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Progressive Movement (1890 – 1920) Social Darwinism (1890 – 1920) Def: This was an effort to cure many of the problems of American society

that had developed during the huge, rapid expanse of industrial growth in the last part of the 19th century. The frontier was tamed, major cities and businesses had developed, and the U.S. established an overseas empire, but not all citizens shared in the wealth, rewards of hard work, or optimism about the future. Progressives wanted to use their united efforts (and votes) to change things for the “greater good” of society.

Applying Charles Darwin`s scientific theories of evolution and natural selection to contemporary social development, the Social Darwinists said that in nature, only the fittest survived and that this principle also applied in the marketplace. This justification was enthusiastically adopted by American businessmen as “scientific proof” of their “superiority.”

Main Beliefs

Progressivism was rooted in the belief that government “of the people, by the people, for the people” was capable of improving the lives of all within society. Progressives believed that the role of government was to better the lives of its citizens.

Social Darwinism was rooted in the belief that wealth and power were signs of “superiority” and that humans generally benefited from intense competition and the removal of the weak and unfit.

Slogans “We all benefit when we work together to improve life and opportunities for all.” [The “social good” and “social justice” were important criteria in judging what should be done. Everybody deserves a chance to improve his or her life (through health, education, etc.)]

“Let the best man win.” “Stay out of my way.” “No rules.” “The marketplace can regulate itself.” [The “superior individual” and “self-made man” was their hero. Government shouldn’t “interfere.”]

Goals • Improvement of life and working conditions (like ending child labor, shortening the working day, ensuring fair wages for workers, ensuring safer working conditions) [also: the temperance (anti-drinking) movement]

• Improvement of services (like public transportation, postal service, fire dept., police dept., parks, public utilities, etc.)

• Allowing people more direct access to representation (like women’s suffrage [i.e., women’s right to vote], direct primaries, direct election of senators, recall, referendum or initiative, and the secret ballot)

• To make money and gain power and status • To build a monopoly or control their business

environment as much as possible to increase their business profits and reduce competition

• To prevent or limit government “interference” in “their” business (including avoiding paying taxes, paying their workers low wages, and avoiding paying workers “benefits”)

• The lives of workers (including their health) are their own problem, not an issue for business.

What gave them ideas?

Religion -- applying brotherly love and charity to everyday life Journalism – from “the muckrakers” to the fact finders: they identified

problems that needed to be solved or exposed corruption in government Movement groups” – Socialists wanted govt regulation of big business to

ensure fairness and benefit for the most people (workers and consumers). [“Radicals”: Communists – influenced by writings of Karl Marx – wanted

there to be no big businesses, no capitalism; the govt should own and run everything. Anarchists wanted no government at all, and often approved of violence to overthrow it “by any means necessary.”]

Herbert Spencer coined the phrase "survival of the fittest" to describe domination by “superior” human groups. Francis Galton said that just as traits are inherited in kin groups, the same is true for mental qualities (genius and talent) -- so governments should prevent over-breeding by the “less fit people in society.” In Galton's view, healthcare and welfare allowed “inferior” humans to survive and reproduce at levels faster than "superior" humans. He founded “eugenics” -- the idea of using science to improve human population by controlled breeding.

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How Is the “Early” Progressive Movement Relevant to Today?

1. Workers’ issues and “living” issues have re-emerged • Economic issues

i. In the 1890s, some of the Progressive Movement ideas emerged because of the Panic of 1893 economic downturn, which caused problems for people who lost their jobs, etc.

ii. The economic downturn in 2008 was caused by Wall St. investors and the big banks making very bad investments – but much of the damage of the financial crash was done to individual people, who lost their houses, lost their jobs, etc.

a. Many people blame the government for not keeping an eye on what these “too big to fail” financial businesses were doing (de-regulation of the banking industry and Wall St.). The banks were bailed out by the government – but by and large the people who lost homes or jobs weren’t helped (or not much).

b. These days, the job numbers are back up – but almost everyone who lost a job or changed jobs is earning less than they did before. And the businesses like it that way. The workers don’t.

• World Trade and Jobs i. In the 1890s, hundreds of thousands of immigrants came here because of the chance for jobs and because the U.S.

economy was growing. Some Americans got worried about the culture of the new people (thinking they were “too different” and these new peoole would change things about their culture that Americans didn’t want changed) and they worried that the new people would take their jobs.

ii. For the last 30 years or so, American jobs (especially manufacturing jobs) have been moved overseas by companies (often American-based companies) that want cheaper manufacturing costs (translation: pay workers less, give no worker benefits, pay less taxes, and have less “government interference” if they pollute the waters, etc.). Many businessmen see this as practical – that this maximizes their profits. They argue that American people get the benefits from being able to buy things (imported from China, for example) that are cheaper to buy. [Many Americans, though, don’t like it that various “trade agreements” mean that good-paying American jobs are harder to find now.]

