U.S. HISTORY PROGRESSIVE AD PROJECT

Assignment:

1.)Create two forms of advertisement for the Progressive Era.

2.)One assignment should be in favor of a progressive goal and the other should be opposed.

Directions:

1.)You may create any of the following for your advertisement:

  1. Poster
  2. Window Sign
  3. Newspaper advertisement
  4. Billboard
  5. Buggy or bumper sticker
  6. Button

2.)Each group must include a reform item, catchy phrase & design, and the name of the group or individual who sponsors the reform or is fighting against it.

3.)Use pictures (from magazines, etc), drawings, symbols, etc: BE CREATIVE!

Issues: You may select any of the campaigns that the progressives launched in order to make you pro/con advertisement.

EXAMPLES:

- Child Labor sample slogan: “There’s Nothin’ Finer than a Miner who’s a Minor!”

- Working Conditions

- Women’s Rights

- Anti-Trust Actions

- Meat Packing

- Political Reforms

- Consumer Safety

HINTS: Here are some examples of various Progressive Reforms (Note: This list represents reforms on the local, state and national levels. This is not a complete list of Progressive reforms. Nor did all Progressives support all these reforms. However, this list illustrates the breadth of the Progressive's reform agenda.)

1.) Government reforms (Progressives generally wanted to make the government more democratic and responsive to "the people." They believed that the solution to democracy's problems was more democracy.)

a.Direct election of Senators (17th Amendment in 1913)

b.Direct primaries to select party candidates (First adopted by Wisconsin in 1903. By

1916 every state but three had adopted it. Reduced the influence of party bosses in smoke filled-rooms.)

cAustralian ballot (secret ballot)

d.Initiative, referendum, and recall

e.Women's suffrage (19th Amendment in 1920)

f.Destroying big-city political machines (They experimented with new forms of city

government- the commission form and city manager form of city government.)

g.More democracy did not extend to blacks. In fact, many Southerners saw

disenfranchisement of blacks as a reform to eliminate voter fraud and coercion.

2.) Economic reforms (These were aimed largely at correcting the abuses of the new industrial

economy.)

a.Progressives generally feared big business.

Progressives differed among themselves on how to deal with big business. Two

methods of dealing with big business:

-Trustbusting: Breaking up the big business by strengthening the antitrust

laws. (this might disrupt the economy.)

-Regulation: Preventing unfair business practices through government

regulation. (This seemed just too big a job to many Progressives. It would require "Big Government."

b.)Limiting the tariff

c.)Income tax (authorized by the 16th Amendment in 1913) (this was seen as a fairer way of levying taxes than the hidden tax of the tariff or through property taxes which might hit some groups like farmers.)

d.)Reforms of the banking system to make credit more available across the country not just in the big financial centers like New York and to create a stable, yet flexible, currency.

e.) Laws protecting consumers against false packaging, adulterated food, useless or even harmful patent medicines.

3. Social reforms

a. Laws limiting working hours

b. Child labor laws (By 1914 nearly every state had banned child labor although the minimum age varied from 12 to 16.)

c. Laws regulating the hours and conditions under which women worked

d. Prohibition of intoxicating beverages (18th Amendment banned liquor in 1919; was repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933) (Progressives seem to naively believe that social

reform could be achieved by simply passing laws.)

e. The social purity movement was an attack on prostitution and other forms of vice. This

unified doctors who fought venereal disease, ministers who fought sin, and women who

fought low wages for women.

Along with your advertisement, make sure you do the following.

1. List the reform you are supporting or opposing

2. Label the commercial with the group that supported it (or make up one if

necessary)

3. List when the reforms were made or attempted.

4. List where they were made by filling out the results on the following chart

Issue Chart – You Should Have 2 of These

(For Reform & Against Reforms)

Reform / Federal Level / State Level / Municipal Level
Date
Legislation
Groups
Involved
Impact/Results

Presentations will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• A minimum of one example showing the progressive reform’s political, social welfare,

business or environmental impact at the federal, state and municipal level.

• Accurate use of historical evidence and a proven understanding of the lesson content.

• Relating the reform to one or more core democratic/societal value

• Creativity in the advertisement

• Creativity in your slogan

• Quality of the drawing