The Progressive Era: Crash Course US History #27

Summary

The Progressive Era, spanning the late 19th to early 20th century, was a period of significant social and political reform in the United States. The script discusses the efforts to address the social issues arising from industrial capitalism, such as low wages, long hours, and poor working conditions. It highlights the role of muckrakers, unions, and reformers like Henry Ford in improving labor conditions. The era also saw the rise of consumer culture and the debate between expert-driven governance and increased democratic participation. The script explores the contradictions of the era, including the disenfranchisement of certain groups and the struggle for civil rights, exemplified by figures like Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois.

Takeaways

• 😀 The Progressive Era was a time when people sought to address the social and economic issues arising from industrial capitalism through individual and group action.
• 🔍 Muckraking journalism exposed industrial and political abuses, contributing to public awareness and policy change, such as the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.
• 👷 Lewis Hine's photography brought national attention to child labor, influencing laws that limited the practice.
• 👥 Workers organized into unions to improve their conditions, while some employers like Henry Ford recognized the benefits of paying workers more to afford the products they made.
• 🤔 The era was marked by a tension between the desire for broad participatory democracy and the need for effective government, reflecting a balance between people's governance and expert-driven policies.
• 🏭 Progressives were concerned with the social problems of industrial capitalism, such as exploitation of labor and wealth concentration, which they believed limited freedom.
• 🛠️ Scientific management, or 'Taylorism,' was both a response to worker exploitation and a method to increase productivity, reflecting the era's reliance on expertise.
• 🏛️ Government action was increasingly seen as a solution to social problems, with social legislation more successful at state and local levels than federally.
• 📊 The era saw a rise in direct democracy methods like initiatives and referendums, alongside efforts to limit voting through literacy tests and poll taxes, reflecting a complex relationship with democratic participation.
• 🌐 The consumer culture and mass consumption society that emerged were seen by some as a new form of freedom, with access to goods equated to liberty.
• 🔄 The Progressive Era's efforts to address issues of inequality and injustice were not always successful, and their methods and concerns are still relevant today, particularly in discussions around immigration and economic justice.

Q & A

What is the Progressive Era in U.S. history?

The Progressive Era was a period when people tried to solve the problems associated with industrial capitalism through individual and group action. It was characterized by a response to social problems that arose from rapid industrialization and economic concentration.

How did the Progressives address the issue of trusts and monopolies?

The Progressives addressed the issue of trusts and monopolies through legislation like the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. However, most progressive changes were made at the state and local levels, not by the federal government.

What was muckraking and how did it contribute to the Progressive Era?

Muckraking was a form of journalism where reporters exposed industrial and political abuses. Mass circulation magazines published these exposés, which helped to raise public awareness and contributed to the push for reforms during the Progressive Era.

What impact did Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle' have on the Progressive Era?

Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle' exposed the harsh conditions and unsanitary practices in the meatpacking industry. It led to the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906, which were significant reforms of the era.

How did Lewis Hine's photography contribute to the Progressive Era?

Lewis Hine's photography documented child laborers in factories and mines, bringing the issue to the forefront of public consciousness. His work helped bring about laws that limited child labor.

What was the significance of Henry Ford's decision to pay his workers an average of $5 per day in 1914?

Henry Ford's decision to pay his workers $5 per day was significant because it was an unusually high wage at the time. His reasoning was that better-paid workers could afford the Model Ts they were making, which increased demand for his product and led to a rise in production and a drop in the car's price.

What were the International Workers of the World (IWW) or Wobblies, and what did they advocate for?

The International Workers of the World (IWW), also known as the Wobblies, were a radical socialist union founded in 1905. They advocated for the rights of all wage-workers, regardless of their religion, fatherland, or trade, and aimed to see capitalism and the state disappear in a revolution.

How did the Progressive Era's optimism about consumer culture influence the understanding of freedom?

The optimism about consumer culture during the Progressive Era led to a new understanding of freedom as access to the abundance of goods made available by modern capitalism. This idea was encouraged by new advertising techniques that connected goods with freedom.

What was the role of scientific experts in the Progressive Era?

Scientific experts played a significant role in the Progressive Era by providing research, observation, and expertise to address social problems. This was seen in areas such as workplace management, where Frederick W. Taylor's scientific management principles were applied to increase productivity.

