The Progressive Response

5 major problems faced America at the turn of the Century: 1. poor working conditions 2. Consumer fraud 3. Unfair practices by large corporations and trusts 4. Political corruption 5. The destruction of the wilderness areas to fuel the build up of industrial and urban America

A group called the Progressives emerged to fight these problems. > generally white, middle-class professionals from both parties > accepted industrialization, but believed significant reform was needed

President Theodore Roosevelt His plan for reform was called the Square Deal plan included: -regulation of unfair business practices, -consumer protection, -increased rights for workers, -protection of natural resources

President Woodrow Wilson Clayton Anti-Trust Act - law passed in 1914 to strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890; specified big business activities that were forbidden.

Robert LaFollette Governor of Wisconsin and a U.S. Senator Nicknamed “Fighting Bob”

First step in reform Expose the problems to the public Muckrakers – group of men and women who brought these conditions to the public eye, in print and through vivid images. They investigated a wide range of social problems.

Ida Tarbell – History of Standard Oil Company – exposed the ruthless tactics of Rockefeller Examples: Lincoln Steffens – The Shame of Cities – exposed city corruption

Upton Sinclair The Jungle – exposed the Chicago meat-packing industry

The Jungle "Here was a population, low-class and mostly foreign, hanging always on the verge of starvation, and dependent for its opportunities of life upon the whim of men every bit as brutal and unscrupulous as the old-time slave drivers; under such circumstances immorality was exactly as inevitable, and as prevalent, as it was under the system of chattel slavery. Things that were quite unspeakable went on there in the packing houses all the time, and were taken for granted by everybody; only they did not show, as in the old slavery times, because there was no difference in color between master and slave." Chapter 10

The Jungle The meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one-- there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit. There was no place for the men to wash their hands before they ate their dinner, and so they made a practice of washing them in the water that was to be ladled into the sausage. There were the butt- ends of smoked meat, and the scraps of corned beef, and all the odds and ends of the waste of the plants, that would be dumped into old barrels in the cellar and left there. Under the system of rigid economy which the packers enforced, there were some jobs that it only paid to do once in a long time, and among these was the cleaning out of the waste barrels. Every spring they did it; and in the barrels would be dirt and rust and old nails and stale water--and cartload after cartload of it would be taken up and dumped into the hoppers with fresh meat, and sent out to the public's breakfast. Ch. 14

The source of genuine reform in this matter is an enlightened public opinion!!!!! I aimed at the public’s heart and by accident hit its stomach. Upton Sinclair

Example: Steel workers worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week Textile workers worked 60 to 84 hours a week (primarily women and children) NO Unemployment insurance NO workman’s compensation FEW pension plans Worksites unsafe child labor freely permitted

Roosevelt generally sided with labor unions Ex. 1902, coal miners strike in Pennsylvania. Roosevelt threatened to take over the mines and run them with federal troops if owners did not negotiate. 1 st time government had used it’s power to benefit labor. 1900: only 3% of America’s workers belonged to Unions Created the Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903 – made activities of industry open to public scrutiny in an effort to keep them honest

Late 1800’s  Industrial growth led to reduction in quality goods No safeguards against poor quality or misleading advertisement Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) – barred the use of harmful additives in food and forbade the use of misleading statements in the advertisement of drugs

Progressives typically disliked monopolies because they amassed great power and often had consumers at their mercy.

Roosevelt- “Trust Buster” - intolerant of abuse of power - believed in government supervision and regulation of business

Federal Trade Commission *established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act *Empowered to prevent large companies from destroying small ones = more competition Clayton Anti – trust Act *Prohibited pricing policies that might destroy competition & outlawed the buying of stock of competing companies

Make the government more responsible to the will of the peopleMake the government more responsible to the will of the people Allowing voters to have a greater direct impact on public policyAllowing voters to have a greater direct impact on public policy

- political power was in the hands of a network of men who could be influenced through bribes and favors, controlled many city governments Once elected politicians had little accountability

Primary elections The power of initiatives & referendums Recall elections * see chart on page 392 Progressives pushed for:

1913 – 17 th Amendment > direct election of US senators 1920 – 19 th Amendment > women’s suffrage

Roosevelt is often referred to as the father of the national park system. WHY?

He had the foresight to preserve huge tracts of Wilderness areas during a time period of tremendous urban and industrial development

W.E.B Dubois – most prominent leader of the NAACP - 1 st African American to receive a PhD from Harvard - historian and outspoken leader of the black community In its early years NAACP defended blacks that had been arrested unjustly, fought for anti-lynching laws & investigated riots By 1914, NAACP had a national membership of 6000 & offices in 50 cities.