Greenback Labor Party
1. 1870s sought to thwart the power of the "robber barons," support organized labor, and institute inflationary monetary measures.
a.Supported primarily by farmers
Legacy of Populism
1. Populism failed as a 3rd Party cause but it had political influence for 25 years after its failure in the 1896 election.
2. Populist ideas that carry forward:
a. railroad legislation (1903 & 1906)
b. income tax (16th Amendment -- 1912)
c. expanded curr
Rise of Progressivism
Former Mugwumps (reform-minded Republicans of the late-19th century) desired a return to pre-monopoly America.
1. Men of wealth and social standing lamented the changes in America's political and social climate due to the rise of industrialists: monopoly,
The Progressives
1. Believed an efficient gov't could protect the public interest and restore order to society.
� Saw government is an agency of human welfare
Issues
a. The break-up or regulation of trusts
b. Killing of political machines
c. Reducing the threat of socialism (by improving workers' lives)
d. Improving squalid conditions in the cities
e. Improving working conditions for female labor and ending child labo
Results
3. Thus, Progressive crusaders created a reform movement not seen since the 2nd Great Awakening
4. Progressives also had a darker side
a. Many were strongly nativist
� Some even embraced eugenics, the belief that certain races were "superior" to others an
Major reform issues
: trusts, political machines, living and working conditions in cities
Trusts
1. Competition was being eliminated by an oligarchy; small businessmen no longer able to compete.
2. Plutocracy: Large numbers of politicians were dominated by trusts in municipal, state, and federal government.
Political Machines
1. Bosses controlled districts or cities and regularly accepted bribes from special interests for favors. Taxpayers often paid the bill.
2. Immigrants were often enticed by bosses for their vote. Result: immigrants were represented but WASPs weren't.
3. M
Challenges due to the enormous growth of cities
a. Between 1880 and 1920, about 27 million immigrants entered the U.S., mostly from Eastern & Southern Europe
b. Many rural Americans came to the city looking for work as increased opportunities became available
c. Cities offered entertainment, shopping,
Results
a. Living conditions in many parts of the large cities were revolting.
� "Dumbell tenements" were inadequate and unhealthy for families
b. City infrastructure was ill-equipped to deal with the population explosion.
c. Crime: violence, gambling, and prosti
Progressive Analysts
A. Many colleges created separate social science departments: economics, political science, and sociology.
1. Social scientists sought to analyze human society with same the objectivity that scientists used to study nature.
2. Social science reflected a g
Lester Frank Ward
1. Challenged "survival of the fittest" ideology
2. Argued it was natural for people to control and change their social environment (laws, customs, and relationships among people) for their own benefit.
3. It was the role of gov't to shape society's desti
Other notable social scientists
. Richard Ely -- Professor at University of Madison, Wisconsin
� Economist in the vanguard of the Social Gospel who had a profound impact on Governor Robert La Follette in Wisconsin
2. Charles Beard applied history to reform corrupt city governments.
3. W
Early progressive writers (and social critics)
1. Henry Demarest Lloyd -- Wealth against Commonwealth (1894)
a. Criticized Standard Oil and its monopolistic practices
b. Seen by some as the beginning of investigative journalism.
2. Thorstein Veblen -- The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899)
� Criticize
Social Gospel Movement (late 19th century)
1. Emphasized the role of the church in improving life on earth rather than in helping individuals get into heaven.
2. Josiah Strong, Walter Rauschenbusch and Washington Gladden were the leading preachers of the movement
3. Influenced reforms such as the
Muckrakers (name coined by Theodore Roosevelt as a criticism of their journalism)
1. Journalists attempted to expose the evils of society
2. Popular magazines such as McClure's, Cosmopolitan (owned by Hearst), Collier's, and Everybody's emerged.
� Fearing legal reprisals, muckraking magazines went to great pains and expense to verify t
Lincoln Steffens, Shame of the Cities (1902
Detailed the corrupt alliance between big business and municipal (city) gov't
Ida M. Tarbell
1. Published a devastating expose on the Standard Oil Co. in McClure's magazine
� She detailed Rockefeller's ruthless tactics to crush competition (including her father's oil business)
2. In 1911, the Standard Oil trust was broken up as it was seen as a
Upton Sinclair -- The Jungle (1906)
1. Graphic depictions of unsanitary conditions in packing plants sparked a reaction to the meat industry and led to eventual regulation under Theodore Roosevelt.
2. Inspired the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)
David G. Phillips
The Treason of the State", articles appeared in Cosmopolitan Magazine in 1906
1. Charged that 75 of 90 U.S. senators were, in effect, agents of the trusts and the railroads.
2. Played a role in gaining public support for the passage of the 17th Amendment
John Spargo- The Bitter Cry of the Children (1906)
1. Exposed the abuses of child labor and advocated government-sponsored feeding programs for children
2. Spargo was a member of the American Socialist Party
Ray Stannard Baker
1. Following the Color Line (1908): attacked the discrimination and subjugation of America's 9 million African Americans and their illiteracy due to lack of opportunity.
