1. the Depression of the 1890s › highlighted the inadequacy of the old system  poverty – urban and agrarian  workers’ conditions, labor strife  further growth of giant corporations › convinced middle class that farmers/workers had a point 2. rise of a new generation of middle-class Americans › grew up with the urbanized, industrialized new order › not so nostalgic, less tied to tradition of individualism  began to turn to government to impose order › reversal of American political tradition › followed lead of Populists, unions – somewhat

 Progressives worked within the system to reform it › not looking to overturn the system but preserve it  feared both big business and organized labor › sought to prevent revolution / radical change  e.g., monopolies, socialism, class conflict, powerful unions

1. education/publicity was key to reform › muckrakers › technology: newspapers & magazines, radio, movie newsreels 2. public awareness  govt. regulation › once an act was passed, problem was solved › e.g., food and meat regulations  Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle  Pure Food & Drug Act, Meat Inspection Act  Reform began locally in the 1880s and 1890s › often with middle-class women’s social groups › esp. in the cities  1890s-1900s: ineffective, so shifted to state, then federal level

 began in cities  public health – clean water, sewage, parks  gambling/prostitution/prison reform  settlement houses › e.g., Chicago’s Hull House (Jane Addams) › origin of modern social work  paternalism

 roots: › rural reaction against urban vice › nativist reaction against immigrant culture › middle-class reaction against working-class crime/violence (incl. domestic abuse) › middle-class ideal of family – reaction against saloons  Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) › Frances Willard › Carrie Nation  Anti-Saloon League  state and county laws › Kansas (1880)  18 th amendment (1919) › Volstead Act (1919)

 Goals: › improve workers’ conditions › uplift/improve workers intellectually & morally › prevent unions/radicalism  workmen’s compensation laws  10-hour day  minimum wage › 13 states by 1920 (limited)  child- & women-labor laws › restrict hours – Muller v. Oregon (1908) › minimum wage – MA (1912) › Keating-Owen Act (1916)  Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918) › Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire (1911)  NY labor code  anthracite coal strike (1902)

 “Trustbusting” › Northern Securities Co. v. US (1902) › Hepburn Act (1906) › Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) › Federal Trade Commission (FTC) › Presidential styles › Roosevelt – regulation › Northern Securities the exception › Taft – › Wilson – breaking up the giants

Goals:  strengthen govt. power › federal income tax  16 th Amendment (1913) › Federal Reserve Act (1913)  regulated banks; national currency  increase the power of the people › direct election of US senators  17 th Amendment (1913) › primary elections › recall, referendum, initiative  improve efficiency & break the machines › commission govt., city manager Cleveland Mayor Tom Johnson

 “Maternalism” › domesticity as a springboard into the public sphere  Suffrage › Alice Paul › Progressive emphasis on democratic reform › key: new role of govt./law in reform  now respectable/middle class › 19 th amdt. (1920)

 TR as the first modern president › actively pursued a legislative agenda  use of public opinion – the “bully pulpit” › made frequent use of executive orders  esp. re: conservation › brought lawsuits to enforce fed. regulations  e.g., Northern Securities › active presidency popular  more efficient  1912 election › popularity of Progressivism  WW + TR = 70%  Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party)