1900 1917 Sources Maier ch 22 Tindall and on Samuel P Hayss Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency The Progressive Conservation Movement 1890 1920 Who were the Progressives ID: 289953
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Slide1
Progressive Era:1900-1917
Sources:
Maier,
ch
. 22,
Tindall
, and on Samuel P. Hays’s
Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency: The Progressive Conservation Movement, 1890-
1920Slide2
Who were the Progressives?
Progressives were diverse in origins and agendas:
different groups sought everything from…
stricter regulation of business to prohibition of alcohol to greater social justice and more efficient government
Not
all agreed on same issues or goals…but all arose as a response to the complexities of the new urban-industrial environment that existedSlide3
Who were the Progressives?
Had roots in
Populism of the 1890s
Mugwumps
who sought civil service reform/honest government
those who wanted to fix problems unique to cities—distribution of utilities and other services, transportation, etc.
socialists’ critiques of living and working conditions (seen as left wing of progressive movement; they did not dominate the movement
)
Muckrakers
: TR named them; said they were “indispensable…but only if they know when to stop raking the muck”
Basic philosophy: expose social ills and the ills will be corrected
Important examples:
Henry Demarest Lloyd:
Wealth Against Commonwealth
(1894) –a critique of monopolies like Standard Oil Company
Jacob Riis:
How the Other Half Lives
(1890) – expose on slum/tenement life
Lincoln Steffens:
The Shame of the Cities
(1904) –on municipal corruptionSlide4
Source: Five Cents a Spot; Date: 1890
This photograph, taken by flashlight, is of a small, unauthorized, over-crowded apartment in which a person could rent a spot for five cents. The photographer, Jacob Riis, had immigrated to the U.S. in 1870 from Denmark. Although his first few years in the U.S. were marked by poverty and hardship, he was able to secure employment with the New York Tribune in 1877 as a police reporter. As noted in your text, in the 1880s Riis used his position as a reporter and photographer to illuminate the abject poverty present in New York City immigrant communities. This photograph, along with many others like it, was first published in Riis' book How the Other Half Lives, which became a critical work in establishing reforms during the Progressive Era. As you examine this image, consider the effect that such photographs had on government officials and the broader American public as they sought political solutions to the suffering caused by economic depression. Compare and contrast this photograph of men crowded in a tenement room with other photos in this collection.Slide5
Source: Tenement-house yard
Date: c. 1889
This photograph of a busy tenement-house yard depicts a dingy slum, with laundry strewn across the balconies, and a number of people -- some of whom look listlessly at the camera. The photographer, Jacob Riis, had immigrated to the U.S. in 1870 from Denmark. Although his first few years in the U.S. were marked by poverty and hardship, he was able to secure employment with the New York Tribune in 1877 as a police reporter. As noted in your text, in the 1880s Riis used his position as a reporter and photographer to illuminate the abject poverty present in New York City immigrant communities. This photograph, along with many others like it, was first published in Riis' book How the Other Half Lives, which became a critical work in establishing reforms during the Progressive Era. As you examine this image, consider the effect that such photographs had on government officials and the broader American public, as they sought political solutions to the suffering caused by economic depression. Compare and contrast this photograph of men crowded in a tenement room with other photos in this collection.Slide6
Elements of Progressivism
d
emocracy
efficiency (and its related element, conservation)
r
egulation
s
ocial justice
prohibitionSlide7
Elements of Progressivism
Democracy
Direct primary (nomination of candidates by direct votes of party members)
Initiative: voters can petition to have measures put on the ballot
Referendum: voters can vote initiatives up or down, directly enacting laws
Recall: voters can recall politicians (all of these things were recently at work in CA)
Direct election of senators (17
th
amendment) (rather than state legislators electing them)Slide8
Elements of Progressivism
Efficiency
“gospel of efficiency”
The “use of ‘foresight and restraint in the exploitation of the physical sources of wealth as necessary for the perpetuity of civilization, and the welfare of present and future generations’” (Hays 123)
