Unit 2: Reform, Expansion, and War

1. Unit 2:Reform, Expansion, and War

2. PROGRESSIVE REFORMS

3. If You Were There… You live in a big-city neighborhood in the 1890s. You and your brother are looking for jobs. You know that the man down the street is the “ward boss.” He can always get city jobs for his friends and neighbors. But in return you’ll have to promise to vote the way he tells you to in the upcoming election. Would you ask the ward boss for a job? Why or Why Not? Do Now

4. gild·ed • ˈgildid/ • adjective • 1. • covered thinly with gold leaf or gold paint. • "an elegant gilded birdcage“ • The “Gilded Age” was a novel written by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner. • Meant to satirize the inequality of the time period. • Despite economic growth, we have a declining care for humanity. (working conditions, immigrants, tenements) THE GILDED AGE

5. The phrase, The Gilded Age, highlights the inequality between wealthy business owners and workers who labored under terrible conditions • Politics during this age were corrupt (guilty of dishonest practices) • City and county politics were influenced by political machines (powerful organizations that used both legal and illegal methods to get their candidates elected to public office) THE GILDED AGE

6. The Progressive Movement • Many Americans cried for reform. • The people claimed government and big business were taking advantage of them, rather than serving them.

7. Progressivism is a combination of many New ideas • Government should regulate (control) big business • Progressives felt that society had an obligation to protect all the people, and help the poor • Progressives wanted to help those who lacked wealth and influence • Goal: to eliminate the causes of problems such as crime, disease, and poverty. • Fought for things such as education reform and better working conditions. Progressives

8. Political Machines were powerful organizations linked to political parties. These groups controlled local government in many cities. • These groups were controlled by a Political Boss. They gained votes for their parties by doing favors for people. • They would offer turkey dinners and summer boat rides, and offer jobs to immigrants in return for votes. • Much of their support came from immigrants and the poor because of the services they provided such as jobs and social services. • Many political bosses were dishonest Political Machines

9. New York City’s corrupt political machine • After winning city elections in 1888, Tammany Hall rewarded its supporters with over 12,000 jobs • William Marcy Tweed (“Boss Tweed”) stole up $200 million from NYC • Spoils system = practice of giving jobs to your political supporters • The spoils system helped many untrained and unqualified workers get government jobs TAMMANY HALL

10. Corrupt politicians found numerous ways to make money. • They received Kickbacks. • Sometimes contractors would overcharge for a project and give the extra money to the political boss • A carpenter was paid $360,751 (roughly $4.9 million today) for one month's labor in a building with very little woodwork. A furniture contractor received $179,729 ($2.5 million) for three tables and 40 chairs. And the plasterer, a Tammany functionary, Andrew J. Garvey, got $133,187 ($1.82 million) for two days' work; his business acumen earned him the sobriquet "The Prince of Plasterers." Tweed personally profited from a financial interest in a Massachusetts quarry that provided the courthouse's marble. When a committee investigated why it took so long to build the courthouse, it spent $7,718 ($105,000) to print its report. The printing company was owned by Tweed. Mob Mentality

11. Boss Tweed headed New York City’s political machine in the 1860’s and 1870’s. • Tweed was so powerful he controlled the police, courts, and some newspapers. • He collected millions of dollars in illegal payments. • Political Cartoonist Thomas Nast exposed Tweed’s operations in his newspaper, Harpers Weekly-- created a national outcry, and soon Tweed and many of his cronies were facing criminal charges • Tweed was sentenced to prison and died in jail in 1878. Boss Tweed

15. The Spoils System (Patronage)– rewarding political supporters with jobs and favors. Was common since Andrew Jackson. • President Rutherford B. Hayes and James Garfield tried to change the spoils system, and supported Civil Service- the body of no elected government workers. • Garfield believed people should be appointed to jobs based on qualifications, not on who supported who. Spoils System

16. Spoils System ctd • Garfield was assassinated by an unsuccessful office seeker named Charles Guiteauin 1881 before he could launch his reforms. • Chester A. Arthur succeeded Garfield. • He set up the Civil Service Commission. • This commission set up exams for people who wanted government jobs called the Pendleton Civil Service Act. Government job applicants were required to pass a test before being hired (10%).

