Progressive Era Overview

Progressive Era Overview Video.mp4

The Progressive Era, a period from the 1890s to the 1920s, was marked by a growth in social activism and political reform focused on addressing the issues of industrialization, urbanization, and corruption. Key characteristics included the rise of suffrage movements (voting rights), labor rights advocacy, and efforts to regulate monopolies and improve working conditions. This period also saw a push for greater government accountability and the implementation of various reforms, such as the direct election of senators and women's voting rights (suffrage, 19th Amendment).

Political Parties Platforms

Populist Party (Political Party)

The Populist Party (1892-1896) was a political movement that focused on the interests of farmers and laborers, advocating for reforms like the free coinage of silver, government regulation of railroads, direct election of senators, and a progressive income tax.

They demanded the regulation of railroad shipping charges, a graduated income tax, and the free and unlimited coinage of silver—demands that most reflected the concerns of small farmers in need of affordable credit.

Additionally, they advocated for free coinage of silver to increase the amount of money in circulation since they believed inflation will allow them to pay their debt and reduce the real value of their debt.

📚📚Progressive Era Reformers and Muckrakers📚

A muckraker is a journalist or writer who investigates and exposes corruption, social injustices, and abuses in politics, business, or society.

📚Ida B. Wells

She was a reformer who used her platform as co-owner and editor of the Memphis Newspaper Free Speech and Headlight to expose racial injustice, particularly through her groundbreaking publications Southern Horrors and A Red Record, which documented the horrors of lynching in the South. She helped found several key organizations, including the National Association of Colored Women and the NAACP, advocating for racial equality, women's rights, and social justice. Wells also formed a suffrage club for African American women in Illinois, championing the right to vote and pushing for equality in both the political and social spheres.

📚Jane Addams

Jane Addams was a social reformer who founded Hull House in Chicago, a settlement house designed to help new immigrants assimilate into American society by offering services like education, childcare, and healthcare. She argued that women, should be involved in urban governance, believing their perspectives could improve city management and social welfare. Addams promoted social reform by offering university students firsthand experience with poverty, which allowed them to develop practical solutions to aid the marginalized and disadvantaged communities.

📚📚📚Upton Sinclair📚📚📚

Upton Sinclair was a prominent Progressive Era writer best known for his novel The Jungle, which exposed the harsh conditions and exploitation of immigrant workers in the meatpacking industry. Through vivid descriptions of unsanitary practices, unsafe working conditions, and the suffering of workers, the book shocked the public and led to demands for reform. The Jungle ultimately contributed to the passage of the📚 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act in 1906, improving food safety and labor conditions.

📚Jacob Riis

Jacob Riis was a journalist and photographer who exposed the harsh living conditions of the urban poor in New York City through his influential book, How the Other Half Lives. His powerful images and writings highlighted overcrowded tenements (type of apartments), poverty, and inadequate sanitation, sparking public awareness and calls for reform. Riis' work played a key role in the Progressive Era, leading to improvements in housing, health regulations, and the overall welfare of the city's poor.

WEB DuBois

W.E.B. Du Bois was a key figure in advocating for the civil, political, and social rights of African Americans. He co-founded the NAACP, which aimed to secure legal equality for African Americans and fought against segregation and disenfranchisement. Du Bois also emphasized the importance of political activism and protest, famously stating that the struggle for rights was not just for African Americans, but for all true Americans, highlighting his dedication to challenging systemic injustice in the U.S.

Booker T. Washington

Prominent African American leader, known for his emphasis on vocational and industrial education as a means of improving the economic status of Black Americans. He advocated for a philosophy of self-help, urging African Americans to focus on acquiring skills that would lead to economic independence rather than directly challenging segregation and disenfranchisement. Washington's views were often seen as more conservative compared to W.E.B. Du Bois.

📚📚18th Amendment: Causes and Effects

Temperance Movement

📚Causes of the temperance movement

The temperance movement, advocated for the ratification (approval) of the 18th Amendment, that established Prohibition in the United States, making it illegal to manufacture, sell, or transport alcoholic beverages. Supporters of the amendment, believed that alcohol was a major cause of social issues like crime, poverty, and domestic violence, and sought to improve society by eliminating it.

📚Role of women in the ratification process

The growing political influence of women played a significant role in the ratification of the 18th Amendment, as many women's groups, such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), strongly supported Prohibition.

📚Effects of the 18th Amendment

The 18th Amendment led to a shift in the government's more active role in the lives of citizens.

📚📚19th Amendment📚📚

📚Suffrage

Suffrage is the right to vote in political elections. It refers to the ability of citizens to participate in the decision-making process by casting a ballot to choose their representatives or decide on policies.