applied to natural resources, but they also thought it could be applied to social, moral, government, and economic affairs
123
Business
: reduce waste through careful analysis of labor process
Gov’t
:
eliminate redundant agencies
professionalize
gov’t
:
Gov. Robert M. La
Follette
(WI) established a Legislative Reference Bureau to provide research, advice and help in the drafting of legislation—widely copiedSlide9
Elements of Progressivism
Efficiency,
con’t
TR
, 1908: “…Let us remember that the conservation of natural resources…is yet but part of another and greater problem…the problem of national efficiency, the patriotic duty of insuring the safety and continuance of the nation” (Hays 125)
civil service, competitive exams
anti trust action might impair increased production; no problem with bigness per se
“Conservationists strove to encourage the greatest possible production of material goods at the lowest cost. Just as planning must replace competition so that manufacturers could produce with less waste, so regulation must prevent financial freebooters from destroying industrial efficiency” (Hays 126)
unions interfere
w
/ max efficiency; so do lousy working conditions and low wages
ergo: decent wages and conditions for sake of efficiency 126
greatest good for greatest number, beauty of Niagara or archeological treasures be damned 127Slide10Slide11
Elements of Progressivism
Regulation
Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) more symbolic than effective
4 options:
laissez-faire: let business figure things out for themselves
allow big business for the benefits of economies of scale, but regulate to prevent abuse
trust-bust to restore more vigorous competition
public ownership –a form of socialism
mainly option 2 was used, to limited effect; industries sometimes ended up having a lot of influence over the agencies put in place to regulate themSlide12Slide13
Source: Will She?
Date: 30 May 1906
This cartoon of Lady Liberty posed with a broom outside of Packingtown appeared on the editorial page of The World, a leading New York City newspaper, on June 7, 1906. This cartoon is important for the sheer symbolism depicted in the skulls piled up behind her and her determined pose. Historians closely examine cartoons because they both express and help create a symbolic language shared by a wide public. The simple, powerful expressions of political issues are well illustrated in the visual imagery the cartoonists use, rather than just language. People with varying levels of literacy and facility with the English language can thus understand them. This fact was not lost on the newspaper publishers in America's largest cities, whose surging immigrant populations had become a commercial and political force. This cartoon satirized the very personal and individual results of the meatpacking scandal in its final, legislative stage. As you examine this image, consider how cartoons such as this one might have shaped the meatpacking act of 1906.Slide14
Elements of Progressivism
Social Justice
General acknowledgement that gov’t involvement was needed to enact justice—not just private programs like the settlement house movement
Labor legislation
National Child Labor Committee (1904) organized to ban child labor (12-16 yrs old, depending on the state)
Regulation of the hours of women and conditions in which women and children could work (failure to enforce these new state laws meant the advances sometimes had little effect)
Mixed record at the Supreme Court:
Lochner v. New York (1905): struck down 10 hr/day law—violated workers’ “liberty of contract”
Muller v. Oregon (1908): upheld 10 hr/day for women
Bunting v. Ohio (1917): upheld 10 hr/day for men and women
Resists minimum wage laws until the late 1920s
Safety laws, particularly following Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911Slide15
Elements of Progressivism
Prohibition
Some connection in the minds of many b/t saloons (where much politicking went on) and the negative aspects of “bossism,” special interests
Movement had started in late 19
th
century; anti-drink party had even run for president
Local efforts to curb drink very successful; almost 3/4 of US pop had no access by the time the federal amendment was passed (1919)
As we’ll see, this is not, ultimately, a successful effort.Slide16
Election of 1900
Democrats
Views:
Pro-silver: inflate the currency, aid debtors in S. and West
Lower tariffs: aid consumers
Critical of big business; pro-tough anti-trust laws
Pro-inheritance tax; pro-federal income tax
Party:
Strong in S. (blacks disenfranchised); supported by some urban ethnic workers in N.
