Transcript Progressivism Notes

PROGRESSIVISM
THE GILDED AGE
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After the Civil War cities were no longer equipped to
handle the problems existing in the cities.
These problems included crime, inadequate water
supplies, poor sanitation, and lack of professionals.
The solution to these problems often lay in the hands of
a political machine such as Tammany Hall
The biggest problem on relying on these political
machines is the often corrupt measures employed by
the machines to get work done.
The political machines contained a group of informal
professional politicians to control the local government
and their actions.
THE MACHINES
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Pros
Made special effort to
reach out to new
immigrants by providing
jobs, housing, coal for
winter, and turkeys for
holidays.
Helped immigrants
become naturalized
citizens of the United
States
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Cons
Sometimes dominated
entire counties
Used illegal tactics to
maintain their position
within government.
Used jobs as payouts to
maintain control over
voters.
Bribes and payoffs were a
regular part of business.
FEDERAL CORRUPTION
Ulysses S Grant’s administration in 1869
became marred with corruption.
 Many of these deals were performed in the
back rooms of clubs and parlors.
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THE SCHEMES
Crédit Moblier Scandal-1872
 Union Pacific Railroad setup
Crédit Moblier company to
build a part of the
transcontinental railroad.
 Taxpayers were charged 23
million dollars more than it
cost to build.
 The money went into the
bank accounts of the
directors of Union Pacific
and stockholders
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The Whiskey Ring - 1875
Tax collections were being
moved into private hands.
They bribed officials to
keep millions of tax dollars
from liquor taxes.
The people involved:
Grant’s private secretary,
whiskey distillers,
distributors, and
government officials.
THE PANIC OF 1893
In May of 1893 one of the leading railroad
companies failed.
 As a result investors pulled out of the stock
market and thousands of businesses
collapsed. 3 million people lost their jobs.
 This is compounded by the fact a world wide
financial slump was going on as well.
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MAIN IDEA
Progressives focused on three areas of reform:
easing the suffering of the urban poor,
improving unfair and dangerous working
conditions, and reforming the government at
the national, state, and local levels.
FOCUS QUESTIONS
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What issues did progressives focus on, and
what helped to motivate their cause?
How did progressives try to reform society?
How did progressives try to change the work
place?
What changes did progressives make to
reform government on a local, state, and
national level?
PROGRESSIVISM, WHAT IS IT?
Progressivism is a movement started in the late
1800s as a reform movement to address many
of the social problems industrialization created.
 In particular they focused on:
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Improving living conditions for the urban poor
 Questioned the power of big business
 Called for the government to be more honest.
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THE MUCKRAKERS
Muckrakers are reform minded individuals
working to expose many of the social ills in
society.
 Due to the nature of the materials they expose
to the public, the nick name muckrakers were
given to them. They “raked up” or exposed the
filth of society.
 Most focused on exposing business and
political corruption
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EXAMPLES
Ida Tarbell- Exposed Standard Oil in McClure’s
Magizine
 Lincoln Steffens – corruption of city
governments in The Shame of Cities.
 Frank Norris – monopolistic railroads in The
Octopus: A Story of California.
 Upton Sinclair – meatpacking industries in The
Jungle
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QUESTIONS
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5.
What is this article focusing on?
Why would this be considered muckraking?
Does this fall into the main goals of
progressivism?
Who would be affected by changes made by
the articles?
What changes may need to be made after
reading the article?
HOUSING REFORMS
In 1901 activists like Lillian Wald fought for
public health service for the poor.
 The Tenement act of 1901 passed in New York
forcing the installation of lights in public
hallways and 1 toilet for every two families.
 Eventually outhouses would be completely
banned.
 Within 15 years the death rate in New York
dropped dramatically.
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WORK PLACE REFORMS
The Progressives took up the cause of women
and children in the work place
 In a couple of situations they would take cases
on the court system.
 Other situations would see the creation of
committees and societies to further the causes
of the Progressives.
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LOCHNER V NEW YORK - 1905
This case concerned the rights of limiting the
workday.
 The Supreme Court sided with the business
owners.
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By limiting bakers to a 10 hour work day, this
would interfere with and deny the right of workers
to make contracts with their employers.
MULLER V. OREGON - 1908
This case focused on the issues of work hours
for women in factories and laundries.
 The case was argued by Louis D. Brandeis on
the basis of concrete evidence
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 “Working
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long hours harmed the health of Women”
The cases was decided in favor of Muller
establishing a max of a 10 hour workday for
women.
BUNTING V. OREGON - 1917
The main issue was considering a 10 hour
workday for men in mills and factories.
 The evidence in this case used a model known
as the Brandeis Brief.
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style maintained using concrete evidence.
The court upheld the law extending protections
of a 10 hour workday to men in mills and
factories.
TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FIRE
500 women worked for the Triangle Shirtwaist
company.
 On the end of the 6 day work week a fire
erupted, most likely from a discarded match.
 The whole eighth floor set ablaze quickly and
spread to 2 other floors.
 The only choice left was to jump out of the
windows since the exit doors were locked.
 More than 140 men and women died.
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http://my.hrw.com/ss2/ss06_07_08/student/f
lash/huspro_fd_trishiCD/click_viewer.html
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As a result the fire the toughest fire safety laws
were passed in the Nation
CHILD LABOR
IN 1904 Florence Kelly formed the National
Child Labor Committee.
 Their mission was to ban child labor.
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 However
many employers still used child labor as a
cheap source of labor.
REFORMING GOVERNMENT - LOCAL
Most often the way to clean up the government
was to win control of it.
 Once in control changes to the police and tax
systems would help in the process. They would
change the structure of government.
 Commissioner system- Experts in their field would
be elected to various position to handle situations
 Council Manager- Council appoints a professional
politition to fill the needed spots.
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REFORMING GOVERNMENT - STATE
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Robert M La Follette pushed changes known as
the Wisconsin idea.
 Limits
on Campaign spending
 State Commission limiting railroad/utilities
 Commissions for transportation/ civil service/ taxation
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These changes spread to other states in similar
reforms.
REFORMING GOVERNMENT - ELECTIONS
Primaries were adopted due to Progressive
pressure
 The 17th amendment creating direct election of
senators was passed as well.
 The Use of secret ballot was implemented
along with the following:
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 Initiative-
add ideas to be put as laws
 Referendum – ask citizens to vote on laws
 Recall – allows citizens to remove an elected
official through voting.
REVIEW
What did the political Machines do good and bad?
 What are the details of the two scandals/schemes
from President Grant’s administration?
 What are the three main goals of Progressivism?
 What are some of the things that Progressive
published about? How could they impact everyday
life?
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What are the three court cases Progressives
tried? What were each of their results?
 What parts of city government were rearranged?
 What Changes were made to the election
process and how would that help Americans?
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