Chapter 8: Life at the Turn of the 20Th Century

Chapter 8: Life at the Turn of the 20th Century

Section 2: Expanding Public Education

I. Public Education in America

A. William Torrey Harris: public education was the instrument to lift all classes of people into civilied life.

1. US Commissioner of education

a. Purpose of school: training for employment and citizenship

b. Gateway to greater security & social status

c. Assimilaiton of immigrants

d. Stablize democratic society

2. Promotes Horace Mann & John Dewey

B. The Law

1. 1865-95

a. Children 8-14 must attend for 12-16 weeks

b. Curriculum: Reading, Writing & Arithmetic

c. Corporal Punishment was common practice

d. Kindegarten develops as childcare, added to public school

e. Stats: 60% of whites attended; 35% of Af. Am. attended

C. High Schools Develop

1. Industrialism demanded technologically savvy and management

2. Expanded curriculum: science, civics, social studies, vocational ed (drafting, carpentry, mechanics & clerical skills)

D. Minorities

1. Less than 1% of Af. Am. attended high schools (1890)

2. Assimilation for European immigrants

a. Catholics develop their own parochial schools

b. Adults attend to obtain citizenship

E. Higher Education

1. 2% attending college in 1900

2. Research Universities develop

a. Curriculum: foreign languages, physical sciences, psychology & sociology

3. Professional Colleges

a. Curriculum: law & medicine

4. Minorities

a. Freedman’s Bureau opens “all-Black” institutions

i. Howard, Atlanta & Fisk

b. Booker T. Washington

i. Racism would end when blacks acquired skills and proved their economic value

ii. Opens Tuskegee Institute (1881)

iii. Aims to provide useful skills in agriculture, domestic & mechanical work

c. WEB DuBois

i. Received his degree from Harvard (1895)

ii. Disagrees with Booker T. Washington

iii. Starts the Niagara Movement – blacks should obtain Liberal Arts Ed. And compete for leadership jobs

iv. Inclusion rather than

Section 3: Segregation & Discrimination

I. African Americans Fight Back Legally

A. Restrictions that Blacks Faced

1. Voting

a. Literacy Tests

b. Poll Tax – annual tax that had to be paid prior to voting

c. Grandfather clause: if you failed literacy test, couldn’t pay the tax, you could vote if your grandfather had previously voted in an election prior to Jan. 1867

2. Jim Crow Laws: segregation laws that limited use of schools, hospitals, parks and transportation

3. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

a. “Separate but Equal” Doctrine

b. P.290-1 – close-up

B. Race Relations at the Turn of the Century

1. Violence

a. Lynching: illegally executing an individual without trail; often done by hanging!

b. NYC Race Riot

i. Black man kills white police officer

ii. White population attacks black population

2. Discrimination

a. Labor unions often barred blacks

II. Other Minority Discrimination

A. Asians

B. Mexicans

1. Highest percentage of RR migrant workers

2. Key to mining & agriculture of the West

Chapter 9: The Progressive Era

Section 1: The Origins of Progressivism

I. The Goals of Progressivism

A. Progressivism: a movement to restore economic opportunities and correct injustices in American culture.

B. Who

1. Journalists: muckrakers

2. Intellectuals

3. Politicians

C. GOALS

1. Protecting Social Welfare

a. Soften conditions of industrialization

b. Social Gospel Movement

i. Who: Jane Addams & Florence Kelley

ii. What: aimed to help the poor by building centers, churches & providing social services

¨ YMCA & Salvation Army

2. Promoting Moral Improvement

a. Morales, not the workplace, needed to change

b. Focus on PROHIBITION

i. Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

¨ Temperance: refraining from alcohol consumption

ii. Anti-Saloon League

iii. Francis Willard & Carry Nation

iv. Expanded opportunities for females!!

3. Creating Economic Reform

a. Economic Panic of 1893

i. Is Capitalism working?

ii. E. Debs organizes the American Socialist Party (1901)

b. Muckrakers speak out against Business & Political Corruption

i. Ida Tarbell – History of the Standard Oil Company

ii. Upton Sinclair – The Jungle

4. Fostering Efficiency

a. Louis Brandeis: data on “costs” inflicted on individuals who work long hours

b. Frederick W. Taylor: scientific management

i. Inventor of the assembly line

ii. Henry Ford uses at FORD Motor Co.

¨ Shortens work day to 8 hrs, pays $5 a day

¨ Workers: $5 is a blessing, but you “earned” it!

II. Cleaning up Government

A. Federal Government

1. Civil Service replaces Patronage

a. Patronage def: the giving of gov’t jobs to ppl who had helped a candidate get elected

i. Andrew Jackson & the “spoils system”

b. Civil Service def: awarding gov’t jobs based on the merit of the applicant – the most qualified person for the job.