17. Journalists helped reformers by exposing corruption • Muckrakers wrote about problems that were hidden and exposed them • They “Raked the Muck” or cleaned up the dirt and corruption in the world. • They wrote about issues, such as, child labor, racial discrimination, slum housing, and corruption in business and politics. Muckrakers

18. Lincoln Steffens – Exposed corrupt machine politics in NYC, Chicago, and other cities in articles published by McClure’s Magazine, called “The Shame of the Cities.” • Ida Tarbell – Described the unfair practices of the oil trust Famous Muckrakers

19. Upton Sinclair • Sinclair was a muckraker who wrote a book about the meatpacking industry • Sinclair wanted to show the public how the workers were mistreated

20. Sinclair • Instead, he uncovered disgusting truths including, meat falling on the ground, rats and other rodents being grounded into the meat, and mislabeling the products. • Congress responded by passing the Meat Inspection Act in 1906, along with the Pure Food and Drug Act, banning the sale of harmful food and the foreign and interstate traffic of contaminated or mislabeled food and drug products

21. Reform Successes • Goal: help the urban poor • Settlement Houses: community centers where volunteer middle-class "settlement workers" would live, hoping to share knowledge and culture with, and alleviate the poverty of their low-income neighbors. The "settlement houses" provided services such as daycare, education, and healthcare to improve the lives of the poor. • City Planners: design safer building codes and new public parks. • Civil Engineers: improved transportation by paving streets and building bridges. • Sanitation Engineers: began to solve problem of waste disposal and impure water supply. • Education: laws stating all children must attend school – new schooling – philosopher, John Dewey – problem solving, not memorization.

22. Seventeenth Amendment – Americans can vote directly for U.S. senators instead of having state legislatures vote for them • Referendum – some states allowed voters to overrule a law that the government had proposed or passed • Recall –allowed voters to sign a petition in order to remove a corrupt politician before his term ended • Initiative – allowed voters to propose a new law by collection signatures on a petition VOTING REFORMS

23. Progressive changed the way U.S. Senators were elected. • The constitution allowed state legislatures to vote for senators directly. • Previously, political bosses corrupted this process. • In 1912, Congress passed the 17th Amendment to the constitution to allow direct election of Senators. 17th Amendment

24. Robert La Follette “Fighting Bob” won support in Wisconsin by attacking big business and railroads • Prior to him, the candidates were chosen by the political machine boss. • Now state voters could choose their candidates in a Primary Government Reforms

25. In notebooks: Design a poster using a slogan that could be used in an advertising campaign that would raise awareness about one of the following problems of the Gilded Age: child labor, slum housing, corruption in politics, big business, racial/ethnic discrimination. HOMEWORK

26. Imagine you are standing in the alley with these 3 boys. • What social problem or problems does this photograph show? • In your notebook, describe each problem you see in two sentences or more. Use vivid and descriptive language that might stir someone into action. • When asked, share your response with the class. DO NOW

27. Read Page 205

28. How did the muckrakers get their name. Why were they important?

29. In the late 1800’s women had less responsibilities: • More children spent time in school • Men worked away from home • Technology helped with housework Section 2: Origins of Progressives

30. Read song lyrics and answer questions on the worksheet. Do Now: Notebooks

31. By 1900, more than 1.75 million children living in America worked in factories, mines, and mills earning very low wages. • Children made as little as 40 cents a day. • As muckrakers began to publish account of the work & living conditions of child workers, progressives began to lobby for reforms. • However, laws alone could not end child labor as children were instructed to lie to government inspectors about their age. Child Labor Reform

32. Working conditions were dangerous and unsanitary. • Triangle Shirtwaist Fire – Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was a clothing factory in NYC that employed mostly Jewish and Italian immigrant women. On March 25, 1911, a fire had started on the 8th floor of the factory – occupied 8, 9, & 10 floors of Asch building. • Unextinguished cigarette butt thrown in a waste basket with piles of cloth scraps ignited the fire, which spread quickly amongst all the flammable clothing. 146 women died in this tragedy. This is the deadliest industrial accident that was ever occurred in NYC. Workplace Safety

33. Labor leaders and reformers passed workers compensation laws in many states. This law guaranteed a portion of lost wages to workers injured on the job. • 1908 Supreme Court Case Muller v. Oregon: upheld the limit of the 10 hour workday to women and children stating it was hazardous to the health of these individuals. • Despite this, work conditions remained poor for most people. Workers’ Laws

