Unit 11 Notes (Part 1: 566-589)
Varieties of Progressivism (pg. 566)
❖ Didn’t agree on how they did things, but their results varied
➢ Antimonopoly - fear of concentrated wealth
■ People had this in common, lots of different social statuses
➢ Importance of social cohesion - everyone is part of a big social web
■ Made a concern for victims of industrialization
➢ Progressives wanted to help women, children, immigrants, and African
Americans (not really all that much)
❖ Faith in knowledge was a big impulse for Progressives
➢ Some thought this was a “route” to efficiency and organization
➢ Other thought that this was a “vehicle” to a more humane society
■ Not everyone always agreed on these impulses
● Yet, everyone still tried to work together
The Muckrakers
❖ Muckrakers were journalists trying to put everyone’s attention on injustices in the world
➢ They exposed scandals, corruption, and injustice
■ Targeted trust and railroads
➢ Most notable writer was ​Ida Tarbell (wrote a study on the Standard Oil Trust)
■ Made people turn to the government (mostly political machines)
➢ Another was ​Lincoln Steffens (a reporter)
➢ They also investigated governments, labor unions, and corporations
■ This is when they reached their peak
■ Explored big issues in the world
■ Presented social issues to the public
(pg. 567)
● Expressed their main points: opposition of monopoly, need for
social unity, and the cry for efficiency
The Social Gospel
❖ Muckrakers wanted outrage at social and economic injustice, and they got that
➢ The Social Gospel arose from this outrage
■ Had a powerful movement with American Protestantism
● Salvation Army was an example of the combo of religion and
reform
◆ It’s an Christian social welfare; they give material aid and
spiritual service as well
■ Walter Rauschenbusch wrote a series of influential discourses on human
salvation through Christian reform
● Thought that Darwinism was about ensuring human evolution
(pg. 568)
■ John Ryan expanded the scope of Catholic social organizations
❖ The Social Gospel wasn’t the most dominant
➢ Some thought it was irrelevant
➢ Others thought it was useful
■ But nevertheless, it helped spread progressivism to people
The Settlement House Movement
❖ The environment of individual development was a big influence and a very strong
element in Progressivism
➢ Social Darwinists thought that their fitness was the only way to reflect someone’s
fortunes
■ Many progressives disagreed
(pg. 569)
● Argued that we need to fix the conditions that we live in
➢ One response to that problem was the settlement house
■ Most famous was the ​Hull House
● Settlement houses were meant to help immigrant families
◆ Showed that middle-class Americans can help immigrants
(pg. 570)
■ College women were attracted to these settlement houses
● Provided these women with an “appropriate” society
● Provided women a chance to play a vital role - the profession of
social work
◆ Gave women a chance to have a close connection to the
University of Chicago
The Allure of Expertise (pg. 571)
❖ Progressives thought that any problem could be solved scientifically
➢ They think experts are the stability that America needs
■ Wanted to make a new society with experts could solve the problems of
economy and society
■ Most influential scientist is ​Thorstein Veblen
● Veblen wrote about a new economic system
➢ These impulses toward expertise helped with the idea of ​Taylorism
■ Encouraged the creation of mass-production techniques
■ Inspired the creation of ​Social Science: Using scientific techniques in
the study of society
● Helped create a movement of middle-class professionals
The Professions
❖ Late 19th century saw an expansion of professionals
➢ Lots of different things like industries, cities, new technology needed more people
➢ The middle class valved education and individual accomplishment
(pg. 572)
■ People would think that they’re professionals, but they’re really amateurs
❖ Medical profession was the first profession
➢ In the 1890s, doctors would call themselves professionals
➢ In 1901, they made the ​American Medical Association
■ By 1920, ⅔ of doctors were members
■ They had strict standards for admission
● But strict regulation was a concern because of training and
research
❖ Other professions had similar movements
