1. Chapter 17 – The Progressive Era

2. Section One – The Origins of Progressivism
Four Goals of Progressivism
Concerns of Progressives
i. Early 1900s, middle-class reformers address problems of 1890s
Different reform efforts collectively called progressive movement
Reformers aim to restore economic opportunity, correct injustice by:
- protecting social welfare, promoting moral improvement
- creating economic reform, fostering efficiency
Protecting Social Welfare
i. Social Gospel, settlement houses inspire other reform groups
ii. Florence Kelley, political activist, advocate for women, children
- helps pass law prohibiting child labor, limiting women’s hours

3. c. Promoting Moral Improvement
i. Some feel poor should uplift selves by improving own behavior
ii. Prohibition—banning of alcoholic drinks
iii. Woman’s Christian Temperance Union spearheads prohibition crusade
d. Creating Economic Reform
i panic prompts doubts about capitalism; many become socialists
ii. Muckrakers—journalists who expose corruption in politics, business

4. e. Fostering Efficiency
i. Many use experts, science to make society, workplace more efficient
ii. Louis D. Brandeis uses social scientists’ data in trial
iii. Scientific management—time and motion studies applied to workplace
iv. Assembly lines speed up production, make people work like machines
- cause high worker turnover

5. Cleaning Up Local Government
a. Reforming Local Government
i. Reformers try to make government efficient, responsive to voters
ii. Some cities adopt government by commission of experts
iii. Many use council-manager: people elect council that appoints manager
b. Reform Mayors
i. Hazen Pingree of Detroit tackles taxes, transit fares, corruption
ii. Socialist Tom Johnson of Cleveland fights corrupt utility companies

6. II. Reform at the State Level
a. Reform Governors
i. Governors push states to pass laws to regulate large businesses
ii. Robert M. La Follette is 3-term governor, then senator of Wisconsin
- attacks big business
b. Protecting Working Children
i. Child workers get lower wages, small hands handle small parts better
- families need children’s wages
ii. National Child Labor Committee gathers evidence of harsh conditions
iii. Labor unions argue children’s wages lower all wages
iv. Groups press government to ban child labor, cut hours

7. c. Efforts to Limit Working Hours
i. Muller v. Oregon—Court upholds limiting women to 10-hour workday
ii. Bunting v. Oregon—upholds 10-hour workday for men
iii. Reformers win workers’ compensation for families of injured, killed

8. d. Reforming Elections
i. Oregon adopts secret ballot, initiative, referendum, recall
ii. Initiative—bill proposed by people, not lawmakers, put on ballots
iii. Referendum—voters, not legislature, decide if initiative becomes law
iv. Recall—voters remove elected official through early election
v. Primaries allow voters, not party machines, to choose candidates
e. Direct Election of Senators
i. Seventeenth Amendment permits popular election of senators

9. Section Two – Women in Public Life
Women in the Work Force
a. Changing Patterns of Living
i. Only middle-, upper-class women can devote selves to home, family
ii. Poor women usually have to work for wages outside home
b. Farm Women
i. On Southern, Midwestern farms, women’s roles same as before
ii. Perform household tasks, raise livestock, help with crops

10. c. Women in Industry
i. After 1900, 1 in 5 women hold jobs; 25% in manufacturing
ii. 50% industrial workers in garment trade; earn half of men’s wages
iii. Jobs in offices, stores, classrooms require high school education
iv. Business schools train bookkeepers, stenographers, typists
d. Domestic Workers
i. In 1870, 70% of employed women do domestic work
ii. Many African-American, immigrant women do domestic labor
- married immigrants take in piecework, boarders

11. Women Lead Reform
a. Women Get Involved
i. Many female industrial workers seek to reform working conditions
ii. Women form cultural clubs, sometimes become reform groups
b. Women in Higher Education
i. Many women active in public life have attended new women’s colleges
ii. 50% college-educated women never marry; many work on social reforms

12. c. Women and Reform
i. Women reformers target workplace, housing, education, food, drugs
ii. National Association of Colored Women (NACW)—child care, education
iii. Susan B. Anthony of National American Woman Suffrage Assoc. (NAWSA)
- works for woman suffrage, or right to vote
d. A Three-Part Strategy for Suffrage
i. Convince state legislatures to give women right to vote
ii. Test 14th Amendment—states lose representation if deny men vote
- Aren’t women citizens too?
iii. Push for constitutional amendment to give women the vote

13. Section Three – Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal
A Rough Riding-President
a. Roosevelt’s Rise
i. Theodore Roosevelt has sickly childhood, drives self in athletics
ii. Is ambitious, rises through New York politics to become governor
iii. NY political bosses cannot control him, urge run for vice-president
b. The Modern Presidency
i. President McKinley shot; Roosevelt becomes president at 42
ii. His leadership, publicity campaigns help create modern presidency
iii. Supports federal government role when states do not solve problems
- Square Deal—Roosevelt’s progressive reforms

