CHAPTER 23 STUDY GUIDE
# 1 DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF
PROGRESSIVISM….
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Acted out of concern about the effects of
industrialization and conditions of industrial life
Fundamental optimism about human nature
Willing to intervene in people’s lives
Used govt to put reforms in place (“There
aught to be a law”)
Change the environment….change the
individual
Touched every American in some way whether
they were Progressives or not
#2 PROFESSIONS
Law, medicine, religion, business, teaching
and social work
 Professions attracted young educated
men/women
 Formed a new middle class that did not get
status from birth or inherited wealth
 Formed professional societies that governed
profession (ex. Am. Medical Association for
doctors)

#3 SOCIAL JUSTICE REFORMERS

People interested in freeing individuals from
the crushing impact of cities and factories
 Ministers,

intellectuals, lawyers, social workers
Different from previous reformers?
 Saw
problems as endless and inter-related
 Interested in social cures not individual charity
#4 WCTU
Women’s Christian Temperance Union
 Why founded?

Major social problem in cities was drunkenness
 Therefore, WCTU sought to solve this social ill


What problems did it address?

Workers drinking away wages; violence caused by
drunkenness; lost productivity at work due to alcohol
use
Largest women’s organization in US History (up
to that time)
 Joined with Anti-Saloon League and ultimately
got 18th Amendment (Prohibition) passed in
1920

#5 WOMEN’S ROLE IN SOCIAL JUSTICE
Women led out in many of the social justice
movements; they were the instigators
 Challenges faced: inferior status in society
which was highlighted by lack of suffrage;
without right to vote, politicians less likely to
take them seriously

#6 PAST PROBS WITH SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT
Fragmentation/Lack of Unity
 Attempted to gain the vote one state at a
time

#7 HOW DID SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT CHANGE?
Two major groups unified into the National
American Women Suffrage Association
(NAWSA)
 Went after amendment to US Constitution
 Argued that women should have the vote in
order to help solve social ills (old argument
had been solely based upon natural right)

# 8 BIGGEST SUCESSES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE
State laws limiting working hrs for women
 State laws limiting child labor
 State laws prohibiting brothels
 Mann Act – prohibited the transportation of
women across state lines for immoral
purposes (i.e. prostitution)
 Prohibition (18th Amendment)
 Women’s Suffrage (19th Amendment)

#9 PRAGMATISM
Pragmatism – people are shaped by their
environment but also shape it.
 Pragmatism became the basis of
Progressivism. Progressive sought to
“shape” their environment to better people’s
lives (social justice)

#10 FIELD CHANGE DURING PROG ERA

Psychology


Education


William James: focus on what individuals could
overcome and adapt to psychologically
John Dewey introduced educational reforms that
stressed children’s needs and capabilities
Law
Rejected older view of law as unchanging
 New view: law is reflection of environment and
therefore an instrument of social change

#11 SOCIALISM
Socialism in America changed from an
“overthrow capitalism” group to a
“progressive reform” group
 Eugene V. Debs becomes leader of new
Socialist Party of America
 Able to elect mayors in 32 cities
 Debs able to garner 900,000 votes in prez
election of 1912

#12 PROGRESSIVES VIEW OF GOVT

View of Govt


Change Role/Scope of Govt


Govt in hands of “special interests”
Make govt follow the “will of the people” and once that is done
then you can accept govt intervention into society b/c it would
be the “will of the people”
Drop in voting rates



Once “special interests” were no longer a part of politics,
people were less interested in election campaigns
Voter turnout in Election of 1896 (79.3%) vs 1920 (49.2%)
In other words, politics wasn’t as personal anymore. It was no
longer totally about Us vs Them (Repub vs Democrat). It was
about the personality of the candidate running. By nature,
people will go vote against something more easily then they
will go vote for something.
#13 CHANGES TO CITY GOVT

Commissioner form of govt
Election of police/fire chief
 Took influence/control away from political machines


