U.S. History II HIS-112

1. U.S. History IIHIS-112 Unit 6 The Progressives Confront Industrial Capitalism (1890-1914)

2. Progressivism • Progressive movement was actually a number of movements • They focused on the problems created by a rapidly expanding urban and industrial world • The middle class reformers aim was to humanize the modern city • Others were concerned with the conditions of work and the rights of labor • Still others pressed for changes in the political system to make it more responsive to the people • The movement had its roots in the 1890s

3. Progressivism • Progressivism was influenced mainly by Darwinism • Specifically, it was shaped by the idea that the world was constantly in transition • Progressives saw the environment as more important than heredity in shaping a person • They also believed that some groups could be molded and changed more easily than others (such as blacks) • It was the first modern reform movement • It wanted to bring order to a world falling into chaos • At the same time, many reformers wanted to keep the old school nostalgia of the preindustrial age with its small town values and bring it to the city

4. Progressivism • Most of the progressive leaders were from the middle class • They tried to teach these values to the workers and immigrants • They often seemed more interested in control than reform • The reformers reflected the fact that they were part of a statistics minded generation • Many conducted surveys, gathered facts, and generated reports that they hope to use to promote change • They were also optimistic about human nature and the potential for change • While they might seem naïve, they did tackle many of the difficult issues of the period

5. Upton Sinclair • Author • (1878-1968)

6. The Muckrakers • Muckrakers were those who exposed corruption and other social evils • This group included investigative reporters, writers, and critics • They were the product of the journalistic revolution of 1890s where magazines were competing for new readers • Lincoln Steffens - The Shame of the Cities • He wrote a series of articles for McClure magazine that exposed corruption in city governments and their ties to big businesses

7. The Muckrakers • Ida Tarbell – “History of Standard Oil” • Her series of articles in McClure magazine revealed the cut-throat practices used by John D. Rockefeller in his control of Standard Oil • Upton Sinclair – The Jungle • This work was one of the most famous by the muckrakers • Sinclair’s goal was to expose the horrible conditions of Chicago’s meatpacking industry • It told tales of not only corruption, but workers falling into meat grinders and becoming part of the products sold • This work led to the creation of both the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) and the Meat Inspection Act (1906)

8. Child mine driver from West Virginia

9. Child Labor • One of the main focuses of the reformers was child labor • Many gathered statistics, took photographs, and then used this evidence of horrid conditions to push for legislation at the local and then the national level • Florence Kelley was one of the leading reformers against child labor • She helped push through legislation in Illinois to limit work days to eight hours for women and children • However, the state supreme court ruled it as unconstitutional

10. Child Labor • National Child Labor Committee was founded in 1904 by Edgar Gardner Murphy • It drew up a model state child labor law and encouraged state and city campaigns • In 1907, it was incorporated by an Act of Congress • Its mission was to promote “the rights, awareness, dignity, well-being and education of children and youth as they relate to work and working” • It hired photojournalist Lewis Hine to do an expose of child labor in the U.S., including the mining and steel industries

11. Photograph of child workers in an Indiana glass factory by Lewis Hine

12. Child Labor • 2/3 of the states did pass some form of the law but most had major loopholes • In 1912 reformers were able to get Congress to establish a children’s bureau in the Department of Labor • Too many businesses were dependant on the profits from using child labor • They put pressure on politicians to prevent any real child labor legislation from being passed • Also, many families were reliant on income from the children in order to make ends meet

13. Child Labor • It was actually compulsory school attendance laws that really reduced the number of children working • Reformers also worked on reforming the justice system to protect juvenile offenders • They helped to organized juvenile courts to protect children from being placed in the adult system • Judges were given the option of putting children on probation, make them wards of the state, or put them in an institution • It did work to help prevent children from lives of crime • However, many children did not receive due process

14. Working Women • Tied into the anti-child labor movement was the regulation of women’s work movement • Muller v. Oregon (1908) • The Supreme Court upheld an Oregon law which limited the hours of work for women in factories and laundries to no more than ten hours a day • Justice David Brewer stated “That woman's physical structure and the performance of maternal functions place her at a disadvantage in the struggle for subsistence is obvious…as healthy mothers are essential to vigorous offspring, the physical well-being of woman becomes an object of public interest and care in order to preserve the strength and vigor of the race”

15. Working Women • After this judgment, most states went on to pass protective legislation for women • However, like the child labor laws, most companies found loopholes • The argument that women were weaker than men resulted in protective legislation • However, it would eventually be used to enforce gender segregation of the workforce

16. Women’s Suffrage Parade in NYC (1912)

17. Women’s Suffrage • Progressives also campaigned for woman suffrage • They were first successful at the state level, especially in the western states • Wyoming was the first to allow women to vote in some elections in 1869 and nine states followed by 1914 • The U.S. did lag behind other countries in granting women the right to vote • Britain, New Zealand, Finland, and Norway had already given women the right to vote by 1918

18. Women’s Suffrage • The right for women to vote was a slow process • This was because a constitutional amendment was required to change the law • This meant that the fight would have to be won one state at a time • Also, the social values at the time made the process even more difficult • A bill was presented in the House on January 12, 1915 to grant universal suffrage • However, it was voted down 174 to 204

