Reforming the Problems Created by the Gilded Age

UNIT II: PROGRESSIVE ERA

1890-1920

Reforming the problems created by the Gilded Age

PROGRESSIVE: person who fought for reform during the Progressive Era

MUCKRAKER: someone who “raked up muck (dirt)” on politicians, industry, and other problems of the cities to expose them to the American public.

MEAT INSPECTION ACT: required government regulation of the meat packing industry

PURE FOOD & DRUG ACT: 1906 – law that required food & drug manufacturers to list all ingredients on their packages

HULL HOUSE: Settlement house that offered services & help to women & the poor; gave educational training, helped find jobs, provided babysitting, etc.

PLESSY V. FERGUSON: 1896 - ruling of the Supreme Court that stated: segregation is legal as long as facilities are “separate but equal”

DIRECT PRIMARY (PRIMARY): party members choose their party’s candidate for office ex. the Democrats vote for their presidential nominee

17TH AMENDMENT: 1913 - Direct Election of Senators; the public votes for their state’s Senators, not state legislatures

RECALL: allowed voters to remove an elected official from office

INITIATIVE: citizens can propose a new law by getting enough people to sign a petition supporting it.

REFERENDUM: gave voters the power to make a bill become a law by voting yes or no on it

WISCONSIN IDEA: Robert LaFollette introduced programs while governor of Wisconsin. ex. direct election of senators, primaries, referendum, recall, initiative, lowering railroad rates

16TH AMENDMENT: 1913 -gave the government the right to tax people’s income; more you make, more you’re taxed

SUFFERAGE: the right to vote

19TH AMENDMENT: 1920 - women’s suffrage – women got the right to vote

INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT: government attempted to regulate the railroad industry; forbade rebates and pools.

SHERMAN ANTITRUST ACT:Banned the formation of trusts and monopolies, but it was too weak to be very effective

UNION:An organization that workers joined to show their unity and to attempt to get better conditions

STRIKE: Workers refuse to work until their demands are met

MUCKRAKERS:

Document 1:

Source for both pictures:

Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1890.

Document 2:

Source: The New York Times August 19, 1871

In July 1871, The New York Times ran a series of news stories exposing massive corruption by members of Tammany Hall, the Democratic political machine in New York City run by William "Boss" Tweed.The Times had obtained evidence that the Tweed Ring had stolen the public's money in the form of inflated payments to government contractors, kickbacks to government officials, extortion, and other illegal activities. The estimated sum stolen was set at $6 million, but is today thought to have been between $30 and $200 million.

Thomas Nast (1840-1902) was one of the most talented cartoonists of the Nineteenth Century. Starting in 1869, he began a series of cartoons in Harper's Weekly magazine attacking the Tammany Hall political machine.Harper’s Weekly and other newspapers soon joined the New York Times in exposing the scandals. Nast had been assailing the Tweed Ring for years through his creative and powerful images, but intensified his assault in the summer and fall of 1871. Boss Tweed reportedly exclaimed,“I don't care a straw for your newspaper articles; my constituents don’t know how to read, but they can’t help seeing them damned pictures!"

In fact, the Tweed Ring tried to bribe Nast into taking a European vacation, which the artist refused. "Tommy, if you will take a trip to Europe for a year, you can have your expenses paid, and a new house will be built ready for your return, without your paying a cent for it."

Answer the questions based on the reading above and the political cartoon.

1)What is the source of the cartoon?

The New York Times

2)What is the caption of the cartoon?

Who stole the people’s money? Do Tell. ‘Twas Him

3)What are the people doing?

Pointing at each other, blaming each other for stealing the money

4)What is the “Tammany Ring” referring to?

Tammany Hall political machine

5)What is the message of the cartoon?

Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed stole money from the public and none of them will take the blame

6)Why did Thomas Nast choose to expose Boss Tweed to the American public?

HE WAS SICK AND TIRED OF THE ILLEGAL DEALINGS THAT WERE GOING ON IN NYC. HE ALSO WANTED TO HELP SAVE THE CITY FROM CORRUPTION.

7)Why was Thomas Nast more successful in exposing Boss Tweed with his cartoons than an author who wrote a book?

NOT EVERYONE COULD READ (THEY DIDN’T GO TO SCHOOL), BUT THEY COULD LOOK AT A CARTOON AND FIGURE OUT WHAT IT WAS SAYING.

DOCUMENT 3:

EXCERPT FROM THE JUNGLE, by Upton Sinclair:

For they had set him to cleaning out the traps; and the family sat round and listened in wonder while he told them what that meant. It seemed that he was working in the room where the men prepared the beef for canning, and the beef had lain in vats full of chemicals, and men with great forks speared it out and dumped it into trucks, to be taken to the cooking room. When they had speared out all they could reach, they emptied the vat on the floor, and then with shovels scraped up the balance and dumped it into the truck. This floor was filthy, yet they set Antanas with his mop slopping the "pickle" into a hole that connected with a sink, where it was caught and used over again forever; and if that were not enough, there was a trap in the pipe, where all the scraps of meat and odds and ends of refuse were caught, and every few days it was the old man's task to clean these out, and shovel their contents into one of the trucks with the rest of the meat!