City managers
Ran daily operations/budget of cities instead of
elected mayor
 Took influence/control away from political machines


Regulation/control of Utilities

Kept big business and political machines from
influence/control of city business by controlling public
utilities (water, electricity)
#14 REFORMS TO STATE GOVTS

Initiative


Referendum


New ideas for laws can be started by the people thru
the election process
Laws dealing with certain issues had to be approved
by the voters in an election.
Recall
Voters can remove an elected official from office
through the election process.
 Gave people opportunity to vote out bad govt
officials before normal election time

#15 REGULATIONS MOVEMENT
Started in NY (1905) when a corrupt &
systematic alliance between politicians and
business leaders in gas, electricity and
insurance industries was discovered.
 Called for state level regulatory agencies that
could investigate corporate books and hold
public hearings.
 Public hearings would help regulatory agency
determine maximum rates that could be
charged by certain industries (RR, electricity,
gas, insurance)

#16 WHY PROGRESSIVES LOOK TO FED GOVT
FOR HELP

Teddy Roosevelt was prez (see #17 for
more)

Many issues they wanted fixed were multistate issues
#17 TEDDY ROOSEVELT
Youngest pres at 42 (up to that time)
 He was open, aggressive and high spirited
 Personally he was persuasive and charming
 He was widely read and had an opinion on
every issue

#18 TR’S IDEA OF ROLE OF PRESIDENT
He ended the idea of a president being isolated
from the people. Made many public
appearances.
 “bully pulpit” – TR’s belief that president had
unique opportunity to speak on issues of the
day and therefore control the outcome
 Invited Booker T. Washington to White House
and denounced lynchings while at the same
time having a belief in African-American
inferiority

# 19 TR ON BUSINESS/TRUSTS
TR believed that their were “good” trusts and
“bad” trusts
 “Good” trusts should be left alone
 “Bad” trusts should be regulated or
eliminated
 TR asked Congress to create a Dept of
Commerce and Labor to oversee trusts

#20 NORTHERN SECURITIES COMPANY
TR saw as a “bad” trust and ordered Justice
Dept to sue NSC for violating of Sherman
Anti-Trust Act
 “Bad” trust because it controlled
(monopolized) many of the most prominent
RR networks
 Supreme Court (5-4 vote) ruled against NCS
and dissolved the company
 TR 1 Trusts 0

#21 WAS TR REALLY A TRUST BUSTER?
NO
 He attempted to bust half as many trusts as
his successor (Taft) would.
 He also received much support from big
business in his campaign for prez in 1904.
 Allowed US Steel to buy a competitor in 1907
to avert the threat of a financial panic

#22 TR & THE COAL MINERS STRIKE

Background:







United Mine Workers in NE PA demand 8 hr work day
and recognition of union; coal companies refuse
May 1902 140,000 workers strike and close the mines
Coal is primary source of heat for Americans as well as
the source of fuel for American factories
Price of coal rises as strike continues and winter is
coming
Public opinion turns against the coal companies
One company leader goes Gospel of Wealth and
declares it is up to the “Christian men whom God…..has
given the control of property” to protect the rights of labor
not “labor agitators”.
(continued on next slide)
#22 TR & THE COAL MINERS STRIKE (CONT)

TR Response:
TR is furious and complains of the coal companies
arrogance
 He invites both sides to White House to mediate
dispute
 Union willing to negotiate; owners were not
 TR orders Army to prepare to take over the mines
and lets owners know they will get no $ from mined
coal
 TR threat was leaked to Wall Street financiers who
put pressure on coal mine owners
 Coal mine owners give in
 TR calls his actions part of his “Square Deal” for
Americans in 1904 campaign

