TheAmericans_Unit3_textbook.pdf

U N IT Modern America Emerges CHAPTER 9 The Progressive Era 1890–1920 1890–1920 CHAPTER 10 America Claims an Empire 1890–1920 CHAPTER 11 The First World War 1914–1920 UNIT...

U N IT Modern America Emerges CHAPTER 9 The Progressive Era 1890–1920 1890–1920 CHAPTER 10 America Claims an Empire 1890–1920 CHAPTER 11 The First World War 1914–1920 UNIT PROJECT News Story As you read Unit 3, identify a person, issue, or event that interests you. Plan and write an illustrated news story about the subject you have chosen. Use your text as well as information that you research in the library and on the Internet. The Statue of Liberty by Francis Hopkinson Smith 302  P CHA T E R Essential Question How did the progressive movement try to bring about social change? What You Will Learn In this chapter you will learn about the progressive movement. SECTION 1: The Origins of Progressivism Political, economic, and social change in late 19th century America led to broad progressive reforms. SECTION 2: Women in Public Life As a result of social and economic change, many women entered public life as workers and reformers. SECTION 3: Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal As president, Theodore Roosevelt worked to give citizens a Square Deal through progressive reforms. SECTION 4: Progressivism Under Taft Taft’s ambivalent approach to progressive reform led to a split in the Republican Party and the loss of the presidency to the Democrats. SECTION 5: Wilson’s New Freedom Woodrow Wilson established a strong reform agenda as a progressive leader. A 1916 suffrage parade. 1904 Theodore 1901 McKinley is Roosevelt is 1896 assassinated; elected 1900 Theodore Roosevelt William McKinley president. William McKinley becomes president. is elected is reelected. president. USA 1890 1900 WORLD 1889 Eiffel Tower 1898 Marie 1899 Boer War 1901 opens for visitors. Curie discovers in South Africa Commonwealth of radium. begins. Australia is created. 304 CHAPTER 9  Teddy Roosevelt’s Acts and Legacy INTERACT WITH H IS TO RY It is the dawn of the 20th century, and the reform movement is growing. Moral reformers are trying to ban alcoholic beverages. Political reformers work toward fair government and business practices. Women fight for equal wages and the right to vote. Throughout society, social and economic issues take center stage. Explore the Issues s 7HAT TYPES OF ACTIONS MIGHT PRESSURE BIG business to change? s (OW CAN INDIVIDUALS BRING ABOUT CHANGE IN their government? s (OW MIGHT REFORMERS RECRUIT OTHERS 1909 W. E. B. Du Bois helps 1908 found the William H. National Association for 1912 Taft is Woodrow 1916 1919 Eighteenth 1920 Nineteenth elected the Advancement Woodrow Amendment Amendment of Colored Wilson is president. elected Wilson is outlaws alcoholic grants women People (NAACP). reelected. beverages. the right to vote. president. 1910 1920 1910 Mexican 1912 China’s 1914 World War I 1919 Mohandas revolution Qin dynasty begins in Europe. Gandhi becomes begins. topples. leader of the independence movement in India. The Progressive Era 305  C T I ON SE The Origins of Progressivism *œˆÌˆV>]ÊiVœ˜œ“ˆV]Ê>˜`Ê *Àœ}ÀiÃÈÛiÊÀivœÀ“Ãʈ˜Ê>Ài>ÃÊ UÊ«Àœ}ÀiÃÈÛiÊ UÊ,œLiÀÌÊ°Ê ÜVˆ>ÊV >˜}iʈ˜Ê>ÌiÊ£™Ì Ê ÃÕV Ê>Ãʏ>LœÀÊ>˜`Êۜ̈˜}ÊÀˆ} ÌÃÊ movement >ÊœiÌÌi Vi˜ÌÕÀÞÊ
“iÀˆV>ʏi`Ê̜ÊLÀœ>`Ê Àiˆ˜vœÀVi`Ê`i“œVÀ>̈VÊ UʏœÀi˜ViÊiiÞ UÊinitiative «Àœ}ÀiÃÈÛiÊÀivœÀ“Ã°Ê «Àˆ˜Vˆ«iÃÊÌ >ÌÊVœ˜Ìˆ˜ÕiÊ̜Êi݈ÃÌÊ UÊprohibition UÊreferendum ̜`>Þ°Ê UÊmuckraker UÊrecall UÊÃVˆi˜ÌˆwÊVÊ UÊ-iÛi˜Ìii˜Ì Ê management Amendment One American's Story Camella Teoli was just 12 years old when she began working in a TAKING NOTES Lawrence, Massachusetts, textile mill to help support her family. Soon Use the graphic after she started, a machine used for twisting cotton into thread tore off organizer online to take notes about part of her scalp. The young Italian immigrant spent seven months in progressive reform the hospital and was scarred for life. organizations. Three years later, when 20,000 Lawrence mill workers went on strike for higher wages, Camella was selected to testify before a congression- al committee investigating labor conditions such as workplace safety and underage workers. When asked why she had gone on strike, Camella answered simply, “Because I didn’t get enough to eat at home.” She explained how she had gone to work before reaching the legal age of 14. T A PERSONAL VOICE CAMELLA TEOLI “ÊÊÕÃi`Ê̜Ê}œÊ̜ÊÃV œœ]Ê>˜`ÊÌ i˜Ê>ʓ>˜ÊV>“iÊÕ«Ê̜ʓÞÊ œÕÃiÊ>˜`Ê>Îi`ʓÞÊ ˆÊܜÀŽiÀÃʜ˜Ê v>Ì iÀÊÜ ÞÊÊ`ˆ`˜½ÌÊ}œÊ̜ÊܜÀŽ]ÊÜʓÞÊv>Ì iÀÊÃ>ÞÃÊÊ`œ˜½Ìʎ˜œÜÊÜ iÌ iÀÊà iʈÃÊ£ÎÊ ÃÌÀˆŽiʈ˜Ê£™£ÓÊ ˆ˜Ê>ÜÀi˜Vi]Ê œÀÊ£{ÊÞi>ÀÃʜ`°Ê-œ]ÊÌ iʓ>˜ÊÃ>ÞÊ9œÕÊ}ˆÛiʓiÊf{Ê>˜`ÊÊ܈Ê“>ŽiÊÌ iÊ«>«iÀÃÊVœ“iÊ >ÃÃ>V ÕÃiÌÌà vÀœ“ÊÌ iʜ`ÊVœÕ˜ÌÀÞÊQÌ>ÞRÊÃ>ވ˜}ÊQÌ >ÌRÊޜÕÊ>ÀiÊ£{°Ê-œ]ʓÞÊv>Ì iÀÊ}>ÛiÊ ˆ“ÊÌ iÊ f{]Ê>˜`ʈ˜Êœ˜iʓœ˜Ì ÊV>“iÊÌ iÊ«>«iÀÃÊÌ >ÌÊÊÜ>ÃÊ£{°ÊÊÜi˜ÌÊ̜ÊܜÀŽ]Ê>˜`Ê>LœÕÌÊ ÌܜÊÜiiŽÃÊQ>ÌiÀRÊ}œÌÊ ÕÀÌʈ˜Ê“ÞÊ i>`°” —at congressional hearings, March 1912 After nine weeks of striking, the mill workers won the sympathy of the nation as well as five to ten percent pay raises. Stories like Camella’s set off a national investigation of labor conditions, and reformers across the country organized to address the problems of industrialization. Four Goals of Progressivism At the dawn of the new century, middle-class reformers addressed many of the problems that had contributed to the social upheavals of the 1890s. Journalists and writers exposed the unsafe conditions often faced by factory workers, including 306 CHAPTER 9  women and children. Intellectuals questioned the dominant KEY PLAYER role of large corporations in American society. Political reformers struggled to make government more responsive to the people. Together, these reform efforts formed the progressive movement, which aimed to restore economic opportunities and correct injustices in American life. Even though reformers never completely agreed on the problems or the solutions, each of their progressive efforts shared at least one of the following goals: s PROTECTING SOCIAL WELFARE s PROMOTING MORAL IMPROVEMENT s CREATING ECONOMIC REFORM s FOSTERING EFFICIENCY FLORENCE KELLEY 1859–1932 PROTECTING SOCIAL WELFARE Many social welfare The daughter of an antislavery reformers worked to soften some of the harsh conditions of Republican congressman from industrialization. The Social Gospel and settlement house Pennsylvania, Florence Kelley movements of the late 1800s, which aimed to help the poor became a social reformer whose through community centers, churches, and social services, sympathies lay with the power- continued during the Progressive Era and inspired even more less, especially working women and children. During a long career, reform activities. Kelley pushed the government to The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), for solve America’s social problems. example, opened