Progressive Movement PowerPoint

PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT:

1900 - 1920

INTRODUCTION • Flourished between 1900 & WW1 • Name from belief in Progress • Progressives borrowed ideas from the Populists and the labor movement, but they differed in important ways • Middle Class • City Dwellers • Activities reflected the rising influence of the middle class • Writers, Lawyers, Ministers, and College Professors

ROOTS • Arose out of: Protestant Evangelicalism, Journalism, Populism, and reaction of the middle class to the abuse of industry and government. • Acted out of a sense of moral responsibility • Confidence in the ability to use science to solve problems • Rather than accept corruption and poverty- they wanted the government to make positive steps to identify and correct the problems

SOCIAL GOSPEL MOVEMENT

• Late 19th Century • Spearheaded by Protestant Clergymen • Called for Social Reform (abolition of child labor and safer working conditions) • Objected to unregulated free enterprise • Each man is his brother’s keeper • Did not accept the existence of social problems as God’s will• Salvation Army – emphasized the Christian duty to help those who were less fortunate

TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT • Aligned itself closely with those in the Social Gospel Movement • Aimed to Ban Alcoholic beverages • Eighteenth Amendment (1919) • Banned the sale of alcoholic beverages

SOCIALISM • Some critics demanded an end to free enterprise • Free Enterprise System = Capitalism • Believed government should take over basic industries • Argued that some reforms were necessary if a social revolution was to be avoided.

THE MUCKRAKERS • Writers that raked up “muck” or dirt of American Life. • Jacob Riis: How The Other Half Lives • Photographed conditions of the urban poor. His book examined the conditions of the poor in America’s cities.

• Ida Tarbell: History of the Standard Oil Company • Showed how John Rockefeller’s rise was based on ruthless business practices

• Lincoln Steffens: The Shame of the Cities • Exposed corruption in city and state governments

• Frank Norris: The Octopus • Fictional book that depicted the stranglehold of railroads over California farmers.

• Upton Sinclair: The Jungle • Described the unsanitary practices of the meatpacking industry • Led to Theodore Roosevelt pushing to pass the Meat Inspection Act (1906) & the Pure Food & Drug Act (1906)

Nothing more or less than the truthful treatment of material Leading the Literary Fashion Realists described life with as much detail as they could. Realism provided an opportunity to show the impact of industrialization and social change on people.

REALISM