1. The Progressive Era
Reform shifts from the farm to the city and climbs the ladder of government from the local to the state and then to the national level.

2. I. The Problems of the 1890’s Huge Gap between rich and poor
Tremendous economic and political power of the rich
Wealthy were insensitively flaunting their wealth before a poorer public

3. I. Problems of the 1890’s (cont.)
Industrial workers hideously poor, living in squalor and working in dangerous conditions
Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives (1890)
Little concern for Black America

4. II. Progressive Reformers

5. A. Streams of Reform The “Social Gospel” movement
--Walter Rauschenbusch: Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907)
Settlement House Workers
--Jane Addams, Hull House in Chicago (1889)
Americans of “Old Wealth”

6. A. Streams of Reform (cont.)
Young, socially-conscious lawyers
Investigative Journalists
-- “Muckrakers”
--Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, and Upton Sinclair
Small businessmen

7. B. Features of Progressive Reform
Desire to remedy problems through government initiative
Reliance on “experts”
-- Robert Lafollette’s “Wisconsin Idea”
Wanted reform not revolution
Stressed the importance of efficiency in reform
--Frederick W. Taylor

8. B. Features of Progressive Reform (cont.)
Want to bring order out of chaos
--Federal Budget (1921)
Desire to make politics more democratic
Desire to make businessmen more responsible for problems

9. B. Features of Progressive Reform (cont.)
Desire to make society more moral and more just
Desire to distribute income more equitably
Desire to broaden opportunities for individual advancement
Women were active in progressivism
--Suffragettes like Susan B. Anthony

10. B. Features of Progressive Reform (cont.)
Infiltrated both political parties
-- Republican “insurgents”
Middle-class reform movement
Operated on all three levels of government

11. Spoils System From the old war saying “To the victor go the spoils”
Election of 1880 makes spoils system an issue
Also known as patronage

12. Mugwumps and Stalwarts
Mugwumps wanted to change spoils system
Stalwarts favored keeping spoils system
Garfield is Mugwump, Arthur is stalwart

13. “Mugwump”
The jocular word mugwump, noted as early as 1832, is from Algonquian (Natick) mugquomp, "important person, kingpin" (from mugumquomp, "war leader")1 implying that they were "sanctimonious" or "holier-than-thou,"2 in holding themselves aloof from party politics.

14. Assasination of James Garfield
“I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts... Arthur is president now!!”

15. Chester A. Arthur becomes president.
Arthur had served as Elizabeth Jennings attorney in 1854
Received all political jobs through patronage

16. Pendleton Civil Service Act
1883 law enacted to ensure that government jobs are given out on the basis of merit, not patronage
Supported by Chester A. Arthur, despite Arthur having made a career from patronage
Arthur loses favor with the Republicans and does not get renominated

17. Grover Cleveland elected President in 1884.
Born in Caldwell, NJ.
Only President born in NJ

18. III. Sample Progressive Reforms

19. Direct Election of Senators
The constitution originally provided for Senators to be appointed by state legislatures.
The 17th amendment gave more power to the people through direct election of Senators.

20. Secret Ballot
To avoid voter intimidation which was common. The secret ballot was introduced to ensure proper voting procedure.

21. Recall Election
A recall election is where citizens of a place gather enough signatures (a specified percentage of registered voters) to trigger a new election before the term has expired

22. Initiative or Referendum
An initiative is a proposal given to the public to vote on. If approved, it becomes law or policy.

23. New Forms of Local Govt
One group of progressives focused on making government more efficient by using ideas from business.
Progressives supported two proposals to reform city government:
The first, a commission plan, divided city government into several departments, each one under an expert commissioner’s control.
New Types of Government

25. Direct Primary
The direct primary is a partisan election to choose who will represent that party in a general election

26. Child Labor
According to the 1900 US Census, a total of 1,752,187 (about 1 in every 6) children between the ages of five and ten were engaged in “gainful occupations” in the United States. This number represents a fifty percent increase from the 1,118,356 children working for wages in 1880.

27. Child Labor
In 1916, the NCLC and the National Consumers League successfully pressured the US Congress to pass the Keating-Owen Act, the first federal child labor law. However, the US Supreme Court struck down the law two years later in Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918).

28. Social Reforms
The Birth of a Nation is a silent film released in 1915.
It is the most technologically advanced film of its day.
It depicts the birth of the KKK.
This prompted a rebirth of the KKK throughout the country

29. NAACP
The NAACP was founded in 1909 by a group of both whites and African-Americans including W.E.B. Dubois
Their purpose was to use the legal system to fight segregation.