libraries, sponsored classes, and built In 1899, Kelley became general swimming pools and handball courts. The Salvation Army secretary of the National fed poor people in soup kitchens, cared for children in nurs- Consumers’ League, where she lobbied to improve factory condi- eries, and sent “slum brigades” to instruct poor immigrants tions. “Why,” Kelley pointedly Vocabulary in middle-class values of hard work and temperance. asked while campaigning for a temperance: In addition, many women were inspired by the settle- federal child-labor law, “are seals, refraining from ment houses to take action. Florence Kelley became an bears, reindeer, fish, wild game in alcohol advocate for improving the lives of women and children. She the national parks, buffalo, [and] consumption migratory birds all found suitable was appointed chief inspector of factories for Illinois after she for federal protection, but not had helped to win passage of the Illinois Factory Act in 1893. children?” The act, which prohibited child labor and limited women’s working hours, soon became a model for other states. PROMOTING MORAL IMPROVEMENT Other reformers felt that morality, not the workplace, held the key to improving the lives of poor people. These reform- ers wanted immigrants and poor city dwellers to uplift themselves by improving their personal behavior. Prohibition, the banning of alcoholic beverages, was one such program. Prohibitionist groups feared that alcohol was undermining American morals. Founded in Cleveland in 1874, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) spearheaded the crusade for prohibition. Members advanced their cause by entering saloons, singing, pray- T ing, and urging saloonkeepers to stop selling alco- In the 1890s, Carry Nation hol. As momentum grew, the Union was trans- worked for prohibition by formed by Frances Willard from a small midwest- walking into saloons, ern religious group in 1879 to a national organi- scolding the customers, and using her hatchet zation. Boasting 245,000 members by 1911, the Analyzing to destroy bottles WCTU became the largest women’s group in Motives of liquor. A Why did the the nation’s history. A prohibition WCTU members followed Willard’s “do movement appeal everything” slogan and began opening to so many kindergartens for immigrants, visiting women? 307  inmates in prisons and asylums, and working for suffrage. HISTORICAL The WCTU reform activities, like those of the settlement- house movement, provided women with expanded public S P O TLIG H T roles, which they used to justify giving women voting rights. Sometimes efforts at prohibition led to trouble with ANTI–SALOON LEAGUE immigrant groups. Such was the case with the Anti-Saloon Quietly founded by progressive League, founded in 1895. As members sought to close women in 1895, the Anti-Saloon saloons to cure society’s problems, tension arose between League called itself “the Church them and many immigrants, whose customs often includ- in action against the saloon.” Whereas early temperance ed the consumption of alcohol. Additionally, saloons filled efforts had asked individuals to a number of roles within the immigrant community such as change their ways, the Anti- cashing paychecks and serving meals. Saloon League worked to pass laws to force people to change CREATING ECONOMIC REFORM As moral reformers and to punish those who drank. sought to change individual behavior, a severe economic The Anti-Saloon League panic in 1893 prompted some Americans to question the endorsed politicians who opposed capitalist economic system. As a result, some Americans, “Demon Rum,” no matter which especially workers, embraced socialism. Labor leader party they belonged to or where they stood on other issues. It also Eugene V. Debs, who helped organize the American organized statewide referendums Socialist Party in 1901, commented on the uneven balance to ban alcohol. Between 1900 among big business, government, and ordinary people and 1917, voters in nearly half of under the free-market system of capitalism. the states—mostly in the South and the West—prohibited the sale, production, and use of alco- A PERSONAL VOICE EUGENE V. DEBS hol. Individual towns, city wards, “ Competition was natural enough at one time, but do you and rural areas also voted them- think you are competing today? Many of you think you are selves “dry.” competing. Against whom? Against [oil magnate John D.] Rockefeller? About as I would if I had a wheelbarrow and com- peted with the Santa Fe [railroad] from here to Kansas City.” —Debs: His Life, Writings and Speeches Though most progressives distanced themselves from socialism, they saw the truth of many of Debs’s criticisms. Big business often received favorable treatment from government officials and politicians and could use its economic power to limit competition. Journalists who wrote about the corrupt side of business and public life in mass circulation magazines during the early 20th century became known as muckrakers (^D\Ec6\Fc). (The term refers to John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,” in which a character is so busy using a rake to clean up the muck of this world that he does not raise his eyes to heaven.) In her “History of the Standard Oil Company,” a month- ly serial in McClure’s Magazine, the writer Ida M. Tarbell described the company’s cutthroat methods of eliminating competition. “Mr. Rockefeller has systematically played with loaded dice,” Tarbell charged, “and it is doubtful if there has been a Evaluating time since 1872 when he has run a race with a competitor and started fair.” B B What contribution did FOSTERING EFFICIENCY Many progressive leaders put their faith in experts muckrakers make and scientific principles to make society and the workplace more efficient. In to the reform defending an Oregon law that limited women factory and laundry workers to a movement? ten-hour day, lawyer Louis D. Brandeis paid little attention to legal argument. Instead, he focused on data produced by social scientists documenting the high costs of long working hours for both the individual and society. This type of argu- ment—the “Brandeis brief”—would become a model for later reform litigation. Within industry, Frederick Winslow Taylor began using time and motion stud- ies to improve efficiency by breaking manufacturing tasks into simpler parts. “Taylorism” became a management fad, as industry reformers applied these scien- tific management studies to see just how quickly each task could be performed. 