➢ By 1916, lawyers made professional bar associations; all of them succeeded in
making examining boards
■ Lawyers found that they needed to enroll in graduate programs
➢ Businessmen supported schools of business administration and creating their own
national organizations
■ Some of these were the National Association of Manufacturers and the US
Chamber of Commerce in 1912
● These would remove the untrained and protect the trained
● But they also excluded blacks, women, and immigrants (also
wanted to keep number down)
Women and the Professions
❖ Women were excluded from most professions
➢ Most middle-class women still found professions nevertheless
➢ Some women would get really important jobs that men would do like lawyers,
engineers, and even scientists
➢ Most women would be teachers as well
■ ⅔ of all grammar school teachers were women
■ Even black women would be teaching in segregated black schools
❖ Women also dominated nursing
➢ It was considered a women’s field during and after the civil war
➢ Nurses needed certification to nurse (couldn’t learn while on the job)
The ​“New Women”​ (pg. 573)
❖ The “New Women” was about the changes that affects the private world and the public
world
➢ More people have moved from working in houses to working in factories or
offices
➢ Plus, more kids going to school
■ More women were going activities outside of the house if they didn’t have
jobs
❖ More women would also have less children to take care of
➢ Some women actually lived outside traditional families
■ Lots of women never even got married (10%)
➢ Some women lived alone
➢ Some lived with other women and secretly having relationships (Boston
Marriages)
❖ More women colleges were created, which means more women went to college
The Clubwomen
❖ Women’s clubs increased public roles of women
➢ Gave middle-class and upper-class women a way to express their intelligence
❖ The ​General Federation of Women’s Clubs​ (GFWC) was to coordinate these clubs
➢ Over 100,000 members in about 50 clubs
❖ Clubs started to be less about cultural activities and more about making society better
➢ Most club members were rich
❖ Black women would also join clubs that would be dominated by white women
➢ Most of them excluded black women, so black women would make their own
clubs
■ National Association of Colored Women (NACW) was the black version
of GFWC
(pg. 574)
❖ Women’s club movement talked about the proper role of women in society
➢ Wanted to extend their influence
➢ Club movement would allow women to get a public space away from
“male-dominated” order
■ Gives access to a female community
❖ Some topics weren’t controversial, but others were
(pg. 575)
➢ Some of them were about children
■ Women pressured the Congress to add the ​Children’s Bureau​ in the
Labor Department
❖ Clubwomen made alliances with women groups
➢ Like the ​Women’s Trade Union League​ (WTUL)
■ The WTUL was made by women union members and upper-class
reformer; trying to make women join unions
■ They held meetings to talk about women workers
❖ Women reformers mostly worked with men
➢ Campaign about women and children workers
➢ Reflected ideas about women
Woman Suffrage
❖ Fight for woman suffrage was huge
➢ Attracted both women and men
➢ Suffrage was a radical demand
➢ Advocators of suffrage would talk about how women should have the same rights
as men
■ Talking about how a woman's role in society is a carer
● Woman’s only use in the world is as a mom and wife
➢ Antisuffrage groups would come up as well (dominated by men, but has support
of women)
■ Defend social norms
■ Linked suffrage with divorce, looseness, and the neglect of children
(pg. 576)
❖ Suffrage movement overcame these oppositions and win
➢ National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) grew from 13,000 to
2 million in about 30-40 years
■ Founded by Anna Shaw and Carrie Catt
❖ Suffrage didn’t challenge the “separate sphere” that women have
➢ Talks about how women have stuff to bring into public life
❖ Suffrage also up some issues
➢ Some people supported suffrage because it would support an immigration
restriction and racial disfranchisement
❖ Many states let women vote
➢ Washington, California, and 4 others let women vote
➢ Then Illinois, New York, and Michigan
■ 39 states after let women vote
■ Then the 19th amendment came and granted the rights for women to vote
