Progressivism
I. Urbanization
A. By 1920
1.Urban Population Reached
50% 1st Time
2.7 Million Immigrants
1900-1917
a) Most Stayed In Cities
b) New Immigrants. Most FromSouthernand Eastern Europe: Do not assimilate well. Non-English speakers and non-protestant. Ethnic enclaves.
c) 200,000 Japanese 40, 000
Chinese
d) 1,000 Mexicans because of Civil War & Revolution.
e) Jews: Russian pogroms, other persecutions.
B. Problems: Urban Growth Outpaced cities ability to provide-
1.Safe Water
2. Sewage management
3. Garbage Collection
4. Fire Protection
5. Decent Schools
-Municipal Corruption
-Health Conditions Terrible: Death rates
in slums twice national average.
C.Reaction
-Social gospel ministries
-Settlement house leaders
-Reform journalists: ie. JacobRiis
D. Growing awareness ofproblems help lead
toProgressivism.
II.Urban Changes
A. Expansion of native bornmiddle class.1900-1920 The white collarworkforce doubled from 5 million to 10 million: double the rate of the workforce as a whole.
1. Advertisers doubled.
2.Civil engineers tripled.
3.Secretaries increased by 600%.
4.Professionals Associations increase dramatically. (Many become a source of progressive reform.)
B. Women enter professions such as teachers, secretaries, librarians, clerks, telephone operators.
-Women in work force (1900) 949,000
(1920) 3.4 million
-The number of women earning college degrees
tripled.
-By 1910 of the 5% of Americans who attended
college 40% were women.
C.African American
-1900 10 million Blacks in U.S. – 2/3 Rural
south.
-Migration because Boll weevil destroyed the
cotton crops of the South, came out of
Mexico in the 1890’s. Drove many north.
-By 1910 over 20% southern black population in cities.
-54% black women had jobs. Significance?
D. Jim Crow Laws
1.Segregation
2. Inferior Schools/Public Facilities.
3.Legal Residential Segregation until
Supreme Court outlawed it in 1917.
4.Most labor unions excluded blacks.
5.Skilled black artisans earned 1/3 of what
whites earned.
6.Some courts required Black and Whites to take their oaths on different bibles.
7.Almost completely disenfranchised.
- Many left for northern urban jobs especially
during and after WWI.
-Heading North- 200,000 blacksimmigrated north between1890-1910.
-By 1920 1.4 millionblacks livedin thenorth.
- Racism intensifies in the north as their
presence grows in northern cities.
Northern cities don't have legal
segregation but de facto segregation still
separates the races.
*Violence
-1906 riots in Atlanta
III. Industry
A. Corporate Consolidation
1. Accelerated
2. Around 1900- 260 companies annually swallowed up
inmergers.
3. Holding Companies
-1901- U.S. steel controlled 80% of steel market
(J.P. Morgan)
-1902- International Harvester 85% Farm
Implement
-1908- Will C. Durant ( General Motors) bought up
Chevrolet and Cadillac
4. Workers
-Many benefited
-Real Wages increase. Average salaries go up as well
late 19th century = $532, by 1915 = $687 But still
-Wages could barely support family
-To survive the entire family worked
- 2/3 of immigrant girls worked
- 15% of non-farm girls ages 10-15 worked
- Long hours, great hazards, no vacations, no
retirementbenefits
- Average worker in 1900 worked 9.5 hours a
day despite the 8 hour movement; some even
worked 12 to 13 hours
- Efficiency/ Taylorism
B. Frederick Taylor- 1911- Principles of Scientific
Management
- standardized job routines
- Rewarded fast workers
-Industrial work repetitive and boring
C. Organizations of Labor Continues
- AF of L- .5 million in 1897 ; 4 million in 1920,
but only 20%non-farm labor is unionized
- Labor glut
Anti-Union actions:
- 1908 Danbury Hatters S.C. case: limited right
to boycott businesses
-Sherman Anti-Trust Act used against Unions.
-Court Injunctions used to stop strikes and
imprison leaders since In Re Debs 1895.
D. Unskilled and Mass Organizations
- ILGWU: International Ladies Garment Workers
Union did organize unskilled labor.
- 1909 successful strike- NY- Clara Lemlich-
called becauseof police brutality
- 1911- after Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
called forreform of working conditions and
city codes.
- IWW: Industrial Workers of the World -Wobblies
- Founded 1905 in Chicago
- Leader- WIlliam D. Hayworth (Big Bill)
- 1893 West Federation of Miners
-1985 acquitted complicity to murder the governor of
Idaho
- Never Large - 30,000
-western miners, lumbermen , fruit pickers,itinerant
laborers
- captured the imagination of cultural rebels of
GreenwichVillage
- 1912 won strike in St. Lawrence, Mass.
-Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and Margaret Sanger
sentstriker's children to foster homes;
publicized concerns
of workers.