308 CHAPTER 9  T Workers at the Ford flywheel factory cope with the demanding pace of the assembly line to earn five dollars a day—a good wage in 1914. However, not all workers could work at the same rate, and although the intro- duction of the assembly lines did speed up production, the system required peo- ple to work like machines. This caused a high worker turnover, often due to injuries suffered by fatigued workers. To keep automobile workers happy and to prevent strikes, Henry Ford reduced the workday to “ Everybody will eight hours and paid workers five dollars a day. This incentive attract- be able to afford Contrasting ed thousands of workers, but they exhausted themselves. As one C Contrast the homemaker complained in a letter to Henry Ford in 1914, “That $5 [a car], and about goals of scientific is a blessing—a bigger one than you know but oh they earn it.” everyone will have management with other progressive Such efforts at improving efficiency, an important part of pro- one.” reforms. gressivism, targeted not only industry, but government as well. C HENRY FORD, 1909 Cleaning Up Local Government Cities faced some of the most obvious social problems of the new industrial age. In many large cities, political bosses rewarded their supporters with jobs and kick- backs and openly bought votes with favors and bribes. Efforts to reform city pol- itics stemmed in part from the desire to make government more efficient and more responsive to its constituents. But those efforts also grew from distrust of immigrants’ participation in politics. REFORMING LOCAL GOVERNMENT Natural disasters sometimes played an important role in prompting reform of city governments. In 1900, a hurricane and tidal wave almost demolished Galveston, Texas. The politicians on the city council botched the huge relief and rebuilding job so badly that the Texas legis- lature appointed a five-member commission of experts to take over. Each expert took charge of a different city department, and soon Galveston was rebuilt. This success prompted the city to adopt the commission idea as a form of government, and by 1917, 500 cities had followed Galveston’s example. Another natural disaster—a flood in Dayton, Ohio, in 1913—led to the wide- spread adoption of the council-manager form of government. Staunton, Virginia, had already pioneered this system, in which people elected a city council to make laws. The council in turn appointed a manager, typically a person with training and experience in public administration, to run the city’s departments. By 1925, managers were administering nearly 250 cities. The Progressive Era 309  REFORM MAYORS In some cities, mayors such as Hazen Pingree of Detroit, Michigan (1890–1897), and Tom Johnson of Cleveland, Ohio (1901–1909), intro- duced progressive reforms without changing how government was organized. Concentrating on economics, Pingree instituted a fairer tax structure, low- ered fares for public transportation, rooted out corruption, and set up a system of work relief for the unemployed. Detroit city workers built schools, parks, and a municipal lighting plant. Johnson was only one of 19 socialist mayors who worked to institute pro- gressive reforms in America’s cities. In general, these mayors focused on dismiss- ing corrupt and greedy private owners of utilities—such as gasworks, waterworks, and transit lines—and converting the utilities to publicly owned enterprises. Summarizing D How did city Johnson believed that citizens should play a more active role in city government. government He held meetings in a large circus tent and invited them to question officials change during the about how the city was managed. D Progressive Era? Reform at the State Level Local reforms coincided with progressive efforts at the state level. Spurred by pro- gressive governors, many states passed laws to regulate railroads, mines, mills, telephone companies, and other large businesses. REFORM GOVERNORS Under the progressive Republican leadership of Robert M. La Follette, Wisconsin led the HISTORICAL way in regulating big business. “Fighting Bob” La Follette S P O TLIG H T served three terms as governor before he entered the U.S. Senate in 1906. He explained that, as governor, he did not mean to “smash corporations, but merely to drive them out of politics, and then to treat them exactly the same as other people are treated.” La Follette’s major target was the railroad industry. He taxed railroad property at the same rate as other business prop- erty, set up a commission to regulate rates, and forbade rail- roads to issue free passes to state officials. Other reform gover- nors who attacked big business interests included Charles B. Aycock of North Carolina and James S. Hogg of Texas. PROTECTING WORKING CHILDREN As the number of child workers rose dramatically, reformers worked to protect JAMES S. HOGG, TEXAS workers and to end child labor. Businesses hired children GOVERNOR (1891–1895) because they performed unskilled jobs for lower wages and Among the most colorful of the because children’s small hands made them more adept at reform governors was James S. handling small parts and tools. Immigrants and rural Hogg of Texas. Hogg helped to drive illegal insurance companies migrants often sent their children to work because they from the state and championed viewed their children as part of the family economy. Often antitrust legislation. His chief inter- wages were so low for adults that every family member need- est, however, was in regulating the ed to work to pull the family out of poverty. railroads. He pointed out abuses In industrial settings, however, children were more Analyzing in rates—noting, for example, that it cost more to ship lumber from prone to accidents caused by fatigue. Many developed seri- Causes East Texas to Dallas than to ship it ous health problems and suffered from stunted growth. E E Why did all the way to Nebraska. A railroad Formed in 1904, the National Child Labor Committee reformers seek to commission, established largely as end child labor? sent investigators to gather evidence of children working in a result of his efforts, helped harsh conditions. They then organized exhibitions with pho- increase milling and manufacturing in Texas by lowering freight rates. tographs and statistics to dramatize the children’s plight. They were joined by labor union members who argued that child labor lowered wages for all workers. These groups pressured 310 CHAPTER 9 History Through IMAGES OF CHILD LABOR In 1908, Lewis Hine quit his teaching job to docu- ment child labor practices. Hine’s photographs and descriptions of young laborers—some only three years old—were widely distributed and displayed in exhibits. His compelling images of exploitation helped to convince the public of the need for child labor regulations. Hine devised a host of clever tactics to gain access to his subjects, such as learning shop managers’ schedules and arriving during their lunch breaks. While talking casually with the chil- dren, he secretly scribbled notes on paper hidden in his pocket. Because of their small size, spindle boys and girls (top) were forced to climb atop moving machinery to replace parts. For four- year-old Mary (left), shucking two pots of oysters was a typical day’s work. SKILLBUILDER Interpreting Visual Sources 1. Lewis Hine believed in the power of photography to move people to action. What elements of these photographs do you find most striking? 