The Progressive Era, ~1900-1920
Introduction
As you know,
we have so far focused upon the western portions of the United States and on
coming to an understanding that history is written not simply as fact, but as
the product of human biases and creative thinking. Now we are going to switch
our focus away from the West and in particular to the eastern and middle
portions of the country in a time when perhaps the largest reform and most
important reform movement in American history took place. This reform movement
is commonly known as the progressive movement.
What Was It?
By the start
of the twentieth century it had become apparent to many Americans—particularly
Americans in the middle and upper classes—that the nation had undergone a rapid
transformation from a largely rural, agricultural society to an increasingly
urban, industrial society. With this change came many problems (these changes
and the problems they created are discussed in chapter 20 of your textbook). To
those who believed the changes had produced problems, the fundamental reality
was that American institutions were created to work well in a rural,
agricultural society, but
Who were
Progressives?
Those who
wanted to bring about reform—“progressives” or “reformers”—were very optimistic
about their chances and were the dominant influence in American culture during
the first two decades of the twentieth century. These middle and upper class
Americans included both men and women. In fact, women were quite influential in
shaping progressive policy, a fact which helped bring about Women’s Suffrage in 1920,
at the end of the era.
In terms of
their philosophical outlook, most progressives were pragmatists. When they went about looking for
ways to fix or reform their society, they looked for solutions that were
practical and easy. This in turn led progressive reformers to oversimplify the
problems they encountered. Today, we would think of many progressive reforms as
naïve.
As well,
Progressives tended to be deeply influenced by science. In fact, I think its
fair to say that progressives had a very naïve trust in science. In retrospect,
it’s easy to understand why. The early twentieth century was a time of
remarkable progress in many areas of science. Electric lights, telephones,
phonographs, automobiles, and even airplanes made their debut either shortly
before or during the era. Medical advances such as x-rays, and bone grafting
greatly improved the ability of medical science to diagnose and treat illness
and injury. Understandably, this brought with it great optimism about the
future and great confidence in the ability of science to bring about a better
future. Progressive went so far as to apply science to social problems such as
poverty, insanity, and political corruption, creating new fields of study that
we know today as the social sciences (including sociology, psychology,
political science).
Finally,
Progressives also tended to be influenced more by behaviorism than social
Darwinism. These two, somewhat opposed ways of thinking about human
relations were both influential in the early twentieth century. Social
Darwinists viewed society as a competition in which the most “fit” humans
thrived and became wealthy. The less fortunate people in society tended to die
off, thereby creating a human species in which the “fittest” survived and
multiplied, thereby strengthening society as a whole. Clearly, social
Darwinists had little sympathy for the poor.
Like social
Darwinists, behaviorists believed they understood what made some people
successful and wealthy, while other people struggled in poverty. While
Darwinists believed the answer could be found in one’s genetic makeup (the
wealthy were born fit), behaviorists believed that both success and failure was
the product of environment. Individuals raised with the privileges of the
wealthy, educated in the finest schools, and connected to powerful people
naturally thrived—not because of nature, but because of nurture.
Discussion
Questions: Nature
versus Nurture in the Progressive Era
Like
many of the discussion questions upon which you will occasionally write essays,
this one requires a small amount of research. On your course syllabus, see the
section titled “Researching your answers”.
1.
Discuss
some of the strengths and weaknesses of Behaviorism. Who were some of the leading
figures in bringing about Behaviorism? Why does it make logical sense that
progressive reformers would be behaviorists rather than social Darwinists?
2.
Briefly
discuss the origins of social Darwinism and the Eugenics movement. When you
research the Eugenics movement, find at least one specific instance in which
eugenicists might have crossed an ethical boundary.
What Motivated Them To Act? Muckrakers and the ‘Social Gospel’
The problems that
these middle class reformers tackled were most often problems that affected the
poor rather than the middle class. In fact, during the early twentieth century
the life of the middle class was quite separate from that of the poor.
Therefore, it would have been quite easy for the middle class to simply ignore
these problems and go on with their lives. In fact, that is more or less what
had happened for the previous half-century or so. Obviously, however, this
changed with the emergence of Progressive reform. So the question becomes, what
motivated this reform movement.
Probably the
most important motivations came from muckraking journalists and the emergence
of an approach to Christian faith known as the “social gospel.”
