CHAPTER 21

PROGRESSIVISM, 1890-1920

STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS

21.a.1-2

Progressivism Defined

21.f.3

Women Suffragettes

21.f.5

American Equal Right Association Splits over Black Vote

21.h.1

W.E.B. Du Bois

21.i.4

First National Park

21.m.1-2

Election of 1912

21.n.1

Legislation of Wilson's Administration, 1912-1918

21.o.2

Supreme Court Appointment

21.o.3

Wilson Years Labor Legislation

WWW Links related to Chapter 21

[a.1-2]

PROGRESSIVISM DEFINED

Progressivism rooted in historical development

Progressivism was many things. At its root, progressivism was a response to 3 developments of the post Civil War decades:

  • industrialization
  • immigration
  • urbanization

Who were they?

Middle class progressives formed the core of the movement. Richard Hofstader argues that they were suffering from "status anxiety" and wanted to return power and deference to where it once was--the middle class--and take it away from big business. Other elements participated in the movement, revealing its diversity. No matter who they were, creative and political action characterized the efforts of progressives of all stripes. They included:

  • military reformers
  • architects
  • writers
  • environmentalists
  • businessmen
  • working class, urban politicians
  • women suffragettes
  • state governors
  • city managers & commissioners
  • "gas & water" socialists
  • educators
  • ministers
  • presidents
  • social workers
  • journalists
  • congressmen

Progressivism rooted in American tradition

Progressives were not revolutionaries. They believed in progress through normal American political action. They believed that proper implementation of scientific and humanistic principles could alleviate the suffering of labor, get capitalism under control, end political corruption, and raise the American standard of living through efficient management. Civil Rights for African-Americans was conspicuously absent from the progressives' target list.

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[f.3]

WOMEN SUFFRAGETTES

Susan B. Anthony
(1820-1906)

Never married, she devoted her life to the women's suffrage movement all through the last half of the 1800's. In New York, she won for women the right to retain their children after divorce, the right to own property, and the right to retain their own wages (1860). Later, she devoted her time to the single issue of women's suffrage. In 1872 she was arrested for voting for president. She retired as president of the NAWSA, but remained the most beloved and respected of all women suffrage leaders. The 19th Amendment (1920) was named after her. Admirers referred to her as the "Grand Madam" of the women's suffrage movement.

Carrie C. Catt (1859-1947)

A brilliant strategist, she was the president of the NWASA from 1900-1904, and during the last drive to the XIX amendment, 1915-1920. She was good at mobilizing volunteers and making speeches. She was angry that women had such little control over their lives and believed the giving women the right to vote would enhance America and feminine self-esteem. She was also active global peace. In 1920 she founded the League of women voters, which is still active today.

Alice Paul (1885-1977)

Graduated from Swarthmore College, PA, one of the most famous Quaker schools in the country. In England she participated in suffragette hunger strikes and was imprisoned more than once. In 1912 She earned a Ph.D at University of PA. In 1913 she founded the National Women's Party and used her organizational skills to picket, strike, and vigorously campaign for women's right to vote. As late as 1972 she was advising a new generation of women in the ERA movement.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)

She helped launch the women's movement in 1848. At at the famous Seneca Falls Conference, Stanton and others pledged to fight for women's rights. Three years later she met S.B. Anthony. She was joined by others to form the National Women's Suffrage Association (NWSA) in 1869. She was interested in other issues beside the vote, like divorce and property rights, and women's happiness in marriage. Her advocacy of birth control and criticism of organized religion made her more akin to "the new woman" than some of her sister suffragettes. She worked for women's freedom until her death but her influence in the NAWSA had declined. She was a devoted wife, grandmother, and mother.

Emmeline Pankhurst (1857-1928)

English suffragette who went on hunger strikes, committed sabotage, and went on hunger strikes to focus attention on giving women the right to vote.

[f.5]

EQUAL RIGHTS ASSOCIATION SPLITS OVER BLACK VOTE (1869)

the issue

In 1869, the Equal Rights Association split. The issue was whether women should be included in the 15th amendment to the Constitution that theoretically granted Blacks the right to vote. Have of the ERA did. The other half, includeing Stanton and Anthony, vowed that not one more man should get the vote until women were included.

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[h.2]

W. E. B. DuBois (1868-1963)

Dubois criticized Washington's "accomodation"

An African-American philosopher, historian, and organizer. He was the first Black graduate of Harvard's Ph.D program. DuBois opposed Booker T. Washington's theory of accommodation for these reasons:

  • It was degrading
  • Emphasis in manufacturing was shifting from skilled labor to semi- and unskilled labor.
  • Vocational training did not train leaders.

Dubois' strategy

DuBois offered an alternative: classical, liberal arts training. He believed that university education taught people how to think and organize. Out of these abilities leadership could be built that would force the political and social action necessary to end segregation. Du Bois was a founder of the NAACP in 1909. Du Bois later lost faith in America, became a communist, and died in Ghana.

Who had it right, Washington or Du Bois?

