Week 5 (Feb. 16-18)

This week, we’ll do our best to introduce the Progressive Era, a term we use (for better or worse) to describe a variety of reformist movements that reshaped local, state and national politics from the 1890s through the end of the first World War. Textbooks usually devote an entire chapter to progressivism, so those of you with textbooks should have no trouble finding the right material to read for the week. The American Promise — several copies of which are on reserve at the library — has an excellent chapter that covers the movement. The relevant section of Digital History is tolerable but lacks some important areas of discussion. The Wikipedia entry on the Progressive Era is complete crap and should be avoided. This is a week for which I’d strongly encourage students to use a conventional textbook for background reading.

Questions for the week:

1. What major problems did Progressive reformers identify in American life around the turn of the century?  What solutions did they propose?
2. What arguments did female reformers raise to explain why their efforts were needed?  How did these arguments provide support to those seeking women’s voting rights?
3. In what ways did Theodore Roosevelt put the ideas of progressivism into action?  How did his time in office represent a shift in the role of the president?
4. By the onset of World War I, what major victories had American progressives achieved?
5. In what ways were progressive “reforms” shaped by racial prejudice, nativism and/or skepticism toward more radical solutions to the nation’s industrial problems?

Some documents for the week:

1. Florence Kelley investigates sweatshop conditions in Boston
2. Lewis Hine uses photography to document the problem of child labor
3. A reporter’s horrific account of the 1911 Triangle Fire
4. Roosevelt’s 1905 inaugural address