7.4 The Progressives

Photograph of Fisk University (1900)

This source argues that the federal government played a bigger role in the success of the Progressive Movement because…

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Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (1906)

There was never the least attention paid to what was cut up for sausage; there would come all the way back from Europe old sausage that had been rejected, and that was moldy and white—it would be dosed with borax and glycerine, and dumped into the hoppers, and made over again for home consumption. There would be meat that had tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers had tramped and spit. . . .

There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands of rats would race about on it. It was too dark in these storage places to see well, but a man could run his hand over these piles of meat and sweep off handfuls of the dried dung of rats. These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them; they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into the hoppers together.

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Excerpt from opinion in Muller v. Oregon (1908)

As healthy mothers are essential to vigorous offspring, the physical wellbeing of woman is an object of public interest. The regulation of her hours of labor falls within the police power of the State, and a statute directed exclusively to such regulation does not conflict with the due process or equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The right of a State to regulate the working hours of women rests on the police power and the right to preserve the health of the women of the State, and is not affected by other laws of the State granting or denying to women the same rights as to contract and the elective franchise as are enjoyed by men.

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Excerpts from Plessy v. Ferguson US Supreme Court (1896)

…that all railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in this State shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races by providing two or more passenger coaches for each passenger train, or by dividing the passenger coaches by a partition so as to secure separate accommodations:…

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17th Amendment (1911)

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

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“The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets,” by Jane Addams (1909)

Knowing as educators do that thousands of the city youth will enter factory life at an early age as early as the state law will permit; instructed as the modern teacher is as to youth’s requirements for normal mental and muscular development, it is hard to understand the apathy in regard to youth’s inevitable experience in modern industry. Are the educators, like the rest of us, so caught in admiration of the astonishing achievements of modern industry that they forget the children themselves?

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Grace Abbott, The Immigrant and the Community (1917)

Since the summer of 1908, the Immigrant's Protective League has received from the various ports of entry the names and addresses of unaccompanied women and girls who are coming to Chicago. The plan has been to have these women and girls visited by a representative of the League who was able to speak their language and was prepared to help them in making a beginning of their life in Chicago.

Since 1908, 20,304 girls have been thus visited by the League -- not all those whose names were received, because the resources of the League were not such as to enable us to do this during the seasons when immigration was heaviest. It was through these visits that we learned that some girls did not reach their relatives and friends, and that an extension of the care and supervision which is given to girls at the ports of entry should be extended to the interior. For example, in one year of normal immigration when 3338 girls were visited, 434 of the addresses sent us were obviously incorrect and no visit was attempted.

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Speech by Teddy Roosevelt (1912)

I believe in providing for direct nominations by the people…. I believe in the election of United States senators by direct vote. Just as actual experience convinced our people that presidents should be elected (as they are now in practice, although not in theory) by direct vote of the people instead of by indirect vote through an untrammeled electoral college, so actual experience has convinced us that senators should be elected by direct vote of the people instead of indirectly through the various legislatures.

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Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

For preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for regulating traffic therein, and for other purposes.

That the introduction into any State or Territory or the District of Columbia ... of any article of food or drugs which is adulterated or misbranded, within the meaning of this Act, is hereby prohibited?. [Section 2]

That the examinations of specimens of foods and drugs shall be made in the Bureau of Chemistry of the Department of Agriculture, or under the direction and supervision of such Bureau, for the purpose of determining from such examinations whether such articles are adulterated or misbranded within the meaning of this Act.... [Section 4]

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Time to construct your argument! Apply two of the above pieces of evidence and one outside piece of evidence to argue the validity of the statement:

The federal government played a bigger role than individuals for the success of Progressive Movement.

Write your argument in the space provided. Make sure to clearly specify your claim and ensure that your evidence supports it.