-Preached Revolution - Communism
- subject to unremitting harassment: arrests
prosecutionby1920; strength broken
-Socialists
-significance: signaled discontent
-Socialist Party of America headed by
Eugene V. Debswho ran for president 5
times between 1900-1920. In 1912 got 6%
of total vote.
IV.Roots of Progressivism
1.Political responses to industrialization and its social by- products (immigration, urban growth, and concentration of Corp. power, widening of class divisions)
2.Distinct from Populism
- populism preceded it, farmer’s party; Progressivism mostly urban support
enlisted journalists, academics, social theorists
- Progressives looked toward the govt. to curb abuse
3.Progressives were reformers not revolutionaries or
radicals; they wanted to fix not destroy the system
- Middle Class Movement
- never a unified movement or cohesive program
4.Diverse array of reform activities that sometimes
overlapped and diverged but in general wanted:
-strict regulation of business
- laws to protect workers and urban power
- reform structure of government especially municipal governments
- immigration restriction, abolition of prostitution and
saloons; social control
B.Who were they?
1. Protestant middle class
2. Some reforms businesses helped after pressure became irresistible
C. Impetus for reform
1. From private groups, organizations, and interest groups like the Playground Association of America and the American League for Civic Improvement.
2. Scientific approach to social problems through research and the use of experts.
V. Intellectuals who influenced Progressivism
A. Thorstein Veblen
1. The Theory of the Leisure Class;
satirized business class
B. Frederick Jackson Turner- The Significance of the Frontier in American History, social and political experiences of the pioneers; emphasized social and economic history
C. Economic Interpretation of Constitution
1. Charles Beard 1913 Mary Ritter Beard
2. Pragmatic Historian
3. Constitution Makers served the interests of the
money class.
D. William James- 1907 Pragmatism; Truth is what works
in contrast to Romantic Transcendentalism.
E. Jane Addams- Democracy and social ethics
F. Education Reforms- New Ideas
1. John Dewey- University of Chicago-
Teacher 1904 Columbia University
a. Instrumentalism- just and harmonious
society built thru intelligent application of
scientific method to social problems.
b. New ethic of social interdependence
- Democracy and education- don't just
teach democracy but embody
democracy.
2. Dewey: Democratic socialist- skeptical of
capitalism. Education reform; one step in broad
and economic transformation.
VI. Muckrakers
A. Henry Demerest Lloyd- 1881 wrote series of
Articles for Atlantic Monthly; 1894 Wealth
Against Commonwealth
- Standard Oil
- Path breaker- expose of corporate greed and
urbangrowth.
B. Frank Norris- The Octopus 1907
- RR v. wheat growers in California’s Joaquin Valley
C. Jacob Riis- How the Other Half Lives; NY slums
D. David Graham Phillips- 1917 Susan Lennox: Her
Fall and Rise; links slum life, political corruption
and prostitution. 1906 Treason of the Senate 75
of 90 representatives of the trusts and RRs.
E. Theodore Dreiser- 1912 The Financier; 1914 The
Titan; business tycoon without social
conscience
F. Lincoln Steffens - Shame of the Cities; politicalcorruption
1902- 750,000 circulated; touched a nerve; one million
copies sold.
G. Colliers/ Cosmopolitan/Everybodys/McClures- 10-15 cents
magazines; fiercecompetition to outdo rivals= shock
value.
H. Maria Van Vorst- Mass shoes factory; women's
fingernails rotted off; Immersed hands in caustic
dye
I. Ida Tarbell- History of the Standard Oil 1904
Mcllures father was a ruined wildcatter by Standard Oil.
K. Decline after 1910 because:
1. Writers more and more difficult to top
sensationalism of the last story.
2. Publishers expanding/ economic pressures
from banks and advertisers to tone down
treatment of business.
3. By 1910 Corp. aware of the public image- Public
Relations departments.
VII. Art Ashcan School
A. George Luks and John Sloan
-realistic canvasses of NY teeming immigrant life
-gritty city
VIII. Political Reforms
- Political Machines to middle class and urban eliteswere EVIL. Progressives had faith in democracy, believing that if given a chance voters would turn out the corrupt.
- Direct Primary Elections- Wisconsin 1903; by
1915 some form in every state.
- Initiative/ Referendum- By 1918 20 states most west
of Mississippi had these provisions.
- Recall in 11 states
-Corrupt Practices Act- limits spending and
restricts gifts from corporation.
-Australian Ballot (Secret Ballot)- By 1910 voting in all
states.
-Direct Election of Senators- 17th amendment in
1913.
- Women's Suffrage- elevate political tone, anti-
saloon proponents; Many western states provided for
Women’s suffrage with Wyoming being first in 1879. All
women gain the right to vote with passage of the 19th
amendment in 1920.
B. Municipal Corruption
1. Detroit- Mayor Hazen Pingree 1890-1897
- shrewd politician; once slapped a Health
Quarantine on a brothel until a local business
leader (who was in the brothel) promised to back
reforms.
- Honesty to City Hall, lowered transit fares, tax
structure more equitable and public baths for
homeless.