CHART
Problem – Condition
Law/Year
RR were giving rebates to big
customers.
Elkins Act
1903
Same as above
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Chapter in book described meat
packing plant in Chicago.
Disgusting!!!!!
Results
Prohibits RR rebates and
increased power of ICC to
regulate rates and rebates
Hepburn Act Increased power of ICC to set
1906
rates; broadened jurisdiction to
include oil pipelines and made
ICC decisions binding unless
overturned in court
Meat
Inspection
Act
1906
TR orders investigation.
Threatens to publish results if
Congress fails to act. Meat
packers backed law because
meat sales had dropped. Law
tougher than they wanted. Set
rules for sanitation and govt
inspection of meat products.
CHART (CONT)
Problem-Condition
Law/Year
Results
Muckraker Samuel Hopkins
Adams exposed dangers of
patent medicines. Dept of
Agriculture tested several of the
medicines with their “poison
squad”
Pure Food Due to evidence from Dept of Ag,
& Drug Act Congress easily passed law. Law
1906
required that certain ingredients
(like alcohol) be listed on label of
medicines.
Taft backs bill to allow ICC to set
MAXIMUM rates for RRs. He also
wanted to create a Commerce
Court to hear the appeals of ICC
rulings. Progressives didn’t like
Commerce Court idea b/c
traditionally judges had sided with
RR freedom to set rates.
MannGave ICC power to set the rates,
Elikins Act stiffened long and short haul
1910
regulations; placed telephone and
telegraph companies under ICC
jurisdiction. Commerce Court also
created.
FYI-Repubs backed admission of
AZ and NM as states to get
Commerce Court vote from Dems
#23 TR CONSERVATIONIST?
Increased amount of public land from 45 mil
acres to 195 mil acres over his presidency
 Worked with Forest Service head, Glifford
Pinchot, to create first comprehensive
national conservation policy
 Created Federal Reclamation Service
 Major supporter of National Park system; set
aside millions of acres for this purpose

#24 TR INVOLVMENT IN TAFT ELECTION 1908
TR handpicked Taft to be his successor
 Taft was chosen by Repubs at national
convention but the party was split
 Progressive Repubs backed Taft but
Conservative Repubs were able to choose
his VP running mate
 This split in 1908 would be worse in 1912
and cost Repubs the White House
 Taft defeated Wm. Jennings Bryan (3rd loss)

#25 TAFT PERSONALITY AND EARLY CAREER
Yale law graduate; Ohio judge, Solicitor
General of the US, federal judge, Governor
of Phillippines; Secretary of War (under TR)
 Personality:

 Worked
quietly behind the scenes
 Hated politics and the limelight; compared to TR
he was considered lazy
 Personally charming and humorous; honest,
kindly and amiable
 Weighed 300 lbs and NO HE DID NOT GET
STUCK IN A WHITE HOUSE BATHTUB!
#26 PAYNE-ALDRICH TARIFF/REPUB SPLIT






Repubs in Congress were divided over a new tariff;
Progressives wanted to lower and conservatives
wanted to raise
House passes lower tariff but Senate introduces a
revised bill that added over 800 changes to original
house bill
Progressives asked Taft to back lower tariff but he
sided with conservatives and the higher tariff
Payne-Aldrich Tariff had higher rates than original
House bill but lower than Tariff of 1897
Progressives started taking jabs at Taft and slowly
drove him to the conservative wing of the party
Progressives began to talk openly about a TR return
to the White House in 1912
# 27 BALLINGER-PINCHOT CONFLICT





Sec of Interior Ballinger puts million acres of public
land up for sale and Chief Forester Pinchot had them
removed from sale (Taft had kept Pinchot on in same
capacity that TR had used him; see #23)
Taft backed Ballinger; Pinchot spoke to the press and
made Taft look bad
Taft fired Pinchot (appropriate move)
Taft was vilified in the press for giving in to the
wealthy
Irony is that Taft was even more of a conservationist
than TR. Got Congress to give him power to remove
lands from sale and used that power to conserve
millions of acres of public land…..even more than TR.
#28 TAFT/PROG REPUBS SPLIT 1910
See Mann-Elkins Act (chart) for start of feud
 After Mann-Elkins issues, Taft actively
campaigns against progressive Repubs who
are up for re-election in the House of Reps
 Unfortunately, the feud leads to the Dems
taking over both House and Senate (1st time
since 1894) and several states in the north
elected Democratic governors

