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Period: to
Progressivism
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Florence Kelley
She was a woman who worked tirelessly for improving working conditions and in 1893 she helped persuade the Illinois legislature to prohibit child labor and to limit the number of hours women could work. -
Public Service Reform
In 1895, Theodore Roosevelt served as the civil service commissioner and at that position slowly made his mark as a reformer. He supported all civil service reform efforts and with that made a large step towards his future outlook as president. Source -
William Jennings Bryan
As part of the democratic party, William Jennings Bryan ran against William Mckinley and won support in the south and west, but got no support in the urban areas of the north. He believed in free silver and won a lot of support from farmers who also wanted silver to back currency. -
Samuel M. "Golden Rule" Jones
Jones was the governer of Ohio in 1897. Jones got his nickname in the biblical golden rule which drove his political beliefs. Over the course of seven years, he overhauled the police force, improved municipal services, set a minimum wage for workers, and opened kindergartens for children. In 1899 when he ran again he had to run as an independent because his party thought he was too bent on reform. Lincoln Steffens called Johnson "the best mayor of the best governed city in the United States" -
Eugene Debs
In 1900, Debs ran for president for the first time. He ran as a socialist, and urged for solutions to problems like exploitation of workers and child labor. He was so extreeme for progressivism that Wilson called him a traitor to his country and he was imprisoned because he was charged with tenc counts of sedition. He would be considered extreeme for most progessivists, but he was on tract to their leftist beliefs. Source -
Social Justice Reform
In 1900, Du Bois and other white progressivists such as Jane Addams created the National Association fir the Advancement of Colored People. In its magazine it publicized causes of racial inequality. Although progressivism did tend to ignore social justice, many people are trying to extend the progressive spirit to include it. -
Jane Addams
This year, Jane Addams publishes "Democracy and Social Ethics". She was well known by now for her "Hull house" among Chicago's immigrants and families. This Hull house alone was a huge example of the progressive attitude. The house attempted to educate people, especially women. It also used tax money in a good way because of its oppurtunity to teach or home little children while parents worked. The book, as mentioned above, explained and argued that democracy meant more than the right to vote. -
Teddy Roosevelt
In 1902, Teddy Roosevelt defied the other politicans' precidents of the guilded age. Instead of being currupt, he actually helped the reform movement. Miners and railroad owners were not agreeing on salaries. Roosevelt urged them to accept arbitration; a third party decided the outcome. For the first time the government intervened in a strike to protect the interest of the workers and the public. This was part of Square Deal. The progressive party would be thrilled because workers gained power. -
Protecting The Environment
Roosevelt is best known for protecting the environment. He realized that the nation had limited resources. Congress passed the Newlands Reclamation Act in 1902 at his urging. This allowed money used from public sales of land to be used for reclamation or making damaged land productive again. In 1908, the National Conservation Commission was created and studied issues in 41 states. -
Anti-Saloon Leaue
In 1902 temprence had become so popular that the Anti-Saloon Leauge had branches in 39 states and 200 paid staff members. And even though temperence was never truely permanently acheived the goals of the party were to reform society and this movement was part of the progressive era. -
Lincoln Steffens
In 1904, Lincoln Steffens published "The Shame of Cities" in which he exposed the outrageous conditions in the cities. He wrote about a city and when it was determined unbelieveably horrible by other cities, the city which he wrote about felt under-expressed. -
Freedom of Contract
In the case Lochner v. New York, the progressive spirit was slowed. In this case, bakers in New York were no longer allowed to work more than ten hours a day, claiming it was unsafe to do so. When brought to court, the supreme court claimed the fourteenth amendment protected people from this law allowing everyone to enter into contracts freely. -
Upton Sinclair
In 1906, Upton Sinclair published the Jungle which exposed the problems in the meat packing industry. Because of his muckracker novel, the next year the Pure food and drug act was passed. This applies to the progressive time period because such a reform helps society's safety. This novel also got the Meat Inspection act passed. Source -
Robert M. La Follette
In 1906 Follette was elected to congress from Wisconsin. He is best known for campaigning for child labor laws, women's suffrage, and social security. He ran for president for the progressive party in 1924. He is considered one of the most pro-progressive politicans and his policies mirror those of the progressive party.Source -
Jack London
He was another muckracker who wrote "The Iron Heel" in 1907 warning the nation of a bloody revolution if something was not done to curb capitalism's abuses. This was a progressive action because of all the overworked men and women recieving low wages and their being exploited by the buisnessmen. -