Candidate:
P: William Jennings Bryan
Republicans
Views:
Pro-gold standard: protects creditors and property owners
Pro-tariffs: protect industry and jobs
Pro-business
Party:
Dominate nationally
Much better financed
Candidate:
P: William McKinley
VP: Theodore Roosevelt (
gov
of New York)Slide17
Election of 1900Slide18
Roosevelt: characteristics
(McKinley assassinated less than 6 mo. After inaugural)
Theodore Roosevelt:
Eastern aristocrat, but also western outdoorsman (pro-masculine virtues)
Youngest to serve as president (42)
Man of action and an intellectual (well-read, author)
Sees self as steward of nation’s destiny, an activist conservative
State has role to play in protecting society
Middle of the road: skeptical about working class and social revolution, but anti-corporate greed
Presidency affords him a “bully pulpit” from which he can influence people and events
Wants US to be a great power; strengthens army and navySlide19
Roosevelt: first term
“Trust-buster”
Northern Securities Company
v
. U.S.
(1904)
:
Justice Dept. uses Sherman Anti-Trust Act to break up Northern Securities Company
A “holding company”: held the stock of companies that actually operated the businesses
Controlled nearly all long-distance rail traffic
b/t
Chicago and west coast
b/c
the company was involved in interstate commerce, Sherman Anti-Trust appliedSlide20
Roosevelt: first term
“Trust-buster”
Elkins Act (1904)
Prohibited railroads from giving rebates to large shippers
(Elkins was actually supported by
RRs
, who didn’t WANT to have to give kickbacks)
Creates Department of Commerce, which includes:
Bureau of Corporations: has (limited) power to investigate companies engaged in interstate commerce
Note:
support for the above strengthened by publication of muckraker Ida Tarbell’s damning
History of the Standard Oil
CompanySlide21
Source: Joyous Trusts
Date: 1902
"An Alphabet of Joyous Trusts" was Fredrick Opper's subject in a 1902 series of cartoons. Predictably, "B" stood for the Beef Trusts. The same Trust figure is back (compare it with the one in Opper's Roosevelt Cartoon), although here Opper plays on the monopolist's traditional control over market prices rather than on the unsanitary practices of the meat packing industry. The simple, powerful expressions of political issues are often well illustrated in cartoons as the cartoonist relies on visual imagery rather than language. People with varying levels of literacy and facility with the English language can thus understand them. This fact was not lost on the newspaper publishers in America's largest cities, whose surging immigrant populations had become a commercial and political force. This cartoon satirizes the overwhelming power of the Trusts. As you examine this image, consider how cartoons such as this one might have shaped the ways in which the government dealt with the Trusts.Slide22
No lack of big game.Slide23
Roosevelt: first term
TR intervenes in anthracite coal miners strike
Miners get better wages and working conditions
Still no recognition of their union
Significance: suggests fed
gov’t
moving toward more even-handed stance on labor and business disputesSlide24
Roosevelt: first term
Conservation:
Newlands Reclamation Act
Favors agricultural development;
Provides funds from sale of public lands to promote irrigation and reclamation projects
Creates national
p
arks and monuments
E.g., Grand Canyon
Creates U.S. Forest Service
Run by Gifford Pinchot
Controls US’s forest reserves; manages and protects undeveloped forestsSlide25
Election of 1904
Democrats
For Pres: Alton B. Parker
Repudiated pro-silver stance
Cozied
up
w
/ Northeastern business wing of Democratic Party
Republicans
For Pres: Teddy Roosevelt
Able to win control of Republican party, despite Progressive insurgents (Robert La
Follette
, WI; George W. Norris, Nebraska) and
probusiness
conservatives
Calls for “Square Deal” for the American people (few details)
Landslide victory
Also running:
Socialist Party: Eugene V. Debs (3% of popular vote)
Populist
Party (>1% of popular vote)Slide26
Election of 1904Slide27
Roosevelt’s Progressivism
Roosevelt’s
“Square Deal”: enforce anti-trust laws on the books and tighten controls on big business
With help of courts, breaks up RR monopoly
Brings miners, owners to table after 1902 coal strike in PA; threatens to take over the mines using the military—forced owners hands and brought partial victory for miners
Breaks up beef trust in Swift and Company
v
. United States (1905):
SC crafts “stream-of-commerce” doctrine:
b/c
livestock and meat products move in the stream of interstate commerce, federal
gov’t
can regulate themSlide28
Roosevelt: 2nd term
Key issue: power of big businesses
Progressive reformers (e.g. La
Follette
) had strong voice in Senate
Want regulation of trusts, esp. railroads
Anti-tariff, which is protecting monopolies
TR takes a middle road (see next)Slide29
Source: Will She?
