Resistance and Reform Essential Questions:
- How did the instability of the Industrial Age and the Gilded Age lead to a demand for change?
- What were the goals of the Populists?
- What were the goals of the Progressives?
- What were the goals of the Socialists?
- How did Progressivism reorganize America's political, economic, and social system?
- How did Populism and Socialism represent a challenge to America's traditional elites?
The Populists
Today, the Gilded Age evokes thoughts of “robber baron” industrialists, immigrants toiling long hours in factories for little pay, massive strikes that were often put down by force, and political corruption in both big cities and the halls of Congress. But there were also serious problems in rural America, where most (although fewer and fewer every year) of the population lived. And many small farmers turned to social movements and politics to remedy those ills.
Thus, in 1892, farmers and labor insurgents came together in Omaha to organize a new People’s Party, also known as the Populists. “We believe,” proclaimed Ignatius Donnelly, a 61-year-old former congressman from Minnesota who also dabbled in science fiction, “that the powers of government—in other words, of the people—should be expanded . . . as rapidly and as far as the good sense of an intelligent people and the teachings of experience shall justify, to the end that oppression, injustice, and poverty shall eventually cease in the land.” Most of the party’s rank-and-file belonged to the Farmers Alliance, whose huge network of local papers and lecturers who stumped through rural America gave it a base that no other third party in US history could match.
But the Populists also knew they would never transform the nation from the agrarian hinterland alone. Their Omaha Platform proposed a number of ways to restrain and regulate corporate America so that “the plain people” would once again feel the government was standing up for their interests: a graduated income tax, a “flexible” currency based on silver as well as gold, the nationalization of the railroads and the telegraph, the initiative and referendum which allowed voters to place their own measures on the ballot or vote down a bill already passed by the state legislature, and a ban on aliens owning land targeting wealthy European investors. The Omaha Platform also preached that “the interests of rural and civil labor are the same; their enemies are identical” and backed it up with demands for an eight-hour day for public workers and abolition of the Pinkerton Agency, a notorious strikebreaking firm.
Assignments
Assignment: Populism and Agrarian Discontent
Assignment: The Populists Vocabulary
Assignment: The Populists Written Response
DBQ: Populism DBQ
Today, the Gilded Age evokes thoughts of “robber baron” industrialists, immigrants toiling long hours in factories for little pay, massive strikes that were often put down by force, and political corruption in both big cities and the halls of Congress. But there were also serious problems in rural America, where most (although fewer and fewer every year) of the population lived. And many small farmers turned to social movements and politics to remedy those ills.
Thus, in 1892, farmers and labor insurgents came together in Omaha to organize a new People’s Party, also known as the Populists. “We believe,” proclaimed Ignatius Donnelly, a 61-year-old former congressman from Minnesota who also dabbled in science fiction, “that the powers of government—in other words, of the people—should be expanded . . . as rapidly and as far as the good sense of an intelligent people and the teachings of experience shall justify, to the end that oppression, injustice, and poverty shall eventually cease in the land.” Most of the party’s rank-and-file belonged to the Farmers Alliance, whose huge network of local papers and lecturers who stumped through rural America gave it a base that no other third party in US history could match.
But the Populists also knew they would never transform the nation from the agrarian hinterland alone. Their Omaha Platform proposed a number of ways to restrain and regulate corporate America so that “the plain people” would once again feel the government was standing up for their interests: a graduated income tax, a “flexible” currency based on silver as well as gold, the nationalization of the railroads and the telegraph, the initiative and referendum which allowed voters to place their own measures on the ballot or vote down a bill already passed by the state legislature, and a ban on aliens owning land targeting wealthy European investors. The Omaha Platform also preached that “the interests of rural and civil labor are the same; their enemies are identical” and backed it up with demands for an eight-hour day for public workers and abolition of the Pinkerton Agency, a notorious strikebreaking firm.
Assignments
Assignment: Populism and Agrarian Discontent
Assignment: The Populists Vocabulary
Assignment: The Populists Written Response
DBQ: Populism DBQ
Progressivism
The Gilded Age was a period of intense social change. As living and working conditions for industrial workers and farmers continued to decline, radical movements surged. Radical Trade Unionism, Populism, and Socialism all began to grow in popularity as Americans agitated for change.
This frightened the nation’s elites. The nation’s wealthy industrialists and political leaders feared that radical movements would threaten their power and make serious social changes. Wary of these radical movements, a new movement began to grow, that of Progressivism. Progressivism was popular amongst some parts of the nation’s elites and a good chunk of the middle class.
The Progressive Era was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States, from the 1890s to World War I. The main objective of the Progressive movement was eliminating corruption in government
The movement primarily targeted political machines and their bosses. Bosses were a major part of the political landscape during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States, such as the political machine of Tammany Hall, which controlled financing of campaigns and influence via owing of favors to arrange patronage public appointments. By taking down these corrupt representatives in office, a further means of direct democracy would be established.
They also sought regulation of monopolies (“trust-busting”) and corporations through antitrust laws. These antitrust laws were seen as a way to promote equal competition for the advantage of legitimate competitors. The main statutes are the Sherman Act of 1890, the Clayton Act of 1914, and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914.
Progressives had a persistent belief in the ability of man to “improve” himself. As such, they sponsored many programs which were focused on making Americans “better.” Many Progressives supported prohibition in the United States in order to destroy the political power of local bosses based in saloons. At the same time, women’s suffrage was promoted to bring a “purer” female vote into the arena. These two issues in the movement brought about constitutional change. The Eighteenth Amendment, passed in late 1917, banned the manufacturing, sale, and transport of alcohol, while the Nineteenth Amendment, passed in 1919, gave women the right to vote.