• Healthcare issues – The recent fights over healthcare and who (and how) it should be handled are very much in today’s news. The main argument these days is over the issue of whether all citizens of the U.S. should have health insurance.

i. The Progressives basically argue that the government should provide healthcare coverage (i.e., insurance) that is paid for by peoples’ and businesses’ taxes. The argument is that healthier people contribute to society by being able workers, inventors, etc. and they pay taxes that should be spent for the greater good of all. Children, especially, should be helped to be healthy so they can grow up and contribute to society, etc. (This includes all kinds of other govt-provided benefits toward that goal, including food stamps, free or reduced school lunches, early childhood reading and preschool prep, etc.)

ii. The Social Darwinists (although they’re calling themselves “conservatives” – meaning they’re in favor of the govt not spending very much money at all on “social services” – like food stamps, free lunches, after-school care for kids, etc.)

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They don’t think the government should spend money on providing healthcare insurance for everyone. (They tend to dwell on those people they don’t think are “deserving” of healthcare – so their political ads tend to focus on “welfare queens” cheating the system (Reagan era) or “drug users” (G.H.W. Bush era) or lazy people who don’t work (G.W. Bush era) and suggest that your tax dollars are going to these “undeserving” people. These days they often argue that if you provide healthcare insurance for all, you’re going to make people “lazy” and “dependent.” (The answer, supposedly, is if it’s so important to you, you should just go earn the money to pay it yourself.)

2. Urbanization vs. “Independence” • If you live in a city, you need all kinds of public (or public-regulated) services: utilities, sewage, garbage services, police

dept., fire dept., etc. These services are expensive, but people pay taxes to help pay for them. • In rural areas, though, there are often few services of this type – so rural people don’t see the need to pay for them. They

often provide their own water, sewage (they have septic tanks), garbage, and other kinds of services, so they don’t want to pay taxes for these. They have a very “self-sufficient” life for the most part that’s very very different from city life.

In the 1890s, Theodore Roosevelt was a very different kind of Republican than we’re seeing now.

• His slogan was the “Square Deal,” saying that the government’s job was to be a fair referee to insure that everyone got a fair chance – the people, business, politics, etc.

• T.R. said that the federal government needed to manage certain areas of society so that the country could develop in an orderly and even-handed manner.

• He defined his domestic political program as consisting of three C's: 1. conservation of natural resources, 2. control of corporations, and 3. consumer protection.

Donald Trump campaigned on the slogan “Make America Great Again,” telling his voters that their government representatives hadn’t been listening to them and that he would.

• He said that he would pass a healthcare insurance plan that would be “cheaper” and “better” than the ACA (i.e., Obamacare). • The healthcare plan that was recently proposed was not “cheaper” or “better” at all – although Trump kept saying it was “terrific.” • Even worse, Trump had a reputation as a really good “deal-maker” – someone who, because he was a businessman – knew how to

make a good deal, which he said he’d do for the American people. That didn’t work at all during the recent healthcare insurance fight in Congress. The Republican House couldn’t agree on details of a bill and they kept cutting things out of the healthcare coverage to try to get more votes (like one last go-round cut out most maternity care and hospital coverage). Didn’t work!

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In brief: • After T. Roosevelt’s two terms, the next president was William Howard Taft.

o Taft put in a tariff (this was old-style Republican policy, that had already been proved not to work – very un-Progressive). o Taft supported a political crony – Joe Cannon, a dictatorial Speaker of the House – who “got things done.” But the House

members revolted and reduced Cannon’s power. o In the mid-term elections of 1910, Republicans lost seats in the House and (Progressive) Democrats gained control. o After that, Taft didn’t get much done – because the House Democrats blocked him.

• When T.R. returned, he was disappointed in Taft. He wanted to run again as President, but the Republican Party didn’t want him to. o T.R. started a third party – the Progressive Party (usually called the “Bull Moose Party”) – which split the Republican vote in

the 1912 election. o Democrats won and Woodrow Wilson became president.

• Woodrow Wilson was an idealist (former college president). He passed a lower tariff bill and the first income tax bill since the Civil War. (Why would Progressives support that? Because they were expecting that that tax money would be used for the kinds of “betterment of society” programs that they wanted.)

o Wilson passed anti-trust regulation and regulation of trade. o Labor leaders were delighted.

