Topic+Outline+-+Populism+and+Progressivism

//Topic Outline #17:// __//Populism and Progressivism //__ __//﻿ //__a.) In the late 1800's, with the urban-industrial areas of America being singled out for their development and innovation, the rural American farmer looked on in disillusionment. The rural farmers were suffering from an economic decline, which resulted largely from Reconstruction, as well as the "monopolistic practices" of big businesses and railroad companies. Emerging from their dismay were several attempts at organizing movements to better themselves economically and politically. Some of these movements failed, and some of them effectively alligned farmers to challenge the government and gain significant political and economic rights.
 * the GRANGE: the Grange came about in the 1860's in the midst of Reconstruction, as an effort to help farmers who were in need. It originated when Oliver H. Kelley, an Agriculture Department official, was appalled by the social and economic conditions in the South, and subsequently formed the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry. The organization helped farmers learn new techniques of farming, created a feeling of community in the relatively isolated farmers' lives, and, after the depression of 1873, attempted to help the farmers rid themselves of middlemen between themselves and consumers.


 * Farmers' Alliances: before the Grange dissipated (as early as 1875), farmers were organizing in Farmers' Alliances. The Farmers' Alliances advocvated a sense of friendly collectivism that would be able to resist oppressive outside forces. Women even played an important role in the groups. The alliances proved more politically successful than the Granges ever were, winning seats from state legislatures to Congress. In July 1892, the alliances formed a third party, the People's Party, with its members being known as populists


 * the Populist platform: the populists proposed "subtreasuries", a network of warehouses to deposit crops (in order to wait for the price of goods to go up before selling), the abolition of national banks, the end of absentee ownership of land, the direct election of U.S. senators to weaken the power of state legislatures), regulation/government ownership of railroads, telephones/telegraphs, government-operated system of postal savings banks, graduated income tax, inflation of the currency, and rejection of laissez-faire ideologies.


 * "free silver": the Populists advocated the idea of "free silver", which was allowing silver to be the basis of the U.S. currency alongside gold, to expand the supply of money.

b.) As the early 1900's had already settled in, a widespread belief that industrialization and urbanization had created intolerable problems. From this, a new ideology formed: progressivism. Progressivism was centered on the idea of progress, that society was capable of improvement and that continued growth and advancement were the nation's destiny. Progressivists believed that the growth and progress America was experiencing was not sufficient enough; the laissez-faire and Social Darwinism doctrines were failing and were not creating stability and justice.
 * muckrakers: newspaper journalists committed to expose political and economic injustices. They especially targeted trusts and railroad companies, both powerful and corrupt institutions. Important muckrakers were Ida Tarbell (who published a study of the Standard Oil trust) and Lincoln Steffens (who depicted portraits of machine government and boss rule)


 * the Social Gospel: the muckrakers contributed to a general outrage at social/political/economic injustices, which became expressed through the Social Gospel, which pushed for reform in said-mentioned fields, as well as reform in self.


 * women's rights: the late 19th century and first decades of the 20th century saw a heavy surgence in the women's rights movement, specifically in encouraging women to leave the household and pursue further endeavors. These were attributed to the declining family size and values, higher levels of education, and a lesser regard for marriage. Women were occupying more and more professional career, forming exclusive clubs and workers' unions, and pushing for suffrage. The fruits of their efforts manifested itself in the 19th amendment, which gave women political rights (including right to vote) and the Equal Rights Amendment (which was never ratified)


 * temperance movement: maybe associated with the women's rights movement, the movement to eliminate alcohol from American life seemed inevitable with the reforms going on at the time. The causes of the movement can be traced to women (unhappy with their drunken, often abusive husbands), employers (fed up with drunk workers), political reformers (believing elimination of alcohol would eradicate saloons, oftentimes a central institution of urban machines)


 * socialism the progressive era brought about a fervent opposition to capitalism. the Socialist Party grew considerably stronger, despite conflicting views of where to take the party (some favored the radical goals of Marxism, while some favorted socialism on a smaller, more reserved scale). However, by the time WWI came to be, the Socialist Party mostly dissolved.