2. Why do you think Hine was a successful photographer? SEE SKILLBUILDER HANDBOOK, PAGE R23. national politicians to pass the Keating-Owen Act in 1916. The act prohibited the transportation across state lines of goods produced with child labor. Two years later the Supreme Court declared the act unconstitutional due to interference with states’ rights to regulate labor. Reformers did, however, succeed in nearly every state by effecting legislation that banned child labor and set max- imum hours. EFFORTS TO LIMIT WORKING HOURS The Supreme Court sometimes took a more sympathetic view of the plight of workers. In the 1908 case of Muller v. Oregon, Louis D. Brandeis—assisted by Florence Kelley and Josephine Goldmark— persuasively argued that poor working women were much more economically insecure than large corporations. Asserting that women required the state’s pro- tection against powerful employers, Brandeis convinced the Court to uphold an Oregon law limiting women to a ten-hour workday. Other states responded by enacting or strengthening laws to reduce women’s hours of work. A similar Brandeis brief in Bunting v. Oregon in 1917 persuaded the Court to uphold a ten- hour workday for men. Progressives also succeeded in winning workers’ compensation to aid the families of workers who were hurt or killed on the job. Beginning with Maryland in 1902, one state after another passed legislation requiring employers to pay ben- efits in death cases. The Progressive Era 311  REFORMING ELECTIONS In some cases, ordinary citizens won state reforms. William S. U’Ren prompted his state of Oregon to adopt the secret ballot (also called the Australian ballot), the initiative, the referendum, and the recall. The ini- tiative and referendum gave citizens the power to create laws. Citizens could peti- tion to place an initiative—a bill originated by the people rather than lawmak- ers—on the ballot. Then voters, instead of the legislature, accepted or rejected the initiative by referendum, a vote on the initiative. The recall enabled voters to remove public officials from elected positions by forcing them to face another elec- tion before the end of their term if enough voters asked for it. By 1920, 20 states Summarizing had adopted at least one of these procedures. F F Summarize In 1899, Minnesota passed the first mandatory statewide primary system. This the impact of the direct election of enabled voters, instead of political machines, to choose candidates for public office senators. through a special popular election. About two-thirds of the states had adopted some form of direct primary by 1915. DIRECT ELECTION OF SENATORS It was the success of the direct primary that paved the way for the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution. Before 1913, each state’s legislature had chosen its own United States senators, which put even more power in the hands of party bosses and wealthy corporation heads. To force senators to be more responsive to the public, progressives pushed for the popular election of senators. At first, the Senate refused to go along with the idea, but gradually more and more states began allowing voters to nominate senatori- al candidates in direct primaries. As a result, Congress approved the Seventeenth Amendment in 1912. Its ratification in 1913 made direct election of senators the law of the land. Government reform—including efforts to give Americans more of a voice in electing their legislators and creating laws—drew increased numbers of women into public life. It also focused renewed attention on the issue of woman suffrage. 1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. Uprogressive movement Umuckraker Uinitiative Urecall UFlorence Kelley Uscientific management Ureferendum USeventeenth Amendment Uprohibition URobert M. La Follette MAIN IDEA CRITICAL THINKING 2. TAKING NOTES 3. FORMING GENERALIZATIONS 4. INTERPRETING VISUAL SOURCES Copy the web below on your In what ways might Illinois, This cartoon shows Carry Nation inside a paper. Fill it in with examples of Wisconsin, and Oregon all be saloon that she has attacked. Do you think organizations that worked for considered trailblazers in the cartoonist had a favorable or unfavorable reform in the areas named. progressive reform? Support opinion of this prohibitionist? Explain. your answers. Think About: Economic Moral UÊÊlegislative and electoral reforms at the state level Progressive UÊÊthe leadership of William Reforms U’Ren and Robert La Follette Social UÊÊFlorence Kelley’s appoint- Political ment as chief inspector of Welfare factories for Illinois Which group was most successful and why? 312 CHAPTER 9  C T I ON SE Women in Public Life
ÃÊ>ÊÀiÃՏÌʜvÊÜVˆ>Ê>˜`Ê 7œ“i˜Êܜ˜Ê˜iÜʜ««œÀÌ՘ˆÌˆiÃÊ UÊNACW UÊ-ÕÃ>˜Ê °Ê
˜Ì œ˜Þ iVœ˜œ“ˆVÊV >˜}i]ʓ>˜ÞÊ ˆ˜Ê>LœÀÊ>˜`Êi`ÕV>̈œ˜ÊÌ >ÌÊ>ÀiÊ UÊsuffrage UÊNAWSA ܜ“i˜Êi˜ÌiÀi`Ê«ÕLˆVʏˆviÊ>ÃÊ i˜œÞi`Ê̜`>Þ° ܜÀŽiÀÃÊ>˜`ÊÀivœÀ“iÀÃ°Ê One American's Story In 1879, Susette La Flesche, a young Omaha woman, traveled east TAKING NOTES to translate into English the sad words of Chief Standing Bear, Use the graphic whose Ponca people had been forcibly removed from their home- organizer online to land in Nebraska. Later, she was invited with Chief Standing Bear take notes about women and work in to go on a lecture tour to draw attention to the Ponca’s situation. the late 1800s. A PERSONAL VOICE SUSETTE LA FLESCHE “Ê7iÊ>ÀiÊÌ ˆ˜Žˆ˜}ʓi˜Ê>˜`Êܜ“i˜°Ê°Ê°Ê°Ê7iÊ >ÛiÊ>ÊÀˆ} ÌÊ̜ÊLiÊ i>À`Ê ˆ˜ÊÜ >ÌiÛiÀÊVœ˜ViÀ˜ÃÊÕðÊ9œÕÀÊ}œÛiÀ˜“i˜ÌÊ >ÃÊ`ÀˆÛi˜ÊÕÃÊ ˆÌ iÀÊ>˜`Ê Ì ˆÌ iÀʏˆŽiÊV>Ì̏i°Ê°Ê°Ê°Ê9œÕÀÊ}œÛiÀ˜“i˜ÌÊ >ÃʘœÊÀˆ} ÌÊ̜ÊÃ>ÞÊ̜ÊÕÃ]ÊœÊ iÀi]ʜÀÊœÊÌ iÀi]Ê>˜`ʈvÊÜiÊà œÜÊ>˜ÞÊÀiÕVÌ>˜Vi]Ê̜ÊvœÀViÊÕÃÊ̜Ê`œÊˆÌÃÊ ÜˆÊ>ÌÊÌ iÊ«œˆ˜ÌʜvÊÌ iÊL>ޜ˜iÌ°Ê°Ê°Ê°Ê œÊޜÕÊܜ˜`iÀÊÌ >ÌÊÌ iʘ`ˆ>˜ÊviiÃʜÕÌÊ À>}i`ÊLÞÊÃÕV ÊÌÀi>̓i˜ÌÊ>˜`ÊÀiÌ>ˆ>ÌiÃ]Ê>Ì œÕ} ʈÌÊ܈Êi˜`ʈ˜Ê`i>Ì ÊÌœÊ ˆ“Ãiv¶” T —quoted in Bright Eyes -ÕÃiÌÌiÊ>ʏiÃV i La Flesche testified before congressional committees and helped win passage of the Dawes Act of 1887, which allowed individual Native Americans to claim reservation land and citizenship rights. Her activism was an example of a new role for American women, who were expanding their participation in public life. Women in the Work Force Before the Civil War, married middle-class women were generally expected to devote their time to the care of their homes and families. By the late 19th centu- ry, however, only middle-class and upper-class women could afford to do so. Poorer women usually had no choice but to work for wages outside the home. 