2. San Francisco- Hiram Johnson Mayor went on to
become California's governor in 1910 and Senator in
1916.
3. Toledo- Samuel "Golden Rule" Jones led
reform crusade; self made business man worth
millions; Social Gospel; Introduced profit sharing
in factory
- Mayor wants playgrounds for kindergartens,
lodging houses for tramps and open air
churches for all faiths.
- Monopolies for city services
- Passed laws regulating utility rates
-Mayor Tom Johnson of Cleveland wanted
Public Ownership of utilities, Tax reforms, 3 cent
trolleys
4. Different Forms
- City Manager System of 1913- Dayton, Ohio
- City Commission- Galveston Hurricane of 1900;
workers elect heads of city departments (Fire,
Police, Sanitation) not just chosen by the mayor.
5. Robert La Follete
- 1901 Governor of Wisconsin
- Reg. Public Utilities
-Wisconsin Idea- tax reforms, regulation of RR
rates, and privacy; set up legislative reference
library so that congressmen wouldn't have to
rely on lobbyists.
A. Court Cases
- Muller v. Oregon- 1908- restricted hours
based on gender.
- Lochner v. New York- 1905- 10 hr. day
invalidated; 1917 Court upheld 10 hour a day
factory law.
-Danbury Hatters 1908 (Boycott Strikes illegal)
deemed restrictionof tradeunder theSherman Anti-
trust Act
IX. Progressivism Social Control
A. Moral Control
1. Anti- Movie movement: Nickelodeons were 5
cents; Demanded film censorship
-Great Train Robbery- 1903 8 minutes long; First film
that told story
B. Prostitution
1. Prostitutes could earn 5x that of women factory
workers.
2. American Social Hygiene Association 1914- J.D.
Rockefeller Jr.
3. White Slave Hysteria
4. Mann Act of 1910- it became a federal crime to
transport women across state lines for immoral
purposes.
C. Alcohol and Drugs
- Change in tactics- Instead of persuading
individuals to stop drinking there is a legal
abolition of Alcohol.
1. Anti Saloon League- 1895
2. Alcoholism and Abuse- 1919 Prohibition with
18th Amendment
-Opium widely used in medicine- morphine and heroin
freely used and prescribed by doctors.
3. Morphine
- Carney's Common Sense Cure
- Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup
- Dr. Fahrney's Teething Syrup
-Dr. Seth Arnold's Cough Killer
- Bayer 1st marketed Heroin commercially in
1898.
4. Cocaine
- Coca-Cola had cocaine in it until 1900
5. Pure Drug and Food Act
6. Hague Opium Treaty 1912- 12 nation
agreement at U.S. initiative.
7. Harrison Narcotics Act 1914- followed up the
Hague Treaty; strictly regulated heroin,
morphine and cocaine.
X. Immigration Restriction
A. 1894- Immigration Restriction League
- literacy test and limits
- American Federation of Labor believed immigrants were cheap labor driving down wages.
- 1911- congressional commission study “proving”
immigrant's innate degeneracy.
2. Literacy Test Bills- H. Cabot Lodge
- 1896, 1913, 1915 vetoed
- 1917 became law over Wilson's veto
XI. Eugenics: Scientific Bigotry
A. Perversion of Science
- control of reproduction to alter characteristics
of animal species.
- some thought society could be improved
through genetic control.
B. 1904 Carnegie Foundation
- funded Charles B. Davenport, headed research
center, racist, anti-Semite, advocate of
immigration restriction.
- some states legalized the forced sterilization of
criminals, sex offenders and person judged as
mentally deficient.
C. Buck v. Bell-
- 1927- upheld the constitutionality of forced sterilization
D. Madison Grant's (1916) The Passing of the Great
Race ; book supported
- Pseudo scientific Diatribe against Jews, Blacks,
Southern and Eastern Europeans
- Jesus Christ not a Jew but an unrecognized
Nordic.
-Called for strict Racial Segregation, Immigration
Restriction,Forced Sterilization of unfit groups including
worthlessrace types.
XII. Revival of Women's Suffrage
A. 1910- only 4 western states where women could
vote
- Progressivism helped boost cause
- National American Woman suffrage
Associations: Susan B. Anthony; Carrie Chapman
Catt and the Grass Roots Organization centrally
coordinated.
- National Association opposed to women's
suffrage; Josephine Dodge said women were to
be a behind the scenes influence and that
women were to be a moral and spiritual rule.
- Congressional Union/ Women's Party- Alice Paul
*National Women's League picketed the White
House; in 1919 mainly because of women’s service in
WWI 19th amendment passed congress and in1920 was
ratified.
B. Breaking Out of Women's Sphere
1. Emma Goldman- lectures on Political Feminism
and Mother Earth.
2. Margaret Sanger- Birth Control; becomes
known as the Woman Rebel, in 1916 starts a
birth control clinic in Brooklyn, NY.
3. Charlotte Perkins Gilman- Women and
Economics 1898; traced history of sexual
Discrimination; wanted economic
equality and independence