Intro to Progressivism

1
Intro to Progressivism Imperialism

• Please pick up a copy of the unit guide and Class
  Notes 21 Progressivism from the cart check for
  your new table
• Take out your homework (Focus 23 Progressive
  Reformers) for discussion today. Any Industrial
  America make-up assignments and binder checks
  (from students who were absent on 2/26) need to
  be turned in today by 415 p.m.
• Working on your own, take the first five minutes
  of class to complete Part I of the class notes
• We will
• introduce the unit
• identify how and why the Progressive Movement
  emerged in the early 20th century examine
  several issues/problems that were addressed by
  muckrakers c. 1900

2
Progressivism

• Reforming Americas Modern Industrial Society in
  the Early 20th Century

What were three major problems facing American
society around 1900? http//10.120.2.41/SAFARI/mo
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The Progressive Challenge

• Progressives of the late 19th and early 20th
  century sought to address the problems of an
  increasingly industrial and urban society through
  social reforms, often seeking government
  intervention to achieve their goals
• Support for the Progressive Movement was more
  broad-based than the Populist Movement of the
  1890s middle-class Americans supported
  progressive policies as a way of preventing
  potential social revolution
• Problems around 1900 included
• Poor living and working conditions for laborers
• Pollution and environmental degradation
• Income and social class gaps
• Lack of competition due to the rise of
  monopolies/trusts
• Government corruption at all levels
• Lack of political rights for many groups

4
Progressive Solutions

• Progressives sought utilitarian approaches to
  smooth out the rough edges of unrestrained
  free-market capitalism the idea of the
  greatest good for the greatest number
• They believed in the application of scientific
  management to better society accepted the idea
  that every problem has a pragmatic solution
• They also believed that government could and
  should play a role in promoting social welfare
• The progressive movement drew heavily on the
  influences of the Enlightenment progress,
  rationalism, liberalism, and humanitarianism

5
Muckrakers

• Theodore Roosevelt labeled investigate
  journalists as muckrakers, reflecting their
  efforts to point out the problems of American
  society c. 1900
• Upton Sinclair author of The Jungle (1906)
  sought to persuade Americans to bring about labor
  reforms but led more directly to consumer safety
  legislation
• Ida Tarbell condemned Rockefellers business
  practices in The History of the Standard Oil
  Company (1904) encouraged trust-busting
  activities
• Lincoln Steffens exposed corrupt political
  machines in The Shame of the Cities (1904)
• Ida B. Wells African-American writer who
  brought the evils of lynching home to her readers

6
Uncovering Urban Poverty

• Jacob Riis led the way among muckrakers for How
  the Other Half Lives (1890), which combined
  photos and written text to reveal the awful
  conditions of the urban poor in New York City

7
Political/Social Reformers

• Robert La Follette progressive Republican
  governor of Wisconsin who supported the
  Wisconsin Idea of electoral reform (direct
  primaries, initiatives, referendums, recalls)
  combined with business regulation, labor reform,
  and social welfare programs
• Robert Wagner New York politician who
  investigated the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
  of 1911 and proposed significant labor reforms
  (http//www.youtube.com/watch?vowk_LE1GcKY)
• Florence Kelley campaigned for child labor laws
  and labor reform for women workers argued that
  consumers had just as much interest as laborers
  in bringing about much-needed changes

8
Before we leave

• Turn in Focus 23 for formative credit.
• Work on Homework 13 to turn in by next Thursday,
  March 6.