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