Unit 1: The Emergence of Modern America
Topic #1: The Progressive Era
Guiding Questions:
• What were the causes of the progressive reform movement?
• How did progressives reform society?
• How did TR and Wilson transform the role of government? the office of
the presidency?
• Is is possible to preserve economic opportunity and equality in an age
of big business?
• Is it possible to preserve democracy in an age of accelerating
immigration and rampant political corruption?
• How democratic was this movement?
1

New Political Ideas: Socialism
New Problems in U.S.
New Religious Ideas‐‐‐Social Gospel
Causes of Progressivism
New Forms of Journalism:
Muckraking
2

How did progressives reform society?
Individuals
Identify
Jane Addams Lewis Hine Mother Jones
Problems in Society
Set up
Turn To
Local Organizations
Hull House
3

How did progressives reform society?
Case Study: Child Labor
Why was child labor an issue? You'll need to go beyond a surface level explanation here.
4

How did progressives reform society?
Case Study: Child Labor
What were the goals of Jane Addams, the National Child Labor Committee, and John Spargo?
5

How did progressives reform society?
Case Study: Child Labor
What strategies did they use? Use specific examples from the sources to support your ideas.
6

Results
State Level
• By 1914, every state but one had passed laws setting a minimum age for work.
National Level
• In 1916, Congress passed the Keating‐Owens Child Labor Act.
• The law prohibited interstate commerce in goods manufactured by children.
• In 1918, the Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional in Hammer v. Dagenhart
(1918). The Supreme Court concluded that Congress did not have the power to regulate the
age at which a child could work.
7

How did the progressive era presidents transform the role of
government? the office of the presidency?
1901 1904 1908 1912 1916
8

Teddy Roosevelt (R), 1901 ‐ 1909
9

Woodrow Wilson (D), 1913 ‐ 1921
Concerns: Impact of big business on American society‐‐‐saw big
business as a threat to core American values such as competition,
individualism, the ability to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps
(Ben Franklin)
Goals: Preserve individualism, preserve competition (these are pretty conservative goals!), Improve the
conditions of average Americans like farmers (Federal Farm Loan Act) and children (Keatings Owen Act) and
workers (Adamson Act)
Vision of the Role of Government:
New Freedom‐‐‐during his First Term (1912 ‐ 1916) he believed there should be limited government
regulation‐‐‐govt. should break up monopolies and regulate competition. during his Second Term (1916 ‐
1921) he expanded his vision for govt‐‐a stronger role to regulate competition but also to protect workers,
farmers, and children.
Examples:
• Federal Trade Commission Act‐‐‐continuous regulation of big business (not automatically breaking up
monopolies but regulating them)
• Federal Reserve Act‐‐‐created the Federal Reserve Board to oversee the nation's banks
• Underwood ‐ Simmons Tariff Act‐‐‐lowered protective tariffs and increased economic competition
10

Wrap up: What impact did these presidents have on the role of government?
‐‐‐it's the role of government to make the economy fair‐‐‐‐take some power back from the
industrialists.
‐‐‐it's the gov't role to make sure that business is serving the needs of the general public
and not just the needs of the people who own the monopolies.
What impact did they have on the role of the president?
‐‐‐strengthened executive power by gaining more power over the economy‐‐all the agencies that
were created were in the executive branch (Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Reclamation),
having the power to step in and mediate between strikers and business owners
‐‐‐strengthened the role of the president in public policy‐‐‐T.R. took an active role in passing
legislation, Wilson called for a special session of Congress and presented his agenda
in person. He also established a phone line between Congress and the White House so he could
have easy communication between the two.
11

12