#29 ELEMENTS OF TAFT/TR SPLIT
Taft was a real trust buster; he promised to
enforce the Sherman Anti Trust Act
 As part of that, he went after US Steel for its
purchase of a Tennessee competitor (TR had
approved this…see # 21.
 This move infuriated TR. He felt Taft was
undermining his actions as pres.
 Taft accused TR of undermining the
conservative tradition of the nation.
 TR declares his candidacy for the Repub
nomination in Feb 1912

#30 TR’S “NEW NATIONALISM”



New Nationalism was the name of TR’s progressive
vision for America (if he was elected)
Key component was higher federal govt involvement
in peoples lives
Elements of New Nationalism






Federal regulation of all interstate business
Laws ending child labor
Minimum wages for women
A nationwide primary system for choosing presidential
candidates
A national system of old-age pensions
Woman’s suffrage (this represented the first time a major
party had advocated nationwide woman’s suffrage)
#31 WILSON’S NEW FREEDOM
Wilson’s counter to TR’s New Nationalism
 Main Elements:

 Lowering
the protective tariff
 Creating a better banking system
 Strengthening antitrust laws
 Wilson
believed that under his plan control by
monopolies would end and freedom would be
restored.
 Notice there are no provisions for social justice
reform
# 32 WOODROW WILSON AS A PERSON








Born in VA as son of a Presbyterian minister; wanted
a career in public service
A moralist who reached judgments easily and rarely
changed his mind.
Self righteous he turned differences of opinion into
bitter quarrels
His aides learned he preferred loyalty and flattery to
candid criticism
Graduated from Princeton and U of Va Law school;
became bored with being an attorney
Professor at Princeton 1890-1902
President of Princeton 1902 -1910
Governor of New Jersey 1910-1912
# 33 IMPACT OF THE FOLLOWING:

Underwood Tariff





Can you say New Freedom??
Lowered tariff for first time in 15 yrs
Included an income tax (on wealthy) to make up lost revenue (legal
due to recently ratified 16th amendment)
Wilson had appealed to the people to put pressure on Congress to
pass….and it worked
Federal Reserve Act





Say New Freedom again…. Go ahead, I dare you!
Designed to provide nation with sound yet flexible currency (that’s
why paper money says Federal Reserve Note….just look at the top
of a dollar bill)
Established a national banking system to provide a source for this
currency
Blended public and private control as a compromise
12 Districts which answered to a Federal Reserve Board appointed
by the president.
# 33 IMPACT OF THE FOLLOWING (CONT):

Clayton Anti-Trust Act
SAY IT!!!! “YOU CAN TAKE OUR LIFE BUT YOU
CAN’T TAKE OUR NEW FREEEEEDOM!!!!”
 House committee investigation discovered
“directories” which were a pyramid of power and
money controlled by the Morgans and Rockefellers
of the world.
 1. Act outlawed these “directories”; 2. prohibited
unfair trade practices; 3. forbade pricing policies that
created monopolies; 4. made corporate officers
personally responsible for violation of anti trust laws
 Labor unions really liked the part of the law that
declared that unions were not a restraint on trade.
Unfortunately, the courts still ruled against union
activites.