Corrupt Practices Reform
In 1908, Charles Evans Hughes was governor of New York. As governor he pushed the passage of the Lessland Actm which gave him power to oversee public officials. This allowed him to fire corrupt officials and therefore purge the government of unwanted grafting. This was a progressive turning point because politicans were begging to clean themselves up. [Source](<a href='http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhughesC.htm)' >Source</a> -
Herbert Croly
He, like the muckrackers and other stabbing journalists, looked at the dark side of industrialism and explored low wages for hard-workers and buisness owners driven by greed. In his work "The Promise of American Life" Herbert Croly praises the ideas of Alexander Hamiliton over a century earlier. He also took the other side of Hamilton's views. Hamilton wanted to promote the interests of te buisness class, but Croly believed government should promote wellfare for all citizens. -
HG. Wells
The History of Mr. Polly was published this year. HG. Wells is an author and a socialist of the progressive time period. He wrote two books on the politics of socialism: The history of Mr. Polly and the suffragates. These works spoke to the left and the progressive time period. Source -
Native American Progress
In 1911 a group of 50 Native Americans formed the society of American Indians to address problems facing native americans. Their goal was to achieve the rights that "had escaped them before". This was a progressive movement because of its intention to reform inequality. -
Minimum wage laws
In response to progressive agitation, MA passed the nations first minimum wage law setting base wages for women and children. Gradually other states also passed these laws and in 1938 the nation passed a minimum wage for all workers. -
Buisness Reform
In Woodrow Wilson's 1912 campaign, he called for New Freedom which is the revival of small buisness. He claimed that this kept politics pure. With this policy "new blood" would constantly enter "into the veins" of the political body. Along with this, he got congress to pass the Underwood Tariff Act with reduced the tariff and helped the pogressive spirit. With new buisnesses now with a chance to succeed, the progressive spirit is grown. -
Sixteenth Amendment
This amendment created an income tax which the farmers and the populist party fought for so long to achieve. It is progressive because one who makes more money has to also pay more for the governement than someone who is very poor and cannot afford to pay the governement. This way each person is paying realatively the same amount of money to the government in proportion to their income. Today, this tax accounts for most of the government's revenue. -
Seventeeth Amendment
In 1912 because of political corruption and the progressive spirit, progressivists convinced the government that senators should be elected directly because it would be too easy for "the bosses" to control government. This amendment, ratified in 1913 allowed senators to be elected directly by the people. -
Woodrow Wilson
Wilson looked to further limit the power of big buisness and got congress to back the Clayton Antitrust act of 1914. This act stated and extended the Sherman Antitrust act clearly. This helps the progressive spirit because small buisness is yet again protected from monopolies and have a chance to survive -
Hiram Johnson
In 1916 Hiram Johnson successfully runs for office of senator. He was one of the founders of the progressive party and when Roosevelt died he became leader. He believed in the progressive goals such as environmental protection. Like Roosevelt he was an advocate of the progressive movement.Source -
Charles Evans Hughes
In 1916 Hughes resigns as a Supreme Court justice and runs for presidency. He ran as a republican and got that party's support as well as the support of the progressive party. He was an advocate of cleaning up politics of corruption which is why he was so popular to the progressivists. Source -
Labor Reform
In this year the Keating-Owen Child Labor act was passed. Wilson backed this act and it prevented the interstate sale of products produced by child labor. This act was declared unconstitutional in 1918 because it restricted commerce. This shows progressive spirit because of the movement towards outlawing child labor and bettering the conditions of the workplace. -
Immigration
In 1916 Madison grant took a different direction to progressivism. Although progressivism helped society some progressivists had mixed views. Grant wrote a book called the passing of the Great Race in which he announced various racist views and limited which immigrants were welcome in the United States. This slowed progress, but again was written in the spirit of helping and reforming society. -
Eighteenth Amendment
Drawing upon the spirit of patriotic sacrifice, prohibitionists finally achieved the illigalization of alcohol. This amendment, passed in 1917 and ratified in 1919 outlawed alcohol. However progressive this may have been, it was repealed in 1933 because it was unpopular and hard to enforce. -
Nineteenth Amendment
In 1920, Women were finally granted the right to vote because of the progressive actions of Wilson who constantly pressured congress and the states to let gender not be a deciding factor in who can vote. Finally, after several years of pressure the states ratified the amendment in 1920. This is progressive because more people are gaining rights.
