American History: Progressivism
Right After Reconstruction
Following the legacy of reconstruction was the rise of big businessmen. AT&T by Thomas Alexander.
Edison was the inventor who also make a great money with the help from J. P. Morgan.
Rockerfeller's Standard Oil Company economically monopoly: vertical integration, from raw material to the final product was by the same company. Horizontal integration use cheap freight and buying oil of other companies to gain the ownership of the companies.
Ida Tabell, a daughter of former Rockefeller's employee, says Rockefeller was the most hardless person in the world, for poor working condition and not paying well to the workers.
Ray Banner Baker's The Shame of Minia Polis criticized the boss rule in New Jersey and New York. Ida Tabell's The Fight for Oil in 1875 criticized the economic policy by the American Standard Oil Company. And The Right to Work says the coal-mining strikers attacking on the white middle class. The editor Henry Lloyd in New York published these three articles in January 1903.
The Progressive Era, 1895-1920
It's a new way of thinking and new action by the urban middle class. Three goals: to end the boss rule and creat effeciency, institution (government) to address the problem (poverty), apply to the expertise.
Political more fragment, issue more oriented. Voters turn out dropped (professors, women, and minorities). Progressivism want reform focus on urban problem.
Urban Middle Class Reformers and Muckrakers
All classes participated reform, but vanguard is that the professors are offended with inefficient, injustice, and imority.
Stephen, Sinclair, and Ida Tabell exposed the abusive power in business, political and society. Advocate, initiatives, referendum, recall, primary election, and non-partisan election.
Some businessmen want reform; they are either sincerious humanitarians or hope the reform will prevent more radical changes.
Labors advocated government's action to provide factory safety, housing, urban healthy, workers' conpensation and worker's wages.
Some reform will take violence.
The opponents of Progressivist
Progressive socialists or called debt units socialist. Big Bill Haywood, the headquarter of IWW, Henry Wallace are the radical socialist. They later became the modernists after 1925. In Marguerite's observation, children are seriously injured during the strike.
Progressivisms opposed the radical changes. Businessmen, Superior Court, and members of bi-partisan opposed the Progressivism: fear government's action undermines the economic opportunities and self-interests. A moderatist, centralist reform, Lesa Fair obsolete, but not radicalism.
Reconstructing the government
Reformers think the boss rule and spoil system corrupt Democracy, apply government to the role of manager or mission.
Robert M. La Follett
The most active and dynamic reformer in the south, he once was in the legislation then moved to the US Senate. The south also has active governors, political reformers, and business regulation. The southern progressivism upheld the White Supremacy. Racism also affected the progressives in the north and west.
Political Reform
Electory Election, not state's legislation. Reform, direct primary passed; but politic does not change directly, the boss control election throughout organization. Referendum, Recall, Primary election, non-partisan election became tools of well founded and organization of special-interest groups.
Labor Reform
Both reformers and boss agreed to improve the factory safety and some pensation to the independent children. Some protection to female workers passed. Courts void most old age pensation attempts. Some parents still need their children to work. Reformers argued, the social environments are vital.
Moral Reform
Reformers argued whether government shall involt into the private moral value. Out of the Men's Act of 1910, the prohibition 1918 (or 19th Amendment) prohibits buy, sale, or drink alcohol. Reformers ascent the link of alcohol with accident, poverty, and unproductivity. Transportation limited to women of immoral purpose.
Education Reform
Reformers wanted to restore to the best of the US past, teaching US history and English language. Dewey refers education to a self-development, replacing memory with discovery and education with self-study. More higher educated students graduated because of a higher income, educating many instead of training few. Reform curriculum allows self-education and special training, sociology and political science. Women are discriminated in curriculum and admission.
Eugenics
Eugenics asserts the genes decides intelligent quality, to promote a better generation by reproducing. Some states legalized sterilization, advocates the restricting immigrants from the south and east Europe.
A Challenge to Discrimination
Reformers encouraged blacks, women, and Indians to the challenge of discrimination.
Right after Reconstruction, Southern blacks faced economic oppression, lynching and violence. Some moved north, life better but still discriminated. Debated over assimilation or separate:
Brooker T. Washington advocate assimilation required temporary acceptance of subordience. Call for deligent and hard working as a way to succession. Found Tuskegee in 1881. White leaders praised Washington's idea accommodation and gradualism.
Others see Washington's idea degrading, want the rights now. W.E.D. Due Bois found NAACP in 1908. Debate continued over assimilation or separate.
Indian Reform
The Middle Class Indians want to help other Indians. Cleopus of 1920, because of insufficient found, white prejudice, and weak union leadership, Indians fragmented into numerous tribes.
Women's Reform
Continued women's suffrage, Marguerite Singleton's birth control addresses the single sexual behavior. Because of the wartime volunteer nurse and because of the women playing the traditional role of men's jobs in the factories during the wartime, women were given the rights to vote in 1920, the 20th Amendment, as the congress passed it in 1918 and it became national wide in 1920. Woodrow Wilson's support also helps the women's voting right to success.
Others' Reform
Theodore Roosevelt's Meat Act in 1906, and pure drugs and food, failed because no fund for investigation, a gun power. Woodrow Wilson, a bill power, collects the government money for investigation. Others by Woodrow Wilson were the first national revenue, the federal loan, which is for the students' loan today. Other patriotic by Wilson directed the American progressivism go to war in 1911-1914.