Urban America and the Progressive Era 1900-1917

Chapter 21 – APUSH

Urban America and the Progressive Era 1900-1917

Progressive era was defined by struggles over the true meaning of American democracy

Industrial growth and rapid industrialization had led to a need for reforms, in the inner-cities, but no one really knew how
What was the government’s job? How much to get involved?
Educated women helped this movement quite a bit with the development and spread of settlement houses (EX: Henry Street Settlement House – Lillian Wald)
It became apparent that the problems were too big for individual reforms and required national and global strategies for reform

21.1 The Origins of Progressivism

Between 1890s and WWI, large & diverse group of Americans labeled themselves “Progressives”
Progressives believed in some type of reform; America needed a new social consciousness to cope with all the problems that came about because of economic and social changes
Progressivism was NOT a unified movement – many progressives disagreed with other progressives and/or held very different views on things

21.1.1 Unifying Themes

Three basic attitudes of the progressive movement: anger, desire for social cohesion and common bonds, and belief in the need for citizens to intervene to make change
Anger – Progressives were angry about the excesses of capitalism and urban growth and wanted to use the rules of democracy to affect change (voting, elections, court system, etc.)
Social cohesion/common bonds – Rejected the idea of individualism and felt the problems society had were structural, not just failures of individual families – so it was necessary to change the structure
Intervention – Looked to convert personal outrage into civic activism and to mobilize public opinion in new ways. They wanted the government more involved
Two sources of inspiration to try and advance the progressive movement: 1. Evangelical Protestantism (Social gospel movement from Ch. 20) – focused on the duty and ability of Christians to try to “right” the world and 2. Naturalistic ways to improve through social work and the latest in science, etc.
“An uneasy combination of social justice and social control” – p. 457

21.1.2 New Journalism: Muckraking

Changes in journalism helped foster reforms because they problems of urban poverty, political corruption, immoral business practices, labor issues – they were all exposed in newspapers, so people were finding out
EX: Jacob Riis (How the Other Half Lives) – you will want to know this (p. 457-458)
Magazine journalists turned to this type of journalism as well
EX: S.S. McClure – started America’s 1st large-circulation magazine, McClure’s
McClure hired people to write detailed articles about our social problems (EX: The Shame of the Cities – Lincoln Steffens, History of the Standard Oil Company – Ida Tarbell)
It wasn’t just that these muckrakers wanted to foster change; they realized that people bought these stories like crazy (increased sales tremendously, especially among middle class)
Several of these articles prompted actual campaigns for change and legislative moves (EX: Upton Sinclair & The Jungle – Chicago’s meatpacking industry)
Basically, these people disrupted the fluidity of society by showing that things were jacked up, so often resented. EX: Ida B. Wells and her crusade about black lynchings in the south – her research showed that majority of the lynchings had nothing to do with sexual transgressions (the whole justification for lynchings) and that the cause was usually to eliminate competition with white businessmen
President T. Roosevelt didn’t like when his friends or supporters were getting exposed through this journalism, so he called these people “muckrakers” because they were “always raking up the mud in society and never looked up”
Muckraking – journalism exposing economic, social, and political evils, so named by T. Roosevelt for its “raking the muck” of American society

21.1.3 Intellectual Trends Promoting Reform

Not all progressives were muckrakers; some were challenging deep, core ideas of American intellect – new theories on education, law, economics, and society were developing
The emergence of Social Sciences contributed – sociology, psychology, etc. (These fields emphasized how people actually lived and behaved in their communities)
EX: Critiques of Social Darwinism – the application of Darwin’s theory of biological evolution to society, that the fittest and wealthiest survive, the weak and the poor perish, & it’s not up to the government to try to intervene
EX: John Dewey – critiqued the rigid & formal approach to education; advocated for creative intelligence
EX: Robert La Follette – Wisconsin labor laws

21.1.4 The Female Dominion

College-educated, middle class women were key in the fight for social justice
They wanted to help their neighborhoods and provide charity, etc., but soon realized that it was so bad that they had to actually confront the major social issues first (and could not do that alone): i.e. chronic poverty, child labor, industrial accidents, overcrowded tenement houses, etc.
Jane Addams – Hull House – Chicago 1889 – early marriage or traditional female jobs of teachers or nurses, Addams found opening and managing the Hull House to be a much better alternative
Lillian Wald got it approved in NY for a nurse to be assigned to every public school in NYC
Wald also helped with woman suffrage, child labor legislation, & even helped give the Negro Association a platform (which led to creation of NAACP)
Florence Kelley – helped with state and federal legislation to limit women to an 8 hour workday, barred children under 14 from working, and abolished tenement labor
These women helped open new professions to women – using the traditional ones (nursing and teaching) to join with social reforms and political influence
Be familiar with Kelley, Addams, and Wald and their contributions
Bottom line, men still dominated politics, but women were starting to reshape aspects of politics, even without the right to vote
“Women’s place is Home…” quote on p. 460 – Discuss

21.2 Progressive Politics in Cities and States (p. 461)

Even though different progressives had different motives and goals, they were all united on their attacks on government corruption, the need to bring corporate power under control, & more active involvement from local governments