34. Labor Organizations

35. Progressive movement fought for educational opportunities for women. By 1910, about 40% of college students were women. • Most women found jobs as social workers and teachers. Jobs such as doctors and lawyers were dominated by men and much more difficult to find. • Many women also used their education to become active in reform, hence the Temperance Movement. Education

36. Social problems such as family violence and criminal behavior blamed on factors, such as, immigration, urbanization, and alcohol. • The Temperance Movement was the movement against the sale of alcohol. • They supported Prohibition, which was a law to prohibit the making and the sale of alcohol. • The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union led the way. • 18th Amendment – banned sale of alcohol in U.S. • Costly for U.S. come the time of the Great Depression Temperance Movement

37. Suffrage is the right of women to vote. • A person who fought for the right to vote was a Suffragist • Famous ones were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the NAWSA (National American Women’s Suffrage Association) to promote women’s right to vote in 1890. • Success in 1890: women won the right to vote in Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah. • Alice Paul organized NWP (National Women’s Party) – used parades, picketing, hunger strikes, etc. Picketed outside White House – were jailed, started a hunger strike in prison, and were force fed. • By 1920, U.S. Congress passed 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. Suffrage

38. Opposition • Many men, and some women, were against suffrage • Many thought it would upset society’s “Natural Balance,” and lead to divorce and neglected children.

39. African Americans Challenge Discrimination • Booker T.Washington – born into slavery. His strategy was not to fight discrimination directly. • He encouraged African Americans to improve their educational and economic well-being. • Ida B. Wells – addressed discrimination directly in her Memphis newspaper called “Free Speech”, in which she drew attention to the lynchings of African Americans. • W.E.B. Du Bois – college graduate who earned a doctorate from Harvard University. Studied and publicized cases of racial prejudice. Believed African Americans should protest unjust treatment and demand equal rights.

40. NAACP • National Associate for the Advancement of Colored People – Du Bois and other reformers founded this organization that called for economic and educational equality for African Americans. • Won the case of Guinn v. United States which made grandfather clauses illegal. • These laws were used in the South to keep African Americans from voting.

41. Failures to Reform • Native Americans – kept cultural traditions • Chinese immigrants – discrimination and little support from reformers • Mexican immigrants – increased population and poor living conditions

42. Section 3: Progressive Presidents

43. Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was elected to the office of Vice President • A powerful republican leader named Mark Hanna warned America there was now only one life between “That Cowboy” and the Whitehouse. • Roosevelt believed in conservation-the protection and preservation of natural resources. He was a famous outdoorsman. • Less than a year later, President McKinley was assassinated Theodore Roosevelt

44. Roosevelt was extremely progressive • He ordered the justice system to use the Sherman Anti-Trust act, which wasn’t used to this point in history, to break up trusts • Roosevelt went after the Northern Securities Company, a railroad monopoly in the northwest, and broke it apart. • Roosevelt was a trustbuster is someone that wanted to break up big corporations. Trustbuster

46. 1902 – 100,000 United Mine Workers, a union went on strike. • The public opinion was against the owners • Roosevelt invited owners and union leaders to talk at the White House. • Owners refused to show up, and Roosevelt was furious • He threatened to send the army in to run the mines and take them over himself. Labor Crisis

47. Owners caved, and workers received better pay and reasonable hours per week • Other Presidents sent troops in against the strikers. This was the first time in history troops were sent in to battle the owners Labor Crisis

48. When Roosevelt ran for president in 1904, he promised a Square Deal –equal treatment for all. • He also promised government would regulate business • Before this, the country practiced Laissez-faire. This French term generally means, “let people do as they choose.” • He supported the pure food and drug act, which gave government permission to visit businesses and inspect products Square Deal

49. President Taft • No president had run for more than two terms. So Roosevelt did not run again • Taft easily defeated democrat William Jennings Bryan • He was not as exciting as Roosevelt, but won more anti-trust cases in 4 years than Roosevelt did in 7 years.

50. Taft supported the 16th Amendment – which gave congress the power to tax people’s incomes. (Money they make) • Progressives believed Taft would use the money to lower tariffs, but tariffs stayed the same and progressives were angry. • Roosevelt was watching and was disappointed and enraged. Problems for Taft