. Frank Norris- The Octopus (1901) and The Pit (1903)
� His novels showed how railroads and corrupt politicians controlled California wheat ranchers.
Progressive Activists (Crusaders)
A. Sought improved living conditions in cities and labor reform for women & children.
B. Cities had new opportunities for women (over 1million joined the
work force in the 1890s)
1. Women became social workers and secretaries, store clerks and seamstresse
Jane Addams ("St. Jane")
1. She was one of the first generation of college-educated women
2. She grew up in an era where teaching or volunteer work were almost the only permissible occupations for a young woman of the middle class.
3. Her founding of Hull House in Chicago (1889)
Women & Child Labor Reform
1. Child labor was the most successful of all Progressive social reforms
2. Florence Kelley
a. Investigated and reported on child labor while living at Hull House.
b. Kelley championed the welfare of women, African Americans, and consumers.
� As leader of
Muller v. Oregon
1906: Supreme Court upheld an Oregon law
restricting women's labor to 10-hour workday
� The case was won by Louis Brandeis who argued with economic and social science evidence that women were often exploited but weaker than men (today, this argument would
Political Reforms
A. Robert La Follette and the "Wisconsin Experiment"
1. As governor of Wisconsin, he was the nation's first progressive
governor
a. In 1901 he helped destroy a political machine in his state, take control away from the lumber & railroad trusts and establi
President Theodore Roosevelt-- 1st "modern" president
A. 1st president in U.S. History to use gov't to directly help public interest.
1. Saw the presidency as a "bully pulpit" to preach his ideas
2. Supported progressive reform with strong rhetoric but in reality was more moderate (and conservative at times)
Regulation of Corporations 1902: (hard coal was used to heat homes)
1. Anthracite Coal Strike, 1902: (hard coal was used to heat homes)
a. 140,000 workers of United Mine Workers union in coal mines of Pennsylvania went on strike.
� The UMW demanded a 20% pay increase; reduction of the work day from 10 to 9 hours; fair wei
Jane Addams
1. She was one of the first generation of college-educated women
2. She grew up in an era where teaching or volunteer work were almost the only permissible occupations for a young woman of the middle class.
3. Her founding of Hull House in Chicago (1889)
Gains for women and child labor reform
a. Muller v. Oregon, 1906: Supreme Court upheld an Oregon law
restricting women's labor to 10-hour workday
� The case was won by Louis Brandeis who argued with economic and social science evidence that women were often exploited but weaker than men (today
Department of Commerce & Labor
a. Created in 1903 to settle disputes between capital and labor. (10 years later, agency was split in two)
b. Bureau of Corporations was created (as part of the Dept. of Commerce & Labor)
� Authorized to monitor businesses in interstate commerce.
� Helped
Consumer Protection
1. Impulse for meat protection
a. European markets threatened to ban American meat since some meat from small packinghouses was found to be tainted.
b. Upton Sinclair: The Jungle (1906)
� The public was sickened by his description of unsanitary food produ
Meat Inspection Act (1906)
a. Induced by TR, Congress passed the bill
b. Preparation of meat shipped over state lines would be subject to federal inspection throughout the meat making process.
c. Though the largest packers resisted certain features of the act, they accepted it as a
Pure Food & Drug Act (1906)
a. Prevented adulteration and mislabeling of foods and drugs.
b. Hitherto, many patent medicines were laced with alcohol while labels misrepresented the contents of their containers.
c. The law can be seen as a first step in the direction of nutritional l
Conservation (most significant and long-lasting of Roosevelt's
legacies)
1. Roosevelt and conservation
a. TR, an outdoorsman, was appalled at the destruction of timber and mineral resources in some of the nation's forests.
b. Gifford Pinchot, head of federal Division of Forestry, had made significant contributions before TR be
Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902
a. The federal gov't was authorized to collect money from the sale of public lands in western states and use those funds for the development of irrigation projects.
b. Settlers would repay the cost of reclamation by building successful farms.
c. Dams were
Roosevelt reelected in 1904
1. Elected "in his own right" by a large electoral margin over the Democratic nominee, Alton B. Parker
2. Eugene Debs ran as the Socialist candidate
3. The Prohibition party also ran a candidate
4. TR made himself a "lame duck" president by announcing aft
Panic of 1907
A. Wall Street suffered a short but brutal panic in 1907
1. "Runs" on banks, suicides, and criminal indictments against speculators occurred
a. TR cooperated with Morgan banks and other large banks to prevent a banking collapse by transferring millions of
Results
1. The Panic demonstrated the real need for an elastic money supply
a. During the panic, banks were unable to increase the volume of currency in circulation to stem the tide of the downturn
b. Those with money were thus reluctant to loan money to fellow b
President William Howard Taft
A. Election of 1908
1. Taft defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan 321-162 in the Electoral College
� This was the third time Bryan had been defeated in 12 years (also in 1896 and 1900).