Muckrakers
Muckrakers
were journalists who focused on exposing the ills of society. Jacob Riis,
Sinclair Lewis, and dozens of others gained a degree of notoriety for their
sometimes-shocking exposes. In The Jungle (1906), a semi-factual account
centering on Chicago, Lewis revealed some rather disgusting aspects of the
meatpacking industry. In one passage he wrote:
“There was never the least attention paid to what was cut up for sausage; there would come all the way back from Europe old sausage that had been rejected, and that was mouldy and white—it would be dosed with borax and glycerine, and dumped into the hoppers and made over again for home consumption . . . It was too dark in these storage places to see well, but a man could run his hand over these piles of meat and sweep off handfuls of the dried dung of rats. These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them, they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into the hoppers together.”
Appetizing,
eh? Among others, this book (actually, it was first released as a series of
articles in a magazine) was read by President Theodore Roosevelt. Quite
understandably,
“We saw meat shoveled from filthy wooden floors,
piled on tables rarely washed, pushed from room to room in rotten box carts, in
all of which processes it was in the way of gathering dirt, splinters, floor
filth, and the expectoration of tuberculous and other diseased workers.”
Anyone pining
for the good ole’ days should read this and be thankful for the times we live
in!
“For preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for regulating traffic therein, and for other purposes.”
It’s important
to understand that while these laws provided an important first step in
cleaning up such industries, they were poorly enforced and had only a marginal
impact on cleaning up the food and drug industries. Additional acts which
provided for better enforcement and regulation would eventually help improve
the situation further. In fact, most Progressive reforms were only marginally
affective and some did not help at all.
The Social Gospel
The Social Gospel was a second important
influence on progressive reform. It was not a religion but rather a way of
approaching traditional Christian practice. It was largely a product of
increasing skepticism amongst many scientifically minded Americans in the
progressive era. The teachings of Darwin
Problems & Solutions
If I were to
describe all of the problems progressives attempted to reform in this time
period we would not get much beyond this topic before summer. So, I’ll limit it
to a few problems that I think capture the range of progressive reform.
Problem 1: Resource Depletion
By the early
twentieth century it had become clear to many Americans that the nation was
using its natural resources faster than those resources could be replenished.
In particular, forests were being cut down at an alarming rate. Starting in
1892 the Sierra Club began providing information that reported the destruction
of many of 
generations of Americans. This might
have held true had
However, as
cities grew and immigrants were attracted in ever-greater numbers to take on
jobs offered by industry, the use of natural resources grew exponentially.
Solution: Conservation and Preservation
Two different approaches to solving the
problem of our depleted natural resources emerged around the turn of the
twentieth century. Those who sought to protect
Conservationists
believed in maintaining a balance between the need to ensure that natural
resources such as timber would be available in the future and the desire to
benefit from the use of such resources in the present. In other words, the believed in conserving
resources for the benefit of society.
In the end,
both approaches had some successes, particularly during the Presidency of
Theodore Roosevelt.
Discussion
Questions:
Conservation and Preservation in the Progressive Era
Like
many of the discussion questions upon which you will occasionally write essays,
this one requires a small amount of research. On your course syllabus, see the
section titled “Researching your answers” before proceeding.
1.
Do
a bit of research into the life of Theodore Roosevelt, focusing your search
terms on such things as “preservation” and “national parks.” In what ways did
Problem 2: Child Labor
Across the 
however, would not have seen this as a
problem. As a rural, agricultural society the work of children was well
accepted as morally sound and economically essential. For the most part,
children in the early decades of our nation’s history (from colonial times up
until the turn of the twentieth century) spent much more time working on the
farm than gaining an education. That is not to say that education was entirely 
neglected—its simply that formal
education was less important to the family and the child than vocational
education. By working on the farm children were learning to perform the tasks
that they would one day use to make a living. Agricultural work had its dangers
but the fact that children worked alongside family members and out in the fresh
air made it more acceptable.
Once again,
however, the switch from a rural and agricultural society to an urban and
industrial one turned an accepted cultural norm (children working) into a
social problem needing reform. Children in cities tended to work in locations
that were thought by most to be detrimental to the health and moral well being
of the child. Among other things, they worked on dirty, crime ridden public
streets as newsboys, in polluted textile factories as mill girls, and in
suffocating coal mines as breaker boys. Obviously, each of these jobs posed the
risk of serious physical harm. Many reformers also pointed out that this type
of work was morally unhealthy as children were exposed to the adult work world
with its ruthless pursuit of wealth and harsh daily grind.
