools. Throughout the West, segregation and discriminatory laws victimized non-whites.

The Gentlemen’s Agreement The Empire of Japan was offended that Americans treated their people in such a racist manner. Theodore Roosevelt offended the Japanese further by insisting upon the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” which asked the Japanese to restrict immigration to the United States voluntarily. In return, TR pledged to allow the wives of current immigrants to join them in the United States and to end the segregated schools in California. Roosevelt never delivered on this promise, and the Japanese resented Americans for this ever after. Immigration to Angel Island, left, was restricted dramatically.

In 1913, the state of California forbid Asian immigrants from owning land.

Anti-Catholic Sentiments in 19th Century The storefront signs stating “NO IRISH NEED APPLY” were common during the 1800s – mostly motivated by anti-Catholic feelings. Many Catholics encountered teachers ranting against “Papists,” fearful that the Pope’s influence would undermine American political freedoms and American democracy. As a result, Catholic communities founded and attended parochial schools. Nativist groups like the Know Nothing Party, the American Protective Association, and the KKK targeted Catholics with threats and intimidation.

Anti-Catholicism in the KKK Members of the Ku Klux Klan were feared that the “Roman Catholic Church is now, and has been, insidiously working (in various ways, and especially through our Public Schools) to make America Catholic.”

Anti-Semitism The hatred of and prejudice towards members of the Jewish faith. Anti- Semitism in the United States was a longstanding problem, and Nativist groups like the KKK aggressively threatened Jewish people across the United States.

The Lynching of Leo Frank Leo Frank, a Jewish factory owner from Marietta, GA, was accused, tried, and convicted of strangling a teenage girl who worked for him. He was sentenced to death. But the presiding judge, unconvinced by the conflicting evidence presented at the trial, reduced his sentence. The people of Marietta, unwilling to accept the commuted sentence, broke into the jail, abducted Frank, and then lynched him.

The Anti-Defamation League After the brutal lynching of Leo Frank and various other instances of anti- Semitic behavior, Jewish-Americans founded the Anti- Defamation League in 1913, "to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all."