Current LectureThe Progressive Era in TexasIn the first two decades of the twentieth century, Texans shared optimism and confidence that permeated all of the US society in what would be known as the Progressive EraTexas seemed like some boy giant at 16: Texas was an interesting mix between the backwards and the modernAg economy was suspicious of corporate business, but it stood on the verge of an oil boom that would make Texas an international symbol of corporate powerPolitically, Texas stood in the Democrat camp, a fact that meant that it segregated whites from Africans and barely tolerated Mexican AmericansTexas embodied the tensions and contradictions of the New South while at the same time possessing a coolly arrogant self-sufficiency.Texas had been able for a while to provide for itself.During these 20 years from 1900 to 1920, the state pursued a campaign forWomen’s suffrageRegulation of corporationsTexas gained important national influence in congress and the white house, specifically during the Wilson presidency1911 - When Texas becomes as fully developed as Ohio and Illinois, her people will control the USLBJ might indicate that furtherNationally, interest in reform activity declined markedly after the populaces died out.For a while, Texans / Americans like Texans during this time wanted to bask in the glory of the US national debut as a world power.Texans took special pride in the famed unit of the Rough RidersRoosevelt and Leonard Wood signed up in a lobby within a Texas hotelTexas had the most badasses.Soon however, citizen demands that politicians deal withUrbanizationIndustrializations growing evilsImpulse returnOriginsWhereas the Populists arose in ag regions and called for changes that would aid farmersLike those in Texas’s ag societyProgressivists appeared nationwide and sought reforms that would benefit most AmericansHard to categorize progressives as a wholeToo diverse to follow a single creedAgree on a single set of issuesReformers generally attacked railroads and business monopolies.***Emphasized the need for social legislationChild labor lawsRise of the modern big govtCalled for greater efficiencyWanted the greater efficiency from the govt, businesses and other aspects of lifeSought to deal with child labor, alcoholism, etc.Owe much of our political heritage and modern day rights to ProgressivesChampioned the primaries in nominating political candidatesReason that the legislatures don’t elect citizensChampioned popular senatorsBehind women’s suffrageProhibition and other behavior policing measuresAlso behind the birth on a bureaucratic scale on wildlife and environmental management, natural resource conservationWhy we have national parksMany progressive reforms can be considered positive.Others such as prohibition and moral purity crusades, though derided from good intentions were poorly executed and made more harm than goodSome, such as eugenics (selectively breeding a human through racial breeding made more harm) ((Hitler was a Eugenicist)) ((Some say Hitler got his idea from the Klan and other progressive science))Most strikingly, Progressivism in the South, including Texas had a large FOR WHITES ONLY sign.The reforms were meant to help white people and they actually brought voting rights restrictions that hadn’t existed beforeHardened the attitudes toward segregation.Reforms actually effected all Texans, prohibition gained so much attention that some experts point to it as intensifying Texas’s cultural distrust of big govt.Disaster Births Progressive ReformsOn the morning of Sept 8 1900, Galveston was home to more than 37,000 residentsMore than half the buildings had disappeared or were on the groundGalveston struggled to recoverThe city was far too wealthy to be abandoned.Some cities gave up and abandoned after getting hit by hurricanesGalveston was the Wall Street of the SouthGalveston’s leaders built at the time a 6 mile long seawall rising 17 feet above low tide and the army corp. of engineers pumped sand in to raise the level of the entire city 17 feet.Elevated the city called for raising over 2000 buildings, streets, etc.Jacked up a 3000 pound churchIn this context that city commissions were bornRebuilding Galveston lead to a new form of city govtNationally held as one of the first progressive reformsBefore this time there were no city commissions in the countryLocal businessmen lacked either the efficiency or the diversity of perspective to oversee the recovery program devised a plan for local men to run the cityCritics charged that using appointees were undemocraticYou need to elect everyoneCan’t just say these people are running the townLegislature responded and made a system that let voters decide who would be on the city commissionWhile the system reduced the poor and minority voice, (all white commissions) the group became really efficient.Made all general govt decisionsEstablish a tax rateEach commissioner specialized in a diff aspect of city govtThe plan worked so well in Galveston that other cities (beginning in Houston) would copy itTeddy Roosevelt and Wilson would endorse it500 cities nationwide would adopt itGalveston’s invention created progress out of disaster and also demonstrated how seriously progressives valued efficiency even if it meant that you lost some of you voiceAppointees then made the city decisionsTexas was the birthplace for one of the most important and long lasting democratic reformsContinuity and Change1900Texans experienced a remarkable demonstration of continuity and change in their livesLots of change and alot stayed the sameMigrant influx helped push the state’s population to just over 3 million in 1900 to over 4.5 million in 192053% increase in 20 yearsEven this staggering change didn’t alter the state’s economic structureAg still dominatedMore that 800,000 farmersProducts of farm and ranch totaled over ?5x the output of Texas factoriesBy 1919 the state led the entire nation in total value of crops, in cotton production, in cattle raising, and actually in several other economic****Farmers raised 2.5 million balesTexas almanac : cotton sits on the top of the throne of TexasPrices went from 14 cents a pound in 1909During WWI, cotton went to 35 cents a poundDespite this improvement in their condition in