progressive era literature

Prosperity was returning after the devastating panic of 1893. By 1917, two-thirds of the states had some form of prohibition laws and roughly three-quarters of the population lived in dry areas. Both opposed corruption and trusts. Progressive mayors took the lead in many key cities,[162] such as Cleveland, Ohio (especially Mayor Tom Johnson); Toledo, Ohio;[163] Jersey City, New Jersey;[164] Los Angeles;[165] Memphis, Tennessee;[166] Louisville, Kentucky;[167] and many other cities, especially in the western states. Progressive national political leaders included Republicans Theodore Roosevelt, Robert M. La Follette, and Charles Evans Hughes; Democrats William Jennings Bryan, Woodrow Wilson, and Al Smith. [227] The Anti-Saloon League which began in Ohio was formed in 1893, uniting activists from different religious groups. As the United States entered World War I, the Conscription Act banned the sale of liquor near military bases. The pace was set in Detroit, Michigan, where Republican mayor Hazen S. Pingree first put together the reform coalition as mayor 18891897. The Progressives argued the need for government regulation of business practices to ensure competition and free enterprise. When the city council balked at his proposals, he threatened to move the National Cash Register factories to another city, and they fell in line. Most important, the traditionalists did not want to become modern, and did not want their children inculcated with alien modern values through comprehensive schools that were remote from local control. The hurriedly created over thirty new corporations to replace Standard, plus several in tobacco. The Progressive era The character and variety of the Progressive movement. [31], A hallmark group of the Progressive Era, the middle class became the driving force behind much of the thought and reform that took place in this time. [56], Upton Sinclair was an American writer who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in several genres. [128], Some activists demanded change, and questioned the old thinking regarding marriage and sexuality. Voicing their opinions in public, they sought to deter American leaders from keeping the Asian-Pacific nation and to avoid the temptations of expansionist tendencies that were widely viewed as "un-American" at that time.[204]. Solty, Ingar. [272] Likewise it was influential in the Midwest. Roosevelt's rhetoric was characterized by an intense moralism of personal righteousness. While these western Republicans could stir up issues, they could rarely forge a majority, since they were too individualistic and did not form a unified caucus. Jail time?)? [229] In 1907, Georgia and Alabama were the first states to go dry followed by Oklahoma, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee in the following years. Ellen Natasha Thompson, "The Changing Needs of Our Youth Today: The Response of 4-H to Social and Economic Transformations in Twentieth-century North Carolina." The unions wanted restrictions on judges who intervened in labor disputes, usually on the side of the employer. Dave Wagner, a former Arizona Republic politics editor, historian, author and leader of the 1977 newspaper strike at The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin, died on Feb. 21 in Tempe at the age of 78. "American standard of living" (p . This allowed both Carnegie and Rockefeller to operate internationally with a powerful effect. The most radical and controversial amendment came during the anti-German craze of World War I that helped the Progressives and others push through their plan for prohibition through the 18th amendment (once the Progressives fell out of power the 21st amendment repealed the 18th in 1933). [250] The Catholics strongly opposed birth control proposals such as eugenics.[251]. On the one hand, Roosevelt was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. The progressive solution was the "open" primary by which any citizen could vote, or the "closed" primary limited to party members. The decision established that the federal government could regulate intrastate commerce when it affected interstate commerce, though Hughes avoided directly overruling the 1895 case of United States v. E. C. Knight Co..[50] As Chief Justice of the Supreme Court he took a moiderate middle position and upheld key New Deal laws. It was led by local chapters of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, whose main goal was to impose prohibition. The league also concentrated on campaigns for the right of individual communities to choose whether to close their saloons. Public sentiment was against monopolies, and legislators worked to regulate the massive corporations that wielded economic and political power. To prevent Democratic factionalism the Southern states turned to primaries, with the proviso that candidates who competed in the primaries and lost could not run as independents in the fall election. Drastic changes in land ownership posed a major challenge to local elites, who would not accept it, nor would their peasant clients. (PhD Diss. [74], There were legal efforts to curtail the oil monopoly in the Midwest and South. In 1905 the legislature elected him to the United States Senate, where he emerged as a national progressive leader, often clashing with conservatives like Senator Nelson Aldrich. [129], The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an American women's rights organization formed in May 1890 as a unification of the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). After his death in 1925 his sons, Robert M. La Follette Jr. and Philip La Follette, succeeded him as progressive leaders in Wisconsin.[41]. "Organized Crime: Challenge to the American." [186], Roosevelt's Antitrust record over eight years included 18 civil cases and 26 criminal antitrust cases resulting in 22 convictions and 22 acquittals. [241], The Flexner Report of 1910, sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation, professionalized American medicine by discarding the scores of local small medical schools and focusing national funds, resources, and prestige on larger, professionalized medical schools associated with universities. [53], Herbert Croly was an intellectual leader of the movement as an editor, political philosopher and a co-founder of the magazine The New Republic. "[269], Tindall stresses the continuing importance of the Progressive movement in the South in the 1920s involving increased democracy, efficient government, corporate regulation, social justice, and governmental public service. The main motivation was to reduce the power of political bosses, who controlled the Senate seats by virtue of their control of state legislatures. 