The Progressive Era

7 Mar, 2008  Web Quests

An In-Depth Look at the Progressives

The Progressive Era lasted from roughly the 1890s to 1920. The Progressives were not a cohesive group with one strategy or even a single agenda. They simply wanted to improve society. However, their legacy and contributions are much debated.

Directions:

  1. Under each topic, there are two theses from which you will choose after reading sources at the links provided below and researching on your own.
  2. Divide the work between you and your partner. Communicate with each other as you work.
  3. Carefully read the sources provided. Once you and your partner have exhausted the links I’ve provided, fill in any gaps with research of your own.
  4. With your partner, decide which thesis you believe to be most accurate.
  5. Be prepared (by writing them down) with between 3-5 detailed reasons you believe the thesis you chose is most accurate. Despite the fact that we will be discussing these topics, your proof should be prepared in the same way you would try to prove a thesis in a paper.

Note: There is no “right answer.” Reasonable people may disagree about these issues. Your job is to provide valid proof through historical research that the thesis you chose is correct in class discussion.

Grading: 15 points: Quality of research and accurate and specific support for thesis.

Scroll down to your topic to begin.

Government Reform:

The Progressives proposed numerous changes to both state and local government.

Theses:

  • The Progressives succeeded in democratizing American Government.
  • The Progressives made limited gains in democratizing American Government.

Things to Consider:

  • Recall (which states got it?)
  • Initiative (which states got it?)
  • Referendum (which states got it?)
  • Direct Primary
  • 17th Amendment
  • Other changes in state and local government designed to give the people more say

Sources:

The Women’s Movement:

Middle class women became increasingly active in public life in the late 19th century.

Theses:

  • Women had many important victories during the Progressive Era.
  • Women did not make enough gains during the Progressive Era.

Things to Consider:

  • 19th Amendment
  • The National American Woman Suffrage Association
  • Carrie Chapman Catt
  • Alice Paul
  • The role of women in the late 1800s and early 1900s

Sources:

Check out these sites to see what some women believe is left to be done about women’s rights:

Labor Reform:

Working conditions for workers continued to be poor at the turn of the century. Some reformers decided that if they could not win great change for all workers, they would focus on specific groups.

Theses:

  • Protective legislation, which singled out particular groups for protection (i.e. children or women), did little to reform the workplace.
  • Protective legislation, which singled out particular groups for protection (i.e. children or women), helped all workers.

Things to Consider:

  • Muller v. Oregon (Supreme Court Case)
  • Changes made in child labor laws
  • National Child Labor Committee
  • How did some employers deal with legislation protecting women specifically?
  • What was the impact of protective legislation on women’s push for equality?

Sources:

An overview of protective legislation:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awlaw3/protective.html

A synopsis of Lochner v. New York
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1904/1904_292/

Read a synopsis of Muller v. Oregon at
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1907/1907_107/

Some of the laws at the website below apply to this topic:
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/module14/tool_is_pop14.html

An explanation of why the Federal Child Labor Law (the Keating-Owen) bill was declared unconstitutional
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=59

The Progressive Amendments:

The Progressive Era produced not only a flood of social and economic reforms but also reforms and changes in the very structure and basis of the Constitution of the United States.  Since its completion and ratification 180 years earlier, the Constitution had only been amended 15 times.  However, in the eight years of President Woodrow Wilson, four new amendments were added: the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th.

Theses:

  • The 16th and 18th Amendments were too intrusive on the rights of Americans.
  • The 16th and 18th Amendments benefited most Americans.

Things to Consider:

  • 16th Amendment
  • 18th Amendment
  • What was the goal of the 18th Amendment?
  • What did people who supported these amendments argue?  Opposed?
  • What were the consequences of these Amendments?

Sources:

Race Relations:

In the Progressive Era, key black leaders emerged and several organizations were founded to advance the rights of African Americans.

Theses:

  • One of the greatest achievements of the Progressives was progress towards racial equality for African Americans.
  • One of the greatest disappointments of the Progressives was the lack of progress towards racial equality for African Americans.

Things to Consider:

  • Booker T. Washington
  • W.E.B. DuBois
  • NAACP (its journal was called The Crisis)
  • Race Riots
  • National Urban League
  • Jim Crow

Sources:

Business Reform:

Breaking up trusts was viewed by Progressives as a way to stop abuses that developed because wealth and industrial power were concentrated in the hands of a few.

Theses:

  • Teddy Roosevelt and Wilson were anti-business.
  • Teddy Roosevelt and Wilson, while “trust busters,” should not be considered anti-business.

Things to Consider:

  • The Sherman Antitrust Act (and its enforcement)
  • How did Teddy Roosevelt decide which trusts to “bust”?
  • Federal Trade Commission
  • Northern Securities and other trusts “busted”
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  • Luke Hogate

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