How did the industrial boom of post-civil war America lead to a nationwide movement? The industrial revolution led to an explosion in the population of urban centers, and this exponential growth caused societal ills previously unseen in America. Competition for available resources in urban centers inevitably left many citizens in poverty and unable to succeed. The idea of money influencing politics was not new, but the new concentration of wealth in industry heads enabled a new level of interference. When an industry head can dramatically influence the economic state of a country by controlling production, political leaders are left at a disadvantage. The origins of progressivism can be traced back to the rapid industrialization of the United States economy.
FYI: From 1863 to 1899, manufacturing production rose by more than 800 percent in the United States. This led to an explosion in the urban population and an increase in resource demand in those urban centers.
Progressivism is an early 20th-century movement responding to industrialization and the poor living conditions accompanying the sudden expansion of manufacturing. A large portion of the population moved from rural areas to urban centers. This rapid increase in population in urban centers was a direct effect of the need for workers in manufacturing. Rapid population growth leads to fierce competition for available resources, and many are left without meeting their needs.
The Beginning of the Progressive Movement
Goals of Early Progressivism
(1) to protect social welfare, this was achieved by alleviating the issues of urban life. Food scarcity, housing scarcity, childcare, and healthcare.
(2) to promote moral improvement, most notably known as Temperance, or the movement for the national ban on alcohol
(3) Creating economic reform involved pointing out the great inequality between the rich and poor
(4) to foster efficiency-> The idea to apply “scientific management” to make tasks easier. One result was the assembly line used in manufacturing. This is one of the first systems engineering applications and is intended to maximize workflow and productivity.
Purpose of Early Progressivism
Progressivism aims to address the social problems created by the rapid industrialization of the United States. The rapid urban growth caused problems regarding housing, healthcare, child care, and education. These problems were made worse by the need for cheap labor to continue the large profit margin in manufacturing.
There was an emergence of issues involving not only the results of poverty but also a danger to democracy unseen previously in the United States. The power held by industry giants was seen as a threat to the democratic process. These industry giants could use their economic control to extort the desired policies from legislators regarding working conditions, healthcare, and child care.
The Progressive Movement was formed to address societal ills accompanying industrialization. Their movement called for more oversight through watchdog groups, journalistic investigation, and assistance for the poor in their living and working conditions.
Causes of the Progressive Movement
Response to the problems raised by the rapid industrial growth that followed the Civil War. These problems included the growth of slums and poverty; the exploitation of workers; the breakdown of democratic government in the cities and states caused by the emergence of political organizations, or machines, allied with business interests; and a rapid movement toward financial and industrial concentration. Americans also feared that the tenets of a democratic government and free economic opportunity for all were at risk due to the overwhelming power held by industry barons. These industry heads could use their financial status as well as their control of production to influence the government.
Effects of the Progressive Movement
Progressivism not only established the idea of assistance to achieve independence, it illuminated the adverse effects of industrialization and the civil war. Previously, assistance was based upon the idea that people were in bad conditions due to their inherent lacking. This idea only allowed for lifelong aid versus establishing financial independence as the goal.
Emergence of a New School of Social Workers
At the turn of the 20th-century educational programs focused on social work began to train a new type of Social Worker. Before the progressive movement, social aid workers were commonly financially well-off women working to address issues from outside the community. In the progressive movement, the social workers lived among those they assisted and provided aid from the inside.
Fig. 1- Settlement House in Chicago. Public Domain
Education for a New Profession
The first developments of social work education started with a partnership between Columbia University and The New York School of Science. In 1904 Harvard University collaborated with Simmons College in Boston to form the first educational program for clinical social workers. Soon after, in 1908, the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy offered the first full-curriculum social work program. These programs spread through major cities, and this shift in education legitimized social work as a profession instead of a charitable effort for those with free time and an excess of wealth.
A New Form of Assistance: Settlement House
Settlement houses were centers in poor communities that offered various social services in one location.
Settlement houses offered a new level of service to the community; before the progressive movement interventions of charitable workers acted outside of communities. Settlement houses located within affected communities acted as a center of services. Residents of the community could come to the settlement house to find assistance in many areas of life, including employment, nutrition, facilities, and child care. Another significant difference in a settlement house versus the previous form of assistance was the idea that an individual has the right to determine their future, whether the aid workers believe that is the correct choice. This right to self-determination would later become one of the significant points of the Social Workers Code of Ethics which guides the social work profession.
Did you know? In 1889, Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr formed the Hull House, the most well-known American Settlement House. The Hull House would assist anyone in need who came seeking aid, regardless of circumstances. This allowed more people to access the services they needed within their community.
Fig. 2- Jane Adams, one of the founders of Hull House.
Working Conditions: A Catalyst for Change
Rapid industrialization led to a significant demand for workers, and these jobs offered solutions to families in poverty. Child labor was a common sight in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The need for massive production allowed for processes to emerge that was highly productive but also extremely dangerous. These conditions caused many injuries and deaths as no federal guidelines existed on workers' compensation after being hurt or killed at the workplace.
While watchdog groups could oversee how workplaces function, the most significant change needed was how employers were held accountable when their workers were injured or killed. No set legislation outlined how workers were protected from the dangers of employment. In 1908 congress passed the first of the laws regarding workplace safety regulations in railroad construction. The Bureau of Mines was formed in 1910 due to frequent and recurring mining explosions. These were the first two attempts to protect workers.
watchdog group - a not-for-profit organization that provides oversight of companies and their working conditions, aiming to expose a lack of compliance and breach of employment laws or other human rights.
Working conditions could be monitored, but there was no law presiding over how employers must monetarily compensate workers after injury or death at the workplace. Also, in 1910 New York became the first state to approve a set workman’s compensation law. Previously workers had to sue for damages, and employers could shift blame from themselves to other workers or even the injured party themselves; employers had access to a wealth of legal resources far beyond working Americans' reach.
Labor Laws did not quickly catch up with the pace of Industrialization;
child labor was not outlawed until 1938 during FDR’S presidency.
Fig. 3 - Child mill workers, North Carolina, 1908
Muckrakers
In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt invented the term "Muckrakers" to refer to journalists who devoted their time to digging up dirt and running exposés on the social ills of the times. Roosevelt had lifted the term from John Bunyan's novel Pilgrim's Progress, in which a character was so focused on the "muck" about his feet that he failed to notice the sky above him.
Roosevelt applied this to journalists since they were over-focused on finding only corruption. But the POTUS could not deny their methods effectively created social change. Muckrakers were a disparate bunch and investigated all manner of government and business corruption, as well as issues regarding consumer protection and the FDA.
Fig. 4 - Expose of poor conditions on New Orleans streets
Social Gospel Movement
As the muckrakers coincided with the American Industrial Revolution, the Social Gospel Movement rode a new generational wave of the liberal progressive movement, tying good, philanthropic works to faith. Preachers shouted to their congregations that they needed to work to help the poor if they wished for salvation. These clergy spread the idea that Jesus' teachings could be spread through social justice.
If you found this explanation helpful, check out our other explanations in this set, Muckrakers and the Social Gospel Movement!
Origins of Progressivism - Key takeaways
- Progressivism was a response to the conditions created by rapid industrialization.
- The needs of the new urban poor changed how charitable aid functioned.
- The social issues led to the establishment of Social Workers as a profession.
- Democracy was seen as at risk from the influence held by industry heads.
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