Post on 25-Dec-2015
Transition from the
Gilded Age to the
Progressive Era
Industry
Cost & Benefit of Laissez-faire COST: Limiting
government control reduces the possibility of regulation and corruption manifesting
BENEFIT: allows the market to govern itself, based on supply and demand
Technology & Manufacturing
Technology contributed to longer workdays and higher levels of production
Light bulbs Assembly line production
Innovations in manufacturing and machineryLed to the need for laborers to maintain factoriesLed to the production of more products, lower
prices, more available jobs, higher wages = economic prosperity
First steps towards government regulation of businesses
Anti-Trust Acts: the Federal laws forbidding businesses from monopolizing a market or restraining free trade
Example: Sherman Anti-Trust Act - law to prevent the artificial raising of prices by large combinations of companies by restricting trade or supply
First steps towards government regulation of businesses
Interstate Commerce Commission was government’s first large-scale attempt to regulate business in the interest of society at large
Hepburn Act tried to strengthen the ICC by giving it the power to set railroad rates and ensure that companies did not compete unfairly
SocialReforms
Pure Food and Drug Act
1906 - Prevented the
manufacture, sale or
transportation of adulterated,
misbranded, poisonous or
deleterious foods, drugs,
medicines, and/or liquors
Meat Inspection Act
1906 - Required federal inspection of
meat sold through interstate
commerce and required the
Agriculture Department to set
standards of cleanliness in
meatpacking plants
Triangle Shirtwaist Company1911 - fire swept through the Triangle
Shirtwaist Company in NYC150 women workers were trapped by locked
doors and diedOutrage at the deaths caused NYC to pass
strict codes
Zoning lawsBuilding codesHealth codes
Fire hazardsUnsafe machineryWorking conditions
ImmigrationCause
Immigrants sought a better life in the United States, to escape poverty, religious discrimination, etc.
Effect
Increased population, cities over-crowded, unskilled labor force for factories, etc.
Changing Role of Women
Cause Due to
industrialization, many women changed from homebound producers to wage-earning consumers
Gained right to vote
Effect Became social and
even political reformers
Worked outside of the home
Affected the economy
Voice in politics
Child Labor Reformers established National Child Labor
Committee (1904) to work towards abolishing child labor
The Bitter Cry of the Children by John Spargo (1906) Jane Addams helped secure passage of the Child
Labor Law, which restricted the use of child labor in factories
Other limits on Child Labor: Minimum age Maximum work hours Compulsory education laws
Government
Changing Role of Federal Government
Americans began to look to the federal government to solve the nation’s economic and social problems ICC could set ratesAgricultural Department could inspect foodBureau of Corporations could monitor businessAttorney general could rapidly bring antitrust
lawsuits under the Expedition Act
Elimination of Spoils System
Spoils System (also called Patronage) Government jobs went to supporters of the winning party
in an election People believed this system prevented government from
addressing the nation’s issues and corrupted government employees
Pendleton Act 1883 Allowed the president to decide which federal jobs would
be filled according to rules laid down by a bipartisan Civil Service Commission
Once appointed, a civil service official could not be removed for political reasons
Rutherford B. Hayes Attacked the practice of patronage by appointing
reformers to his cabinet and replacing officials who owned their jobs to party bosses
“Laboratory of Democracy”
Robert La Follette, governor of Wisconsin,
pressured the state legislature to require each
party to hold a direct primary
Direct Primary: All party members could vote
for a candidate to run in the general election
Electoral Changes To force state legislatures to respond to voters,
three new reforms were introduced in many states:
Recall: allowed voters to demand a special election to remove an elected official from office before his/her term expired
Referendum: allowed proposed legislation to be submitted to the voters for approval
Initiative: allowed a group of citizens to introduce legislation and required legislature to vote on it
Progressive Era Reforms
16th Amendment: Income Taxes17th Amendment: Direct Election of
Senators18th Amendment: Prohibition19th Amendment: Women’s Suffrage
Progressive Era Reforms16th Amendment: Income Taxes
1895 Supreme Court declared a federal income tax unconstitutional
Authorized an income tax that is levied on a district (local) basis
17th Amendment: Direct Election of Senators
18th Amendment: Prohibition 19th Amendment: Women’s Suffrage
Progressive Era Reforms 16th Amendment: Income Taxes17th Amendment: Direct Election of
Senators In 1913, this amendment was
changed to state that people, instead of state legislatures, elect U.S. senators
18th Amendment: Prohibition 19th Amendment: Women’s Suffrage
Progressive Era Reforms 16th Amendment: Income Taxes 17th Amendment: Direct Election of Senators18th Amendment: Prohibition
1919 - Prohibited the production, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages in the U.S.
Later repealed by the 21st Amendment because it proved to be too difficult to enforce
19th Amendment: Women’s Suffrage
Progressive Era Reforms 16th Amendment: Income Taxes 17th Amendment: Direct Election of Senators 18th Amendment: Prohibition19th Amendment: Women’s Suffrage
1920 - Guaranteed women the right to vote
Many already had the right to vote in state elections but this amendment made their right to vote in all state and national elections constitutional