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The Progressive Movement in America was an in part an attempt to address social problems that developed in America after the Civil war as a result of industrialization. Progressives also addressed some more long term problems such as woman's sufferage. America had changed considerably since the Civil War. The frontier had been settled, America had emerged as the world's greatest agricultural and industrial power, there was an experiment with imperialism, great cities had developed, and huge numbers of immigrants accepted. America bustled with wealth, optimism, and industrial expansion. Many Americans had benefitted from the rise of America as an industrial power. Many Americans had not. Large numbers of Americans subsisted on an economic edge. Children and women toiled in sweatshops and mills for pitiful sums. Poor children were often unable to attend school. Public health programs were week and products sold were sometimes unhealthy. Working conditions were often unsafe and there was no work place protections or disability insurance. There was no protection for widows and orphans and no old age protecion schemes. Eugenics was a discipline endorsed by some progressives. Prisons and state hospitals for the retarded and mentally ill were commomly horror houses. State and Federal goverments were often run on the spoils system. Legislators in many states as well as senators were not selected by direct vote. Monoplies and trusts gained great power in the American economy. A growing movement to prohibit alcoholic beverages were a part if the progressive movement. And with the outbreak of World War I, many progressives took up the cause of pacifism. The interesting thing about the Progressive program is how many of their issues were eventually addressed by legislation and government action or programs.
Progressives also addressed some more long term problems such as woman's sufferage.
America had changed considerably since the Civil War. The frontier had been settled, America had emerged as the world's greatest agricultural and industrial power. great cities had developed, and huge numbers of immigrants accepted. America bustled with wealth, optimism, and industrial expansion. Many Americans had not, especially recent immigrants. It would be incorrect to say that the undustrial revolution created poverty. It dod not. It created wealth. That wealth was poorly distributed, but even so, workers flocked from rural areas to seek jobs in the cities. Povery existed in rural areas long before the industrial revolution. It was, however, less visible than in the densely packed tenaments of the big industrial cities.
Large numbers of Americans subsisted on an economic edge. They attempted to improve their economic conditions through labor unions, but many employers were histile to the unions.
Child labor is to often associated with the industrial revolution. This is a misconception. Children toiled on farms for centuries before the industrial revolution. Thdy worked for their parents or for neighbors.
What changed with the indistrial revolution was the recognition of child ;abor as aocial problem. Here thecexplotation of children was often egregious, in part because unlike the situation in riral areas, there was often no cinnection between employers and workers. But also the issue of child labor became more pronounced in the public mind because it was more visible. Children and women toiled in sweatshops and mills for pitiful sums. There were advantages to hiring women and children. They were willing to work for less and they were more docile. more willing to accept the dictates if managemebt thn adult male workers. And for some jobs, the small size of children as well as their nimbel fingers were an advantage. The first stirings of concerns about child and women labor was raised by labor unions in the mid-19th century, primarily out of concern over competition. By the late-19th century it had become more of a moral issue. Muckraking journalists and poltically conscious photo-journalists had a huge impact on public opinion. Many states began to take action restructing child labor, but Supreme Court decesions made Federal action on a national level impossible until the New Deal.
Working conditions were often unsafe.
Monoplies and trusts gained great power in the American economy.
A growing movement to prohibit alcoholic beverages were a part if the progressive movement.
and there was no work place protections or disability insurance. There was no protection for widows and orphans and no old age protecion schemes.
Eugenics was a discipline endorsed by some progressives.
Prisons and state hospitals for the retarded and mentally ill were commomly horror houses.
State and Federal goverments were often run on the spoils system. Legislators in many states as well as senators were not selected by direct vote.
Poor children were often unable to attend school.
Public health programs were week.
Products sold were sometimes unhealthy. This was especially true of food products, including canned goods, mean, milk and much more. America was far behind Europe in product safety or even analyzing what was in the food products being sold. This included milk which was primarily being sold for children. An intrepid chemist led the effort to address the problem. Harvey Washington Wiley was working at Purdue University when asked by Indiana State authorities to look into honey. He found to his surprise that there was very little honey in the jars of honey bring sold in stores--it w mostly corn syrup. He thus began the effort to pass needed legislation. Working first at Pursue and then as Chief Chemist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he was essentially the father of the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906). When forced out by corporate interests, he then continued his work at the Good Housing Institute.
There was an American experiment with imperialism. Many Americans benefited economically from the rise of America as an industrial power. This and the increasing population gave the United States vast potential military power. A potential for the most part the United States chose not to develop even into the early-20th century. The U.S. Army was smaller than even some minor European powers. The United States, however as a result of the Spanish-American War (1898-99) acquired several overseas possession of the Spanish Empire the largest being the Philippine Islands. So for the first time the United states found it itself in possession of overseas territories that it had no intention to annex and incorporate into American body politic. Most of the Spanish territories were small island with limited populations. The Philippines in contrast had a population of several million people. This gave rise to a debate in America as to imperialism. It did not take k=long for the United States to decide that it did not want to be an imperial power. Congress passed the Tydings-McDuffie Philippines Independence Act (1934) granting the Philippine Islands full independence with about a 10-year transitional. At the time the Philippines was already moving toward home rule. Independence was complicated by the Pacific War and Japanese seizure of the Philippines (1942). The Japanese wanted the resource of what they called the Southern Resource Zone (SRZ). And astride the trade routes between the SRZ and the Japanese Home Islands were the Philippines. So along with the attack on Pearl Harbor the Japanese invaded the Philippines. Filipinos were shocked by the Japanese invasion and even more so by the brutality and exploitive nature of Japanese rule. The United States liberated the Philippines (1944-45). Independence was finally realized (1946). This ended the American debate over imperialism.
And with the outbreak of World War I, many progressives took up the cause of pacifism. American pacifism began with religious groups like the Quakers. The Civil War created a widespread revulsion for war in America, but no pacifist movement and organizations developed. The modern American pacifist movement has its origins in World War I. Women from the beginning have been important in the pacifist movement. And of course World War I was the point at which the Suffragette Movement reached a critical mass. The 19th Amendment became law after the War (1919). The first American pacifist group grew out of Jane Adam's Hull House in Chicago. With the outbreak of World War I in Europe, American women who had been engaged in suffrage and social reform movements became involved in the peace movement. Activists Jane Addams, Carrie Chapman Catt, and others formed the Woman's Peace Party (WPP) (1915). Later that same year, the WPP sent a delegation to the International Congress of Women for a Permanent Peace, held at The Hague in the Netherlands, across the border from German occupied Belgium. The American and European women met to protest against World War I (April 28. 1915). The outcome was to form the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Jane Adams was chosen as the first president. The choice of the Hague was interesting. Unlike neutral Belgium, the Germans did not invade the neutral Netherlands. The Netherlands would, however, be another example in World War II of what happens to a country with a small army unable to defend itself. The American chapter of the WILPF became the oldest American pacifist group. Peace and freedom of course are two very different concepts. History tells us that countless people have lost their freedom and sometimes their lives because of the inability to defend themselves.
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