2. Presidential Reform

a. Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes appts independents to his cabinent after 1876

i. Est commission to review patronage

ii. Fires 2 NYC boses

iii. Stalwarts – NYC machine – organizes opposition w/in Republican Party to Hayes

b. Republicans nominate James A. Garfield in 1880

i. Chester A. Arthur named VP – member of Stalwarts

ii. Elected and provides “reformers” with patronage

iii. Garfield assassinated in 1881 D.C. train station by un-happy Stalwart

c. Arthur assumes Presidency, Calls for reform

i. Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)

¨ Est. civil service commission to award jobs passed on civil service exams

B. Local Government

1. Corruption: services to those who would provide financial or political support

a. Pyramid Scheme

i. Precinct Captains – who went door to door to gain support for a candidate

ii. Ward Bosses – org. precinct captains

¨ Provided services, favors, in exchange for votes

iii. City Boss – est. political platform and org. ward bosses

¨ Worked directly with the politicians

¨ Controlled gov’t appointments, business liscenses, and even court apptments

¨ Ex: Roscoe Conklin, NYC (p. 268), “Big Jim” Pendergast (Kansas City), William M. Tweed (Tammany Hall – NYC)

iv. Immigrants

¨ Bosses & Captains helped accomplish naturalization, find housing & employment

b. Scandals

i. Election fraud

¨ Registering “fake” names

ii. Graft

¨ Def: illegal use of political influence for personal gain

¨ Gain city contract, “over est.” cost, “pocket” surplus

¨ “Kick-back” profit to political machine

* Organized crime

2. Galveston, TX

a. Hurricane (1900) basically destroys the city

b. City officials screw up the rebuilding

c. State Gov’t appoints 5-member commission to do the job

i. Commission example catches on, 500 cities adopt by 1920

3. Council-Manager Format

a. Flood ravages Dayton, OH

b. By 1925, 250 cities adopt

4. Mayors focus on Econ

a. Progressive taxes

b. Public transportation

c. Corruption eliminated

d. Work relief for unemployed

e. Public ownership of utilities

C. State Government

1. Governors

a. Robert LaFollette (Wisconsin)

i. Later elected to US Senate

ii. “Drive corporations out of Gov’t”

¨ Focus on RR

* Est. commissions to regulate rates & eliminate political patronage

2. Protecting Children

a. National Child Labor Committee (1904)

i. Took photos & recorded stats

b. Keating-Owen Act (1916)

i. Prohibits transportation of goods produced by child labor across state lines

ii. Supreme Court declares unconstitutional

3. Court Rulings

a. Muller v. Oregon (1908)

i. The plight of women in the workplace

ii. Women win maximum 10 hour work day

¨ Men win similar case in 1917 – Bunting v. Oregon

b. Workers Comp: death benefits to families

4. Elections

a. Secret Ballot – Oregon

i. Initiative, referendum & recall elections too

b. Primary – Minnesota

i. Popular election to choose nominees for office

c. 17th Amendment (1913): direct election of Senators

Section 2: Women in Public Life

I. Women in the Workplace

A. Farm life: worked right along side men and tended to domestic duties

B. Industrial & Urban life:

1. Stats

a. 1900 – 20% had jobs outside the home

i. Garment occupations – paid ½ of men

ii. Office & sales clerks

iii. Teachers

b. 1890 – females outnumbered male high school graduates

C. Women & Reform

1. Higher Education

a. Vassar, Smith & Wellesley Colleges

b. Columbia, Brown & Harvard establish “sister” colleges for females

c. Goal: provide an alternative to marriage

i. 50% of college graduates never married

2. The Reform Movement

a. National Association of Colored Women (NACW)

i. Josephine Ruffin

b. Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls (1848)

i. Susan B. Anthony & Elisabeth Cady Stanton begin working for suffrage

¨ Org. National America Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

ii. Suffrage Movement

¨ Focus on reforming state governments

* Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, & Idaho (1890s)

¨ Get the court to apply 14th Amend to females

* Court declares women citizens but didn’t grant voting rights

¨ Constitutional Amendment

* 19th Amendment (1919)

Section 3: TR’s Square Deal

I. Biography

A. One Heart Beat

1. NY “bosses” persuade Republican Party to nominate him as McKinley’s VP in 1900

2. 6 Months into second term McKinley assassinated

B. Background

1. Aristocratic family

a. Harvard Education

2. Elected to three terms in NY Assembly

3. Chosen as NYC police commissioner

4. Chosen as Ass. Sec. of the Navy

a. Pushes for the Spanish-American War (1898)

b. Resigns, to volunteer to go to Cuba

i. Leads the “Rough-Riders”

ii. Returns a Hero

5. Elected Gov. of NY

a. Pushed out to become VP

C. The Modern President

1. Dominant News Story

a. Youngest President ever to serve (42)

b. Blinded as a result of a boxing match

2. Leadership & Publicity

a. Constitutional Power: enforce the law

i. When the “national welfare” was in jeopardy gov’t should assume control

b. Used the “Bully Pulpit”

i. Uses the media to influence legislation

ii. Introduces the Square Deal: progressive reforms to protect the common American