# 33 IMPACT OF THE FOLLOWING (CONT):

Federal Trade Commission
A
companion law to Clayton Anti Trust
 Set up Fed Trade Commission
 FTC could do the following:
 Demand
reports from corporations
 Investigate complaints against corporations
 Order corporate compliance, subject to court review
 Wilson
opposed at first but then saw it as
important to anti trust compliance
 Wilson
appointed conservatives to the commission to
reassure business leaders
#34 WILSON AND RACE






Wilson courted the black vote in 1912; when he entered office he
turned his back on them
Asked to create a commission on race relations by NAACP but
refused b/c he didn’t want to lose southern support
Appointed southerners to important offices and now the south’s
view on race dominated the executive branch
Refused to back a policy making lynching illegal under federal law
Allowed the segregation of workers in federal service; employees
who objected were fired.
 Protests by NAACP and clergy surprised Wilson so he backed
off the policy but continued to insist that segregation benefited
blacks.
Also refer to his blunder with the film “Birth of a Nation” You were
to read about this when I was gone last week.
#35 WILSON BECOMES PROGRESSIVE



Wilson adopts many of TR’s New Nationalism ideas
in 1916 mostly due to the upcoming presidential
election
You have to remember that Wilson only won the
election in 1912 b/c of the split of the Repubs. He
was a minority elected president (i.e. he didn’t receive
a majority of popular vote, therefore he could lose to
a unified Repub party in 1916)
Wilson appointed a favorite of Progressives (Louis
Brandeis) to the Supreme Court; some in Senate
opposed b/c Brandeis was Jewish. Wilson stood firm
and earned more pts from Progressives.
# 36 WILSON POPULARITY WITH ORGANIZED
LABOR
Wilson defended union recognition and
collective bargaining
 Appointed leader of United Mine Workers to be
Secretary of Labor
 Wilson sent in federal troops to end violence in
Ludlow (CO) Strike when national guard troops
killed 26 men, women and children
 Adamson Act (1916) forced 8 hr workday on RR
companies when they refused to accept during
a RR strike that Wilson tried to mediate

IDENTIFICATION

Jane Addams



Founder of Settlement
House movement (Hull
House-Chicago)
Social justice reformer





Carrie Chapman Catt


First head of National
American Womens
Suffrage Association
(NAWSA)
Major player in getting
19th Amendment
William James
Harvard Psychologist
Developed the doctrine of
pragmatism
Pragmatism (1907) author
John Dewey


Progressive reformer in
public education
Called for training of
teachers similar to other
professions
IDENTIFICATION

Eugene V. Debs




Leader of Socialist
Party of America
Ran for prez 5 times
between (1900-1920)
Gained 900,000 pop
votes in 1912
Initiative

Ability of voters to begin
legislation through the
election process

Referendum


Voter approval of laws
through the election
process
Recall

Ability of voters to
remove an elected
official before the
regularly scheduled
election time
IDENTIFICATION

17th Amendment


Direct election of
Senators by voters in
each state
Reform was intended to
make senators
answerable to the
people instead of
special interests

Direct Primary


Allows members of a
political party to have
more of a say in who will
become the parties
nominee for political
office.
Direct primaries are a
form of election
IDENTIFICATION

Robert M. LaFollette



The Progressives
progressive
Gov of Wisconsin
Served in Congress

John Mitchell


Leader of United Mine
Workers during 1902
Coal Strike
Mitchell was willing to
work with TR to end
strike
IDENTIFICATION

Upton Sinclair




One of the Muckrakers
Author of The Jungle
Book was intended to
show the plight of the
workers in the meat
industry but instead it
grossed out the Am.
Public.
“I aimed at the public’s
heart and by accident I
hit it in the stomach” Upton Sinclair

Joseph “Uncle Joe”
Cannon




Powerful Speaker of the
House from IL
Uncle Joe controlled
everything in the House
of Rep
Targeted by Taft
Attempt to curb power of
Uncle Joe began the
Progressive/Conserv
split in Repub Party
IDENTIFICATION

16th Amendment


Income tax made legal
“4 times 4 now your
poor”

Louis Brandeis



Advisor to Wilson
Nominated to Supreme
Crt by Wilson
Nomination was
approved with some
conflict over Brandeis
being Jewish
IDENTIFICATION

Madam C J Walker



First self made woman
millionaire (BTW she
was also black)
Made her fortune
developing and selling
products for African
American women to
use on their hair
Highly involved in race
issues during early 20th
century