Transcript The Progressive Era NOTES

In groups complete the following:
Come up with a list of 10 problems
that exist in our school. These
have to be real problems that may
be the result of years of doing
things a certain way. You may need
to really think about these, but try
to come up with a realistic list.
In groups complete the following:
Now in your groups, come up with
viable solutions to the problems
that you came up with. These
need to be viable solutions that
could aid in fixing these problems.
In groups complete the following:
Now think of the United States
during the time period we are
studying (around the early 20th
century). What problems have
emerged in the country? Come
with a list of these problems.
The Progressive
Movement
What is Progressivism?
A series of ideas in order to fix the
problems in American society
Who were Progressives?
Progressivism was an idea rather than
an organized group of people
Progressives included members from both political
parties, business leaders, middle class, immigrant
working class, journalists, social workers, etc.
What were the
goals of Progressives?
They wanted:
1. A government active in
the economy and society
2. A government to be free
at all levels of corruption
3. Social welfare programs
for citizens
The Triangle
Shirtwaist Fire
March 25, 1911
Assignment: You have just seen the
horror that has unfolded at the
Triangle Shirtwaist factory first hand
and are appalled. Write a letter to
your elected city official about what
you want done to improve working
conditions in these factories.
Reforming Society
Intro Question:
1.Who has a job in here?
2.What do you do?
3.What are your working
conditions like?
Child Labor
Refer to reading
Reports of child labor
convinced states to pass
laws that limited child
labor
In addition, many states
passed compulsory
education laws (laws
requiring children to go to
school instead of work)
Health and Safety Codes
Laws were passed that addressed the following:
Workers’
Compensation
Limit on
working hours
Workplace
safety laws (fire
precaution)
The Prohibition Movement
Many
progressives
(Woman’s
Christian
Temperance
Union) believed
alcohol
1. Scarce wages were spent in the saloons
2. Excessive drinking led to domestic violence
3. Drinking led to unproductiveness at work
Progressives vs. Big Business
Corporations
found
wayslaws
around
these lawsthe
States
attempted
to pass
prohibiting
Advocates believed that any lasting change
combining of business that hurt competition
had to come from national legislation
State Laws
National Legislation
Both houses of Congress
passed the Sherman
Antitrust Act (1890) only
symbolic; the courts made
the law weak
Corporations
Reforming
Government
State Government Reform
Initiative
Referendum
Permitted a group of
citizens to introduce
legislation
Allowed citizens to vote
on proposed laws directly
Direct Primary
Recall
All party members could
vote for a candidate to
run in the general
election
Allowed voters to remove
an elected official from
office
Government Reform
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
How did Mother Nature play a role
in local government reform?
Galveston, TX hurricane in 1901 led to the
adoption of the City Commission System 
This weakened political machines
Women and
Reform
The “New Woman”
Review: What were women’s role in
society in the late 1800s?
A “New Woman” emerged in the United
States for a variety of reasons
By the late
1800s, income
producing jobs
were outside of
the house
Children were
going to school
at an earlier age
Women were
having less
children
Women had more time and looked
for activities to fill that time
There was an
increase in
women’s
education
The Clubwoman
Women’s clubs increased dramatically in the late 1800s
 cultural clubs at first but eventually morphed into
instruments of social change
WellFunded
Nonpartisan
(they could
not vote)
Most
excluded
African
Americans
Did not wish to challenge the
male-dominated view of society
Instrumental in the passage of laws
affecting a plethora of issues
Women’s Suffrage
Just the idea of women’s suffrage was a challenge
to the social norms of the time period
Suffrage
groups:
NAWSA
Antisuffrage
Organizations
Women began to gain the right
to vote from individual states
Progressive Amendments
16th Amendment:
17th Amendment:
Income Tax
Direct Election of Senators
18th Amendment:
19th Amendment:
Prohibition
Women have the right to vote
Who were Muckrakers?
They were crusading journalists who worked to
expose abuses and corruption in society to the
public in the hopes change would occur.
Upton Sinclair  wrote
The Jungle to expose the
horrible conditions in the
meat packing industry
Jacob Riis  wrote How
the Other Half Lives to
expose the horrible living
conditions of the urban
poor
How the Other Half Lives
Examine each photograph and answer these
questions:
1.What do you observe in the photograph?
2.Is there anything in the photograph that you
think could be overlooked at first glance?
3.How do you think the middle and upper class
reacted to these photographs?
Is it true that a picture is
“worth a thousand words”?
Theodore Roosevelt
The Accidental President
Election of 1900
Theodore Roosevelt- took
theofoath
Governor
NY of
William McKinley
- Reputation
as a “wild
office
and
was
the
youngest
person
to
sought reelection
man”
ever do so at 42- years
of age
Named VP running mate
TR Business Beliefs
TR was not anti-business;
however, he was antiabusive trust
TR saw the government
should be the mediator of
business for the public good
Businesses should publish their
business practices  public
opinion would do the rest
TR vs. Trusts
Whose that stepping
into the ring? Oh it’s
Northern Securities
Company
Applied the Sherman
Antitrust Act and the
company was forced to
dissolve
TR and Labor
In the late 1800s, what was the
governments position on labor disputes?
TR positioned the government to hear
labor’s side of the disagreement 
Government as a regulator
United Mine Workers vs. mine owners
 TR “asked” both sides to accept
arbitration
Is this acceptable for
the government to do?
“The Square Deal”
TR easily won the election of 1904 by playing to all
sides and gaining support  he offered a “square deal”
to the American people, which became the
“
embodiment of his domestic
policies
All fair
and
square”
Railroad Regulation
Consumer Safety
Hepburn Act & the Elkins Act
Pure Food and Drug Act &
Meat Inspection Act
The measures of the square deal began
to distance TR from conservatives
Roosevelt and Conservation
Nature
He romanticized
the West & the
wilderness
He was the first
president to take
an active role in the
American
conservation
movement
National Reclamation Act
(Newlands Act) federal
funds for construction of
dams, reservoirs, and
canals in the West
Significantly added to the
National Park System
Teddy’s Legacy
To write good essays, you have to have strong opinions and
support them with facts. Your assignment is to write 2
separate intro paragraphs for the following essay prompt:
Was Theodore Roosevelt a good president?
Why or why not?
One of your intro paragraphs should state “Yes” and explain
why (set up categories)
One of your intro paragraphs should “No” and explain why not
(set up categories)
Taft’s Reforms
Taft had some scandals in his administration
Taft continued to go after abusive trusts
William Howard Taft
The Return of Roosevelt
TR attempted to
reunite the
Republicans 
he went on a
speaking tour
“New Nationalism”
Social justice
was possible with
a strong federal
government
The Election of 1912
TR
Ran as the candidate
of the Progressive (Bull
Moose) Party
William Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Ran as the Republican
candidate
Ran as the Democratic
nominee
Woodrow Wilson’s
Reforms
Who was Woodrow Wilson?
Only U.S. President who
was a professor
Was able to get progressive
reforms passed as governor of NJ
Won the 1912 election because
TR & Taft split the Republican
vote
His progressive program was
called the “New Freedom”
New Nationalism vs. New Freedom
Government
regulation in
business
(accept
consolidation)
Do not
regulate
consolidation
 destroy it
Wilson’s Actions
Lowered the tariff
UnderwoodSimmons Tariff
(led to 16th
Amendment)
Worked to pass the
Federal Reserve Act 
system of 12 regional
banks
Reinstituted
segregation in federal
agencies
Refused to support
women’s suffrage
Supported the
Keating-Owen Act
the first federal law
regulating child labor