2. The Socialist party under Eugene Debs and the Prohibition party
Progressive Legislation under Taft
1. Conservation: Taft's contributions equaled or out-did TR's.
a. Bureau of Mines was established to control mineral resources
� Rescued millions of acres of western coal lands from exploitation
b. Taft protected water-power sites from private development
Split in the Republican party
A. Payne-Aldrich Tariff, 1909
1. Most important cause for split of the Republican Party.
2. Reducing the tariff was a major goal of progressive reformers.
� Taft's campaign had pledge to deal with tariff issue
3. The House passed a moderately reductive bi
Ballinger-Pinchot controversy (1910)
1. Overshadowed Taft's conservation successes.
2. Secretary of the Interior Ballinger opened public lands in Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska to development�but he did not share Gifford Pinchot's desire to reduce mining.
3. Ballinger was sharply criticized by
Taft-Roosevelt split
1. Early 1911, the National Progressive Republican League formed
a. Robert La Follette was the leading candidate for the presidential nomination until Roosevelt surpassed him.
b. TR reasoned that the 3rd-term tradition applied to three consecutive terms.
Election of 1912
A. Woodrow Wilson was nominated by the Democratic party
1. Platform: antitrust legislation, monetary changes, and tariff reductions.
2. Wilson's "New Freedom": Favored small enterprise, entrepreneurship, and a return to a free competitive economy without
Progressive-Republican party (Bull Moose party)
1. The convention enthusiastically nominated Theodore Roosevelt
2. Party consisted largely of cultured, middle-class people: journalists, social workers, settlement house workers, young lawyers.
3. "New Nationalism": Sought continued consolidation of trus
Results
1. Wilson defeated Roosevelt and Taft: 435-88-8.
a. Wilson got only 41% of the popular vote
b. Democrats won a majority in Congress for the next 6 years.
c. TR's party fatally split the Republican vote, thus giving Wilson the victory.
2. Socialist party's
President Woodrow Wilson
A. Background
1. Born in Virginia, first president since Zachary Taylor to come from one of the seceded states.
2. Student of gov't: professor and later, president of Princeton Univ.
3. Believed the president should play a dynamic role in gov't
a. Believe
Underwood Tariff Bill -- 1913 (Underwood-Simmons Tariff)
1. In an unprecedented move, Wilson called Congress into special session in early 1913 and read his message in person rather than by a clerk (a custom since Jefferson's day).
2. Underwood Tariff Bill was passed by the House
3. Wilson successfully appealed
Federal Reserve Act (1913) - created the Federal Reserve System
1. Nation's existing National Banking System, enacted during the Civil War, showed its weakness during the Panic of 1907 with its inelasticity of the money supply
� Monetary reserves were concentrated in New York and a few other large cities and could not
Attacking the trusts
1. Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914
a. Early 1914, Wilson again went to Congress to appeal for the regulation of trusts
b. Provisions:
� Empowered a presidential-appointed commission to monitor industries in interstate commerce (e.g. meat packers)
� C
Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914
a. Purpose: strengthen the Sherman Anti-Trust Act by increasing the list of unfair business practices including price discriminationand interlocking directorates.
� The interlocking directorates provision was not enforced and was eventually dropped.
b. Ex
The Supreme Court during the Progressive Era.
A. The conservative Court overturned many progressive gains in Congress and in the states
1. Lochner v. New York, 1905, represented a setback for 10-hr/day movement as the Court invalidated a New York 10-hr law for bakers.
� 1917, the Court reversed its d
Prohibition of alcohol (1874-1919)
A. Liquor consumption increased in the years following the Civil War.
1. Immigrant groups resisted temperance or prohibition laws.
2. Saloons in the late-19th century were exclusively male.
Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) organized in 1874
1. Led by Francis Willard
� Increasingly saw alcoholism as the result of poverty, not the cause
2. WCTU placed enormous pressure on states to abolish alcohol, and enjoyed some success in that endeavor.
3. Most important female organization in the 19th cen
Anti-Saloon League was formed in 1893 by men
1. Picked up WCTUs fight; had more political connections to get legislation passed.
2. By 1900, 25% of Americans were living in communities with restrictions on alcohol.
D. Several states and numerous counties passed "dry" laws which controlled, restricte
18th Amendment (1919) banned the sale, transport, manufacturing, and consumption of alcohol.
� Volstead Act was passed in 1919 to enforce 18th Amendment
G. Eventually, Prohibition became one of the great failures of the Progressive era
� Progressives had probably gone too far in trying to regulate society and personal behavior.
Women's Suffrage
. Seneca Falls, NY, 1848, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott (movement later joined by Susan B. Anthony):
beginning of women's suffrage movement
B. By the late-19th century, the women's movement had split into two factions:
1. National Women'
Organizing for increased rights
1. W.E.B. Du Bois opposed Booker T. Washington's accommodation policies and demanded immediate social and
economic equality for blacks; was raised in Massachusetts in contrast with Booker T. Washington, an ex-slave from the South.
a. Called Washington an
The darker side of Progressivism
A. Progressives have been criticized for attempting to impose their middle-class WASP values on all of society.
1. Took Amerindian children from their families and placed them in boarding schools to assimilate them (due to the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887)