(1920)
❖ But some thought it wasn’t done
➢ Some thought that they need equal protection under the law and no discrimination
based on gender (Equal Rights Amendment)
■ But it didn’t last
Early Attacks (pg. 577)
❖ There was lots of attacks for party dominance
➢ Early attacks got some success
❖ Party rule could be broken
➢ One way was by increasing power of the people
➢ Another way was by putting power into non officials hands
Municipal Reform (pg. 578)
❖ People thought that the party rule was damaging to cities
➢ So, Municipal Government was the first target
■ Lots of citizens avoid participating in this
(pg. 579)
■ New generation of activists found an interest in government
● Faced opponents
● Over time, they gained political strength
◆ Soon they were able to score victories
New Forms of Governance
❖ One major success was in Galveston, Texas
➢ The city couldn’t do anything about the damages after a tidal wave
■ The Mayor and council was replaced by a nonpartisan commission
● Made a ​commission plan​ and others followed
❖ City-Manager Plan​: Elected officials would hire an outside expert to take charge of
government
➢ Reformers tried making city councilors run mostly (limiting more powerful
people)
(pg. 580)
❖ One successful reformer was named ​Tom Johnson​ (Reform mayor of Cleveland)
➢ Dealt with streetcar interests
➢ Raising low assessments on railroad properties
➢ Dropped streetcar fares to 3 cents
■ After Johnson’s death, Newton Baker came in and kept the good rep. of
Cleveland
Statehouse Progressivism
❖ Assault on boss rule didn’t always go so well
➢ Lots of progressives turned to state government
■ Lots say that state govs. aren’t able to answer society’s needs
● Controlled by party bosses, often corrupted
❖ Two most important changes were ​the initiative and the referendum
➢ Initiative allowed reformers to dodge state legislatures
➢ Referendum provided a method so actions of the legislature can be returned
■ More than 20 states had at least one of these by 1918
❖ Direct primary and recall were ways to limit power in parties
➢ Primary election was an attempt to take selection of candidates away from the
bosses and bring them to the people
■ Also tried to limit black voter in the South
■ By 1915, every state had started to have primary elections for some offices
➢ Recall gave voters the right to take away a public official
■ Some adopted it
❖ Other reformers tried to “clean up” legislatures
➢ 12 states passed laws stopped lobbying (1903-1908)
➢ 22 states banned campaign help by corporations
➢ 24 states ban accepting free passes from railroads
➢ Reformers successfully started the creation of systems to help widows with
dependent children
❖ Most celebrated state-level reformer was ​Robert La Follette​ (Wisconsin governor)
(pg. 581)
➢ Regulated railroads
➢ Compensation for laborers injured on the job
➢ Widen public awareness on Progressivism
Parties and Interest Groups
❖ Reformers didn’t get rid of parties from American political life
➢ Did help with the ​decline of party influence
■ The Decline of Voter Turnout was also big
■ What was replaced was ​interest groups
● Designed to pressure the government
◆ Lots of social workers learned how to do this to advance
their needs
Labor, the Machine, and Reform
❖ Some unions played big parts in reform battles
➢ Because of the Union Labor Party, California passed laws helping workers
■ Did this for other states as well
(pg. 582)
❖ Bosses let their machines become vehicles of social reform
❖ There was a fire in the ​Triangle Shirtwaist factory
➢ 146 workers died
■ Was because of people getting trapped inside
● People started looking into the condition of the workplace after the
fire
◆ Because of this, there was a lot of reforms changing
modern labor
➢ Robert Wagner (senator) and Alfred Smith (Assemblyman)​ helped steer labor
laws
(pg. 583)
➢ The Triangle Fire drew the importance of educated women
Western Progressives
❖ The West had the most significant progressive leader of the time
➢ The west focused on the federal government
■ Some of their issues needed to go to people above the state level
➢ There was issues about water
■ Who had rights to the water of the Colorado river
■ Federal government was able to have power over land and resources
❖ Most of the political parties in the west were weak