c. Trust Buster

i. 1900 = Trusts controlled 80% of American industry

¨ Operated as monopolies

¨ Sherman Anti-Trust Act failing to “bust” trusts

ii. Northern Securities Company

¨ RR Co. dissolved by Supreme Court in 1904

d. Coal Strike (1902)

i. PA miners go on strike = Coal reserves run low

¨ P. 321: Graphic

ii. TR serves as mediator/arbitrator

iii. Compromise

¨ 10% raise, 9 hr/day, agreement for “open-shop” and no strikes for 3 years

iv. Precedent: Gov’t to be arbitrator, not “enforcer”

e. RR Regulation

i. Elkins Act (1903): made it illegal for RR to give, shippers to receive, rebates for using particular RR Co.

¨ All rate changes had to be made public

ii. Hepburn Act (1906): limited distribution of free RR passes

¨ Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) set maximum prices

f. Public Health

i. In response to The Jungle, TR established Meat Inspection Commission

¨ Leads to Meat Inspection Act (1906

* Est. cleanliness requirements & meat inspection program

ii. Pure Food & Drug Act (1906)

¨ Advertisers could claim anything about their product

¨ Requires labeling of contents

g. The Environment

i. John Muir persuades TR to set aside 148 million acres of Forests

¨ Along with many other sites to preserve water, minerals, & wildlife

ii. Gifford Pinchot – hd of Forest Service – advocates for conservation

¨ Angers “preservationists” like Muir

3. Failure: Civil Rights

a. Booker T. v. WEB DuBois

i. Booker T. = poverty was “blacks” problem & needed to solve it themselves

¨ Discrimination was acceptable

ii. WEB DuBois = equality NOW

¨ Establishes NAACP = goal, full equality

Section 4: Progressivism under Taft

I. Taft Succeeds TR

A. Handpicked: TR’s Sec. of War

B. Little Credit

1. Does not use “Bully Pulpit”

2. “Busted” 90 Trusts in 4 years

3. Signs Payne-Aldrich Tarrif

a. Compromise, Progressives see it as abandonment of change

4. Appts non-Conservationist to Sec. of Interior

a. Commerical interests favored over Conservation

b. Fires Pinchot as Hd of Forestry Service

C. Republican Party Splits

1. Progressives v. Conservatives

a. By mid-term elections (1910), Republicans had lost control of the HoR (first time since 1892)

2. Election of 1912

a. TR wants to be President again

i. Progressive Republicans leave party & join TR’s Bull-Moose Party

¨ Platform: 17th Amend, female suffrage, initiative election, labor regulation

b. Taft gains Republican nomination

c. Democrats nominate Woodrow Wilson

i. NJ Governor

ii. Platform: New Freedom – anti-trust legislation, banking reforms, reduced tarrifs

iii. Lets TR & Taft split Republican Party

d. Eugene Debs enters as Socialist candidate

e. Results

i. P. 331

ii. Wilson wins 42% of pop vote; landslide in Electoral College

¨ Democrats maintain control of Congress

iii. TR defeats Taft in pop vote & electoral college votes

iv. 75% of all votes go for Wilson, TR & Debs = Progressive Candidates!!

Section 5: Wilson’s New Freedom

I. Wilson ushers in Reform

A. Biography of Wilson

1. Southerner during Civil War & Reconstruction

2. Lawyer, Professor & Pres. Of Princeton

3. Elected Gov. of NJ (1910)

B. Reforms

1. Trust Busting

a. Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)

i. Prohibits corporations from acquiring stock of another if it would then become a monopoly

ii. Unions & Farm Org. excluded from anti-trust legislation

¨ Strikes, boycotts & picketing legalized

¨ Injunctions against strikers forbid!

b. Federal Trade Commission (1914)

i. Watchdog of unfair business practices

ii. Wilson issues 400 cease-and-desist orders

2. Taxes

a. Underwood Act (1913)

i. Reduces tarrifs, limits influence of big business

ii. Issues first “in-person” State of the Union Address

¨ Uses the Bully Pulpit!!

b. 16th Amendment est. Income Tax

i. Needed to replace revenue lost b/c of tarrifs

ii. Graduated income tax

¨ $4,000 = 1%; 6% for over $500,000

3. Federal Reserve

a. Goal: secure operations of banks & control circulation

b. Nation split into 12 regions with 1 central bank per region

i. By 1923, 70% of all banks using the Federal Reserve

ii. Still exists today!

4. Suffrage

a. Carrie Chapman Catt takes control

i. Succeeds Susan B. Anthony

ii. Focuses on

¨ Organizaiton

¨ Network with local, state & national workers

¨ Lobby causiously

¨ Act like ladies

iii. 19th Amendment passed after WWI, value of women felt

b. Methods

i. Local Battles

¨ Growing #s of college educated females

¨ Grassroots movement

II. Limits of Progressive Era

A. Civil Rights

1. Wilson appoints segregationists to his cabinet, institutes segregation DC