There was never the least bit attention paid to what was cut up for sausage; there would come all the way back from Europe old sausage that had been rejected, and that was moldy and white - it would be dosed with borax and glycerin, and dumped into the hoppers, and made over again for home consumption. There would be meat that had tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers had trampled and spit uncounted billions of consumption germs. There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands of rats would race about on it. It was too dark in these storage places to see well, but a man could run his hand over piles of meat and sweep off handfuls of the dried dung of rats. These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them; they would die, and then rats, bread and meat would go into the hoppers together."

QUESTIONS:

1. What kinds of things happened to the meat that people had to eat?

SOAKED IN CHEMICALS; IT WOULD SPOIL & BE DOSED WITH BORAXREUSED

1. What class of people probably read this book and why?

THE WEALTHY BECAUSE THE POOR DID NOT GO TO SCHOOL

1. What impact did this book have on the public?

THE PUBLIC WAS OUTRAGED

1. What acts were passed due to the publishing of The Jungle?

THE MEAT INSPECTION ACT AND THE PURE FOOD AND DRUG ACT

Document 4:

EXCERPT FROM: HISTORY OF STANDARD OIL

By: Ida M. Tarbell

Very often people who admit the facts, are willing to see that Mr. Rockefeller has employed force and fraud to secure his ends, justify him by declaring, “It’s business.” That is, “it’s business” has come to be a legitimate excuse for hard dealing, sly tricks, special privileges… One of the most depressing features of the ethical side of the matter is that instead of such methods arousing contempt they are more or less openly admired… and men who make a success like that of the Standard Oil Trust become national heroes!... And what are we going to do about it, for it is our business? We the people of the United States, and nobody else, must cure whatever is wrong in the industrial situation, typified by this narrative of the growth of the Standard Oil Company. That our first task is to secure free and equal transportation privileges by rail, pipe and waterway is evident. It is not any easy matter. It is one which may require operations which seem severe; but the whole system of discrimination has been nothing but violence, and those who have profited by it cannot complain if the curing of the evils they have wrought bring hardship on them. At all events, until the transportation matter is settled, and right, the monopolistic trust will be with us - - a leech on our pockets, a barrier to our free efforts.

Questions:

1)Why has Standard Oil been able to continue with their unfair business practices for so long?

THEY USED FORCE AND FRAUD

2)What excuse is given for men in business that use unfair practices?

“IT’S BUSINESS”

3)Why do people admire John D. Rockefeller rather than hate him?

BECAUSE THEY WANT TO BE RICH AND SUCCESSFUL LIKE HIM

4)According to the author, what is the first task of the American people?

TO SECURE FREE AND EQUAL TRANSPORTATION PRIVILEGES BY RAIL, PIPE AND WATERWAY

5)What does “a leech on our pockets, a barrier to our free efforts” mean and what is the author referring to?

THAT ROCKEFELLER IS STEALING MONEY FROM PEOPLE’S POCKETS AND BLOCKING THEIR FREEDOM IN TRANSPORTATION.

Document 5:

Photo from Lewis Hine’s book Kids at Work

1. What is going on in this picture?

CHILDREN WORKING IN GLASS WORKS

1. What was Lewis Hine trying to expose in his book Kids at Work?

HORRIBLE CONDITIONS THAT CHILDREN WERE FORCED TO WORK IN

1. Why might have Lewis Hine’s job been dangerous?

FACTORY OWNERS DO NOT WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW THEY HAVE CHILDREN WORKING IN THEIR FACTORIES

Look through pages 3-8 to find some Muckrakers and fill out the chart below:

NAME / NAME OF BOOK / WHAT DID IT EXPOSE?
UPTON SINCLAIR / THE JUNGLE / IT EXPOSED WORKING CONDITIONS AND HORRORS OF THE MEATPACKING INDUSTRY
LEWIS HINE / KIDS AT WORK / CHILD LABOR
IDA TARBELL / THE HISTORY OF STANDARD OIL / EXPOSED THE UNETHICAL BUSINESS DEALINGS OF JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER

What acts were passed due to these muckrakers? (p. 626)

MEAT INSPECTION ACT, PURE FOOD & DRUG ACT, SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT, CHILD LABOR LAWS

Jane Addams wanted to help people who lived in slums like these.

Source: Frances Loeb Library, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University.

Directions: In the right hand column, write down the most important ideas in each paragraph.

