Progressive Era

Progressive Era

1. Racial discrimination

   • NAACP: Bi-racial organization that was formed in 1909. Considered the offspring of the Niagra Movement and stands for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. This group was formed due to the violence against African Americans around America and was mainly an anti-lynching. It is still an active group to this day.
   • Tuskegee Institute:A southern institute that was made for educating African Americans. This was located in Alabama and was meant to help "vocational" learning. Booker T. Washington believed these skills would help African Americans obtain economic independence while building up their confidence.
   • Racial Discrimination: Many groups were formed to fight against this discrimination and to give African Americans equal rights. They also protested against lynching that was running wild in the south. Many changes did not occur immediately in the government but new groups created change for them by providing things like healthcare and housing.

2. Important People

   • Theodore Roosevelt: 26th President of the US and he was described as "Muckrakers". Became known for being on the same page as reformers. He actively tried to help citizens with equality and better work conditions. Even after stepping down from President he continued to fight for reform and created his own progressive party.
   • Upton Sinclair:Known for publishing the novel The Jungle. The novel was about a Lithuanian immigrant family moving to Chicago that would work in the stock yards. This novel was intended to expose the labor of meat production but it only brought concerns about the cleanliness of the meat. This novel actually led to the Meat Inspection Act.
   • Jane Addams: Came back to the U.S. with the idea to set up a Hull House and she did in Chicago. Addams turned the Hull House into a public protest against sweat shops and protested for better work conditions. By having these protest she wanted to make the immigrants and poors' lives better.
   • Jacob Riis: New York City Journalist that published How the Other Half Lives. This publicly criticized how bad the work and living conditions were in the "city's slums".
   • John Muir: Founded the Sierra Club and was a naturalist. Stood on the side as a preservationist and wanted to set aside land due to its value and its beauty. He also wanted it set aside for its spiritual value. He did not want to exploit the land only for its resources and only to gain from it.
   • Gifford Pinchot: Nicknamed the father of American Forestry and he was very important in the field of federal management of national forest. Was on the side of conservation against Muir. He "emphasized" the efficiency of the available resources.
   • Woodrow Wilson · President who supported women's suffrage. Proposed the "new freedom" agenda. He wanted to bring back competition between companies. He tried to promote trade among businesses and set up federal trade commissions to do so.
   • Booker T. Washington: Established the Tuskegee Institute and stated that African Americans should learn things that would help them be progressive citizens. He also believed that African Americans should use their education to better themselves and to carry themselves in society instead of using it in competition against white people. He did not fight against discrimination but instead thought knowledge was power.
   • William Howard Taft: Successor to Roosevelt. He was highly against the ideas of monopolies and would often go after the ones left.

3. Women's Rights

   • National American Suffrage Assoc.:Lead by Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. This group supported the 15th Amendment becuase they thought their time would come. But they still prtoested for women's rights.
   • Alice Paul: She was a huge exponent for the passing of the nineteenth amendment. She also founded the National Woman's Party and co-founded the Congressional Union. She had rallies for women rights at the White House. Her and her followers were arrested and sent to prison but that did not stop her. She held hunger strikes and had to be hand feed by the authorities. Her stubborn tactics finally reached President Wilson and he made a federal suffrage amendment.
   • Women Rights: Popular groups fighting for these rights were the National Womans Party and the National Association of Colored Women. Jane Addams was a very popular person in this category and even used the Hull House to help get women rights. Their efforts were rewarded with the passing of the nineteenth amendment which gave them the right to vote.

4. Immigration

   • Immigrant living Conditions: Cities became crowded and city services failed to stay catch up due to the large number of immigrants. They often lived in a crowded house called a tenement. These places lacked basic things such as toilets and water. Due to these disgusting conditions and lack of sanitation there was a spread of disease. Many main cities became the victims of these diseases.
   • Hull House:Founded in 1889 in Chicago. These workers created their own little community where there was a nursery and even classes for adults. It was much like a school for the disadvantaged people of a neighborhood or community. The Hull house started criticizing the harsh conditions of local sweat shops. Addams (one of the founders) spoke out against conditions caused by industrialization and poverty a "social crime". She also made the Hull house advocate for organized work conditions, conduct, etc.

5. Industrial

   • Working Conditions:working conditions were horrible. Many workers died due to how dangerous factories were and even with all of these deaths there was little legal actions against the business.
   • Big Business:Included businesses such as ones in oil, meat production, and steel. Created a lot of money and a new class of rich people, millionaires. These created better work conditions for workers and raised wages. The downside was that they had a hint of a monopoly in them. People feared they could fix prices and influence government decisions.
   • Environmentalism: Mainly about the preservation and management of public land. They did this due to the belief that if they could keep these public spaces clean it would help control diseases and filth.
   • national wildlife refuges: This was created to protect certain animals/ species that were in danger of extinction in certain areas ran by the system.

6. Crucial Acts

   • Sherman Antitrust:It's purpose was to limit anti- competitive businesses. This was mainly aimed at monopoly like companies. It did not make all monopolies illegal but it did say that the ones who prohibited free trade were illegal. Reinforced by the Clayton Antitrust Act.
   • Clayton Antitrust Act: Enhanced the Sherman Antitrust Act and focused on price discrimination and regulating amalgamation. It also protected labor's access of being able to protest and have boycotts. Later, this act was reinforced by the Federal Trade Commision.
   • Meat Inspection Act: This banned the selling of "misbranded" and "adulterated" livestock and food. This made sure that livestock meat was sanitary during the process of making it and selling it. Made the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspect all livestock and meat that were meant to be consumed by humans. This also was meant for imported products.
   • Pure Food and Drug Act: This act prevented "the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs or medicines, and liquors." This was meant to protect citizens from harmful substances that were labeled safe without any scientific proof to back it up.
   • 19th Amendment:Granted women the right to vote. This was ratified August 18, 1920 after almost an entire century of protest by women rights groups and other supporting groups. Many southern states rejected it but Tennesse was the tipping scale in women favor. The scores were tied in Tennesse but one man tipped it after his mother convinced him to vote in favor of it.