The Transportation Revolution

• The first cars o The Model T (Ford) was introduced and became common in the early 1900s. o It had a tremendous effect on transportation and society. (Public roads were made, cities got bigger with suburbs that you

could drive to in a car. o Then there was the oil boom with the need for fuel for these cars. o The making of these cars changed things, too, with the assembly line method that Henry Ford pioneered. o Henry Ford was an unusual businessman in that he determinedly paid his workers a good wage ($5 – twice the average at that

time) for a fair workday (only an 8-hour day!) • The first planes

o The Wright Brothers (Orville and Wilbur) flew the first engine-driven plane at Kitty Hawk, SC on Dec. 17, 1903 o By 1908, planes were being made and were appearing in the skies occasionally (these were bi-planes).

Other Advances

o Skyscrapers (made possible by steel girders and advances in architecture – like Louis Sullivan) o Public parks and landscaping (Central Park and Frederick Law Olmstead)

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o Urban planner Daniel Burnham designed the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 – city park systems as part of urban planning (and the Exposition as showcase of the wonders of new inventions and celebrations of culture, art, etc. (i.e., very Progressive – very humanism-oriented)

o Department stores (Marshall Field in Chicago) and chain stores (Woolworth’s) and the shopping center o The Wright Brothers (Orville and Wilbur) flew the first engine-driven plane at Kitty Hawk, SC on Dec. 17, 1903 o Settlement Houses – group living for people with various needs for the urban poor (and offered classes, help, social services,

etc.) o Expansion and improvement of education (McGuffey’s Reader) and growth of high schools (previously the requirement for

public school was only to go through 8th grade) and expansion of colleges and kinds of colleges (also more women enrolled) o African-American colleges – Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee Institute (with professor George Washington Carver,

with new uses for the sweet potato and peanuts) o Public libraries funded by Andrew Carnagie (the steel magnate) o Technology changes in printing (for newspapers, magazines, and books): new presses, paper supply, typesetting, and

photography (in ways that allowed photos to be used in these printed formats) o Growth of advertisisng o Newspapers: Joseph Pulitzer and W.R. Hearst o Entertainment: Sports (baseball, boxing, cycling), stage events (drama, melodrama, the musical revue), and circuses (P.T.

Barnum and the Barnum & Bailey Circus) – and finally movies (before WWI, just Edison’s nickelodeon)

What Led to World War I? • Nationalism – bands of people in Europe wanted to be united under their own government (which they saw as freedom and self-

determination) • Imperialism – the major powers of Europe had been competing with one another for colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East • A System of Alliances

o The nations of Europe began to sign treaties of assistance with their allies and against their competitors • The Triple Entente (later called “the Allies”) – France, Great Britain, and Russia • The Triple Alliance (later called “the Central Powers”) – Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy

• Militarism – all the major powers were stockpiling weapons and ammunition as well as building up their navies to protect shipping The Unexpected Spark

• On June 28th, 1914, a teenaged anarchist assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (and heir to the throne) and his wife Sophie in the streets of Sarajevo, Serbia. [This area had been in contention between the Bosnians and the Austrians.]

• Serbia tried to apologize. The Austrians demanded about 30 severe conditions – all but two of which the Serbs agreed to.

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War Is Declared • The Austrians declared war on Serbia July 28, 1914. • The Serbs appealed to their ally, Russia. Russia ordered mobilization of its troops. • Austria appealed to its ally Germany. Germany declared war on Russia. Then Germany declared war on Russia’s ally, France. • Then Great Britain (as ally of France) declared war on Germany. • The U.S. tried to stay neutral. So did Italy.

War Breaks Out

• In August, 1914, the Germans launched an all-out offensive, with their troop trains rolling through Belgium. (Their bet was that it would take Russia longer to mobilize, so they were going to hit and conquer France, then use their trains to zip back to the eastern front and fight Russia.)

• The French and British troops rushed to the Marne River, where they managed to stop the German advance. • The two sides dug in, and that’s basically where they stayed, waging trench warfare for 5 years! • New weapons were used: huge new guns (the German “Big Bertha”), gas (mustard gas, chlorine gas, poison gas) and gas masks,

flame throwers, submarines (German U-Boats) The U.S. Joins the Fight

• Eventually the Germans sank the American ship Lusitania in May of 1915. • Wilson was re-elected in 1916 on the platform “He Kept Us Out of War”

The Zimmerman Note was the final straw – German ambassador Zimmerman promised Mexico that if they’d revolt against the U.S. that they’d get all their lands back (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, etc.)

• U.S. declared war on Germany and her allies – Germany, Turkey, and Austria-Hungary – in 1917.