Problems that led to the Progressive Movement

1. Problems that led to the Progressive Movement Talia Longo & Tommy Lippman

2. Main Problems • Segregation • Discrimination • Debt Peonage • Spread of Mass Culture

3. Segregation • Although African Americans had new freedoms they had won from the Reconstruction, the white community still showed strong opposition • Before the start of the Progressive movement, new laws were set in place that restricted African American’s civil rights • Southern states created voting restrictions and poll tax’s that made it more difficult for African Americans to vote or to hold office

4. Segregation • Southern States continued to pass racial segregation laws to separate white and black people in both public and private places • “Jim Crow” laws • Segregation laws put in place in schools, hospitals, parks, and transportation systems

5. Plessy vs. Ferguson • In 1892, an African American man named homer Plessy sat in a “Whites Only” train car and refused to move. He was arrested, tried, and convicted. • In 1896, the Supreme court made a ruling that stated the separation of races in public facilities was in fact legal, and in no way violated the 14th amendment. • This ruling created the doctrine “separate but equal.” This allowed states to maintain segregated accommodations as long as they provided equal services.

6. Discrimination • African Americans faced formal and informal types for rules and customs of discrimination. • Not only were they served at separate less quality schools hospitals, restaurants, and types of transportation, but they were treated as a second-class race in everyday life while interacting with the white community. • Those who did not follow this accepted type of racial etiquette could face violent punishment for their opposition. Death was also a threat used to keep the African American community in line.

7. Lynching • A type of Extreme racial violence • Between 1882 and 1892, over 1,400 African Americans were lynched, or hung due to their opposition of social law. Hundreds were also shot and burned, all without trial. • These types of murderous acts continued on into the 20thcentury

8. Lynching

9. Race Riot of 1900 • Many African Americans began to migrate north in search of better work and a more accepting lifestyle. • Shortly after arrival, they found that conditions in the north were similar to the south. Poor working conditions and lower paying jobs for African Americans filled the northern states as much as they did the south. • When a young black man killed a police officer due to his mistreatment of his wife, whites retaliated by attacking African Americans.

10. Race Riot of 1900

11. Discrimination in the West In addition to discrimination against African Americans, several other minorities experienced discrimination in the early 1900s including • Native Americans • Asian immigrants • Mexicans Mexicans and African Americans were forced into debt peonage, where they were forced into slavery in order to pay off a debt to their employer This act remained legal until 1911 when the Supreme Court ruled this as a violation to the 13th amendment

12. Dawn of Mass Culture • With the expansion of sports, the circulation of newspapers and the promoting of the fine arts, the dominance of the role of a man because apparent • Women began to fight for their rights against males, creating a new type of discrimination: that against women in general. • Women’s rights was a huge contributing factor that lead to the Progressive era

13. Power to the Saloons • Many Americans felt that the liquor industry held too much control. • They thought that the political power of bosses was based on the saloons, and their goal was to purify the government. • This is why prohibition, or the banning of alcohol became a popular movement before and during the progressive era.