“Muckrakers”
• Investigative journalists
• Name given by Theodore Roosevelt as an insult– Taken as a compliment
• Goal was to expose the ills of society– First step toward fixing them
• McClure’s Magazine
Famous Muckrakers
Lincoln Steffins Ida Tarbell“Shame of the Cities “The Standard Oil TrustGovernment Corruption Monopolies
Famous Muckrakers
Jacob Riis Upton Sinclair“How the Other Half Lives” “The JungleSlums & Poverty Food Safety & Labor
Progressive Reforms
• Changed roles of Women by 1900– Fewer children– Husbands out of home– Technology = less housework
• “Clubwomen” – 1,000,000 in General Federation of Women by 1917– Initially social clubs, book clubs, etc.– Eventually more political
• Parks, schools, settlement houses
• Labor issues, slums, suffrage, birth control, etc
Women’s Rights
Progressive Reforms
• Growing movement for voting rights– Carrie Chapman Catt– Susan B. Anthony– “The Winning Plan”
• Push for female labor laws
• Birth Control– Margaret Sanger
Women’s Rights
Carrie Chapman Catt
History of Women’s Suffrage
• Judith Sargeant Murray in 1780’s
• Seneca Falls in 1848
• 15th Amendment (betrayal?)
• Wyoming in 1890
• State by state for next 3 decades
Suffrage Arguments
• Women as equal– Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
etc.
• Less threatening Points– Bringing “morality” to
politics
– White women to offset black & immigrant vote
• Anti-suffrage leagues• The “natural order” of
the “separate spheres”• Separate sphere was
advantageous for women– Special protections
• Liquor lobby & anti-prohibition
For Against
Discussion Statements1. Women owe a debt to Quaker philosophy for their
freedom.
2. The 15th Amendment was an insult to American women.
3. In the 19th Century concept of separate realms, women actually had the better part.
4. It is odd that any men were sympathetic to women’s suffrage.
5. Women’s suffrage was delayed by white male-dominated society’s need for a system of slavery.
Margaret Sanger
1910’s “pornography”by Margaret Sanger
Socialism in the United States• Socialism is a political philosophy • Argues that society and economy must be
structured to create more equality• Opposes capitalism and unlimited individual
profit• Argues that the workers are more important
to production than owners & deserve the profit
• Supports government ownership and strong regulation to create conditions of equality
Socialism in the United States
Socialist Party Founder, Eugene V. Debs
Socialism in the United States
• Some success– Debs received almost a million votes for president– 18 Socialist mayors elected in 1911
• But Socialism has never been a major force– Higher standard of living in US– Possibility of social mobility– Ideal of “rugged individualism” in USA– Racially & ethnic divisions in US society
The International Workers of the World (IWW or “Wobblies”)
• Radical, anarchist union– Total, complete rejection of capitalism
• “One big union”
• Sometimes linked with sabotage & violence
• Led by “Big Bill” Haywood
• Attacked & destroyed during WW I
“Big Bill” Haywood