,Ê7" Ê On farms in the South and the Midwest, women’s roles had not changed substantially since the previous century. In addition to household tasks such as cooking, making clothes, and laundering, farm women handled a host of other chores such as raising livestock. Often the women had to help plow and plant the fields and harvest the crops. 7" Ê  Ê  1-/,9Ê As better-paying opportunities became available in towns, and especially cities, women had new options for finding jobs, even though men’s labor unions excluded them from membership. At the turn of the century, The Progressive Era 313  T Telephone operators N OW T HEN manually connect phone calls in 1915. TELEPHONE OPERATORS Today, when Americans use the one out of five American women held jobs; 25 percent of telephone, an automated voice them worked in manufacturing. often greets them with instruc- The garment trade claimed about half of all women tions about which buttons to industrial workers. They typically held the least skilled posi- press. In the 19th century, every tions, however, and received only about half as much telephone call had to be handled by a telephone operator, a person money as their male counterparts or less. Many of these who connected wires through a women were single and were assumed to be supporting switchboard. only themselves, while men were assumed to be supporting Young men, the first telephone families. operators, proved unsatisfactory. Women also began to fill new jobs in offices, stores, and Patrons complained that the male operators used profane lan- classrooms. These jobs required a high school education, guage and talked back to callers. and by 1890, women high school graduates outnumbered Women soon largely replaced men. Moreover, new business schools were preparing book- Analyzing men as telephone operators, and keepers and stenographers, as well as training female typists Causes were willing to accept the ten-dol- to operate the new machines. A A What kinds of lar weekly wage. job opportunities Department stores advertised DOMESTIC WORKERS Many women without formal prompted more shopping by telephone as a con- education or industrial skills contributed to the economic women to venience. One ad in the Chicago survival of their families by doing domestic work, such as complete high telephone book of 1904 declared, school? cleaning for other families. After almost 2 million African- “Every [telephone] order, inquiry, or request will be quickly and American women were freed from slavery, poverty quickly intelligently cared for.” The ad drove nearly half of them into the work force. They worked pictured a line of female tele- on farms and as domestic workers, and migrated by the phone operators. thousands to big cities for jobs as cooks, laundresses, scrub- women, and maids. Altogether, roughly 70 percent of women employed in 1870 were servants. Unmarried immigrant women also did domestic labor, especially when they first arrived in the United States. Many married immigrant women contributed to the family income by taking in piecework or caring for boarders at home. Women Lead Reform Dangerous conditions, low wages, and long hours led many female industrial workers to push for reforms. Their ranks grew after 146 workers, mostly Jewish and Italian immigrant girls, died in a 1911 fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. Middle- and upper-class women also entered the public sphere. By 1910, women’s clubs, at which these women discussed art or literature, were nearly half a million strong. These clubs sometimes grew into reform groups that addressed issues such as temperance or child labor. WOMEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION Many of the women who became active in public life in the late 19th century had attended the new women’s colleges. Vassar 314 CHAPTER 9  College—with a faculty of 8 men and 22 women—accepted its first students in 1865. Smith and Wellesley Colleges followed in 1875. Though Columbia, Brown, and Harvard Colleges refused to admit women, each university established a sep- arate college for women. Although women were still expected to fulfill traditional domestic roles, women’s colleges sought to grant women an excellent education. In her will, Smith College’s founder, Sophia Smith, made her goals clear. A PERSONAL VOICE SOPHIA SMITH “ [It is my desire] to furnish for my own sex means and facilities for education equal to those which are afforded now in our College to young men.... It is not my design to render my sex any the less feminine, but to develop as fully as may be the powers of womanhood & furnish women with means of usefulness, happi- ness, & honor now withheld from them.” —quoted in Alma Mater By the late 19th century, marriage was no longer a woman’s only alternative. Many women entered the work force or sought higher education. In fact, almost half of college-educated women in the late 19th century never married, retaining Analyzing Effects their own independence. Many of these educated women began to apply their B What social skills to needed social reforms. B and economic effects did higher WOMEN AND REFORM Uneducated laborers started efforts to reform workplace education have on health and safety. The participation of educated women often strengthened exist- women? ing reform groups and provided leadership for new ones. Because women were not allowed to vote or run for office, women reformers strove to improve condi- tions at work and home. Their “social housekeeping” targeted workplace reform, housing reform, educational improvement, and food and drug laws. In 1896, African-American women founded the National Association of Colored Women, or NACW, by merging two earlier organizations. Josephine Ruffin identified the mission of the African-American women’s club movement as “the moral education of the race with which we are identified.” The NACW managed nurseries, reading rooms, and kindergartens. After the Seneca Falls convention of 1848, women split over the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, which granted equal rights including the right to vote to African American men, but excluded women. Susan B. Anthony, a lead- ing proponent of woman suffrage, the right to vote, said “[I] would sooner cut Suffragists recruit off my right hand than ask the ballot for the black man and not for women.” In supporters for a 1869 Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton had founded the National Women march. Suffrage Association (NWSA), which united with another group in 1890 to T  become the National American Woman Suffrage Association, KEY PLAYER or NAWSA. Other prominent leaders included Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe, the author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Woman suffrage faced constant opposition. The liquor industry feared that women would vote in support of prohi- bition, while the textile industry worried that women would vote for restrictions on child labor. Many men simply feared the changing role of women in society. A THREE–PART STRATEGY FOR SUFFRAGE Suffragist leaders tried three approaches to achieve their objective. First, they tried to convince state legislatures to grant women the right to vote. They achieved a victory in the territory of SUSAN B. ANTHONY Wyoming in 1869, and by the 1890s Utah, Colorado, and 1820–1906 Idaho had also granted voting rights to women. After 1896, Born to a strict Quaker family, efforts in other states failed. Susan B. Anthony was not allowed to enjoy typical childhood enter- Second, women pursued court cases to test the tainment such as music, games, Fourteenth Amendment, which declared that states denying and toys. Her father insisted on their male citizens the right to vote would lose congression- self-discipline, education, and a al representation. Weren’t women citizens, too? In 1871 and strong belief system for all of his 1872, Susan B. Anthony and other women tested that ques- eight children. At an early age, tion by attempting to vote at least 150 times in ten states and Anthony developed a positive view of womanhood from a teacher the District of Columbia. The Supreme Court ruled in 1875 named Mary Perkins who educat- that women were indeed citizens—but then denied that citi- ed the children in their home. zenship automatically conferred the right to vote. After voting illegally in the presi- Third, women pushed for a national constitutional dential election of 1872, Anthony amendment to grant women the vote. Stanton succeeded in was fined $100 at her trial. “Not a penny shall go to this unjust having the amendment introduced in California, but it was Making claim,” she defiantly declared. killed later. For the next 41 years, women lobbied to have it Inferences She never paid the fine. reintroduced, only to see it continually voted down. C C Why did Before the turn of the century, the campaign for suffrage suffragist leaders employ a three- achieved only modest success. Later, however, women’s part strategy for reform efforts paid off in improvements in the treatment of workers and in safer gaining the right to food and drug products—all of which President Theodore Roosevelt supported, vote? along with his own plans for reforming business, labor, and the environment. 