19. Women’s suffrage before 19th Amendment

20. Margaret Sanger

21. Birth Control • Movement for birth control was more controversial • The Comstock Law of 1873 made it illegal to promote or even write about contraceptive devices or abortion • This was in reaction to a growing concern about “obscene material” • Even material sent through the mail was banned as well • Margaret Sanger was one of the founders of the modern birth control movement • Growing up, she watched her mother endure 18 pregnancies and 11 live births • As a nurse, she watched many women suffer and die from illegal abortions

22. Birth Control • Educated Americans learned how to order birth control devices and avoid the Comstock Laws • Condoms were called by a variety of names such as "Dr. Power's French Preventatives” • Women could order “feminine hygiene" products such as cocoa butter suppositories, which were really spermicides • In 1914, she began writing articles for her journal, The Woman Radical • It tackled many of the women’s rights issues of the day, including the right for birth control • She believed that once the woman became the “absolute mistress of her own body” then women could work on gaining other rights

23. Birth Control • Because she wrote about contraceptive methods, she was indicted of violating federal postal obscenity laws • She faced a possible 45 years in jail so she fled to England • While she was in Europe, she collected information about birth control available there • When she returned, the case was dismissed because of a combination of the media attention and the death of her 5-year-old daughter

24. Birth Control • In 1916, she opened the first birth control clinic in the U.S. in Brooklyn • The clinic was raided and she was arrested for violating obscenity laws • This did become a victory for Sanger since the case brought birth control to the media forefront • In 1921, she founded the American Birth Control League • This became the Planned Parenthood Federation in 1942

25. “The Drunkard’s Progress” (1893)

26. Crusades Against Immoral Behavior • The progressives spoke out against the behavior of the working class • They were mainly opposed to prostitution and alcohol • Some Protestants saw the consumption of alcohol as a sin • The consumption of alcohol was on the rise • It hit is peak between 1911 and 1915 • This included beer, wine, and hard liquor • The temperance movement had been around since the 1840s • However, only three states had prohibition laws in effect by 1900

27. Crusades Against Immoral Behavior • After 1900, it was groups like the Anti-Saloon League who worked together with religious leaders to revitalize the temperance movement • Between 1906 and 1912, they were successful at passing temperance laws in seven states • One of their main concerns was the saloon • Tales were spun about children having to go to saloons to purchase beer for their fathers • Also, there was a belief that the saloons were also linking to drug traffic, prostitution, and political corruption

28. Crusades Against Immoral Behavior • Some reformers realized that the saloons also provided a very important social aspect to these people’s lives • Jane Addams started a coffeehouse at Hull House to give people a non-alcoholic alternative • However, they were not successful at finding a good enough replacement for the saloon • On December 22, 1917, the 18th Amendment was passed by Congress • It prohibiting the sale, manufacture and import of intoxicating liquor • It was ratified in 1919 with the approval of 36 states

29. Crusades Against Immoral Behavior • Another source of progressive attack was the movie theater • These were seen as threats to the morals and behaviors of young people • While the motion picture had been around in 1889, it was not until the long feature films were produced during WWI that they attracted a middle class audience • These were silent movies whose subject matters included everything from comedy, romance, adventure, and even mild pornography • Reformers objected to content of films and to location of theaters (near saloons) and their dark interiors

30. Crusades Against Immoral Behavior • Reformers saw prostitution as the worst evil • There had been many campaigns against prostitution since the early 19th century • Reformers were able to get many cities to appoint vice commissions and elaborate studies of prostitution • Some blamed inferior people but many stressed environmental causes • Also, they considered economic causes of prostitution • While they believed that education and reform would end prostitution, the reformers did little to end it or to address its roots in poverty

31. Crusades Against Immoral Behavior • On June 25, 1910, the White-Slave Traffic Act was passed by Congress • It is also known as the Mann Act of 1910 • While its specific purpose was to ban white slavery in the U.S., it also prohibited the interstate transport of women for immoral purposes • Reformers also persuaded several states to raise the age of consent for women • In 20 states, the Wassermann test for syphilis became mandatory for both men and women before a marriage license could be issued

32. August von Wassermann (1866-1925)

33. Rise of Corporate America • By 1900, life in America had radically changed • The U.S. went from a rural and small business type economy to a corporate and industrial powerhouse • By 1904, 300 corporations controlled 40% of the country’s wealth • Most of that power was in the hands of a few: 70 people controlled 1/16th of the country’s wealth • The larger corporations attempted to find ways to become more efficient

34. Rise of Corporate America • Frederick Winslow Taylor put together his ideas of “scientific Management” in 1911 • He believed the management of businesses during the industrial revolution were ineffective • Instead he came up with his own ideas, which were based on scientific study, on how to run a business effective and efficiently • It including finding the best way of completing a task, train employees rather than leaving them to learn on their own, give detail instructions and supervision, and divide the work equally between managers and workers

