Certain key groups of thinkers, writers, and activists played key roles in creating or building the movements and ideas that came to define the shape of the Progressive Era. While white Progressives in principle believed in improving conditions for minority groups, there were wide differences in how this was to be achieved. Political cartoon depicting fat businessmen sitting on bags of money while working people struggle under the burdens of their trades, such as clothing, iron, and lumber. John D. Buenker, John C. Boosham, and Robert M. Crunden, Arthur S. Link, "What Happened to the Progressive Movement in the 1920s?. They promoted gender equality and woman suffrage, and demanded a single standard of sexual morality for men and women. Progressives around the country put up campaigns to push for an improvement in public education and to make education mandatory. The Commission on Training Camp Activities sought to "socialize and Americanize" troops, especially native-born and foreign-born men, to meet the expected level of societal standards and integrate them into American culture. Paul's members chained themselves to the White House fence to get arrested, then went on hunger strikes to gain publicity. The decision established that the federal government could regulate intrastate commerce when it affected interstate commerce, though Hughes avoided directly overruling the 1895 case of United States v. E. C. Knight Co..[50] As Chief Justice of the Supreme Court he took a moiderate middle position and upheld key New Deal laws. What does progressive mean in terms of this time period? The American Association for Highway Improvement was organized in 1910. The railroad system was virtually complete; the need was for much better roads. The largest foundations fostered modern, efficient, business-oriented operations (as opposed to "charity") designed to better society rather than merely enhance the status of the giver. He was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to promote progressive policies, some of which were passed in Congress. These laws were not rigorously enforced, however, until the years between 1900 and 1920, when Republican President Theodore Roosevelt (19011909), Democratic President Woodrow Wilson (19131921), and others sympathetic to the views of the Progressives came to power. As a result, many large corporations were opposed to immigration restrictions. [43] He had four major domestic priorities: the conservation of natural resources, banking reform, tariff reduction, and opening access to raw materials by breaking up Western mining trusts. The Progressive Era (1896-1917) was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States focused on defeating corruption, monopoly, waste and inefficiency. U'Ren also helped in the passage of an amendment in 1908 that gave voters power to recall elected officials, and would go on to establish, at the state level, popular election of U.S. [4], To revitalize democracy, progressives established direct primary elections, direct election of senators (rather than by state legislatures), initiative and referendum,[5] and women's suffrage which was promoted to advance democracy and bring a "purer" female vote into the arena. It prohibited the manufacturing, sale or transport of intoxicating beverages within the United States, as well as import and export. There they would be taught by full-time professional teachers who had graduated from the states' teachers colleges, were certified, and were monitored by the county superintendents. [57] In 1919, he published The Brass Check, a muck-raking expos of American journalism that publicized the issue of yellow journalism and the limitations of the "free press" in the United States. The feminist perspective, by pushing for this type of education, intended to explain that women had separate but equally important responsibilities in life with men that required proper training.[238]. [157], The Northeast was laggard in adopting the direct primary, with Connecticut and Rhode Island the last states to sign up. Progressives argued these needs deserved a higher priority. The Roosevelt in approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. Inspiration for the initiative movement was based on the Swiss experience. Across the nation, middle-class women organized on behalf of social reforms during the Progressive Era. However he was defeated by former President Theodore Roosevelt, who had broken with his protg Taft in 1910. The Volstead Act, 1919, defined intoxicating as having alcohol content greater than 0.5% and established the procedures for federal enforcement of the Act. They craved more sexual freedom following the sexually repressive and restrictive Victorian Era. [30] Several major foundations aided the blacks in the South and were typically advised by Booker T. Washington. [145], One of the most impacting issues African Americans had to face during the Progressive Era was the right to vote. The Progressive Era was so deeply marked by the rapid development of global capitalism that Benedict Anderson, the political scientist best known for his book Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, characterized the period as the "Age of Globalization." Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In 1920, Benjamin Gitlow was convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where the justices decided that the First Amendment applied to the states as well as the federal government. While the progressive movement pushed us forward from a agrarian society to an industrial society and paved the way for greater technology and achievements it also paved the way for eugenics. ], While some Progressive leaders became reactionaries, that usually happened in the 1930s, not in the 1920s, as exemplified by William Randolph Hearst,[265] Herbert Hoover, Al Smith, and Henry Ford. [99] The League sent questionnaires to prospective candidates to the state legislature to obtain their stance on direct legislation and to make those positions public. The Democrats lowered tariffs with the Underwood Tariff in 1913, though its effects were overwhelmed by the changes in trade caused by the World War that broke out in 1914. Want to Read. Senators). [155] While La Follette always won his primary, that was not necessarily the case with other progressives. Taft's attorney general George W. Wickersham personally supervised the most important cases against Standard Oil and American Tobacco. Two important groups were formed during this period. The Wilson administration, for instance, despite its embrace of modernity and progress, pursued a racial agenda that culminated in the segregation of the federal government. The book was published as a series of articles in McClure's Magazine from 1902 to 1904. [125] In October 1919, Secretary Wilson chaired the first meeting of the International Labour Organization even though the U.S. was not yet a member. Direct link to Caleb Reynolds's post I would say that every ma, Posted 6 years ago. W. Bruce Fye, "The Origins and Evolution of the Mayo Clinic from 1864 to 1939: A Minnesota Family Practice Becomes an International 'Medical Mecca'", Barry C. Edwards, "Putting Hoover on the Map: Was the 31st President a Progressive? He wanted a city manager form of government in which outside experts would bring efficiency while elected officials would have little direct power, and bribery would not prevail. The government brief argued that dismemberment would correct this inequity and would force and restore normal competition. Who decided who would be sterilized? Many of today's U.S. regulatory agencies were created during these years, including the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. Drastic changes in land ownership posed a major challenge to local elites, who would not accept it, nor would their peasant clients. La Follette won 17% of the popular vote and carried only his home state in the face of a Republican landslide. [244], In the legal profession, the American Bar Association set up in 1900 the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). [187] The targets even included operations run by Taft's personal friends, such as Ohio-based National Cash Register. However, Campbell (2005) stresses the weak points of the economy in 19071914, linking them to public demands for more Progressive interventions. The media gave extensive exposure, especially to cases against Standard Oil and American Tobacco, which reached directly tens of millions of consumers. Progressivism, on the other hand, was a later movement. Fun With History. [141] The Progressive ideology espoused by many of the era attempted to correct societal problems created by racial integration following the Civil War by segregating the races and allowing each group to achieve its own potential; most Progressives saw racial integration as a problem to be solved, rather than a goal to be achieved. They were dueling for control of the Republican Party and Roosevelt encouraged the Senate to impose amendments that significantly weakened the treaties. The second key assumption was that the power of the federal government could be harnessed to improve the individual and transform society. [199] At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed that arbitration was a nave solution and the great issues had to be decided by warfare. Increasingly skeptical of the capacity of social welfare legislation to remedy social ills, Croly argued that America's liberal promise could be redeemed only by syndicalist reforms involving workplace democracy. [7], Another theme was bringing to bear scientific, medical, and engineering solutions to reform local government, public education, medicine, finance, insurance, industry, railroads, churches, and much else. During World War I, the Progressives strongly promoted Americanization programs, designed to modernize the recent immigrants and turn them into model American citizens, while diminishing loyalties to the