➢ Because the west was moving quickly
African Americans and Reform
❖ Race wasn’t really talked about with white progressives
➢ But the progressive era made big changes to racial norms
■ African Americans have faced big challenges
➢ Booker T. Washington had an approach that many black people didn’t agree with
■ W. E. B. Du Bois​ had a whole new approach
❖ Du Bois wasn’t born into slavery
➢ Made a book called “The Souls of Black Folk”
■ This book called out Washington for encouraging segregation
❖ Du Bois wanted talented black people to accept nothing less than a full university
education
➢ So, him and some followers went to Niagara Falls and launched the ​Niagara
Movement (1905)
■ In 1909, they met up with white progressives and made the ​National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
(pg. 584)
❖ NAACP got important victories
➢ Guinn v. US:​ Supported the grandfather clause in an Oklahoma law was
unconstitutional
➢ B
​ uchanan v. Worley​: Took down a law in Louisville requiring residential
segregation
■ NAACP made a pattern of black resistance
❖ NAACP depended on intelligent black people
➢ NAACP and others were involved in the event of lynching in the South
■ Du Bois wanted this to be illegal
■ People who were most determined in this was southern women
The Temperance Crusade
❖ Progressives thought that getting rid of alcohol would help restoring order in society
➢ People who were drunk caused violence (sometimes murder)
■ So, the temperance movement emerged
❖ This was a major movement
➢ The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was formed in 1873
■ Talked about how evil alcohol was
■ How it was connected to violence, unemployment, poverty, and disease
● Started to abolish saloons
● 19 states passed prohibition laws (1916)
◆ 18th Amendment got passed in 1920
➢ Demanding prohibition in all states except CT and
RI
Immigration Restriction
❖ Most reformers agreed that immigrants were causing social problems
(pg. 586)
➢ Some of them wanted to help these people adapt to American society
➢ Others wanted to slow the flow new immigrants
■ So, there was pressure to close the gates
❖ People thought that new immigrants were hurting the nation’s racial stock
➢ Eugenics back this theory up
■ Eugenics​: Altering reproductive processes of plants/animals to make new
breeds
● This was also to “grade” races based on genetic qualities
❖ Madison Grant​ was the most effective nativist
➢ There was a report that came out that talked about how newer immigrants were
less assimilable than older ones
■ So, they thought that immigration should be restricted by nationality
● Thought that this would solve urban problems
The Dream of Socialism (pg. 587)
❖ There were critiques on the capitalist system (1900-1914)
➢ The Socialist party grew during those years (attracted 100,000 voters)
■ Eugene Debs​ got almost 1 million ballots
● Attracted urban communities and protestant farmers in the South
and Midwest
❖ Most socialists agreed that they needed to change the economy, but didn’t know how to
do that
(pg. 588)
➢ Some wanted the radical goals on Marxists
➢ Others wanted a more modern reform
■ Some wanted to work the reform into politics
■ Others wanted militant direct action
❖ The Industrial Workers of the World ​(IWW) (aka Wobblies) was run by ​William
Haywood
➢ Wanted a single union for all workers
➢ Abolish the “wage slave system”
➢ People thought that the Wobblies blew up railroad lines and power stations
❖ IWW was one of the few organizations that used the cause of unskilled workers
➢ Created a social network
❖ IWW timber workers went on strike and shut down production in that industry (1917)
➢ This caused the outlaw of the IWW
❖ Moderate socialists that talked about peaceful change dominated the party
➢ Because the party didn’t want to support WWI, socialism was in decline
Decentralization and Regulation
❖ Greatest threat to the nation’s economy was extreme amounts of corporate centralization
and consolidation
➢ Reformers wanted to bring back the economy to a more “human” scale
❖ Louis Brandeis​ was a lawyer
➢ Opposed bigness (centralization)
■ Found it inefficient
■ Was a threat to efficiency and freedom
(pg. 589)
■ Encouraged abuses of power
❖ Other progressives didn’t want to fight bigness, but to stop abuses of power
➢ Made “good trusts” and “bad trusts”