1. Journal Activity & Chart Notes
The Progressives
Journal Activity & Chart Notes

2. Journal/ORQ: Answer each question with 3-5 sentences
Think about the challenges the Industrial Revolution and Gilded Age brought to American Society in the late 1800s:
Masses of Immigrants in American Cities
Extreme Poverty and disgusting living conditions
Financial crisis for farmers in Rural America
Corruption and graft in all levels of politics
Dangerous and unclean working conditions for factory workers
Prejudice, discrimination and disenfranchisement against minorities
Closing of the frontier and development of the West’s natural resources
Monopolies limit competition and slow the economy
Which of these issues is the most important to you? Why?
Which of these issues would you work to change and how would you start?

3. Who were the progressives?
Middle class activists- urban, college educated, mostly white
Leaders of smaller, issue based reforms
Used the power of the national, state, and local governments to solve society’s problems
Wanted to make government larger and responsible for taking care of more people
Tried to get more laws, regulations, and amendments passed to bring change in American Society

4. Who were the Muckrakers?
Muckrakers were a group of crusading journalists who investigated social conditions and political corruption
Publishers competed to see who could expose the most corruption
Muck= the stuff people used to throw out the window but now you flush, i.e. gross stuff

5. MAKE THIS CHART ON THE BACK OF YOUR PAPER : 11x3
Problem:
Solutions:
Who Was Involved:
Living Conditions in Cities:
Child Labor:
Work Place Safety:
Alcohol Abuse:
Destroying the Environment:
Unsafe Products:
Corruption in Government:
Not Everyone Can Vote:
Unchecked Big Business:
Discrimination and Racism:

6. LEARNING STATION INSTRUCTIONS:
With your KAGAN groups, summarize why there is a problem under the PROBLEM column
Summarize how people worked to fix these problems in the SOLUTIONS column
List the names of the people that helped fix these problem in the WHO WAS INVOLVED column.
*You will have 5 minutes per station*
EQ: How have Americans benefited from the issues addressed by the Progressives? Did they fix everything wrong with American Society? What remains to be addressed?

7. Problem: Child Labor Long hours, little pay, dangerous conditions
Health problems
Cycle of poverty – wages were needed to help provide for the family

8. Child Labor: Solution Child Labor Laws Age limits and maximum hours
Public Education
Mandatory attendance laws
Skilled jobs preparation
Helps immigrants assimilate

9. Problem: Not Everyone Can Vote
Many progressive women saw themselves as "social housekeepers” – clean up society
Women’s Suffrage
1848 – Seneca Falls
State by state w/o federal
Amendment

10. Not Everyone Can Vote: Solution
Susan B. Anthony
Alice Paul – use aggressive tactics to gain public attention and support
Protests in front of White House, Marches, and hunger strikes
19th Amendment to the Constitution – can not be denied the right to vote based on gender

11. Problem: Living Conditions in Cities
Crammed into tenement houses with unsanitary conditions
Streets were filled with garbage and filth
Disease, fire and crime

12. Living Conditions in Cities: Solution
Jacob Riis publishes How the Other Half Lives
Social Gospel – churches take on community problems to help the poor
Salvation Army and YMCA – practical aid and religious counseling
Jane Addams starts Settlement Houses

13. Problem: Work Place Safety
Uncovered machines, long hours, little pay
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

14. Work Place Safety: Solution
Building and safety codes
Workers compensation
Union victories
Minimum wage

15. Problem: Alcohol Abuse
Breakdown of families
Lost wages, physical abuse and crime
Bad for business
Workers don’t perform and often get hurt

16. Alcohol Abuse: Solution
Temperance Movement
Moderation and elimination of alcohol from society
Laws to limit availability
Women lead the movement
Victims of abuse
The Women’s Christian Temperance Movement
Moral voice in society
Prohibition
18th Amendment to the Constitution – makes production, sale and distribution of alcohol illegal

17. Problem: Destroying the Environment
Industries overuse the land
Ranching, logging, bonanza wheat farming- soil depletion
Extracting natural resources
Mining, oil drilling
Pollution
Coal dust - air
Waste disposal - water

18. Destroying the Environment: Solution
Conservation movement
Teddy! And John Muir
National parks
Regulations

19. Problem: Unsafe Products
Ingredients?!?
Medicines
Unclean Food
Unsanitary Conditions

20. Unsafe Products: Solution
Meatpacking – Upton Sinclair writes The Jungle
Meat Inspection Act
Pure Food and Drug Act
Ingredients lists, and warning labels

21. Problem: Corruption in Government
Political Machines
Bribery, favoritism
Buying Elections
Inefficient/wasteful
Patronage

22. Corruption in Government: Solution
Taylorism – efficiency (like the assembly line)
Departments to mange specific issues
Robert La Follett – primaries for candidates
Citizen participation
Recalls, referendums, initiatives, secret ballot
Pendleton Act
Jobs given to candidates based on merit not favors
17th Amendment to the Constitution – direct election of senators

23. Problem: Unchecked Big Business
Monopolies
No competition, control prices
Unequal distribution of wealth
“Gilded Age”

24. Unchecked Big Business: Solution
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
Illegal to form monopolies  Break them up!
Teddy, Taft and Wilson
Square Deal – every American should have an equal opportunity
Trust Busting
Socialism
Government regulates the economy – owns the means of production
Eugene Debs
16th Amendment to the Constitution – income tax
Progressive income tax  higher tax brackets for wealthier people

25. Problem: Discrimination and Racism
Segregation
Plessey v. Ferguson
Hate crimes
Lynching
Discrimination
Jim Crow
Nativism and xenophobia (fear of outsiders)

26. Discrimination and Racism: Solution
Booker T. Washington
Tuskegee Institute - Blacks can gain respect as they work their way up in society
Vocational college
W.E.B. Dubois
NAACP – challenge segregation laws in courts, help to vote
Ida B. Wells
Writer and speaker - challenging and decrying lynching

27. Exit Questions:
Which of the changes brought about by Progressive Reformers do you think caused the biggest impact for everyday Americans at the time? Explain your answer.
Which of the solutions from the Progressive Era has had the most impact on your life? Explain your answer.