35. Rise of Corporate America • By using scientific methods, worker productivity increased dramatically between 1899 and 1914 • Because of this, employers were able to pay their workers more • However, critics stated that labor unions and skilled workers were usually eliminated by this methodology • Management did increase during this time with new business practices • There was the rise of the “white-collar” worker, those who were not actually involved in production but instead were supervisors, executives, office personnel, and sales people • Even women were hired as clerks, stenographers, and secretaries

36. Rise of Corporate America • Other businesses benefited from the rise of corporations • To fill the need to train these new managers, colleges created new business schools • In 1908, Harvard’s Business School was created and offered the first MBA’s • There was also the development of advertising • In 1900, companies only spent $542 million on advertising • It jumped to $3 billion by 1920 • With this, new jobs were created in advertising including copywriters and designers

37. Rise of Corporate America • In the early 20th century, transportation technology made leaps and bounds • In 1903, the Wright brothers successfully flew at Kitty Hawk, NC • The invention of the automobile had one of the biggest impacts on the U.S. • The first combustion engine car was introduced in the 1880’s • These cars were made one at a time, took a long time to build, and were very expensive • Not everyone could afford the luxury of having a car in the 19th century

38. Samuel Gompers President AFL (1886-1924)

39. Workers in the Progressive Era • The progressives did try to protect the workers • They sought protective legislation, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation • They also supported labor’s right to organize but were opposed to using the strike as a weapon against management • The work place in the Progressive Era had not improved from the harsh conditions of the late 19th century • Their lives were dominated by the clock and their bosses • Many were incredibly unhappy with their jobs with more than 1/3 of all workers staying at their jobs less than a year

40. Workers in the Progressive Era • Many leaders were fearful of how “scientific management” would affect workers • One of the biggest concerns was turning humans into “mere machines” • The AFL was one organization that flourished in the Progressive Era • Under the leadership of Samuel Gompers, membership increased from just under 450,000 in 1897 to over 2 million by 1904 • He continued to focus on rights for the skilled artisans who made up the AFL

41. Workers in the Progressive Era • In the beginning, the labor unions were able to cooperate with the corporations • The AFL was especially successful at gaining better worker conditions through collective bargaining agreements • However, the corporations soon got the upper hand • The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) launched an aggressive counterattack, using strikebreakers and industrial spies • The Supreme Court sided with management in Loewe v. Lawler (1910) • It stated that a union boycott of an industry violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act

42. Workers in the Progressive Era • The working woman received more attention from the progressives than did the working man • From 1900 to 1920, the number of women working outside the household increased from 5 to 8.5 million • Reformers tried to help out women workers by establishing day-care centers and supporting protective legislation • In 1903, the Women’s Trade Union League was founded by Mary Kenney and William English Walling • It helped organize women into unions, helped out in time of strikes, and publicized the plight of working women • It also forced the AFL to pay more attention to women

43. Struggle of the Garment Workers • One area that the Women’s Trade Union League focused on was the garment industry • The garment industry had some of the worst working conditions in the country • Employees tended to be young women between the ages of 16-25 • They worked 56 hours a week in six-day weeks, making a total of $6 a week • In New York City alone, there were over 600 garment factories employing over 30,000

44. Struggle of the Garment Workers • In the early 20th century, many of the garment factories were centralized in large loft buildings in lower Manhattan • They were located in crowded buildings that did not have property fire escapes or safety features • Many of these businesses tried to employ “scientific management” to make them more successful • Women were forced to rent the sewing machines and pay for the electricity they used • If they made mistakes or talked too loudly, they were penalized • Also, many of the women had to endure sexual harassment from their bosses

45. Struggle of the Garment Workers • On November 22, 1909, the garment workers went on strike • It began with a walkout by workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company for unsafe working conditions • The workers turned for help to the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) and the Women’s Trade Union League • Other garment workers went on strike as well • It was known as the “Uprising of 20,000” • It lasted for 14 weeks and involved about 2/3 of the garment workers • They were able to gain some improvements from their strike

46. Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire (March 1911)

47. Triangle Shirtwaist Fire • The Triangle Shirtwaist Company was located in Washington Square East in Lower Manhattan • It was a typical non-union sweatshop of the time: people worked long hours for little pay in dangerous working conditions • When a fire broke out on the 8th floor of the building on March 25, 1911, many of the young female workers inside were trapped • Exits were locked as the owners claimed workers were stealing goods • The fire escape was not strong enough to hold all of those trying to get out

48. Triangle Shirtwaist Fire • In the end, 148 women died from the fire or by jumping to their deaths • It was the biggest workplace tragedy in NYC history until 9/11 • The owners survived by going to the roof • The disaster led the state to investigate the working conditions of the garment industry • NY state passed legislation limiting work weeks to 54 hours, prohibiting workers under the age of 14, and improving safety regulations in factories

49. Colorado Militia near the Ludlow tent colony

50. The Ludlow Massacre • In 1912, the federal Industrial Relations Commission was created to study the causes of industrial unrest and violence • One of their biggest investigations was on the conflict at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Industry in Ludlow, CO • Miners went on strike in 1913, demanding eight-hour workdays, better safety, and termination of armed guards • The company refused to negotiate with the miners and the strike turned violent