Analyze the goals and methods of the Progressive movement, including the muckrakers, business regulation, and the reform presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson (Tennessee Academic Standards for Social Studies, United States History and Geography, US.08).

What this topic is asking

Standard US.08 asks you to analyze the Progressive movement (about 1900 to 1920): what problems it tried to fix, the methods reformers used, the role of the muckrakers, and how the reform presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson expanded the role of government in the economy. This is the response to the inequality and corruption of the Gilded Age.

The goals and methods of Progressivism

Progressives were a diverse coalition (journalists, middle-class reformers, women's groups, some business and political leaders) united by a belief that government should act to solve social and economic problems. Their broad goals were to:

• Protect people from the abuses of big business (unsafe food and drugs, dangerous workplaces, child labor).
• Curb corporate power by regulating or breaking up monopolies.
• Clean up government and make it more democratic and honest.
• Improve society through measures like conservation and public health.

Their methods included exposing problems (the muckrakers), organizing and lobbying, passing laws and amendments, and using new tools of direct democracy at the state level.

The muckrakers

Their exposés moved the public and Congress to act. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906) revealed the filthy, dangerous meatpacking industry; Ida Tarbell exposed the ruthless tactics of Rockefeller's Standard Oil; Jacob Riis documented slum poverty in How the Other Half Lives; and Lincoln Steffens exposed city political corruption.

Theodore Roosevelt's Square Deal

President Theodore Roosevelt (1901 to 1909) made the federal government an active reformer. He promised Americans a "Square Deal" and pursued the "three C's":

• Control of corporations: he became a trust-buster, using the Sherman Act to break up harmful monopolies (such as the Northern Securities railroad trust) while allowing "good" trusts. He also regulated railroad rates (the Hepburn Act).
• Consumer protection: prompted by The Jungle, he backed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.
• Conservation: he protected millions of acres as national parks, forests, and reserves, a landmark for the environment.

Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom

President Woodrow Wilson (1913 to 1921) continued reform under the banner of the "New Freedom." His major achievements regulated banking and business:

• The Federal Reserve Act (1913) created the Federal Reserve System, the nation's central banking system, to manage the money supply and stabilize banks.
• The Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) strengthened the Sherman Act and protected labor unions from being treated as illegal trusts.
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was created to investigate and stop unfair business practices.
• The 16th Amendment (income tax) and 17th Amendment (direct election of senators) were ratified during this era (see Progressive reforms and amendments).

The limits of Progressivism

For all its achievements, the Progressive movement largely ignored racial injustice. Most Progressive reforms did nothing to challenge Jim Crow segregation or lynching, and some Progressives (including Wilson) actively supported segregation. African Americans largely had to organize their own response (see African American responses to segregation).

Try this

Q1. Explain who the muckrakers were and name one. [2]

• Cue. Investigative journalists or authors who exposed corruption and abuses to spur reform; Upton Sinclair or Ida Tarbell.

Q2. Name two of Theodore Roosevelt's "three C's" and give an example of each. [2]

• Cue. Any two of: control of corporations (trust-busting, the Hepburn Act), consumer protection (the 1906 food and drug laws), conservation (national parks and forests).