1. Muckrakers, Labor Unions, Women’s Rights
Progressive Era
Muckrakers, Labor Unions, Women’s Rights

2. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
– Margaret Mead ( )
(1) What is Mead suggesting?
(2) Agree or disagree with the quote?

3. Aim: How did the progressive era contribute to the transformation of American society, politics, and economics?
Key Terms:
Muckraker Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
Gilded Age Comstock laws
Gold backed ($) Hull Houses
Greenback Party Mother Jones
Essential Questions:
What were the major problems in American society during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era?
(2) What kind of government aid may be necessary to solve these problems?

4. Muckrakers
Progressive Era, lasted from 1900 to 1917, muckraking journalists successfully exposed America's problems brought on by rapid industrialization and growth of cities. Influential muckrakers created public awareness of corruption, social injustices and abuses of power.

5. Politics
Lincoln Steffens: published a series of articles entitled “Shame of the Cities”
Exposed the corruption that occurred between big business and government.
“[Political] Boss Magee’s idea was not to corrupt the city government, but to become the city government; not to hire votes in councils, but to own councilmen; Relatives and friends were his first choice, then came bartenders, saloon-keepers, liquor dealers…”

6. Robert M. LaFollete Helped get reforms passed in his state.
Republican and Progressive politician.
Represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the Governor of Wisconsin.
Helped get reforms passed in his state.

7. State Reforms Secret Ballot
Privacy at the ballot box ensures that citizens can cast votes without party bosses knowing how they voted.
Initiative
Allows voters to petition state legislatures in order to consider a bill desired by citizens.
Referendum
Allows voters to decide if a bill or proposed amendment should be passed.
Recall
Allows voters to petition to have an elected representative removed from office.
Direct Primary
Ensures that voters select candidates to run for office, rather than party bosses.

8. Jacob Riis
Published How the Other Half Lives, study of tenement life in New York City.
Come over here. Step carefully over this baby--it is a baby, spite of its rags and dirt-under these iron bridges called fire-escapes, but loaded down, despite the incessant watchfulness of the firemen, with broken household goods, with wash-tubs and barrels, over which no man could climb from a fire.”

9. Big Business and Women
Ida Tarbell: Published History of the Standard Oil Company, a history of the business practices of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company.
She described the cutthroat methods the company used to eliminate competition.
“At all events, until the transportation matter is settled, and right, the monopolistic trust will be with us -- a leech on our pockets, a barrier to our free efforts.”

11. Women’s Rights
Margaret Sanger: devoted her life to legalizing birth control and making it universally available for women.
Starting in the 1910s, Sanger actively challenged federal and state Comstock laws to bring birth control information and contraceptive devices to women.
In 1921 she founded the American Birth Control League, the precursor to the Planned Parenthood Federation, and spent three decades campaigning to bring safe and effective birth control into the American mainstream.

13. Jane Addams: The Hull House
Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr opened the house to immigrants.
The Hull House was originally meant to educate the working poor in the subjects of art and literature.

14. Ida B. Wells – Fighting against segregation in schools
Stands as one of our nation's most uncompromising leaders and most ardent defenders of democracy.
Her newspaper office was destroyed as a result of the muckraking and investigative journalism
“Our watchword has been "the land of the free and the home of the brave." Brave men do not gather by thousands to torture and murder a single individual, so gagged and bound he cannot make even feeble resistance or defense. Neither do brave men or women stand by and see such things done without compunction of conscience, nor read of them without protest…. Surely it should be the nation's duty to correct its own evils!”

15. Upton Sinclair: The Jungle, described conditions in the meat-packing industry

16. Mary Harris Jones (Mother Jones)
Specialized in helping miners in their fight for decent wages, improve working conditions and put an end to child labor.
1905 Jones helped to form the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Jones travelled the country helping workers to form themselves into unions.
"In spite of oppressors, in spite of false leaders the cause of the workers continues onward. Slowly his hours are shortened, slowly his standards of living rise to include some of the good and beautiful things in life. Slowly, those who create the wealth of the world are permitted to share it. The future is in labor's strong, rough hands."

18. Jane Addams, “Twenty Years at Hull House” – addressed urban life and immigrant tenements, resulting in efforts to provide impoverished with skills and services (edu).
Carrie Chapman Catt, “On Women’s Suffrage” – the right for women to vote
Theodore Roosevelt, “The Conservation of Natural Resources” – responsible for conserving land and creating national parks.
Margaret Sanger, “No Gods, No Masters” - supported contraceptives for women; started what was to become Planned Parenthood; and coined term “birth control.”
Upton Sinclair, “Horror in the Workplace” (The Jungle) – conditions in the factory.
John Spargo, “The Bitter Cry of Children”
Lincoln Steffens Discusses Philadelphia Bossism – wrote “The Shame of the Cities;” challenged political machines; La Follette, even before he was elected Governor of Wisconsin spoke out against the machines.
Ida Tarbell, “A Muckraker’s Expose of Standard Oil” – exposed big business, pushed to do so because of her father’s small business.
Ida B. Wells, “Lynch Law in America” – treatment of African Americans.

19. Get into groups – you will then be assigned roles
Get into groups – you will then be assigned roles. Each group will be divided into pairs and be responsible for a particular muckraker or philanthropist.
You are either a muckraker or a philanthropist. Your roles give you directions for your task. Muckrakers, you are to make a case as to why you should get the philanthropist’s money! While you are preparing for you argument for tomorrow (when you will rotate around the room and make your cases) you should look at the rubric that is being used to evaluate you and use strong, specific reasoning in your argument.

20. Assignment:
Each person in your group should read the Progressive Party platform as well as the work of one muckraker. You will then fill in the row on the grid that corresponds to the work you read. Please discuss both of the documents that you read and fill in the grid together. After you fill in the grid, consider the following:
 (1) What were the major problems in American society
during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era?
(2) What kind of government aid may be necessary to
solve these problems?
(3) How did the progressive era contribute to the
transformation of American society, politics, and economics?

21. Portfolio Sheet
Write your name and your assigned person at the top of the portfolio sheet.
Write the Muckraker you choose near your adjectives section.
Answer the sections about the muckraker you choose. Use the criteria in the rubric on the top right of the portfolio sheet. Think about who plead their case the most, seemed most in character, could best answer questions.
On the back (bottom) choose the strongest muckraker and strongest philanthropist in terms of preparedness – write name of individual classmate and of who they “played.”