30. IV. Progressive Amendments to the Constitution
Progressive reliance on the law
16th Amendment (1913)—federal income tax
17th Amendment (1913)—direct election of senators
18th Amendment (1919)—prohibition
19th Amendment (1920)—vote for women

31. Great drive, energy and exciting personality
TR’s interests and early years
NYC police commissioner
Spanish-American War experience
-- “Rough Riders”
Political Rise from NY Governor to Vice-President

32. A. First Term as President (1901-1904)
McKinley’s assassination
Offered energetic national leadership
Cast every issue in moral and patriotic terms
--The “Bully Pulpit”
Master Politician
Modest goals for his “accidental” presidency

33. Square Deal TR’s Square Deal had three main points:
Control of Natural Resources
Control of Corporations
Consumer Protection

34. Trustbusting
A trust is a business organization put together to create a monopoly or hurt competition.
Trusts have been illegal since the Sherman Anti-trust Act of 1890.
Roosevelt called himself the Trustbuster

35. Trust = Monopoly
A monopoly is when one person or business controls an entire industry.

36. AT&T
In the 1980s, LONG BEFORE CELL PHONES, the government made AT&T break up into several smaller companies, included in those were the companies that would become Verizon and another company that would eventually buy AT&T

37. Modern Monopoly?
Can you think of a company today that dominates an entire industry?

38. Oligopoly
An Oligopoly is when only a few companies dominate an industry, preventing others from getting into that industry

39. Trust Busting Top Left- Jay Gould Middle Left- James J. Hill
Center- Teddy Roosevelt
Top Right- John D. Rockefeller
Middle Right- J.P.Morgan

40. Jay Gould
Jay Gould was a well-known railroad speculator who had been involved in many scandals. At one point he owned the four largest western railroads including the Union Pacific.

41. James J. Hill
Founder of the Great Northern Railway Company and a partner with J.P. Morgan in Northern Securities

42. Teddy Roosevelt

43. John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil, which controlled most oil production in the United States

44. J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan controlled a huge banking and financial empire. He also created the U.S. steel corporation and helped finance several railroads

45. Why do you think this scene is set on Wall Street?
What do the giants represent?

46. Roosevelt Re-elected 1904

47. Hepburn Act (1906)
The Hepburn Act is a 1906 United States federal law that gave the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) the power to set maximum railroad rates.
This led to the discontinuation of free passes to loyal shippers.
 In addition, the ICC could view the railroads' financial records

48. Consumer Protection Federal Meat Inspection Act (1906)
Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)
Came in response to “The Jungle”

49. National Parks
TR created 5 national parks, 18 national monuments, and 150 National Forests.
Roosevelt was instrumental in conserving about 230 million acres of American soil among various parks and other federal projects.

50. Yosemite Sam

51. Environmental Debate John Muir Founder of The Sierra Club.
Worked with TR to create Yosemite National Park
Believed wild places could be left as they are
Gifford Pinchot
Head of US Forest Service under TR
Believed in managing the use of land for the benefit of the nation’s citizens.

53. The Election of 1908
Taft’s political experience
Taft’s weight
Not a dynamic politician
Never completely comfortable as President

54. First Pitch and 7th Inning Stretch

55. VI. Presidency of Taft (cont.)
Controversy over the Tariff
More conservative than TR, but also more trust suits
The “Ballinger-Pinchot” Affair
Growing tension with Teddy Roosevelt

56. VII. The Election of 1912 Growing split within the Republican Party
Creation of the “Bull Moose” Party
Progressive Party Platform: “New Nationalism”
Democrats drafted Woodrow Wilson
Results of the Election

57. VIII. Democratic Progressivism: The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
Wilson’s early life and political career
True progressive and dynamic speaker
Sympathetic to small businessmen
Could be a stubborn, moral crusader and ideologue

58. A. “New Freedom” Wilson’s brand of progressivism
Wants to recreate the “golden age” of small American businesses
Wilson wants to open channels for free and fair competition
Historic Jeffersonian approach to federal power

59. B. Key Wilsonian Legislation
Underwood Tariff Act (1913)
Federal Reserve Act (1913)
Clayton Anti-Trust Act (1914)
Federal Trade Commission (1914)

60. C. Congressional Progressivism After 1914
Wilson was not a strong progressive when it came to social reform
Congress takes over the progressive agenda
Appointment of Brandeis to Supreme Court
Examples of congressional progressive legislation after 1914
--Federal Highways Act (1916)

61. IX. The Waning of the Progressive Movement
Progressive movement peaks by 1917
Success of the movement led to its decline
Advent of World War I also hurt progressive activism
Progressives themselves began to weary of their reform zeal—as did the nation as a whole
Ironically, voter participation has steadily declined since the election of 1912