Solution: Child Labor Laws
For a long
while solutions were slow in coming. In part, the problem stemmed from the
power of big business and the nature of labor laws in the 
interpretations of the Constitution,
only state governments could regulate such companies. For their part, states
had substantial incentives to allow children to continue working in factories.
The reasons for this were both economic and political. To understand the
economics, lets consider the example of
Two factors
were particularly important in bringing about a degree of change. One of these
was the creation of the National Child Labor Commission in 1904. The federal government
created the NCLC to pressure state governments into passing child labor laws.
They did so in a variety of ways, including the publication of photographs and
articles that exposed the reality of child labor to middle class reformers.
Lewis Hine took many of these photos, including those you see on this page. In
a sense, NCLC investigators acted as muckrakers exposing the problems of child
labor.
Problem 3: Political Corruption
A third
problem that progressives addressed was that of political corruption. As the
country became increasingly industrial and large amounts of wealth were
produced, the incentive to control politicians increased. In particular, large
monopolies and trusts that dominated a single industry (such as railroads,
steel, or banking) sought to control politicians in order to maintain their
control over a given industry. The political process was further corrupted
through emergence of political machines. Machines were political organizations
that generally controlled one party or another in a given city or state. To
cite one prominent example, in
Solution: Increasing Democracy
Nowhere was
political corruption greater than in
Political
reformers in
Direct Primary
Prior to the
passage of an amendment allowing for the direct primary in 1908 voters often
had little or no choice in who the candidates would be for any given office.
Before the direct primary the average voter did not get to chose who the
candidates for office would be. Thus, they were often left with two, equally
crooked candidates. The idea of the direct primary was that voters would get to
chose who the candidates for each party would be in an election known as a
primary. After the primary election determined the candidates, voters would
once again vote to decide who gained the office. By giving voters this extra
power participation in democracy (in theory at least) was increased.
Initiative, Referendum, & Recall
Once
instituted, the direct primary helped gain election for the Republican
Progressive reform candidate Hiram Johnson. At Johnson’s urging, the state
legislature soon passed the initiative, referendum, and recall in 1911. The
initiative was intended to give voters power by allowing them to propose and
pass laws. Many reformers felt that politicians would not pass needed laws due
to the influence of big business. The initiative was seen as a way to bypass
the normal process of lawmaking that in
The referendum
is a similar law that provides voters with the opportunity to eliminate laws
the legislature has created. Once again, a petition must be signed for a
referendum to end up on the ballot, though the number of signatures needed is
somewhat lower (5% of the previous election voter total). As any of you who aware of how the
“Governator” got into office are know, the recall allows for the removal of
elected state officials from office. Once again, signatures must be gathered
before the matter comes to a vote of the general population. If enough
signatures are gathered, then a simple majority (51%) of voters can remove the
governor from office. Quite obviously, the intention of these two laws was to
allow for the removal of corrupt laws or corrupt officials from office.
Discussion
Question: The Limits
of Progressive Reform
Depending
upon your knowledge of
1. Choose either the initiative or the
recall and discuss the problems with it. In what ways is this law limited in
its effectiveness? How can it be abused or corrupted? How much of this failure
had to do with its original design? Provide at least one example of a recent
law (you’ll need to do some research here) to demonstrate the failings of the
law. Provide specific information for your example (such as dates, voting patterns,
names and affiliations of supporters and opponents, and money spent).
2. Take a look at the primary source
documents listed below relating to the invention of the Craftsman home. Based
upon these sources (and any additional research
you would like to conduct), in what ways was the Craftsman home a
uniquely Progressive reform? What conclusions can you draw about the values
Progressives held most dear? Be sure to cite the specific sources you are
referring to in building your argument (including any additional sources).
Primary Sources for Question 2:
Images of Craftsman Furniture
Images of Craftsman Homes
Exterior Views of Craftsman
Homes
Images
of Victorian Homes
Powerpoint Views of Victorian Homes
Gustav Stickley
For Help
Understanding and Using Primary Sources, You May Wish to Consult This Site: “Making
Sense of History”