Chapter 6 Flashcards
What was the Progressive Movement?
A plethora of reform agendas that became popular around 1900-1920.
How have historians seen the Progressive Movement over time?
A. 1940-1950s - “status revolt” thesis: Americans who thought they were losing their power in a rapidly changing America tried to preserve their socio-economic status with reform initiatives.
B. 1960-1970s - “search for order” thesis: an attempt to impose organization and promote efficiency in what seemed to be a society in flux.
C. Modern - “intervention” thesis: all
Progressives agreed that someone (or something) had to intervene in 1900-1916 America to make sense of what seemed to be a brand new social, political, and economic landscape.
Who advanced the modern, “intervention” interpretation of the Progressive Movement?
John Whiteclay Chambers
Why did the Progressive Movement begin?
A.It was a response to the many changes wrought by
industrialization, urbanization, and immigration
B. “Bigness” was replacing familiar and trusted “smallness.”
C. The old pillars of society—father, pastor, farmer, small shopkeeper—seemed to be losing while the robber barons, machine politicians, and amoral “men on the make” seemed to be winning.
How much change did the Progressive Movement want?
They wanted to tweak and fine tune, not
revolutionize or transform.
What was the Progressive worldview?
- A strong dose of Christian presuppositions, which results in a desire to do what is morally right.
- A faith in science and scientific methods, especially if it will promote efficiency and organization.
- A conviction that rational, orderly, structured management (like in big corporations or other large
organizations) is good. - Optimism that humans can solve their most vexing socio-economic problems, especially via
prudent regulation, policing, and management. - A belief in democratic methods, especially if this meant taking political power away from “the
interests” (e.g., big business, bankers, urban machines) and giving it back to “the people.”
Was Progressivism compatible with a laissez faire worldview?
The Progressives did NOT reject laissez faire approaches or rugged individualism, but they did reject extreme don’t-budge-an-inch understandings of these concepts. Progressives thought at least some interventionism was necessary.
List the categories of Progressive reforms.
- Business regulation
- Good government reforms
- Social justice measures
- Social control measures
What was the Progressive movement like in the south?
Extremely weak. They mostly used the Progressive movement to disenfranchise blacks if they used it at all.
What was the western Progressive movement like?
Very strong. Railroad companies were regulated, virgin forests were protected, women were given the right to vote and the political process was democratized with the initiative, the referendum, and the recall. (These political reforms may have been a strategy to entice more settlers to re-locate
to the West.)
What characteristics did regions that embraced the Progressive movement usually have?
- Urban growth
- Industrial growth
- Numerous immigrants
- A sizeable and articulate middle class
Where was the Progressive movement strongest?
The Northeast and the Midwest.
How did the 1896 Presidential election crush the populist movement?
- Bryan was defeated
- Populist ideas were now carried forward by the minority Democratic Party
- Fusion with the Democrats stripped the populists of their energy and appeal.
Was Progressivism similar to populism?
Yes. Many of the Populists’ ideas were toned down and re-expressed with more restrained rhetoric by Progressives.
What were some proto-progressive acts of legislation passed in the late 1880’s?
- The Pendleton Act (which launched widespread civil service reform, hence removing many federal jobs from the spoils system)
- The Sherman Anti-Trust Act
- The Interstate Commerce Commission.
What were some private sector reform projects that pre-dated the Progressive Movement?
- Ida Wells’ anti-lynching campaign
- The settlement house movement (which was led by Jane Addams)
- Francis Willard’s temperance movement as embodied in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).
What entity triggered the Progressive movement?
Investigative journalist (or muck-rakers) who reported on real and alleged (but usually real) injustices in business and politics.
What are some examples of muck-raking?
- Ida Tarbell’s exposure
of Standard Oil Company’s rapacious business practices - Upton Sinclair’s disclosure of life inside a Chicago meatpacking plant in The Jungle.
- Lincoln Steffens exposed political corruption and rampant undemocratic practices
(which often meant exposing the workings of the urban political machines) in his famous series “The Shame of the Cities.” - Ray Stannard Baker investigated ways that black Americans were deprived of their full citizenship rights.
- The photojournalist Jacob Riis prowled the New York City streets and captured the horrendous living conditions there in thousands of photographs. He then published the photos in one of America’s most
famous books: How the Other Half Lives. - Other famous muckrakers included Henry Demarest Lloyd and Frank Norris
What is Progressivism with an emphasis on private intervention and a mistrust of government intervention called?
Voluntarism.
What were some examples of Voluntarism?
- Urban ministries of Christians.
- The Salvation Army.
- The YMCA.
What was the Social Gospel movement?
A movement that redefined the Christian message so that it was physical (and not a spiritual) that lasted from 1880-1929.
What did the Social Gospel movement push for?
Social justice, humanitarian assistance, and
attacks on economic oppression to the forefront; the call for conversion experiences disappeared
What did the Social Gospel movement often produce?
An emphasis on relieving earthly suffering through faith.
What caused the Social Gospel movement to become popular?
- The Civil War sufficiently cracked people’s faith as people were unable to use the Bible to judge the slavery issue with any finality.
- Darwinism and evolution further caused people to question whether the Genesis account was true.