1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. UNACW Usuffrage USusan B. Anthony UNAWSA MAIN IDEA CRITICAL THINKING 2. TAKING NOTES 3. SYNTHESIZING 5. ANALYZING ISSUES In a chart like the one below, fill in What women and movements during Imagine you are a woman during details about working women in the the Progressive Era helped dispel the Progressive Era. Explain how late 1800s. the stereotype that women were you might recruit other women to Women Workers: submissive and nonpolitical? support the following causes: Late 1800s improving education, housing 4. MAKING INFERENCES reform, food and drug laws, the Why do you think some colleges right to vote. Think About: Farm Domestic Factory White- refused to accept women in the late Collar 19th century? UÊÊthe problems that each move- Women Workers Workers ment was trying to remedy Workers What generalizations can you make UÊÊhow women benefited from each about women workers at this time? cause 316 CHAPTER 9  C T I ON SE Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal
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VÌ ÊÀiÜÕÀVið UÊ-µÕ>ÀiÊ i> UÊVœ˜ÃiÀÛ>̈œ˜ UÊNAACP One American's Story When muckraking journalist Upton Sinclair began research for TAKING NOTES a novel in 1904, his focus was the human condition in the stock- Use the graphic yards of Chicago. Sinclair intended his novel to reveal “the organizer online to breaking of human hearts by a system [that] exploits the labor of take notes about Theodore Roosevelt’s men and women for profits.” What most shocked readers in presidency. Sinclair’s book The Jungle (1906), however, was the sickening conditions of the meatpacking industry. A PERSONAL VOICE UPTON SINCLAIR “ / iÀiÊܜՏ`ÊLiʓi>ÌÊÌ >ÌÊ >`ÊÌՓLi`ʜÕÌʜ˜ÊÌ iÊyʜœÀ]ʈ˜ÊÌ iÊ `ˆÀÌÊ>˜`ÊÃ>Ü`ÕÃÌ]ÊÜ iÀiÊÌ iÊܜÀŽiÀÃÊ >`ÊÌÀ>“«i`Ê>˜`ÊëˆÌÊ Õ˜VœÕ˜Ìi`ÊLˆˆœ˜ÃʜvÊVœ˜ÃՓ«Ìˆœ˜ÊQÌÕLiÀVՏœÃˆÃRÊ}iÀ“ðÊ/ iÀiÊ ÜœÕ`ÊLiʓi>ÌÊÃ̜Ài`ʈ˜Ê}Ài>ÌÊ«ˆiÃʈ˜ÊÀœœ“ÃÆÊ°Ê°Ê°Ê>˜`ÊÌ œÕÃ>˜`ÃÊ œvÊÀ>ÌÃÊܜՏ`ÊÀ>ViÊ>LœÕÌʜ˜ÊˆÌ°Ê°Ê°Ê°Ê
ʓ>˜ÊVœÕ`ÊÀÕ˜Ê ˆÃÊ >˜`ʜÛiÀÊ Ì iÃiÊ«ˆiÃʜvʓi>ÌÊ>˜`ÊÃÜii«ÊœvvÊ >˜`vՏÃʜvÊÌ iÊ`Àˆi`Ê`՘}ʜvÊ À>ÌðÊ/ iÃiÊÀ>ÌÃÊÜiÀiʘՈÃ>˜ViÃ]Ê>˜`ÊÌ iÊ«>VŽiÀÃÊܜՏ`Ê«ÕÌÊ«œˆ‡ ܘi`ÊLÀi>`ʜÕÌÊvœÀÊÌ i“ÆÊÌ iÞÊܜՏ`Ê`ˆi]Ê>˜`ÊÌ i˜ÊÀ>ÌÃ]ÊLÀi>`]Ê >˜`ʓi>ÌÊܜՏ`Ê}œÊˆ˜ÌœÊÌ iÊ œ««iÀÃÊ̜}iÌ iÀ°” —The Jungle T President Theodore Roosevelt, like many other readers, was nauseated by 1«Ìœ˜Ê-ˆ˜V>ˆÀÊ Sinclair’s account. The president invited the author to visit him at the White «œÃiÃÊÜˆÌ Ê ˆÃÊ House, where Roosevelt promised that “the specific evils you point out shall, if ܘÊ>ÌÊÌ iÊ̈“iÊ their existence be proved, and if I have the power, be eradicated.” œvÊÌ iÊÜÀˆÌˆ˜}ʜvÊ The Jungle° A Rough-Riding President Theodore Roosevelt was not supposed to be president. In 1900, the young gover- nor from New York was urged to run as McKinley’s vice-president by the state’s political bosses, who found Roosevelt impossible to control. The plot to nominate Roosevelt worked, taking him out of state office. However, as vice-president, The Progressive Era 317  Roosevelt stood a heartbeat away from becoming president. Indeed, President McKinley had served barely six months of his second term before he was assassinated, making Roosevelt the most powerful person in the government. ROOSEVELT’S RISE Theodore Roosevelt was born into a wealthy New York family in 1858. An asthma sufferer during his childhood, young Teddy drove himself to accomplish demanding physical feats. As a teenager, he mastered marksmanship and horseback riding. At Harvard College, Roosevelt boxed and wrestled. At an early age, the ambitious Roosevelt became a leader in New York politics. After serving three terms in the New York State Assembly, he became New York City’s police commissioner and then assistant secre- T tary of the U.S. Navy. The aspiring politician grabbed national attention, When the advocating war against Spain in 1898. His volunteer cavalry brigade, the Rough president spared Riders, won public acclaim for its role in the battle at San Juan Hill in Cuba. a bear cub on a Roosevelt returned a hero and was soon elected governor of New York and then hunting expedition, later won the vice-presidency. a toymaker marketed a THE MODERN PRESIDENCY When Roosevelt was thrust into the presidency in popular new 1901, he became the youngest president ever at 42 years old. Unlike previous product, the presidents, Roosevelt soon dominated the news with his many exploits. While in teddy bear. office, Roosevelt enjoyed boxing, although one of his opponents blinded him in the left eye. On another day, he galloped 100 miles on horseback, merely to prove the feat possible. In politics, as in sports, Roosevelt acted boldly, using his personality and pop- ularity to advance his programs. His leadership and publicity campaigns helped create the modern presidency, making him a model by which all future presidents would be measured. Citing federal responsibility for the national welfare, Roosevelt thought the government should assume control whenever states proved incapable of dealing with problems. He explained, “It is the duty of the president to act upon the theory that he is the steward of the people, and... to assume that he has the legal right to do whatever the needs of the people demand, unless the Constitution or the laws explicitly forbid him to do it.” Teddy Roosevelt enjoyed an active lifestyle, as this 1902 photo T reveals. 318  Roosevelt saw the presidency as a “bully pulpit,” from which he could influ- ence the news media and shape legislation. If big business victimized workers, Synthesizing then President Roosevelt would see to it that the common people received what A What actions and characteristics he called a Square Deal. This term was used to describe the various progressive of Teddy Roosevelt reforms sponsored by the Roosevelt administration. A contributed to his reputation as the first modern president? Using Federal Power Roosevelt’s study of history—he published the first of his 44 books at the age of 24—convinced him that modern America required a powerful federal govern- ment. “A simple and poor society can exist as a democracy on the basis of sheer individualism,” Roosevelt declared, “but a rich and complex industrial society cannot so exist.” The young president soon met several challenges to his assertion of federal power. TRUSTBUSTING By 1900, trusts—legal bodies created to hold stock in many companies—controlled about four-fifths of the industries in the United States. Some trusts, like Standard Oil, had earned poor reputations with the public by the use of unfair business practices. Many trusts lowered their prices to drive com- petitors out of the market and then took advantage of the lack of competition to jack prices up even higher. Although Congress had passed the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890, the act’s vague language made enforcement difficult. As a result, nearly all the suits filed against the trusts under the Sherman Act were ineffective. President Roosevelt did not believe that all trusts were harmful, but he sought to curb the actions of those that hurt the public interest. The president concen- trated his efforts on filing suits under the Sherman Antitrust Act. In 1902, Roosevelt made newspaper headlines as a trustbuster when he ordered the Justice Department to sue the Northern Securities Company, which had established a monopoly over northwestern railroads. In 1904, the Supreme Court dissolved the VIDEO company. Although the Roosevelt administration filed 44 antitrust suits, winning Teddy Roosevelt vs. Corporate a number of them and breaking up some of the trusts, it was unable to slow the America merger movement in business. Analyzing “THE LION-TAMER” As part of his Square Deal, President Roosevelt aggressively used the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 to attack big businesses engaging in unfair practices. His victory over his first target, the Northern Securities Company, earned him a reputation as a hard-hitting trustbuster committed to protecting the public interest. This cartoon shows Roosevelt trying to tame the wild lions that symbolize the great and powerful companies of 1904. SKILLBUILDER Analyzing Political Cartoons 1. What do the lions stand for? 2. Why are all the lions coming out of a door labeled “Wall St.”