[i.4]

THE FIRST NATIONAL PARK

Nat'l Parks preserve North American beauty

The nation's first national park was Yellowstone, Wyoming, established in 1872. The previous year, free grants to the railroads were terminated. Other national parks were established in the following order:

  • 1890--Yosemite, CA
  • 1908--Grand Canyon, AZ
  • 1935--Big Bend, TX

[m.1]

ELECTION OF 1912

Comparison chart. The voting public faced real choices.

CANDIDATE

BIG BUSINESS

TARIFF

LABOR

WILLIAM H. TAFT
Republican
Old Guard
***

Let big business run with as little government restraint as possible.

Taft felt pressure to lower tariff, but but the Payne-Aldrich Tariff (1909) kept most schedules high.

Believed labor threatened the stability of the economy. Taft was anti-union.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Progressive Party
New Nationalism ***

Believed big business is a permanent feature in America. TR advocated gov't power to regulate the trusts.

 

TR was about as committed to maintaining the tariff as the old guard republicans. He built up the navy because he knew the shutting of US markets would trigger market competition in China and Latin America.

Wanted to give labor a "square deal." This meant 8-hr. day, ban child labor, and recognize unions.

 

WOODROW WILSON
Democrat
New Freedom
***

Wanted to break up powerful business combinations in order to restore completion.

 

Wilson wanted to lower the tariff, and did. The Underwood Tariff (1913) was one of the lowest in our nation's history

 

Wilson was ambivalent about labor. He had socialist leanings, but the labor violence of the 1890's made him fear labor, as did many other Americans. Only after 1916 did Wilson's political sense prompted him to enact legislation favorable to the working man.

EUGENE DEBS
Socialist Party
Socialist
***

Wanted to nationalize key heavy industries.

Wanted to lower the tariff

Heavily in favor of ending labor exploitation. Debs wanted to empower unions, end child labor, provide unemployment and disability insurance, and limit the work day to 8 hours.

Differences

The election of 1912 was host to a split Republican Party; a well-known socialist candidate; and Woodrow Wilson, the former University president and New Jersey governor. Progressive impulses played a large role in this election. The major difference was how each candidate viewed the use of federal power. TR's New Nationalism opted to deal with business combinations by exercising federal regulatory powers. Wilson wanted to use federal power to dissolve the trusts and restore competition. Debs wanted to use federal power to take over industry, a typical socialist plank. Incumbent William Taft believed federal power should be used to promote business, even a the expense of the working man.

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m.2]

PRESIDENTIAL WINNER IN 1912

Republican split fatal

Woodrow Wilson won. However, had the Republican Party united behind one candidate, either Taft or Roosevelt, the Republican Party would have won. Debs polled a remarkable 6% of the vote, more than any other socialist in US history.

[n.2]

LEGISLATION OF THE WILSON ADMINISTRATION, 1912-1918 [k.1]

The New Freedom in action

Wilson goes down as one of the great reformer presidents. As such, he was a true son of the progressive movement. Had it not been for World War I his stature might have been greater. We must be careful not to overstate his visionary tendency. In 1912, he was not a great admirer of the working class, nor was he an advocate of women's right to vote. To gain political leverage, however, he backed all sorts of legislation in 1916 that he had opposed 4 years earlier. Wilson was so morally inspired to reform America that he attempted to turn progressivism into a global movement. As we will see in chapter 23, Wilson failed to achieve a new world order.

income tax

1913: XVI Amendment to the Constitution authorized the federal government the power to tax income. At first it fell heavily on the rich.

banking

1913: Federal Reserve Act. This established our modern banking system. The country was divided into 12 districts. The district banks were given powers over member banks to control the money supply and the availability of credit.

tariff

1913: Underwood Tariff. This tariff lowered the general schedule on imports to plus 30% of the original value.

business regulation

1914: Federal Trade Commission Act. The FTC was empowered to stop unfair coroporate collusion. Its 5-member board could force corporations to hand over technical data on their companies and to cease certain operations until any problems were resolved. The FTC regulated corporations, signifying Wilson's shift to the New Nationalism of Theodore Roosevelt (business regulation) instead of forcing businesses to compete (his original "New Freedom").

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[o.2]

SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENT

The "common people's" judge

Wilson appointed Louis Brandeis (1856-1941) to the Bench in 1916. He was the first Jewish judge. Brandeis was known as the "common people's" judge. Instead of relying on old precedents, Brandeis analyzed the particular situation in each case to come up with fresh interpretations that took into account the new face of industrial America. Many of his judgments became precedents for later generation Supreme Court decisions. In all, Brandeis was a progressive and liberal in every sense of the word.

Though many of these reforms felt short, the use of federal power to redress the imbalances caused by industrialization was approved by many Americans. Unfortunately, World War I and the 1920's would kill the progressive spirit.

[o.3]

LABOR LEGISLATION

1913: Department of Labor Established.

1914: Clayton Anti-Trust Act. Labor clauses state that labor is not a commodity at the command of capital, and that labor had a right to organize. Hailed by labor as its "Magna Carta."

1916: Keating-Owen Act. Outlawed child labor. The Supreme Court judged it unconstitutional.

1916: Adamson 8-Hour Act. Passed for the 400,000 workers on the interstate rail roads.

1916: Kern-McGuillicuddy Act. Workmen's compensation provided for federal employees.

WWW LINKS RELATED TO CHAPTER 21

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