Date: 30 May 1906
This cartoon of Lady Liberty posed with a broom outside of Packingtown appeared on the editorial page of The World, a leading New York City newspaper, on June 7, 1906. This cartoon is important for the sheer symbolism depicted in the skulls piled up behind her and her determined pose. Historians closely examine cartoons because they both express and help create a symbolic language shared by a wide public. The simple, powerful expressions of political issues are well illustrated in the visual imagery the cartoonists use, rather than just language. People with varying levels of literacy and facility with the English language can thus understand them. This fact was not lost on the newspaper publishers in America's largest cities, whose surging immigrant populations had become a commercial and political force. This cartoon satirized the very personal and individual results of the meatpacking scandal in its final, legislative stage. As you examine this image, consider how cartoons such as this one might have shaped the meatpacking act of 1906.Slide30
Source: Muck-Raking!
Date: 6 May 1906
This cartoon of Theodore Roosevelt racking up scandalous affairs appeared on the editorial page of The World, a leading New York City newspaper, on May 6, 1906. Historians closely examine cartoons because they both express and help create a symbolic language shared by a wide public. American political cartooning assumed its modern form through the work of Thomas Nast during the Civil War. After the war, he turned his art to political reform, defining through his caricatures the popular perception of politicians such as Boss Tweed and his infamous political machine, Tammany Hall. By the time of the meatpacking scandal, editorial cartoons were prominent features of the periodicals of the day. Simple, powerful expressions of political issues, cartoons rely on visual imagery rather than language. People with varying levels of literacy and facility with the English language can thus understand them. This fact was not lost on the newspaper publishers in America's largest cities, whose surging immigrant populations had become a commercial and political force. This cartoon satirized the presidential aspect of the meatpacking scandal as it entered its final, legislative stage. As you examine it, consider how cartoons such as this one might have shaped the meatpacking act of 1906.Slide31
Roosevelt: 2nd term
Roosevelt as pro-big business
Saw
big
business as inevitable, desirable in that it creates efficiencies
Action: no support for new, sweeping antitrust legislation (which La
Follette
supported)
Roosevelt as “trust-buster”
Power of big business unacceptable
Action:
allow Justice Dept. to use Sherman Antitrust Act to prosecute worst abusers
Support
Hepburn Act (1906)
Railroads must adopt uniform bookkeeping practices
Interstate Commerce Commission gets to set max freight rates
Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)
Creates FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to test and certify drugs
Meat Inspection Act (1906)
Allows Dept. of Ag to inspect and label meat
Note: Upton Sinclair’s
The Jungle
(1906) helped overwhelm conservative opposition to the last two acts mentioned aboveSlide32
Roosevelt: 2nd term
Limits of Progressive reform
Conservative Republicans in Congress block additional reform on matters such as
Stronger antitrust legislation
Child labor protections
Protection for injured workers
Lowering tariffs
Taxes on the wealthy
Conservative Supreme Court continues to protect business, works to slow reformSlide33
Election of 1908
Republicans
For Pres: Wm. Howard Taft
Handpicked by TR; was
TR’s
Sec. of War
Personal views:
Antilabor
, but also “leery of big business” (Maier 650)
Platform:
Supported by progressive Republicans, but platform largely
probusiness
Democrats
For Pres: Wm. Jennings Bryan
Motto: “Shall the people rule?”
Platform: progressive, pro-labor
Lower tariffs
Strong regulations on bus.
