The Progressive Movement, dated between 1890 to 1920, was a period of social activism and political reform throughout the United States. The point of the Progressive Movement was to eliminate problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and political corruption. Did the Progressive Movement have more victories than failures?
One of the many groups in the Progressive movement was women. Many women fought for equality and whoever participated called themselves the suffragists. Woman suffrage supporters worked to educate the public about the gravity of woman’s suffrage. Under the leadership of pioneers such as Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, suffragists circulated petitions and lobbied Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to allow women to vote and earn better working conditions. Unfortunately, many politicians were unwilling to listen to a disenfranchised group. Women began to realize that to achieve reform, they needed to win the right to vote. For these reasons, woman suffrage became a mass movement in the progressive era.
The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), fought for women to be liberated nationally. In 1884, Susan B. Anthony testified before a Senate committee in support of women’s suffrage. In the following quotation, Susan B. Anthony sums up what every suffragist was fighting for:
The Congress of the United States notwithstanding, and the Supreme Court of the United States notwithstanding, with all deference and respect, I differ with them all, and know that I am right and that they are wrong. The Constitution of the United States as it is protects me. If I could get a practical application of the Constitution, it would protect me and all women in the enjoyment of perfect equality of rights everywhere under the shadow of the American flag. I do not come to you to petition for special legislation, or for any more amendments to the Constitution, because I think they are unnecessary, but because you say there is not in the Constitution enough to protect me. Therefore I ask that you, true to your own theory and assertion, should go forward to make more constitution.1
The 14th Amendment extended the right for all citizens within the United States to vote and prohibited the states from denying any citizen equal protection of the laws. Every man exercised this right, but not women. Susan B. Anthony, along with every Suffragist believed that technically, they already had the constitutional right to vote, and in a perfect world, could exercise their right.
Another women’s suffrage group was called the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). This organization fights to change the laws state by state. They believed to change the Constitution they had to change state laws first. These two organizations believed in the same cause but used different strategies. In 1920, due to the combined efforts of the NAWSA and the NWP, the 19th Amendment, enfranchising women, was finally ratified. The two organizations were moderate on their own but together they were much more powerful. This victory is considered the most significant achievement of women in the Progressive Era. It was the single largest extension of democratic voting rights in our nation’s history, and it was finally achieved after many dedicated years.
Suffragists not only fought for the right to vote but also fought for better working conditions for the working class. In New York, in 1911, a fire started in one of the many unsafe factories. There was no way to escape. Because of this, nearly 150 women and young girls died. They either burned or jumped to their death. The following passage is an example of how horrifying the conditions were for the working class that caused an uncontrollable fire: Susan B. Anthony. “Senate Committee on Woman Suffrage” Stump Speech, 1884. One hundred and forty-eight people nine-tenths of them girls and young women are known to have been killed in a fire that burned out the ten-story factory building at the northwest corner of Washington place and Green street, just off Washington Square, this afternoon….Within a few minutes after the first cry of fire had been yelled on the eighth floor of the building, fifty-three were lying half-nude, on the pavement. Bare legs in some cases were burned a dark brown and waists and skirts in tatters showed that they had been torn in the panic within the building before the girls got to the windows to jump to death.2
This fire left a lasting impact on society. It leads to many changes. New fire safety laws were created. Improved sprinklers and fire escapes. It led to a push for the change of laws imposing occupational safety and health regulations. Because of this, the minimum wage was changed, maximum hours, social insurance, and eventually, child labor. Although women played a role in advancing the United States, they were not the only Progressives in this era. Muckraker was a term used to describe a certain group of journalists in the Progressive era. These people typically attacked established institutions and big businesses that were corrupt. Muckrakers in the Progressive era, when America quickly industrialized, pushed for reform. They ultimately altered the way Americans live today. These reformers individually brought about awareness and tackled economic concentration, corporate power, political corruption, poverty, and food safety.
Jacob Riis one of the most popular Muckrakers was a well-known American newspaper reformer who exposed how the other half of Americans lived. Jacob Riis put effort into using his photos to show the reality of the working class living in poverty. He spent many years writing about the problems of the poor. Not only did Riis reveal the dark side of society, but he also showed the urgent need for change in America. Riis used emotional appeal as well as logical appeal to support his argument in favor of the need for social reform. He combined pictures and annotations to portray the conditions of immigrants and working-class life. Ida Tarbell, another well-known Muckraker at the time. Was a reporter who exposed the unfair practices of the Standard Oil Company. She dedicated many years to studying how John D. Rockefeller built his Standard Oil business into the world’s largest corporation. After her research, she wrote and published a book exposing Rockefeller’s contentious techniques for building his business. This issue leads to the Supreme Court’s decision to break corrupt monopolies.