285313. [115][116], At the local level the new city manager system was designed by progressives to increase efficiency and reduce partisanship and avoid the bribery of elected local officials. [266][267], What historians have identified as "business progressivism", with its emphasis on efficiency and typified by Henry Ford and Herbert Hoover[268] reached an apogee in the 1920s. Croly was one of the founders of modern liberalism in the United States, especially through his books, essays and a highly influential magazine founded in 1914, The New Republic. Before the progressive era people would die because of mal- sanitation, children would be working in factories and where getting hurt. The Democrats lowered tariffs with the Underwood Tariff in 1913, though its effects were overwhelmed by the changes in trade caused by the World War that broke out in 1914. In Illinois, Governor Frank Lowden undertook a major reorganization of state government. Edwards, "Putting Hoover on the Map: Was the 31st President a Progressive" p 60. Farmers and workers relied heavily on their children to work and help the family's income. What is the role of a truant officer. Across the nation, middle-class women organized on behalf of social reforms during the Progressive Era. Outside the Senate, however, a strong majority of the surviving Progressives from the 1910s had become conservative opponents of New Deal economic planning.[283]. The banking system was transformed with the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913. The system continues strong into the 21st century. More commonly referred as vasectomy for men, and tubal ligation ("getting tubes tied") for women. The Progressive Writers' Association was set up in Kolkata in July 1936. The changing nature of the American economy due to industrialization had placed a high toll on citizens, and its effects were more fully realized at the turn of the twentieth century. Activists were mobilized by the highly effective Anti-Saloon League. During the Progressive Era, artists began to focus more on the realistic aspects of life. Progressive Era reformers sought to harness the power of the federal government to eliminate unethical and unfair business practices, reduce corruption, and counteract the negative social effects of industrialization. The 1906 federal Pure Food and Drug Act, which was pushed by drug companies and providers of medical services, removed from the market patent medicines that had never been scientifically tested. I personally believe that the American eugenics movement was where the Nazis got the majority of their ideas of eugenics which they ultimately used to kill millions of people. This illegal behavior began almost in conjunction with prohibition being voted into law. Wickersham discovered that trust busting meant higher prices for consumers. He challenged Taft for the Republican presidential nomination in the 1912 presidential election, but his candidacy was overshadowed by Theodore Roosevelt. [203], While anti-imperialist sentiments had been prevalent in the United States during this time, the acquisition of the Philippines sparked the relatively minor population into action. Certain wealthy men of this stamp, whose conduct should be abhorrent to every man of ordinarily decent conscience, and who commit the hideous wrong of teaching our young men that phenomenal business success must ordinarily be based on dishonesty, have during the last few months made it apparent that they have banded together to work for a reaction. Divorce rates increased as women preferred to seek education and freedom from the home. They looked to education as the key to bridging the gap between their present wasteful society and technologically enlightened future society. Progressivism, on the other hand, was a later movement. Campbell, Barbara Kuhn. "[263] Some social historians have posited that the KKK may in fact fit into the Progressive agenda, if Klansmen are portrayed as "ordinary white Protestants" primarily interested in purification of the system, which had long been a core Progressive goal. The inauguration of Pres. They worked to limit child labor in the textile mills, and supported public health campaigns to eradicate hookworm and other debilitating diseases. I would say that every major movement in society has its pros and cons. 5802602. [176][177], Numerous other programs were aimed at rural youth, including 4-H clubs,[178] Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. The progressive solution was modernization through consolidation, with the result of children attending modern schools. This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 01:27. [155] While La Follette always won his primary, that was not necessarily the case with other progressives. Two years later, however, when the legislature had to consider the amendment again before it could be submitted to the general electorate. A lot of people who underwent involuntary sterilization were told that they were getting a routine surgery and put under and only discovered later that they had been sterilized. Black parents donated land and labor to build improved schools for their children. This disarray enabled the conservatives (called "Stalwarts") to elect Emanuel Philipp as governor in 1914. Philanthropic Reformers and Business Reformers in the Progressive Era,". William McKinley in 1897 had seemed to mark the end of an era of domestic turmoil and the beginning of a new period of unparalleled tranquility. [146] Actions such as these from whites of the Progressive Era are some of the many that tied into the Progressive goal, as historian Michael McGerr states, "to segregate society. They criticized Progressivism as the ultimate end of a middle-class search for social control of the masses, or they focused on its class dimension. Roosevelt gave these journalists their nickname when he complained they were not being helpful by raking up too much muck. [274] Women consolidated their gains after the success of the suffrage movement, and moved into causes such as world peace,[275] good government, maternal care (the SheppardTowner Act of 1921),[276] and local support for education and public health. It is difficult to determine the level of compliance, and although the media at the time portrayed the law as highly ineffective, even if it did not eradicate the use of alcohol, it certainly decreased alcohol consumption during the period. The Roosevelt in approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. Progressives drew support from the middle class, and supporters included many lawyers, teachers, physicians, ministers, and business people.[13]. The states were at liberty to enforce prohibition or not, and most did not try.