14. Using Federal Power
a. Trustbusting
i. By 1900, trusts control about 4/5 of U.S. industries
ii. Roosevelt wants to curb trusts that hurt public interest
- breaks up some trusts under Sherman Antitrust Act
b Coal-Strike
i. Coal reserves low; forces miners, operators to accept arbitration
ii. Sets principle of federal intervention when strike threatens public
c. Railroad Regulation
i. Roosevelt pushes for federal regulation to control abuses
- Elkins Act—stops rebates, sudden rate changes
- Hepburn Act—limits passes, ICC to set maximum rates

15. III. Health and Environment
a. Regulating Food and Drugs
i. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle—unsanitary conditions in meatpacking
ii. Roosevelt commission investigates, backs up Sinclair’s account
iii. Roosevelt pushes for Meat Inspection Act:
- dictates sanitary requirements
- creates federal meat inspection program
b. Pure Food and Drug Act
i. Food, drug advertisements make false claims; medicines often unsafe
ii. Pure Food and Drug Act halts sale of contaminated food, medicine
- requires truth in labeling

16. c. Conservation and Natural Resources
i. 1887, U.S. Forest Bureau established, manages 45 million acres
ii. Private interests exploit natural environment
d. Conservation Measures
i. Roosevelt sets aside forest reserves, sanctuaries, national parks
ii. Believes conservation part preservation, part development for public

17. Roosevelt and Civil Rights
a. Civil Rights at the turn of the 20th Century
i. Roosevelt does not support civil rights for African Americans
ii. Supports individual African Americans in civil service
- invites Booker T. Washington to White House
iii. NAACP—National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
- goal is full equality among races
iv. Founded 1909 by W. E. B. Du Bois and black, white reformers

18. Section Four – Progressivism Under Taft
Taft Becomes President
a. Taft Stumbles
i. 1908, Republican William Howard Taft wins with Roosevelt’s support
ii. Has cautiously progressive agenda; gets little credit for successes
iii. Does not use presidential bully pulpit to arouse public opinion
b. The Payne-Aldrich Tariff
i. Taft signs Payne-Aldrich Tariff—compromise bill, moderate tariffs
ii. Progressives angry, think he abandoned low tariffs, progressivism

19. c. Disputing Public Lands
i. Conservationists angry Richard A. Ballinger named interior secretary
- Ballinger puts reserved lands in public domain
ii. Interior official protests action, is fired, writes magazine exposé
iii. Gifford Pinchot head of U.S. Forest Service
- testifies against Ballinger
- is fired by Taft

20. The Republican Party Splits
a. Problems Within the Party
i. Republicans split over Taft’s support of House Speaker Joseph Cannon
ii. Cannon weakens progressive agenda; progressives ally with Democrats
iii midterm elections, Democrats get control of House
b. The Bull Moose Party
i convention, Taft people outmaneuver Roosevelt’s for nomination
ii. Progressives form Bull Moose Party; nominate Roosevelt, call for:
- more voter participation in government
- woman suffrage
- labor legislation, business controls
iii. Runs against Democrat Woodrow Wilson, reform governor of NJ

21. The Democrats Win in 1912
a. The Election
i. Wilson endorses progressive platform called the New Freedom
- wants stronger antitrust laws, banking reform, lower tariffs
- calls all monopolies evil
ii. Roosevelt wants oversight of big business; not all monopolies bad
iii. Socialist Party candidate Eugene V. Debs wants to end capitalism
iv. Wilson wins great electoral victory; gets majority in Congress

22. Section Five – Wilson’s New Freedom
Wilson Wins Financial Reforms
a. Wilson’s Background
i. Wilson was lawyer, professor, president of Princeton, NJ governor
ii. As president, focuses on trusts, tariffs, high finance
b. Two Key Antitrust Measures
i. Clayton Antitrust Act stops companies buying stock to form monopoly
ii. Ends injunctions against strikers unless threaten irreparable damage
iii. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)—new “watchdog” agency
- investigates regulatory violations
- ends unfair business practices

23. c. A New Tax System
i. Wilson pushes for Underwood Act to substantially reduce tariffs
ii. Sets precedent of giving State of the Union message in person
iii. His use of bully pulpit leads to passage
d. Federal Income Tax
i. Sixteenth Amendment legalizes graduated federal income tax
e. The Federal Reserve System
i. Federal Reserve System—private banking system under federal control
ii. Nation divided into 12 districts; central bank in each district

24. Women Win Suffrage
a. Local Suffrage Battles
i. College-educated women spread suffrage message to working-class
ii. Go door-to-door, take trolley tours, give speeches at stops
- some adopt bold tactics of British suffragists
b. Catt and the National Movement
i. Carrie Chapman Catt, head of NAWSA, stresses organization, lobbying
ii. National Woman’s Party aggressively pressures for suffrage amendment
iii. Work of patriotic women in war effort influences politicians
iv Nineteenth Amendment grants women right to vote

25. The Limits of Progressivism
a. Wilson and Civil Rights
i. As candidate, wins support of NAACP for favoring civil rights
ii. As president, opposes anti-lynching legislation
iii. Appoints fellow white Southerners to cabinet who extend segregation
iv. NAACP feels betrayed; Wilson self-defense widens rift
b. The Twilight of Progressivism
i. Outbreak of World War I distracts Americans; reform efforts stall