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Progressivism in the United States: 1901-1916
Hyperlinked materials are considered part of each lecture and
should be reviewed.
The progressive movement of the early
twentieth century became the greatest reform crusade since
abolitionism. The Progressive Movement was actually many different
groups seeking to improve American society. Promoted by the
populists, socialists, social gospelers, female reformers and
muckraking journalists, and others, progressivism attempted to use
public reaction and governmental power to correct the many social
and economic problems associated with industrialization. These
problems included:
Powerful monopolies restricting
competition
The effects of the economic depression
of the 1890's
Labor unrest and violence
Unhealthy and unsafe living and working
conditions
An obscene gap between the living
standards of the rich and poor
Large numbers of "new immigrants"
crowded into cities and tenements
Urban poverty, crime, congestion and
poor sanitation
Political corruption at all levels of
government
Abuse of the nation's natural resources
Individuals and organizations worked to
clearly identify the problems to the public, promote group action
and impact the government. Journalists, writers and photographers
investigated, documented and exposed corruption and social
injustice. Digging up the dirt of society, they were referred to as
muckrakers. The photographs of
Lewis Hine
and the writings of Riis,
Sinclair The Jungle--Chap.14 please read this chapter!!
The Social Gospel Movement, The Woman's Peace Party, Temperance and
Prohibition, Women's Suffrage, Planned Parenthood, National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP)
and the Anti Defamation League were some of the significant groups
promoting individual causes but collectively creating the foundation
of the progressive Movement.
Progressivism began at the city and state
levels, with a primary focus on political reforms before addressing
a host of social and economic evils. Limiting the power of the "boss
controlled political machines" and increasing the power of the
people through the secret ballot, recall, referendum, recall and
direct primary had positive effects. At the national level,
Roosevelt's Square Deal used the federal government as an agent of
the public interest in the conflicts between labor and the corporate
trusts. Some workers rights were defined/protected and a few trusts
were "busted", Roosevelt's progressivism also acted on behalf of the
consumer and environmental concerns. Conservation became an
important public crusade under Roosevelt, although sharp
disagreements divided "preservationists" from those who favored the
"multiple use" of nature. Roosevelt's personally selected successor,
William Howard Taft, was a poor politician who was manipulated by
the conservative Republican Old Guard. Under Taft, the Justice
Department brought twice as many suits against big business than it
had under Teddy. The conflict between Taft and Roosevelt
progressives finally split the Republican party with Roosevelt
leading the "Bull Moose" third party crusade in the 1912 election.
Woodrow Wilson and his New Freedom defeated
Roosevelt and his New Nationalism in a contest over alternative
forms of progressivism. Wilson and the Congress carried out a broad
progressive economic reform of the tariff, finances and the trusts.
They also achieved some social reforms that benefited the working
class. Between 1913 and 1920, the United States Constitution
embraced four "progressive amendments:
Amendment XVI 1913 Income Tax
Amendment XVII 1913 Direct Election of
Senators
Amendment XVIII 1919 Prohibition
Amendment XIX 1920 Women's Right to
Vote (visit
Not For
Themselves Alone,
an excellent streaming video presentation).
As summarized exceptionally in the
instructor's manual for Chapter 21 in the textbook :
The Progressives challenged the hold of
laissez-faire ideology with the idea of a strong central government
committed to economic regulation and social justice. The
Progressives were thus supportive of an idea that eventually would
define twentieth-century liberalism. They enlarged the executive
branch and transformed the presidency into a post of legislative and
popular leadership. Power increasingly flowed toward the federal
government's executive branch, while Congress and political parties
were weakened....Not everyone, then or now, readily accepted the
idea that a powerful government was needed to protect individual
liberty. Furthermore, the Progressive state did not always embrace
democracy or secure the people's liberties. Though many reforms
limited corruption and improved services, poor, immigrant, and
minority voters often found their political influence weakened or
their cultural autonomy curtailed by Progressive actions. As time
passed, the movement increasingly embraced questions of economic
justice and social welfare. More often than before, the rights of
labor were respected, not merely overridden by the prerogatives of
industry. Although progress toward racial justice was very limited,
(note Jim Crow
Legislation
and
Lynching),
the establishment of the NAACP: which demanded that blacks be
restored the right to vote, that segregation be abolished, and that
all discriminatory barriers be removed, began the drive toward
equality. For women, the era brought greater opportunity. The
settlement house movement provided an outlet for women to assert
their independence and employ their talents in socially useful ways.
Thousands of "club women" focused their energies on improving
schools and libraries, securing fire and sanitation codes, and
stamping out child labor. And while predictions that suffrage for
women would radically alter politics turned out to be false, still,
"the extension of the vote to women, 144 years after the founding of
the nation, was one of the great political achievements in the
history of the country."
Progressivism was quickly becoming the
foundation of the 20th century federal government and the
expectation of the federal governments role in the lives of citizens
in the 21st century. What has the federal government down to or for
you lately??
Under Wilson, national progressivism
peaked. Rejecting Roosevelt's "New Nationalism" of private
consolidation and public planning (regulated monopoly), Wilson
promised a "New Freedom" of "regulated competition" and strict
limits on size, whether in business or government. The achievements
of his first term were considerable: downward revision of the
tariff, centralization of the banking system, a federal trade
commission, and a new antitrust law. Together they raised
progressive reform to new heights, even as they moved Wilson closer
to the big government espoused by Roosevelt.
On the foreign front, Wilson's attempt to
implement progressive moral goals in foreign policy was less
successful, as he stumbled into military involvement in the
Caribbean and revolutionary Mexico. The outbreak of World War I in
Europe also brought the threat of American involvement, especially
from German submarine warfare. He temporarily avoided war by
extracting the Sussex pledge from the Germans. An anti-war
campaign, "he kept us out of war", narrowly won him reelection over
the Republicans.
Check out what was happening in
American
Culture at the turn of the century
and
prior, during
and after World War I.
For each module I recommend that you visit A Biography of
America
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html# ,
an exceptional
video instructional series for high school and college students
produced by WGBH Boston in cooperation with the Library of Congress
and the National Archives and Records Administration. These thirty
minute lectures incorporate first person narratives, photographs,
film footage and documents related to various historical time
periods. Combined with my introductory comments, the required
textbooks and our discussions, I believe you will acquire a more
in-depth and enjoyable encounter with history. Please note the
requirements and possible download limitations—which is why this is
not a requirement. Please follow the directions below and give it a
try!!!!
You can view Annenberg/CPB programs of your
choice online with a broadband connection whenever you see this
icon.  There is no
charge for this service.
Simply select a
program and go
to the individual program description listing and click on the icon.
Free sign up required for first-time users. To hear the sound
and view video, you should have Windows Media Player, DSL, a
cable modem, or a LAN connection to a T1 line or greater, and have
Javascript enabled. For more information, please visit our
broadband FAQ.
For this topic—visit
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
and access
the presentations: Capital and Labor + A Vital Progressivism.
Our textbook offers a very comprehensive Online Student
Learning Center. Click on the link below, Select the
appropriate chapter and you will have access to: Chapter
Objectives, Chapter in Perspective, Chapter Overview,
numerous Interactive Activities, Primary Source documents
and my favorite--Internet Exercises/Recommended Sites
Related to the Specific Topics--CHOOSE A CHAPTER
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072870982/student_view0/index.html
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