APUSH Outline: Progressivism

Janos Lobb
April 3, 2013
APUSH Outline
Chapter 28 – Progressivism I. Progressive Roots a. The progressive movements started in the 1870s and the 1890s with two parties. One was the Greenback Labor Party and the other was the Populists b. Early progressive movements were trying to change the corruption of bigwigs and their companies. Many different people explained what had happened in books c. Early reformers tried to make changes by voting. Besides voting, high-minded messengers of the social gospel promoted a brand of progressivism based on Christian teachings d. These reformers were called muckrakers because President Roosevelt did not like them snooping around to dig up information on other people e. The targets of the muckrakers were companies, the government, and other miscellaneous things. More specifically, muckrakers uncovered an alliance between a business and a municipal government II. Political Progressivism f. Middle class men and women mainly made up the progressive groups. They felt it was unfair the way they were treated because of the restless corporations, the hordes of immigrants, and labor unions g. The progressives wanted to get the state power to move the socialist threat by making the common man’s life better h. One thing that the progressives accomplished was that women were given the right to vote. This was a big step because women had been pushing for this for years and years i. Local level politics were changed because there was now community appointed people that would help run the towns that gave the people a little more control over what was happening in the places they were living in j. Politics were changed at state levels because companies were having too much influence over them. They wanted to get power back to the people and in doing so, many utilities were changed for the better k. These changes for the state government were noticeable in New York, Oregon, California, and Wisconsin III. Progressive Women l. The focus of progressive women was the settle house movement. This was because women could not vote and they were not involved in politics. It was used to show middle class women the problems with American cities m. Literary clubs were for women to meet together to educate themselves better with poetry and other literary works. They usually used current problems that were going on n. Women justified their activities with their traditional roles by saying that it was part of the traditional role. They were adding, extending to it o. The issues they attacked were moral and parental issues. They worked against child labor, poor housing for children, and ways that women/children could make some money to help support their family in a legitimate way p. What happened in New York City that made lawmakers look at working conditions was a Supreme Court case that was about child labor. The problem was a bakery that was making children work ten hours a day. The Supreme Court ruled that something needed to be done about the unrealistic jobs that children were doing q. The role that women played in the temperance movement was that campaigners received support from several powerful organizations IV. A Square Deal r. The three C’s that Teddy Roosevelt wanted to address were conservation of natural resources, the control of corporations, and consumer protection s. Problems that occurred in the coal mines of Pennsylvania were strikes that led to workers demanding better pay and less hours. When no agreement was reached towns dwindled, schools closed, and people moved t. Roosevelt responded by calling a meeting together and threatening to seize the mines and fill them with federal troops. An agreement was reached and the terms were that the miners were to get a 10% pay raise and only 9 hours a day of work u. What was different about the way this problem was resolved was that the Union was not recognized as a bargaining party v. What came as a result of this was the Department of Commerce and Labor was created to help the workers w. The Interstate Commerce Commission was changed so that people could apply for grants to improve or build new means of transportation and that it wouldn’t take so long to get a reply back x. Roosevelt was called a trustbuster because he wanted to respond to the outcry over trusts, but he did not want to smash all small businesses in the process y. Roosevelt’s real intention was to proved that the government ruled the country, not private businesses z. The problems of the meatpacking industry were that factories, where the food was packaged and made, were filled with filth and unsanitary conditions. These horrific problems were exposed in the book, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (awful book) {. Roosevelt responded by sending private investigators into the factories to find out the truth. They uncovered disgusting things in the factories and Roosevelt sent to Congress a bill that would need each factory to be inspected |. The problems that Americans had with using natural resources was that used them so fast and that the way they were used, they were polluting the air which was bad for nature }. Early attempts to protect the environment were multiple acts passed in a short period of time. Each act was supposed to help keep the land fertile and prevent more destruction ~. Roosevelt attacked the problem by putting millions of acres of land aside on Federal Reserve and reserved a lot of water and coal so they could be used when needed . The fine line that Roosevelt walked as a conservationist was that some people thought we shouldn’t use nature and some people thought it was a waste . People responded to the new agencies created for the environment by, unfortunately, eventually taking advantage of the new agencies for their own gains V. Roosevelt Steps Aside . Roosevelt had lost some power after being elected in 1904 because some of the republicans thought he could be dangerous if he wielded the same amount of power for a longer time . The Panic of 1907 occurred on Wall Street and it was when people were going crazy over the slightly falling economy. An act was issued that would allow banks to assign backup currency in the event of a crisis . Roosevelt did not run in the 1908 election because he didn’t feel that he deserved it. He wanted William H. Taft to be elected . What happened in the election of 1908 was that William H. Taft and William J. Bryant ran. Taft inevitably won the election . The legacy of Roosevelt was that he helped the economy, helped give power back to the government, and he helped form liberal and progressive movements VI. Taft as President . The good characteristics of Taft were that he was smart and he knew what he was talking about. The bad characteristics were that he wasn’t the best politician and he had a bad feel for public opinion . Taft encouraged American investments overseas because he wanted better foreign relations. He thought that if we invested in them they might return the favor . Taft tried to insert the dollar in china. The results were that the idea was rejected by China, and also by Russia . Wall Street was told to put money into the Caribbean to keep out foreign funds. The United States felt obligated to help the economies down there . William Taft dealt with trusts by hitting them head on and he filed 90 lawsuits against trusts in only four years . Roosevelt was angered at what Taft did because Taft fought against the US Steel Corporation, something that Roosevelt had helped set up . The Republican Party was angry because Taft agreed to lower the barriers of some protective tariffs . Taft was a conservationist because he wanted lands to be open to corporate development, but he did not want the land to be over used. . The rift between Taft and Roosevelt was widened because of an agreement made by Taft about how the Federal Reserve lands were to be used . Roosevelt responded by urging the government to increase its power to fix economic and social abuses. This, however, eventually weakened the Republican Party . The results of Roosevelt’s urging were that the Democratic Party gained power and they had a socialist representative was elected . Roosevelt returned to the campaign of 1912 because he was unhappy with Taft’s decisions and he justified it by saying that the third term tradition applied to consecutive terms . Roosevelt and Taft responded to each other by attacking each other verbally and ‘stretching’ the truth . What happened at the convention in Chicago was that people mainly voted for Taft and Roosevelt supporters just didn’t vote . Roosevelt responded by not quitting. He was determined to win by any means necessary and that meant he was going to lead a third party