Photography and journalism were used as tools to provide a substantial amount of evidence that eventually brought down large corporations and corrupt businessmen such as John D. Rockefeller. Jacob Riis and Ida Tarbell are only two examples of the reality that the Muckrakers brought into the light. The group of Muckrakers is arguably the most successful Progressives of them all.
The Suffragists and Muckrakers were not the only groups part of the Progressive Era. African Americans also took part in the Progressive Movement. African Americans were faced with consistent racism in this era. Enforced segregation in public spaces and disenfranchisement from the political process. No access to quality healthcare, education, or housing. Lynching was the biggest problem. This is being tortured and mutilated before being hanged or burned. Lynching was not only socially acceptable but encouraged in the South. To get rid of these injustices, reformers emerged to expose inequality and fought for equal rights in the United States.
Ida B. Wells was an outspoken African American on the topic of lynching. She emphasized her thoughts against lynching in her Memphis newspaper. When a mob eventually destroyed the newspaper’s office she worked t, she spoke out against the crime and also the topic of lynching:
It is with no pleasure I have dipped my hands in the corruption here exposed. Somebody must show that the Afro-American race is more sinned against than sinning, and it seems to have fallen upon me to do so. The awful death roll that Judge Lynch is calling every week is appalling, not only because of the lives it takes, the rank cruelty and outrage to the victims, but because of the prejudice it fosters and the stain it places against the good name of a weak race. The Afro- American is not a bestial race. If this work can contribute in any way toward proving this, and at the same time arouse the conscience of the American people to a demand for justice for every citizen, and punishment by law for the lawless, I shall feel I have done my race a service. Other considerations are of minor importance. New York City, Oct. 26, 1892.3
Ida B. Wells eventually goes on to lead an anti-lynching campaign and brings it to the White House. In 1898, she led a protest in Washington D.C and demanded for President William Mckinley make reforms. She also established many civil rights organizations. In 1896, she formed the National Association of Colored Women. Also considered a co-founder of the National Association of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP co-founders also included W.E.B Du Bois and many others. Ida B. Wells left a lasting legacy of social and political activism. Between her writings, speeches, and protests, Wells fought against prejudice no matter what potential danger for faced.
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were well-known activists and political leaders not only within the African American community but all over the United States. Both Washington and Du. Bois agreed for social and economic progression for African Americans, however, their strategies to achieve those goals were different.
Booker T. Washington was an educator, reformer, and the most influential black leader of his time. He preached a philosophy of self-help, racial solidarity, and accommodation. He urged African Americans to accept discrimination for the time being and concentrate on elevating themselves through hard work and material prosperity. He believed in education, industrial, and farming skills. So, Washington believed this would win the respect of whites and lead to African Americans being fully accepted as citizens and integrated into all strata of society. W.E.B. DuBois was a highly educated scholar and political thinker. He believed Washington’s strategy was, without a doubt, limiting to African Americans and that it would only further oppression. The following quote is a portion of W.E.B Dubois’s speech on why he believes Booker T. Washington’s strategies for social change were the wrong approach. “Mr. Washington represents in Negro thought the old attitude of adjustment and submission; but adjustment at such a peculiar time as to make his program unique. This is an age of unusual economic development, and Mr. Washington’s program naturally takes an economic cast, becoming a gospel of Work and Money to such an extent as apparently almost completely to overshadow the higher aims of life.” 4 W.E.B Du Bois advocated that social change should be accomplished all at once. By giving African Americans their Civil Rights across the board. With Political, economic, and social justice, and complete equality. His idea to accomplish this was through The Talented Tenth. This group was Du Bois’s “Label for a small group of African Americans charged with elevating the entire race. Articulating the principles of one of his best-known concepts…”5 This essay appeared in The Negro Problem, which was a collection of different essays written by African American leaders. Although Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois disagreed on how social justice should be achieved, they ultimately, strived for the same thing. No matter the differences, both shed light on African American social and economic issues.
In conclusion, the point of the Progressive Movement was to eliminate problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and political corruption. The Progressive Era saw many signification reform movements whose goals included eliminating government corruption, granting suffrage for women, and passing antitrust legislation. Despite these successes, some might argue that the benefits of Progressivism were mostly limited to white Americans. Unfortunately, African Americans continued to experience discrimination and oppression, including legal segregation, voting disenfranchisement, and economic disadvantages. The question remains, did the Progressive Movement have more victories than failures? The answer is different for each individual.
Bibliography
- Susan B. Anthony. “Senate Committee on Woman Suffrage” Stump Speech, 1884. Chicago Sunday Tribute: Girl Victims Leap to Death in Factory. March 26th, 1911.
- Ida. B. Wells, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases, 1892.
- W.E.B DuBois The Talented Tenth Speech http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=3616 1903.
- William L. Andrews, The Oxford Companion to African American Literature, (New York: Oxford University, 1997) 710 http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=3616