In the 1880’s Jane Addams traveled to Europe. While she was in London, she visited a settlement house called Toynbee Hall. Settlement houses were created to provide community services to ease urban problems such as poverty. Inspired by Toynbee Hall, Addams and her friend, Ellen Gates Starr, opened Hull House in a neighborhood of slums in Chicago in 1889. Many who lived there were immigrants from countries such as Italy, Russia, Poland, Germany, Ireland, and Greece. For these working poor, Hull House provided a day care center for children of working mothers, a community kitchen, and visiting nurses to treat the sick. Addams and her staff gave classes in English literacy, art, music, and other subjects. Hull House also became a meeting place for clubs and labor unions. Most of the people who worked with Addams in Hull House were well educated, middle-class women. Hull House gave them an opportunity to use their education and it provided a training ground for careers in social work. / SETTLEMENT HOUSES WERE SET UP TO PROVIDE COMMUNITY SERVICES TO EASE URBAN PROBLEMS;
HULL HOUSE PROVIDED DAY CARE, SOUP KITCHEN, NURSES FOR THE ILL, MEETING PLACE FOR UNIONS, EDUCATION
Jane Addams, who had become a popular national figure, sought to help others outside Hull House as well. She and other Hull House residents often "lobbied" city and state governments. When they lobbied, they contacted public officials and legislators and urged them to pass certain laws and take other actions to benefit a community. For example, Addams and her friends lobbied for the construction of playgrounds, the setup of kindergartens throughout Chicago, legislation to make factory work safer, child labor laws, and enforcement of anti-drug laws. / JANE ADDAMS AND RESIDENTS OF HULL HOUSE LOBBIED POLITICAL OFFICIALS TO URGE LAWS TO BE PASSED TO BENEFIT THE COMMUNITY
Addams believed in an individual's obligation to help his or her community, but she also thought the government could help make Americans' lives safer and healthier. In this way, Addams and many other Americans in the 1890’s and 1900’s were part of the Progressive movement. For a while, they even had a political party. When Theodore Roosevelt ran for president for the Progressive Party in 1912, Jane Addams publicly supported him at the party convention. / JANE ADDAMS AND OTHERS LIKE HER WERE PART OF THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT; TEDDY ROOSEVELT RAN AS THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT IN 1912
Jane Addams was a strong champion of several other causes. Until 1920, American women could not vote. Addams joined in the movement for women's suffrage (women's right to vote). She was a vice president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Addams was also a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). / JANE ADDAMS ALSO WORKED FOR OTHER CAUSES LIKE WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE, AND FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

What issue did Jane Addams tackle and why?

POVERTY, TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS IN CITIES

Was Jane Addams a muckraker? Why or why not?

NO, SHE WORKED TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS, NOT EXPOSE THEM

UNIONS:

p. 586-589 in textbook

Why did unions form?

UNIONS FORMED BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO FIGHT FOR BETTER WAGES AND BETTER CONDITIONS IN THE FACTORIES

KNIGHTS OF LABOR / AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
How were the unions set up? / SET UP LIKE A SECRET SOCIETY; WANTED TO INCLUDE WORKERS OF EVERY CREED & COLOR / IT WAS ORGANIZED INTO SEVERAL DIFFERENT NATIONAL UNIONS LIKE THE STEELWORKERS’ & MINEWORKERS’
What were the goals of the unions? / 8-HOUR WORK DAY; EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK FOR MEN AND WOMEN; END CHILD LABOR / WANTED TO GET BETTER WAGES, HOURS, AND WORKING CONDITIONS

Document 4:

EXCERPT FROM UPTON SINCLAIR’S THE JUNGLE:

One of the first problems that Jurgis ran upon was that of the unions. He had had no experience with unions, and he had to have it explained to him that the men were banded together for the purpose of fighting for their rights. Jurgis asked them what they meant by their rights, a question in which he was quite sincere, for he had not any idea of any rights that he had, except the right to hunt for a job, and do as he was told when he got it. Generally, however, this harmless question would only make his fellow workingmen lose their tempers and call him a fool. There was a delegate of the butcher-helpers' union who came to see Jurgis to enroll him; and when Jurgis found that this meant that he would have to part with some of his money, he froze up directly, and the delegate, who was an Irishman and only knew a few words of Lithuanian, lost his temper and began to threaten him. In the end Jurgis got into a fine rage, and made it sufficiently plain that it would take more than one Irishman to scare him into a union. Little by little he gathered that the main thing the men wanted was to put a stop to the habit of "speeding-up"; they were trying their best to force a lessening of the pace, for there were some, they said, who could not keep up with it, whom it was killing. But Jurgis had no sympathy with such ideas as this – he could do the work himself, and so could the rest of them, he declared, if they were good for anything. If they couldn't do it, let them go somewhere else. Jurgis had not studied the books, and he would not have known how to pronounce "laissez faire"; but he had been round the world enough to know that a man has to shift for himself in it, and that if he gets the worst of it, there is nobody to listen to him holler.

QUESTIONS:

1. What is the source of this document?

THE JUNGLE

1. What major barrier exists between Jurgis and the delegate from the Butcher’s union?

A LANGUAGE BARRIER

1. How did Jurgis view the union when first asked to join and why?

HE DIDN’T LIKE IT BECAUSE THEY WANTED HIM TO PAY TO BE PART OF IT

1. What was the union trying to change in the factory?

THE “SPEEDING UP” PROCESS

What happened at Haymarket Square?