Progressives had four main goals:
- Protect social welfare
- Promote moral improvement
- Create economic reform
- Foster efficiency
- Supported prohibition to destroy political power in saloons
- Also promoted women's suffrage
- Tried to expose political machines and bosses for what they were doing
- Wanted to remove corruption in the government
Worker Safety/Conditions
- Intro of assembly lines sped up production
- Employees had to work like machines
- Often led to fatigue and injuries
- Children were hired because they would work for lower wages and their hands allowed them to handle small parts and tools
- Many developed severe health problems from fatigue including stunted growth
- Often people worked for 10 hours a day
Reforming Elections
Sometimes ordinary citizens would win state reforms.
William S. U'Ren of Oregon adopted the secret ballot (Ausralian ballot), the initiative, the referendum, and the recall
Initiative and referendum gave citizens the power to create new laws
Citizens could petition to place an initiative (bill originated by the people rather than lawmakers) on the ballot
Voters, instead of a legislature, would either accept or reject the initiative by referendum (vote on initiative)
The recall gave voters the option to remove public officials from elected positions by forcing them to face another election before the end of their term, provided enough voters asked for it
In 1899, Minnesota passed the first mandatory statewide primary system
Allowed voters, instead of political machines, could choose candidates for public office through a special popular election
Before 1913, each state's legislature choose its own senators, which put more power into the hands of party bosses and corporation heads
Progressives pushed for the popular election of senators through direct primaries
This led to the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution which made direct election senators the law
Also gave Americans more of a voice in electing their legislators and creating new laws
Segregation
- Roosevelt appointed an African American as the head of the Charleston, South Carolina, customhouse
- 1906, he angered many African Americans when let go an entire regiment of colored soldiers accused of conspiracy
- Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington for dinner at the White House
- Washington was the head of an all black training school and the most respected African American leader, even by powerful whites
- Blamed black poverty on blacks and urged them to accept discrimination
- Many African Americans disagreed with this including W. E. B. Du Bois
- Formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
- NAACP aimed for equality among races
- Did not find much support in the Progressive Movement however and following presidents did not do much to help
Regulating Food and Drugs
- Upton Sinclair published a book called The Jungle which talked about the sickening conditions of the meat packing industry
- Meat would fall onto the dirt, sawdust, and germ covered floors where rats would run all over it
- President Roosevelt hired experts to investigate the meat packing industry
- After Sinclair's book was found to be true, Roosevelt issued the Meat Inspection Act
- Was meant to dictate strict cleanliness requirements and federal meat inspection
- Did not require companies to print canned foods with expiration dates however
- Manufacturers would say things about their products like they cured cancer or made you grow hair
- Popular children's medicines often contained cocaine or alcohol
- Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act
- Stopped the sale of contaminated food and medicine and called for truth in a product's labeling
- Reflected the progressive belief that people would act smarter if they were given accurate information
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