The Progressive Era - T. Roosevelt leads Questions: What were the main motives of progressive reformers? What were the specific goals of progressive reformers? What contribution did T. Roosevelt make to the progressive movement? How did his successors Taft and Wilson differ? Political innovation - Change in pres. leadership Middle class: disruptive crisis of democracy - Child labor - Industrial poverty - Contaminated food, miserable conditions, poor pay - Churches, charity, individuals, and expanded government - Widening gap between rich and poor in Gilded Age - Poor farmfolk in cities Progressives are liberals championing capitalism who wanted to reform it Christian Mormonists who want: - Gov (state, local, federal) to handle urban-industrial growth - Not a single party, supported by both parties (Rep & Dem) Urban and rural, populist and socialist Laborers and organizers, every profession White and black Make government more efficient and business more honest. Social sciences from universities should be used to legislate: - Sometimes hypocritical - White supremacy, ignoring racial issues - "Those who know better" - Better regulation for trusts, more efficient gov Layoffs from 1893 - Rise of populist movement - Progressive response - Both agree that laissez-faire failed America Progressive period establishes: - Secret ballot - Direct election of senators - FDA - Women's suffrage - Income tax National Association for Women's Action (NAWA) and Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU): - Society is a macrocosm of the home - Alcohol at the center of many problems: vice, crime, prostitution - Temperance = Prohibition - Carrie Nation, member of progressive movement - Inspired by evangelical protestantism - Smashed saloons throughout the Great Plains - "Men are nicotine-soaked, beer-besmirched, whiskey-greased, red-eyed devils" - Arrested 30 times for violence Muckrakers reveal abuses Jacob Riis: "How the Other Half Lives" T. Roosevelt used muckrakers to raise support for his policies. 1900s: Mclure's magazine raised public knowledge about complex issues: - Corrupt political machines - Exposed working poor conditions Lincoln Steffens's "Shame of the Cities" - Attacked idea of businessmen as heroes - Monopolies, politics corrupted by them (bosses, etc) David Philips's "Treason of the Senate" (Cosmopolitan article) - 27 senators represented special interest groups, not the people - 17th amendment directly elects senators Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" - Capitalism is an exploitative system (socialist) - Attacked greed, proposed collective means - Packingtown, Chicago slum, had spoiled meat, rodents - "I aimed at the public's heart and by accident hit its stomach" - Helped move forward FDA - Progressivism most dynamic social and political force in the nation Leon Czolgosz, claiming to be part of socialist/anarchist/pro-people movement, assassinates William McKinley. - T. Roosevelt takes over at 42 TR - Very charismatic - Motto is old African proverb: "speak softly and carry a big stick" - Man of action; use existing infrastructure; problems can be solved - Born into wealth, wife Alice, mother died from typhoid. - Built up body, became rancher, moved back to become police chief cracking down on political corruption - Asst Sec of Navy in Spanish-American war - Presidency is a bully pulpit - Platform for delivering moralism - NY Republican bosses wanted TR out. - Roosevelt "believed in power." - Believed presidents should set national agenda - Imperialist - Progressivist - Conservationist: designated 1000s of national parks/forests Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902 - Accompanied by many other strikes at the time - Laborers protest cartels - Companies refused to deal with union - schools, factories running out of coal, and public opinion turns - TR used military intervention as a threat to force mediation TR as a trustbuster: - Black and white, good and bad ideas - Liked competition, so disliked trusts/monopolies TR as an imperialist: - Presidential, military force - Wants to build canal in Colombian state of Panama - Colombia wants more money - US promises $10M to Panamanian revolters that would have gone to Colombia - Uses US military assistance to stop Colombian reinforcements - Panamanian canal vital to US defense - US "would not tolerate instability in South America" Roosevelt corollary to Monroe Doctrine US would exercise "international police power" to enforce stability Exercised in Dominican Republic TR chooses not to run for third term. William Howard Taft - 1908 Handpicked successor of TR - sedentary, calm, cautious - Conflicted with TR, ending their friendship and making TR rival - Gifford Pinchot (chief of National Forest Service) fired and replaced with Richard Ballinger who sold public land in West, Alaska to businesses - Pushed TR out of the party, and Republicans become party of big business - TR runs against Taft for 1912 nomination - The election is a four person race: Taft, TR, Woodrow Wilson, Eugene Debs (socialist, not a major player) - Taft wins Rep. nomination - Roosevelt runs under Bull Moose (progressive Rep.) party. - Woodrow Wilson nominated by Dems as progressive with conservative social values - Woodrow Wilson: "New Freedom" = Small government, states rights - Vague on how it would handle big business - Roosevelt: "New Nationalism" = Strong fed. gov. to regulate private greed --- prohibit child labor, 8-hour workday, women's suffrage - Shot in Milwaukee in chest; assassin says no-one should serve 3 terms - Bullet slowed by eyeglass case and speech. - TR still gives the speech for 90 minutes - Wilson wins the election under progressivism