📚📚Women's Rights Movement Background information:

The women's rights movement in the U.S. began in the mid-1800s, with the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention being a key starting point. Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, it produced the Declaration of Sentiments, demanding equal rights for women, including the right to vote. The movement gained strength over the years with leaders like Susan B. Anthony and finally led to the 19th Amendment in 1920, which gave women the right to vote.

Protest methods used to fight for the 19th Amendment included a mix of peaceful and more confrontational tactics. Suffragists organized marches, parades, and public demonstrations to raise awareness, like the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession in Washington, D.C. They also picketed the White House, led by Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party, which was the first group to do so. Women used speeches, publications, and petitions to gain public support and influence politicians. More radical suffragists even went on hunger strikes and used civil disobedience to push the government to act.

📚📚Ratification of the 19th Amendment📚📚

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." Ratified in 1920, this amendment granted women the legal right to vote, marking a significant victory for the women's suffrage movement after decades of activism and struggle. It was a pivotal moment in American history that expanded democratic participation and ensured gender equality at the ballot box. However, even after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, women continued to fight for full civil rights and equal treatment, as many faced barriers such as voter suppression laws and discrimination that limited their ability to exercise their rights.

Significant Reforms during the Progressive Era

📚📚Pure Food and Drug Act (FDA)

The muckraker Upton Sinclair exposed the harsh working conditions of the meatpacking industry and the poor quality of meat in his book The Jungle. One notable passage reads: "there was never the least attention paid to what was cut up for sausage;...was mouldy and white—it would be dosed with borax and glycerine." Sinclair's revelations led to significant congressional reforms, resulting in the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, which expanded the federal government's role in ensuring consumer health and safety by regulating the food and drug industries.

📚📚National Park Services

National parks were established to manage and protect land resources for future generations. Their purpose was to preserve natural landscapes, historic sites, and wildlife while allowing for public enjoyment. The National Park Service, created in 1916, aimed to "conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

Child Labor Act

Child labor was widespread during the late 1800s and early 1900s with children working long hours in dangerous conditions for low wages. During the Progressive Era, reform movements gained momentum to end child labor, with muckrakers and photographers, like Lewis Hine, exposing the harsh realities faced by children in factories and mines. Their efforts helped raise public awareness, leading to laws and policies aimed at limiting child labor and improving working conditions.

Department of Labor

The Department of Labor was established during the Second Industrial Revolution to address the poor working conditions that prevailed at the time. Factories employed many vulnerable workers, including young women and children, who often faced long hours and low wages. The department aimed to improve labor standards, enforce fair wages, and regulate working hours to protect the welfare of workers.

Other Items to consider when studying this Unit

The 13th Amendment

Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States, except as punishment for a crime.

The 14th Amendment

Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States and guaranteed equal protection under the law, aiming to protect the rights of formerly enslaved people.

The 15th Amendment

Granted African American men the right to vote, prohibiting states from denying the vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Jim Crow Laws

Jim Crow laws were state and local laws passed n the late 1800s and early 1900s that enforced racial segregation (separation) and disenfranchised African Americans in the Southern United States.

These laws opposed the civil rights advances promised by the Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, and 15th).

Plessy vs. Furguson

In the Plessy v. Ferguson case, the Supreme Court ruled that the Equal Protection Clause allowed state governments to implement the "separate but equal" doctrine in public facilities.

One example of the decision's effects was that minorities were prohibited from attending schools with white students. This ruling provided a legal basis for segregation laws.

Other governmental factors to consider when studying include:

16th Amendment

Gave Congress the power to levy (collect) an income tax without apportioning it (sharing it) among the states or basing it on the Census.

17th Amendment

Established the direct election of U.S. senators by popular vote, instead of being selected by state legislatures.

Initiative

Citizens have a more direct influence on lawmaking by the initiative process.

The proposed initiative is filed with the state and reviewed. It is then circulated to gather the required number of signatures from registered voters. Once verified, the initiative is placed on the ballot.

Referendum

Process in which a proposed law, policy, or constitutional amendment is submitted directly to the voters for approval or rejection. It allows citizens to participate in decision-making by voting on specific issues rather than relying solely on elected representatives.

Recall

Is a process that allows voters to remove an elected official from office before their term ends. It typically involves collecting signatures to trigger a special election where voters decide whether to recall the official and, if so, select a replacement.

Pendelton Act

Established a merit-based system for hiring and promoting federal employees, reducing political patronage. It created the Civil Service Commission to oversee the fair and competitive hiring process within the federal government.

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