1. Unit 7.1

2.  Quite a few problems arose with the growth of urbanization and industrialization  Progressives provided the answers to these problems: ◦ Common desire to improve life in the Industrial Age ◦ Shared goals of limiting big business, improving democracy for the people, and strengthening social justice

3.  Part of a reform tradition that dated back many decades ◦ Jeffersonians in the early 1800s ◦ Jacksonians in the 1830s ◦ Populists in the 1890s  Prevailing philosophy of romantic transcendentalism gave way to balanced pragmatism ◦ What’s “good” and “true” could not be known in the abstract but instead, people should take a pragmatic (practical) approach to morals, ideals, and knowledge  Allows Progressives to challenge fixed, traditional notions standing in the way of reform

4.  Mostly middle-class residents, unlike the rural citizens who led the Populist movement  A business and professional class that took their civic responsibilities seriously ◦ Disturbed about what might happen to American democracy  Unrest among the poor  Excesses of the rich  Government corruption  Overall decline in morality

5.  What is a Muckraker? ◦ A writer specializing in a newspaper or magazine story that describes underhanded politics or a sneaky/sketchy person or event in society  First referred to as muckrakers by President Roosevelt  Middle-class loved to read about these stories

6.  Magazines: ◦ McClure’s, Collier’s, and Cosmopolitan were the three biggest muckraker magazines from 1885- 1910  Lincoln Steffens- Tweed Days in St. Louis, 1902  Ida Tarbell- The History of the Standard Oil Company, 1902

7.  Books: ◦ The most popular series of muckraker articles were usually collected and published as books  Exposed the corruptness of local governments/big city politics  Demonstrated the inefficient national government of the Gilded Age  Pointed out downfalls in society  “The law is in everything!”

8.  Popularity of muckraking journalism began declining after 1910 for several reasons: ◦ Writers found it more and more difficult to top the last sensationalist story ◦ Publishers faced pressure from banks and advertisers to tone down their treatment/perspectives of businesses ◦ Corporations became more aware of their public image  Public Relations

9.  Voter Participation: ◦ On voting day, political parties used to be able to manipulate/intimidate voters ◦ In order to increase public participation in voting, Massachusetts became the first state to adopt a system first tried successfully in Australia  Issued state-printed ballots and had the voter cast their vote in the privacy of a curtained booth ◦ By 1910, all states were doing this

10.  Direct Primaries: ◦ Before direct primaries, political bosses got to determine who would be nominated as a party candidate  Today, primary elections are just as significant as the senate/presidential elections that proceed them  Direct Election of U.S. Senators: ◦ Before the Progressive Era, senators were chosen by a legislative majority, not voted in by the people  Nevada (1899) ◦ 17 th Amendment (1913) gave people that responsibility  Required all U.S. senators be elected by popular vote

11.  Initiative, Referendum, & Recall: ◦ Progressives proposed two methods for getting politicians to obey the “will of the people”:  Initiative: voters compel the legislature to consider a bill  Referendum: allow citizens to vote on a proposed law printed on a ballot ◦ A third method, the recall, enabled voters to remove a corrupt politician from office before their term had expired

12.  Social Welfare: ◦ Jane Addams and the settlement houses were aiding the fight for the poor ◦ Other reformers lobbied vigorously for the needs of immigrants and the urban poor  Better juvenile courts  Liberalized divorce laws  Safety regulations for tenements and factories  Advocated for a parole system and a reformed prison system

13.  Temperance & Prohibition: ◦ Whether or not to shut down saloons and not allow drinking was one major issue state governments had to deal with ◦ Even though saloons were often the neighborhood headquarters of political machines, there wasn’t much Progressive support for prohibition ◦ Rural reformers very much supported prohibition, and by 1915 had persuaded the legislatures of two- thirds of the states to prohibit the sale of alcohol