8 hr day for
gov’t
workers
Limit injunctions against unions
Also running:
Socialist Party: Eugene V. DebsSlide34
Election of 1908Slide35
Taft: a moderate, buffeted by reform
Reform movement
gains momentum in both parties
Pushing for
Women’s suffrage
Prohibition
Immigration restriction
Labor protections
Regulation of business
Direct election of senate
Taft: strike balance
b/t
reformers and conservatives
Congress and Taft’s accomplishments:
Robust antitrust action—breaks up Standard Oil and American Tobacco Company
Strengthens ICC
Establishes Federal Children’s Bureau (to improve standard of living of children—combat infant mortality, disease, poverty, child labor, etc.)
Pres. given power to lower tariffs as part of trade agreements
16
th
amendment: fed
gov’t
gets power to levy income tax (Taft lukewarm)Slide36
Toward the Election of 1912: Republicans splinter
Taft unable to hold conservatives and progressives together
Fights over extent of regulation, tariffs
La
Follette
and other reformers form Progressive Republican League (1910)
Attacks corrupt ties
b/t
conservative wing of Republican party and business
Pro-regulation
Anti-Taft in 1912
Pro-direct election of senators
Pro-Initiative, Referendum, and Recall at national level
T. Roosevelt re-enters politics, essentially trying to take place of both Taft and La
Follette
According to
archives.gov
: “Taft proved more conservative than Roosevelt had anticipated [in 1908], and eventually he regretted his endorsement. In Roosevelt's eyes, Taft had too frequently sided with the corporate giants and political bosses he had so relentlessly battled.” (Source: http://
www.archives.gov
/education/lessons/election-cartoons/)Slide37
Election of 1912
The cartoons above “satirize Roosevelt's reversal of his anti-third term promise and his assumption of leadership of the Progressive Party. Both La
Follette
and Roosevelt lost the Republican nomination to the incumbent, Taft, who still controlled the national convention delegates. Roosevelt, however, had swept 9 of the 12 states with primaries, including Taft's home state of Ohio.”
(Source: http://
www.archives.gov
/education/lessons/election-cartoons/)Slide38
Election of 1912
The “primary battle is characterized in the…political cartoon picturing Ohio as the "Mother of Presidents." Victories in these primaries made Roosevelt and his progressives confident that they represented the will of the people. They officially announced their Progressive Party and challenged Taft and the Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson. The fourth…political cartoon, displays the three candidates shortly before election day in 1912.” (Source: http://
www.archives.gov
/education/lessons/election-cartoons/)Slide39
Election of 1912:
Democrats
For Pres: Woodrow Wilson
Gov of NJ; former president of Princeton
Anti-privilege
Pro-states rights; favored limiting federal power
Progressive: direct primary elections; min. wage; max hours; end child labor; oppose restricting immigration
“New Freedom”: preserve and restore competition—break up big businesses, prevent monopolies
Progressive Republicans/Bull Moose
For Pres: T. Roosevelt
Former President of US
Pro-federal power
Progressive: direct primary elections; min. wage; max hours; end child labor; oppose restricting immigration
“New Nationalism”: accepts value of some “good trusts” but other “bad trusts” need to be broken up by fed
gov’tSlide40
Election of 1912
Results:
Taft, Roosevelt split Republican vote
Wilson cruises to victory
Socialist: Eugene Debs gains ground—6% of popular voteSlide41
Election of 1912Slide42
Wilson: successful start
Appoints Wm. Jennings Bryan to Sec. of State
Delivers state of union address personally (1
st
time in a century!)