21.2.1 The Urban Machine

By 1900, most large American cities were controlled by Irish Democratic party bosses (machines)
How? Through disciplined organization and by providing essential services to both ends of the economic spectrum (food baskets and basics to immigrant poor and party favors to the elite)
Successful machine politician – became successful by providing services to people who needed it
EX: immigrants dealt with unemployment, sickness, discrimination, but in exchange for voting for one of these machine guys, they would get jobs, food, money, etc.
To expand, political machines started pushing for legislation to help the poor immigrants, so they would get that many more votes
So political machinists would ally with progressive reformers (EX: Robert Wagner, Al Smith, and Big Tim Sullivan – top of p. 462)

21.2.2 Progressives and Urban Reform

Because of deteriorating urban conditions and the power/manipulation of political machines, political progressivism originated in the cities
City governments just couldn’t handle the large scale needs their cities had
“Good government” movement – tried to make city management nonpartisan by bringing the large corporation concepts to cities
They limited the power of one mayor for a city and expanded powers by appointing administrators and “community leaders”
Business and professional elites were big boosters of reforms in urban government
EX: Galveston, TX hurricane disaster – discuss how the reformed government dealt with this catastrophe – p. 462
This commission form of government would spread
Progressive politicians focused on changing policies instead of political structure
EX: Cleveland mayor Thomas Johnson – p. 462

21.2.3 Statehouse Progressives

State level – progressives introduced and advocated for new ways to make politics less corrupt and more effective
Direct primary – put elections into hands of party voters instead of the smoky back room
Oregon – initiated two reforms
Initiative – the power to initiate legislation
Referendum – the right to a popular vote on proposed legislation
Australian – secret ballot
California
Recall – the power to remove elected officials from office
17th Amendment – shifted the selection of US senators from state legislatures to direct voting
At the same time, progressives also sought to get the government less involved in certain issues – felt unbiased experts and board members should just make decisions on certain infrastructure instead of letting it be decided by a vote
“Fighting Bob” LaFollette – Wisconsin – pushed for all sorts of reforms, but most notable the “Wisconsin Idea” – using faculty experts and their academic knowledge to help affect change and address the needs of the people
New York – Theodore Roosevelt won governor job based off his war hero status (S-A War)
Supported by Republican party machine, but also embraced progressivism
He felt the needs of the people should be above and any partisan concepts
He set wages and labor laws, and was all about progressive measures for NY’s forest preserves
Western progressives – focused on railroads, mining/timber companies, and public utilities
Southern progressives – tried to control greedy corporations and “unruly” citizens
Child labor laws – 12 was minimum for children to be employed
Southern progressivism – only for whites
Felt blacks should be disenfranchised (couldn’t vote) and segregated
Literacy tests at the polls & Jim Crow laws
Plessy v. Ferguson (separate but equal) – not happening – see per capita expenditures (p. 463)
Voting was actually suppressed by all of the progressive reforms
Voters less interested in elections, as corruption lessened
Residency requirements tightened
Politics became more open, nonpartisan, etc., and that led to a decline in voter participation
Voter participation went from 90% to 60% and has pretty much stayed that way

21.3 Social Control and its Limits

There was concern that immigrants and the large cities were going to ruin American democracy (Protestant progressives had these fears)
Alien cultural practices would wreck American morality
Some progressives basically felt it was their moral obligation to control and put restrictions on various social issues, such as regulating drinking, prostitution, leisure activities, and schooling

21.3.1 The Prohibition Movement

Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was fueled by women who were upset with men who got drunk and then abused their wives and children
As a result, the focus was to end the production, sale, and consumption of alcohol
WCTU also focused on non-temperance activities (Sunday School, woman suffrage, homeless shelters)
By 1911, WCTU was largest women’s organization in American history
Temperance groups – groups dedicated to reducing the sale and consumption of alcohol
Some men bought in because they were businessmen and they realized if they supported the closing of saloons, the employees would be more productive
Battle to ban alcohol – revealed deep ethnic and cultural divides within American cities
Who were the supporters and opponents of prohibition? (p. 464)

21.3.2 The Social Evil

Then there was the issue of prostitution or the “social evil”
Between 1895 and 1920 – prostitution became much more prevalent
This “white slave traffic” issue became a national sensation and foreigners and Jews were scapegoats for this problem
Congress passed legislation that allowed for any foreign-born prostitutes to be deported
Mann Act – made it a federal offense to transport women across state lines for “immoral purposes
There was all the talk about the immorality of prostitution, but at the end of the day, prostitution was a wage-earning job for women, in a world of limited opportunities
EX: MaimiePinzer’s (prostitute) quote – p. 464
Red-light districts and brothels were shut down, but all that did was pave the way for streetwalkers and call girls to replace them

21.3.3 The Redemption of Leisure

Commercial entertainment was on the rise
Working class adults and their children spent money at vaudevilles, theaters, amusement parks, dance halls, etc.
Cultural traditionalists were concerned they were losing touch with the middle class an one of the responses – Playgrounds Movement –to try to get kids back to playing outdoors and just having fun
1908 – movies were the most popular form of cheap entertainment in America
Cheap enough for the immigrants/tenement dwellers
Became more advanced and then the middle class started going too
Because so many people were partaking, progressives felt the need to make sure movies were classy, reviewed, and acceptable for the masses