? 3. What do you think the cartoonist thinks about trustbusting? Cite details from the cartoon that support your interpretation. SEE SKILLBUILDER HANDBOOK, PAGE R24. The Progressive Era 319  1902 COAL STRIKE When 140,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania went on strike and demanded a 20 percent raise, a nine-hour workday, and the right to organize a union, the mine operators refused to bargain. Five months into the strike, coal reserves ran low. Roosevelt, seeing the need to intervene, called both sides to the White House to talk, and eventually settled the strike. Irked by the “extraordinary stupidity and bad temper” of the mine operators, he later confessed that only the dignity of the presidency had kept him from taking one owner “by the seat of the breeches” and tossing him out of the window. Faced with Roosevelt’s threat to take over the mines, the opposing sides final- ly agreed to submit their differences to an arbitration commission—a third party that would work with both sides to mediate the dispute. In 1903, the commission issued its compromise settlement. The miners won a 10 percent pay hike and a shorter, nine-hour workday. With this, however, they had to give up their demand for a closed shop—in which all workers must belong to the union—and their right to strike during the next three years. President Roosevelt’s actions had demonstrated a new principle. “ In life, as in a From then on, when a strike threatened the public welfare, the fed- Analyzing Effects football game, the eral government was expected to intervene. In addition, Roosevelt’s B What was principle... is: actions reflected the progressive belief that disputes could be settled significant about the way the 1902 Hit the line hard.” in an orderly way with the help of experts, such as those on the coal strike was THEODORE ROOSEVELT arbitration commission. B settled? RAILROAD REGULATION Roosevelt’s real goal was federal regulation. In 1887, Congress had passed the Interstate Commerce Act, which prohibited wealthy rail- Vocabulary road owners from colluding to fix high prices by dividing the business in a given collude: to act area. The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was set up to enforce the new together secretly to achieve an law but had little power. With Roosevelt’s urging, Congress passed the Elkins Act illegal or deceitful in 1903, which made it illegal for railroad officials to give, and shippers to receive, purpose rebates for using particular railroads. The act also specified that railroads could not change set rates without notifying N OW T HEN the public. The Hepburn Act of 1906 strictly limited the distribu- tion of free railroad passes, a common form of bribery. It MEAT INSPECTION also gave the ICC power to set maximum railroad rates. During the Progressive Era, peo- Although Roosevelt had to compromise with conservative ple worried about the kinds of senators who opposed the act, its passage boosted the gov- things that might fall—or walk— ernment’s power to regulate the railroads. into a batch of meat being processed. Today, Americans worry more about contamination by unseen dangers, such as Health and the Environment E. coli bacteria, mad cow dis- President Roosevelt’s enthusiasm and his considerable skill ease, and antibiotics or other chemicals that may pose long- at compromise led to laws and policies that benefited both range health risks to people. public health and the environment. He wrote, “We recog- In July 1996, Congress passed nize and are bound to war against the evils of today. The the most extensive changes in remedies are partly economic and partly spiritual, partly to standards for meat inspection be obtained by laws, and in greater part to be obtained by since the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. The costs of the new, individual and associated effort.” more scientific inspections REGULATING FOODS AND DRUGS After reading The Jungle amount to about a tenth of a by Upton Sinclair, Roosevelt responded to the public’s clam- penny per pound of meat. The FDA has also adopted restrictions or for action. He appointed a commission of experts to inves- on importation of feed and live- tigate the meatpacking industry. The commission issued a stock from other countries to pre- scathing report backing up Sinclair’s account of the disgust- vent the spread of disease. ing conditions in the industry. True to his word, in 1906 Roosevelt pushed for passage of the Meat Inspection Act, 320 CHAPTER 9  Coal Mining in the Early 1900s Coal played a key role in America’s industrial boom around the turn of the century, providing the United States with about 90 percent of its energy. Miners often had to dig for coal hundreds of feet below the earth’s surface. The work in these mines was among the hardest and most dangerous in the world. Progressive Era reforms helped improve conditions for miners, as many won wage increases and shorter work hours. The coal mines employed thousands of children, like this boy pictured in 1909. In 1916, progressives helped secure passage of a child labor law that forbade interstate commerce of goods produced by children T under the age of 14. Most underground mines had two shafts—an elevator shaft (shown here) for transporting workers and coal, and an air shaft for ventilation. T Like these men working in 1908, miners typically spent their days in dark, cramped spaces underground. pillars air shaft room elevator shaft The miners’ main Donkeys or mules pulled the tool was the pick. coal cars to the elevators, Many also used which transported the coal drilling machines. to the surface. room Most mines used a room-and-pillar method for extracting coal. This entailed digging out “rooms” of coal off a series of tunnels, leaving enough coal behind to form a pillar that prevented the room from collapsing. The Progressive Era 321 Government workers inspect meat as it moves through the T packinghouse. which dictated strict cleanliness requirements for meatpackers and created the pro- gram of federal meat inspection that was in use until it was replaced by more sophisticated techniques in the 1990s. The compromise that won the act’s passage, however, left the government paying for the inspections and did not require companies to label their canned goods with date-of-processing information. The compromise also granted meat- packers the right to appeal negative decisions in court. PURE FOOD AND DRUG ACT Before any federal regulations were established A typical late- for advertising food and drugs, manufacturers had claimed that their products 19th-century accomplished everything from curing cancer to growing hair. In addition, popu- product lar children’s medicines often contained opium, cocaine, or alcohol. In a series of advertisement. lectures across the country, Dr. Harvey Washington T Wiley, chief chemist at the Department of Agriculture, criticized manufacturers for adding harmful preserva- tives to food and brought needed attention to this issue. In 1906, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act, which halted the sale of contaminated foods and medicines and called for truth in labeling. Although this act did not ban harmful products out- right, its requirement of truthful labels reflected the progressive belief that given accurate information, peo- Comparing ple would act wisely. C C What similarities did the CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES Meat Inspection Before Roosevelt’s presidency, the federal government Act and Pure Food had paid very little attention to the nation’s natural and Drug Act share? resources. Despite the establishment of the U.S. Forest Bureau in 1887 and the subsequent withdrawal from public sale of 45 million acres of timberlands for a national forest reserve, the government stood by while private interests gobbled up the shrinking wilderness. 