Weekly press conferences
Works closely
w
/ Democratic Congress
3 clusters of legislation passed: tariff revision, banking reform, antitrust legislation (see next)Slide43
Wilson: successful start
1
st
cluster of legislation: tariff reform
Tariffs:
Dem. Leaders in congress painted Republican protectionists as tools of corporate lobbyists
Underwood-Simmons Tariff (1913
):
Lowered
most tariffs by ~25%
stimulated competition and moved US toward free trade
Graduated income
tax (16
th
amendment)
Shifts burden to wealthy; reduces
gov’t
reliance on tariffs to fund operationsSlide44
Wilson: successful start
2
nd
cluster: banking reform
Areas of concern:
Credit difficult to get outside financial centers in Northeast
Control of money supply (issuing credit is a way to expand the money supply)
Need for a national banking system to enhance financial stability, restrict individual banks
Solution:
Federal Reserve Act (1913)
Divides US into 12 districts, each
w
/ a regional central bank (called a federal reserve bank) which serves other banks in the region
Federal reserve banks:
Issue new paper currency in emergency situations
Transfer funds to member banks in
trouble
Control
interest rates at which banks could borrow money; allowed for greater control over economy:
raise rates to fight inflation (makes it difficult to borrow);
lower rates to stimulate business (makes it easier to borrow)Slide45
Wilson: successful start
3
rd
cluster: antitrust legislation
Clayton Act (1914)
Expands Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)
To prevent anticompetitive practices:
Specifies particular business activities that were illegal restraints on trade; specifies penalties for violations
Provided for break-up of monopolies
To provide legal guarantee of right to unionize:
Specifies that unions were NOT illegal combinations in restraint of trade and could not be prosecuted as such
Limits ability of courts to issue injunctions against unions
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (1914)
Power to investigate and stop violations of antitrust laws by companies engaged in interstate commerce
TR criticized it for not really doing what it was supposed to do—regulate business (Wilson staffed it
w
/ industry insiders)Slide46Slide47
Wilson: successful start
3
rd
cluster: antitrust legislation
Why did many businesses LIKE Clayton Act and FTC?
Legislation written
w
/ help of industry insiders
Lessened public anger at big business, since something had been done to rein them in
Made rules of competition clearer, thus making business more predictable
Federal regulations preferable to wide array of state regulations (which could be harsher)Slide48
Wilson: additional successes
Banned child labor (overturned by Supreme Court)
Created federal loan program for farmers
Freed farmers from dependence on banks; allowed them to sell crops when market was favorable
Increased income tax; created inheritance tax (1916)
Adamson Act: 8 hour day for railroads
Helped make 8 hour day the norm in industry more broadly
Appoints Louis Brandeis to SC
Pro social reform; pro-antitrust litigation = Pro- “New Freedom”
First Jew on SCSlide49
Wilson’s less progressive side: limited interest in social justice
Child labor:
No
support for child labor leg. (leave it to the states
)
Women’s rights:
No
support for federal amend for women’s suffrage (initially)
Race:
Denounced
KKK’s
“reign of terror” but sympathized with desire to restore white rule in South; blacks were “ignorant and hostile” and an “inferior race”
With Wilson’s approval, members of his cabinet segregated their departments--sep. toilets, drinking fountains, break roomsSlide50
Election of 1916
Democrats
For Pres: Wilson
Well positioned after successes of 1
st
term
Campaigns as pro-reform
“He kept us out of war.”
Adamson Act brings urban laborers into Democratic fold
Republicans
For Pres: Charles Evans Hughes
Nominated by conservative wing of Republican party
Justice on SC (resigned when nominated for pres)
Anti-Adamson Act
Anti-income tax
Note: TR abandoned the Progressive party, returned to Republicans in 1916Slide51
Election of 1916Slide52
Assessing the Progressive Era
“Wilson, the reformer, had won a second term, but the Progressive Era was over” (Maier 655).
Exception:
18
th
amendment:
prohibition (1919)
19
th
amendment: women’s suffrage (1920)
Otherwise, attention turns to the Great WarSlide53
Assessing the Progressive Era
Significant antitrust legislation passed (but large corporations still dominate economy)
Federal Reserve increases stability (but centers of finance remain in northeast)
Workers solidify new rights, but no social safety net
Shift of financial burden of running federal
gov’t
from those paying tariffs toward those with greater ability to pay
Democratic rights expand
Direct election of senators
Initiative, Referendum, Recall (in some states)
Women’s suffrage
Democratic rights limited:
African Americans in South disenfranchised
Immigrants in North face
discrimination
Government is stronger
Federal
gov’t
more activist than ever before, esp. as
regulator
Racism, xenophobia prevalent, even among progressivesSlide54
2003 AP DBQ (form B)
Evaluate the effectiveness of Progressive Era reformers and the federal government in bringing about reform at the national level. In your answer be sure to analyze the successes and limitations of these efforts in the period 1900-1920.