HIST 2620 1nd Edition Lecture 8 Outline of Last Lecture I The Rise and fall of the People s Party II The Silver Issue III The Election of 1896 IV Test Review V Essay Questions Outline of Current Lecture I Populism Progressivism II Progressivism III Progressive Credo IV Weaknesses of the Progressive Movement V Progressive plans for Reform VI American Imperialism VII First Colonial Acquisitions Current Lecture I Populism Progressivism Remember we are coming out of the Gilded Age but there are continuing themes after the turn of the century Industrialization picks up steam and the problems it causes The Labor Movement in the United States continues to evolve well into the 20 th century Women and children in the workforce abuses also the issue of immigration and the These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best Used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute issue of racial equality Remember he was talking about Gold vs Silver issue and it would no longer be as important issue to farmers o After 1896 things get better New gold fields will be discovered and an increase in gold in circulation This means more money in circulation There are significant crop failures in Europe and India and don t have enough food so Farmers have the chance to increase profits o Heavy immigration at this time also means a bigger domestic market Things are so good for American Farmers that from 1900 1914 was the Golden Age of American Agriculture Many of the problems farmers try to address were solved so they are in a much better economic position II Progressivism 1 The emergence of new concepts of the purposes and functions of government 2 Changes in Government policies and institutions 3 The Political agitation that produced those changes 4 The political agitation that that produces changes in government policies and institutions that resulted from the emergence of new concepts of the purposes and functions of government Scope of Progressivism o Appeared at every level of government local state and federal o Promoted a wide range of new govern activities Regulate business like trusts monopolies etc Some were interested in bringing about a moral revival alcohol ban Consumer protection was an issue an example would be snake oil that was snakes marinated in ethyl alcohol and poisonous chemicals and was marketed as a medicine Methyl alcohol was highly poisonous and was used in snake oil They wanted to make sure these products wouldn t harm you Conservation of natural resources People interested in true preservation didn t come until after FDR Conservations want to conserve them for the future use by people Educational improvement John Dewey a great example Tax reform o Progressives wanted to bring government into the economy more directly They were interested in bringing the government into the lives of Americans III Progressive Credo 5 basic beliefs of progressives o A more limited role of citizens as far as direct access to government o By limiting direct participation they wanted the decisions to be made by experts Professions were coming together at this time and there were standards being made for these professions There were Soft and Hard sciences developing theories and ideas were the types of experts that FDR believed should have a greater role in the direct participation of government o They wanted a strong Chief Executive They believed he should take an active role o A short Ballot which meant many officials appointed by the chief executive because he should know o Government jobs should be acquired based on PROVEN merit This all ties into the reform of the civil service system since the Pendleton Act IV Weaknesses of the Progressive Movement Uneven Pattern of Reform Some states saw a lot of reform while others saw a lot We tend to not see southern states as being involved in progressive reform but there were some in the system that were progressive compared to other democrats at that time Court Roadblocks because various attempts at regulation were being stopped by government due to lack of due process Survival of political machines Tammany hall in NY Progressives drew targets on the back of these political corruptions but didn t end them V Progressive plans for Reform Wanted to wipe out political machines They worked to try to make sure business would not dominate government This is odd since business learned early on that regulation was something that government would pursue so their protection was tied to their participation in the development of these regulations They wanted to make sure the people in general had overall control of the government and they would not be overridden by special interests Wanted to work for social and economic reform They wanted to eliminate practices that harmed laborers farmers and consumers They also wanted to expand government regulation of the economy in order to further the public interest They are attempting to defend against special interests pressures on the government Social justice movement people trying to reform the foundations of society A part of the progressive movement Examples of these kinds of reforms o Tenement house laws to make regulation on the state of living o More stringent Child Labor Laws and those that wanted to abolish child labor completely Children should be in school not working o Also better working conditions and pay for women Those who were very interested in child labor laws o More and BETTER playgrounds for children in the city Where children could be children o Social gospel movement mainline protestant denominations that began to think that it s very difficult to preach to those that are hungry and without a place to live and without food to eat They would help them learn about Christ through helping them They wanted to get government to help with their movement They were not interested in individual charity because the problems were much bigger than individuals These problems are essentially endless very interrelated problems Individual charity will not really help The individual is less important in the scheme of things so to help you have to look at groups classes occupations and neighborhoods Then scientifically analyzing these groups to see the needs based upon the group not the individual Social workers have a basic understanding that people are suffering as a result of BIGGER problems than their own Have to understand bigger problems 5 main features of