322 CHAPTER 9  In the late 19th century Americans had shortsightedly exploited their natur- al environment. Pioneer farmers leveled the forests and plowed up the prairies. Ranchers allowed their cattle to overgraze the Great Plains. Coal companies clut- tered the land with refuse from mines. Lumber companies ignored the effect of their logging operations on flood control and neglected to plant trees to replace those they had cut down. Cities dumped untreated sewage and industrial wastes into rivers, poisoning the streams and creating health hazards. CONSERVATION MEASURES Roosevelt condemned the view that America’s resources were endless and made conservation a primary concern. John Muir, a naturalist and writer with whom Roosevelt camped in California’s Yosemite National Park in 1903, persuaded the president to set aside 148 million acres of forest reserves. Roosevelt also set aside 1.5 million acres of water-power sites and another 80 million acres of land that experts from the U.S. Geological Survey would explore for mineral and water resources. Roosevelt also established more than 50 wildlife sanctuaries and several national parks. True to the Progressive belief in using experts, in 1905 the president named Gifford Pinchot as head of the U.S. Forest Service. A professional conservationist, Pinchot had administrative skill as well as the latest scientific and technical infor- mation. He advised Roosevelt to conserve forest and grazing lands by keeping large tracts of federal land exempt from private sale. Conservationists like Roosevelt and Pinchot, however, did not share the views of Muir, who advocated complete preservation of the wilderness. Instead, conservation to them meant that some wilderness areas would be preserved while others would be developed for the common good. Indeed, Roosevelt’s fed- eral water projects transformed some dry wilderness areas to make agriculture possible. Under the National Reclamation Act of 1902, known as the Newlands 130oW Federal Conservation Lands 40oN 40oN N E W S Federal Conservation Lands Created 1909–1996 30oN Created 1901–1908 Created 1872–1900 0 200 400 miles 0 200 400 kilometers 160oW 150oW 140oW 110oW 90oW 80oW 70oW GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER 20oN 1. Region Prior to 1901, which regions had the greatest amount of conservation lands? 2. Human Enviroment Interaction Describe the effects of Roosevelt’s conservation efforts and the impact he had on the environment? The Progressive Era 323  Act, money from the sale of public lands in the West funded HISTORICAL large-scale irrigation projects, such as the Roosevelt Dam in Summarizing Arizona and the Shoshone Dam in Wyoming. The Newlands D Summarize S P O TLIG H T Act established the precedent that the federal government Roosevelt’s would manage the precious water resources of the West. D approach to environmental problems. Roosevelt and Civil Rights Roosevelt’s concern for the land and its inhabitants was not matched in the area of civil rights. Though Roosevelt’s father had supported the North, his mother, Martha, may well have been the model for the Southern belle Scarlet O’Hara in Margaret Mitchell’s famous novel, Gone with the Wind. In almost two terms as president, Roosevelt—like most other YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK progressives—failed to support civil rights for African The naturalist John Muir visited Americans. He did, however, support a few individual African the Yosemite region of central Americans. California in 1868 and made it Despite opposition from whites, Roosevelt appointed an his home base for a period of six African American as head of the Charleston, South Carolina, years while he traveled through- customhouse. In another instance, when some whites in out the West. Muir was the first to suggest Mississippi refused to accept the black postmistress he had that Yosemite’s spectacular land appointed, he chose to close the station rather than give in. formations had been shaped by In 1906, however, Roosevelt angered many African Americans glaciers. Today the park’s impres- when he dismissed without question an entire regiment of sive cliffs, waterfalls, lakes, and African-American soldiers accused of conspiracy in protect- meadows draw sports enthusi- ing others charged with murder in Brownsville, Texas. asts and tourists in all seasons. As a symbolic gesture, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. Washington— head of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, an all- black training school—was then the African-American leader most respected by powerful whites. Washington faced opposition, however, from other African Civil rights leaders gather at the 1905 Niagara Falls T conference. 324 CHAPTER 9 Vocabulary Americans, such as W. E. B. Du Bois, for his accommodation accommodation: KEY PLAYER of segregationists and for blaming black poverty on blacks adapting or and urging them to accept discrimination. making adjustments in Persistent in his criticism of Washington’s ideas, Du Bois order to satisfy renewed his demands for immediate social and economic someone else equality for African Americans. In his 1903 book The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois wrote of his opposition to Washington’s position. A PERSONAL VOICE W. E. B. DU BOIS “ So far as Mr. Washington preaches Thrift, Patience, and Industrial Training for the masses, we must hold up his hands and strive with him.... But so far as Mr. Washington apolo- gizes for injustice, North or South, does not rightly value the W. E. B. DU BOIS privilege and duty of voting, belittles the emasculating 1868–1963 effects of caste distinctions, and opposes the higher training In 1909, W. E. B. Du Bois helped and ambition of our brighter minds,—so far as he, the South, to establish the NAACP and entered into the forefront of the or the Nation, does this,—we must unceasingly and firmly early U.S. civil rights movement. oppose them.” However, in the 1920s, he faced a —The Souls of Black Folk power struggle with the NAACP’s executive secretary, Walter White. Du Bois and other advocates of equality for African Ironically, Du Bois had retreated Americans were deeply upset by the apparent progressive to a position others saw as dan- indifference to racial injustice. In 1905 they held a civil rights gerously close to that of Booker T. Washington. Arguing for a sep- Background conference in Niagara Falls, and in 1909 a number of African arate economy for African The Niagara Americans joined with prominent white reformers in New Americans, Du Bois made a dis- Movement was York to found the NAACP—the National Association for the tinction, which White rejected, comprised of 29 black intellectuals. Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP, which had between enforced and voluntary They met secretly over 6,000 members by 1914, aimed for nothing less than full segregation. By mid-century, Du in 1905 to equality among the races. That goal, however, found little sup- Bois was outside the mainstream compose a civil of the civil rights movement. His port in the Progressive Movement, which focused on the needs work remained largely ignored rights manifesto. of middle-class whites. The two presidents who followed until after his death in 1963. Roosevelt also did little to advance the goal of racial equality. 1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. UUpton Sinclair UTheodore Roosevelt UMeat Inspection Act Uconservation UThe Jungle USquare Deal UPure Food and Drug Act UNAACP MAIN IDEA CRITICAL THINKING 2. TAKING NOTES 3. FORMING GENERALIZATIONS 4. EVALUATING Create five problem-solution diagrams In what ways do you think the Research the coal strike of like the one below to show how the progressive belief in using experts 1902. Do you think Roosevelt’s following problems were addressed played a role in shaping Roosevelt’s interventi