old country. Taft's cases included many leading firms in major sectors: Standard Oil; American Tobacco; United States Steel; Aluminum Company of America; International Harvester; National Cash Register; Westinghouse; General Electric; Kodak; Dupont; Union Pacific railroad; and Southern Pacific railroad. This attitude started to change during the depression of the 1890s when small business, farm, and labor movements began asking the government to intercede on their behalf. Progressive Era Reforms and Anti Trust. [180][181] The most successful reforms came from the farmers who pursued agricultural extension, as their proposed changes were consistent with existing modernizing trends toward more efficiency and more profit in agriculture. [150], The Seventeenth Amendment was ratified in 1913, requiring that all senators be elected by the people (they were formerly appointed by state legislatures). The most radical and controversial amendment came during the anti-German craze of World War I that helped the Progressives and others push through their plan for prohibition through the 18th amendment (once the Progressives fell out of power the 21st amendment repealed the 18th in 1933). Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. He supported voting rights for women but was silent on civil rights for blacks, who remained in the regular Republican fold. [15][16], Magazines experienced a boost in popularity in 1900, with some attaining circulations in the hundreds of thousands of subscribers. "Social Imperialism as Trasformismo: A Political Economy Case Study on the Progressive Era, the Federal Reserve Act, and the U.S.'s Entry into World War One, 18901917", in M. Lakitsch, Ed., Thelen, David P. "Social Tensions and the Origins of Progressivism,", Glad, Paul W. "Progressives and the Business Culture of the 1920s,", Lemons, J. Stanley. The Court agreed in 1911 and ordered the Justice Department to draw up complete reorganization plans in six months. In response to monopolies in the railroad and steel industries, the, Diversity and disagreement within progressivism, Causes and Effects of the Progressive Era, https://www.britannica.com/summary/The-Progressive-Era-Key-Facts. 1962. The main themes ended during American involvement in World War I (1917-1918) while the waste and efficiency elements continued into the 1920s. This illegal behavior began almost in conjunction with prohibition being voted into law. James R. Barrett, "Americanization from the Bottom, Up: Immigration and the Remaking of the American Working Class, 18801930,", E. James Hindman, "The General Arbitration Treaties of William Howard Taft. The unions wanted restrictions on judges who intervened in labor disputes, usually on the side of the employer. ", Grantham, Dewey W. "The Contours of Southern Progressivism. [10] "Urban Liberalism and the Age of Reform", Miller, Worth Robert. Apart from Wisconsin, the Midwestern states were about average in supporting Progressive reforms. [31], A hallmark group of the Progressive Era, the middle class became the driving force behind much of the thought and reform that took place in this time. His political philosophy influenced many leading progressives including Theodore Roosevelt, Adolph Berle, as well as his close friends Judge Learned Hand and Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter.[54]. Most of its activists had opposed populism. The system continues strong into the 21st century. [112], Disturbed by the waste, inefficiency, stubbornness, corruption, and injustices of the Gilded Age, the Progressives were committed to changing and reforming every aspect of the state, society and economy. A brief summary of women's suffrage legislation in the U.S. and abroad, 1907: An 1897 bicycling guide to Wisconsin: A guide to Progressivism for women voters, 1922: Francis E. McGovern, Progressive Era governor. Meat packing was done inadequately. Later tax acts implemented a federal estate tax and raised the top income tax rate to 77 percent. As the industrial revolution took hold of the American economy and as mass production, alienation, and urbanization appeared to be unstoppable trends, Americans looked for solutions that could soften the effects of change without slowing down the engines of progress. Some historians who emphasize civil liberties decry their suppression during 19171919 and do not consider the war as rooted in Progressive policy. Kansas was a leader, where it was promoted in the press, led by Henry J. Allen of the Wichita Beacon, and pushed through by Governor Arthur Capper. The 1906 federal Pure Food and Drug Act, which was pushed by drug companies and providers of medical services, removed from the market patent medicines that had never been scientifically tested. [210], Many progressive leaders used the rhetoric of righteousness to motivate their Protestant supporters. La Follette forfeited his stature as a national leader of progressive Republicans, while remaining a power in Wisconsin. [202], The