21.3.4 Standardizing Education

In addition to academics, schools started including patriotism, piety, and respect for authority
Public schools were an agent of “Americanization”
It was a way to get immigrant children assimilated into American culture and break up the ethnic villages
Expansion and bureaucratization of public school systems
Children started younger and stayed longer
1918 – every state had some sort of attendance rule
High schools multiplied

21.4 Challenges to Progressivism

Some organized workers opposed progressivism
Industrial workers needed a way to unify and become a force for wage regulation, etc., but there were so many different levels of skills, ethnicities, etc., that it was hard to organize trade unions
Industrial workers became a force in local and national politics – one more voice calling for social justice

21.4.1 The New Global Immigration

1900 – 1920: 14.5 million people came to the US (immigration)
60% came from southern and eastern Europe (most of these lacked industrial skills)
So they got the bottom-level jobs (sweatshops, factories, etc.)
By WWI start, 60% of industrial force was foreign born
Why did these immigrants come to the US?
Subsistence farming had been overpowered by commercial agriculture
Shortage of land
Religious and political persecution
Cheap labor
Many immigrants planned to come to the US to make a living/earn money and then return back home
Social networking
The low-paid, back breaking work in the mills and factories was done by these Eastern immigrants
Many had their entire families back at home and they were just trying to make some money to take home
Hemispheric migration increased sharply during this time too
900,000 came from Canada (came to New England area)
Mexican workers came to work the farms, railroads, and mines in the West
Barrios developed – Mexican communities
Caribbean-born population also grew – usually came to NYC – they were more literate, educated, and had skills compared to the Eastern Europeans
Still faced discrimination though
200,000 Japanese came (usually lived in LA – Angel Island vs. Ellis Island)

21.4.2 Urban Ghettos

New immigrant communities became densely packed ghettos (all the Irish lived in the same area, etc.)
Cities were so big that it was comfortable for ethnic groups to stay isolated and together
NYC – center of both Jewish immigration & ready-to-wear clothing industry
Garment industry was mostly manned by Jews
A very seasonal industry – some weeks 60-70 hours, followed by long lay-offs
Strikes occurred – The Uprising of the 20,000 – garment strikers demanded union recognition, better wages, and safer and more sanitary conditions
Most strikers went back to work with no union recognition 3 months later, but progress was made – ILGWU (p. 469) negotiated contracts with shirtwaist makers
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire – March 25, 1911 – flames spread and workers were trapped by exit doors that were locked on the outside, fire escapes too narrow to withstand the heat
146 people were dead within first half hour (mostly Jewish women)
Women progressives joined up with Tammany Hall leaders to create New York State Factory Investigation Commission – led to series of state laws that majorly improved safety conditions and limited hours for working women & children

21.4.3 Company Towns

Company towns were where a single large corporation was dominant, so pretty much everyone who lived in that town worked for that corporation
Workers had little to no influence over political and economic institutions within these cities
Had to buy their food, clothing, and supplies at company stores, at higher prices (only option)
Family networks, saloons, churches, etc. were good for communal activities
Modern machinery and industrial discipline led to high rates of injury and deaths
¼ of new steel workers were killed or injured each year
Role of women in these company towns – take care of the house, raise kids, and make some extra money by taking in boarders, sewing, and other odd jobs
These were the same women who endured the abuse from their drunken husbands
Ludlow Massacre – demonstrated just how violent strikes could be, government’s involvement – President Woodrow Wilson’s intervention (p. 470)

21.4.4 Competing Visions of Unionism: The AFL and the IWW

After depression in 1890s, AFL was strongest and most stable organization of workers
Membership grew to 1.7 million by 1904 (up from 500,000 in 1897)
Trade autonomy and exclusive jurisdiction were the ruling principles within the AFL
Many trade unions barred women and African Americans from joining
AFL unions experienced economic slumps, technological changes, and other problems
National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) launched an “open shop” – factory or business employing workers whether or not they are union members; in practice, such a business usually refuses to hire union members and follows antiunion policies.
Open Shop – name for a workplace where unions were not allowed
Mining was a difficult area – miners experienced harsh conditions and would strike for better ones
A couple mining companies decided to hire detectives and fired all the union members
The union miners retaliated by blowing up one of the mills
The governor (Idaho) declared martial law and brought in soldiers and the soldiers were strikebreakers, and imprisoned many of the striking miners
WFM (Western Federation of Miners), socialists, and other radical groups all got together in Chicago and created the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) – they nicknamed themselves the Wobblies – most influential of the Wobblies – Big Bill Haywood
The IWW was pretty powerful in the West because of how they included everyone and spoke multiple languages, etc.
Once WWI came along, the IWW pretty much folded because its anti-capitalist rhetoric (more so its Socialist ties) was too anti-American

21.4.5 Rebels in Bohemia