Assignments
Assignment: Ellis Island
Assignment: Progressive Era Overview
Assignment: Social Darwinism
Assignment: Tying It All Together: Social Darwinism
Assignment: The Square Deal Overview
Written Response: Progressive Written Response
The Gilded Age was a period of intense social change. As living and working conditions for industrial workers and farmers continued to decline, radical movements surged. Radical Trade Unionism, Populism, and Socialism all began to grow in popularity as Americans agitated for change.
This frightened the nation’s elites. The nation’s wealthy industrialists and political leaders feared that radical movements would threaten their power and make serious social changes. Wary of these radical movements, a new movement began to grow, that of Progressivism. Progressivism was popular amongst some parts of the nation’s elites and a good chunk of the middle class.
The Progressive Era was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States, from the 1890s to World War I. The main objective of the Progressive movement was eliminating corruption in government
The movement primarily targeted political machines and their bosses. Bosses were a major part of the political landscape during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States, such as the political machine of Tammany Hall, which controlled financing of campaigns and influence via owing of favors to arrange patronage public appointments. By taking down these corrupt representatives in office, a further means of direct democracy would be established.
They also sought regulation of monopolies (“trust-busting”) and corporations through antitrust laws. These antitrust laws were seen as a way to promote equal competition for the advantage of legitimate competitors. The main statutes are the Sherman Act of 1890, the Clayton Act of 1914, and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914.
Progressives had a persistent belief in the ability of man to “improve” himself. As such, they sponsored many programs which were focused on making Americans “better.” Many Progressives supported prohibition in the United States in order to destroy the political power of local bosses based in saloons. At the same time, women’s suffrage was promoted to bring a “purer” female vote into the arena. These two issues in the movement brought about constitutional change. The Eighteenth Amendment, passed in late 1917, banned the manufacturing, sale, and transport of alcohol, while the Nineteenth Amendment, passed in 1919, gave women the right to vote.
Assignments
Assignment: Ellis Island
Assignment: Progressive Era Overview
Assignment: Social Darwinism
Assignment: Tying It All Together: Social Darwinism
Assignment: The Square Deal Overview
Written Response: Progressive Written Response
Socialism
One of the pervasive myths about the United States is that it has never had a socialist movement comparable to other industrialized nations. Yet in the early 20th century a vibrant Socialist Party and socialist movement flourished in the United States. Created in 1901, the Socialist Party of America unsurprisingly declared its primary goal to be the collectivization of the means of production. Yet the party’s highly decentralized and democratic structure enabled it to adapt to the needs and cultures of diverse constituencies in different regions of the country. Among those attracted to the movement in its heyday were immigrant and native-born workers and their families, tenant farmers, middle-class intellectuals, socially conscious millionaires, urban reformers, and feminists. Party platforms regularly included the reform interests of these groups as well as the long-term goal of eradicating capitalism. By 1912, the Socialist Party boasted an impressive record of electoral successes at the local, state, and national levels. U.S. Socialists could also point with pride to over three hundred English and foreign-language Socialist periodicals, some with subscription rates that rivaled those of the major urban daily newspapers.
Yet Socialists faced numerous challenges in their efforts to build a viable third-party movement in the United States. On the one hand, progressive reformers in the Democratic and Republican parties sought to coopt Socialists. On the other hand, the Socialist Party encountered challenges on the left from anarchists, syndicalists, communists, and Farmer-Labor Party activists. The Socialist Party was particularly weakened by government repression during World War I, by the postwar Red Scare, and by a communist insurgency within its ranks in the aftermath of the war. By the onset of the Great Depression, the Communist Party would displace the Socialist Party as the leading voice of radical change in the United States.
Assignments
Assignment: Eugene Victor Debs Overview
Assignment: The Socialists Written Response
Assignment: Tying It All Together: Resistance and Reform
One of the pervasive myths about the United States is that it has never had a socialist movement comparable to other industrialized nations. Yet in the early 20th century a vibrant Socialist Party and socialist movement flourished in the United States. Created in 1901, the Socialist Party of America unsurprisingly declared its primary goal to be the collectivization of the means of production. Yet the party’s highly decentralized and democratic structure enabled it to adapt to the needs and cultures of diverse constituencies in different regions of the country. Among those attracted to the movement in its heyday were immigrant and native-born workers and their families, tenant farmers, middle-class intellectuals, socially conscious millionaires, urban reformers, and feminists. Party platforms regularly included the reform interests of these groups as well as the long-term goal of eradicating capitalism. By 1912, the Socialist Party boasted an impressive record of electoral successes at the local, state, and national levels. U.S. Socialists could also point with pride to over three hundred English and foreign-language Socialist periodicals, some with subscription rates that rivaled those of the major urban daily newspapers.
Yet Socialists faced numerous challenges in their efforts to build a viable third-party movement in the United States. On the one hand, progressive reformers in the Democratic and Republican parties sought to coopt Socialists. On the other hand, the Socialist Party encountered challenges on the left from anarchists, syndicalists, communists, and Farmer-Labor Party activists. The Socialist Party was particularly weakened by government repression during World War I, by the postwar Red Scare, and by a communist insurgency within its ranks in the aftermath of the war. By the onset of the Great Depression, the Communist Party would displace the Socialist Party as the leading voice of radical change in the United States.
Assignments
Assignment: Eugene Victor Debs Overview
Assignment: The Socialists Written Response
Assignment: Tying It All Together: Resistance and Reform