Philippines were acquired by the United States in 1899, after victory over Spanish forces at the Battle of Manila Bay and a long series of controversial political debates between the senate and President McKinley and was considered the largest colonial acquisition by the United States at this time. It is difficult to determine the level of compliance, and although the media at the time portrayed the law as highly ineffective, even if it did not eradicate the use of alcohol, it certainly decreased alcohol consumption during the period. He won 1/6 of the national vote, but carried only his home state. Sullivan's book was first widely read on the left, as by labor activists, socialists and populists. Richard Jensen and Mark Friedberger, "Education and Social Structure: An Historical Study of Iowa, 18701930" (Chicago: Newberry Library, 1976, Ballard Campbell, "Economic Causes of Progressivism,", Vincent W. Howard, "Woodrow Wilson, The Press, and Presidential Leadership: Another Look at the Passage of the Underwood Tariff, 1913,", James C German Jr "The Taft administration and the Sherman Antitrust Act,", George W. Wickersham, "Recent Interpretation of the Sherman Act.". The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was formed in 1874. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906) was influential and persuaded America about the supposed horrors of the Chicago Union Stock Yards, a giant complex of meat processing plants that developed in the 1870s. Wilson used a similar moralistic tone when dealing with Mexico. Many believed that lynch law was a form of social justice, and that segregation was a brilliant plan to avoid strife. While the British suffragettes stopped their protests in 1914 and supported the British war effort, Paul began her campaign in 1917 and was widely criticized for ignoring the war and attracting radical anti-war elements. Al Capone was one of the most well-known criminals to partake in illegal alcohol sales. In late 1917, Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment; it was ratified in 1919 and took effect in January 1920. Pinchot coined the term conservation ethic as applied to natural resources. During the Progressive Era, protections for workers and consumers were strengthened, and women finally achieved the right to vote. However, as soon as Roosevelt declared his candidacy, most of La Follette's supporters switched away. [91][92], The Oregon Direct Legislation League was an organization of political activists founded by William S. U'Ren in 1898. ", Paul L. Murphy, "World War I and the Origin of Civil Liberties in the United States" (1979), Arthur S. Link, "What Happened to the Progressive Movement in the 1920s?,", Stanley Coben, "Ordinary white Protestants: The KKK of the 1920s,", Barry C. Edwards, "Putting Hoover on the Map: Was the 31st President a Progressive. Most important, the traditionalists did not want to become modern, and did not want their children inculcated with alien modern values through comprehensive schools that were remote from local control. [52] He called it "the art of producing from the forest whatever it can yield for the service of man." He believed that historians had debated to death the contours of American progressivism, but he went a step further, arguing that a cohesive progressive "movement" had never existed in the first place. They made it a point to also focus on family, education, and many other important aspects that still are enforced today. Oregon was one of the few states where former Populists like U'Ren became progressive leaders. Lincoln Steffens wrote about corrupt city and state politics in The Shame of the Cities (1904). Gene Clanton, "Populism, Progressivism, and Equality: The Kansas Paradigm". [17] Another factor contributing to the dramatic upswing in magazine circulation was the prominent coverage of corruption in politics, local government, and big business, particularly by journalists and writers who became known as muckrakers. Jack B. Rogers and Robert E. Blade, "The Great Ends of the Church: Two Perspectives". Agency details (626) 454-5404. Passing an income tax, which initially was only on very high earners, was good in that many of the services it pays for are a good thing. Get a quote in La Habra, CA. [45], Wilson presided over the passage of his progressive New Freedom domestic agenda. [255] In 1919, Theodore Roosevelt died and Wilson's health collapsed, leaving a void in top leadership. [100] Furthermore, Southern Democrats in Congress gave strong support to President Wilson's reforms. [242][243] Prominent leaders included the Mayo Brothers whose Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, became world-famous for innovative surgery. [228] The league, rooted in Protestant churches, envisioned nationwide prohibition. To prevent Democratic factionalism the Southern states turned to primaries, with the proviso that candidates who competed in the primaries and lost could not run as independents in the fall election.