How did the Progressive Era's focus on government solutions to social problems differ from previous approaches?

The Progressive Era's focus on government solutions to social problems marked a shift towards an activist government that could enhance people's freedom rather than threaten it. This was a new concept in America, where government action was seen as a way to address the insecurities and problems of the modern industrial world.

What were some of the contradictions of the Progressive Era regarding democracy and expert government?

The Progressive Era had a major contradiction between the desire for increased popular democratic participation and the belief in government by experts. While some reforms like the 17th Amendment and direct elections of senators empowered voters, other Progressives advocated for policy made by experts who knew what was best for the people, not the people themselves.

How did the Progressive Era impact the political participation of immigrants and African Americans?

The Progressive Era had a negative impact on the political participation of immigrants and African Americans. Immigrants faced literacy tests and voter registration laws that suppressed their voting power. African Americans were disenfranchised through Jim Crow laws, literacy requirements, and poll taxes, which effectively limited their ability to vote.

What were the differing views of Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois on improving the lives of African Americans?

Booker T. Washington, the head of the Tuskegee Institute, urged African Americans to emphasize skills that could make them successful in the economy, believing that earning the respect of white people would lead to mutual respect. WEB DuBois, on the other hand, advocated for full civil and political rights for black people and helped found the NAACP, which urged African Americans to fight for their rights through persistent agitation.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to the Progressive Era

The script opens with a humorous introduction to the Progressive Era, discussing its various interpretations and the challenges of defining progress during this period. It touches on the overlap with the Gilded Age, the criticism of industrial capitalism, and the era's paradoxical restrictions on freedom, such as prohibition. The host, John Green, sets the stage for a discussion on the efforts of Progressives to address social inequalities and injustices, hinting at the complexities and contradictions that characterized the era.

05:02

🛠️ Industrial Challenges and Progressive Responses

This paragraph delves into the social and economic issues that arose from industrial capitalism, such as low wages, long hours, and poor working conditions. It highlights the role of muckraking journalism in exposing these problems and the subsequent legislative actions, like the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. The paragraph also discusses the use of photography for documentation, the organization of unions, and the innovative wage policies of Henry Ford, which aimed to increase consumer purchasing power among workers.

10:06

🌐 The Contradictions of Progressive Reforms

The script explores the contradictions within the Progressive movement, such as the tension between advocating for broad democratic participation and supporting policies made by experts. It discusses the influence of thinkers like Henry George and Simon W. Patten on Progressive thought, the rise of consumer culture, and the use of advertising to link goods with freedom. The paragraph also touches on the limitations of industrialization, such as 'Taylorism' and its impact on worker autonomy and the regimentation of daily life.

🗳️ Democratic Reforms and Their Limitations

This section examines the democratic reforms of the Progressive Era, including the 17th Amendment, direct elections of senators, and the introduction of primaries and direct democracy mechanisms like initiatives and referendums. However, it also points out the limitations of these reforms, such as the suppression of immigrant and African American voting through literacy tests, poll taxes, and the Jim Crow laws. The paragraph underscores the era's complex relationship with democracy and the struggle to balance expert governance with popular participation.

Keywords

💡Progressive Era

The Progressive Era refers to a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States spanning from the 1890s to the 1920s. It is characterized by attempts to address the vast social and economic problems that emerged from rapid industrialization and urbanization. In the video, this term is central as it sets the stage for discussing the various reform movements and their impact on American society, including labor rights, consumer protection, and political reforms.

💡Muckraking

Muckraking is a form of investigative journalism that exposes scandal, corruption, or malpractice in business and politics. It played a significant role during the Progressive Era by raising public awareness about social and political issues. The video mentions this term in the context of mass circulation magazines publishing exposés that led to progressive changes, such as the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.

💡Trusts

Trusts were large combinations of industrial enterprises that emerged in the late 19th century, often monopolistic in nature. They were seen as exerting too much power over people's lives and were a target for reform during the Progressive Era. The script discusses federal attempts to regulate trusts through legislation like the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, reflecting the concern over corporate power and the desire for economic fairness.

💡Child Labor

Child labor refers to the employment of children in jobs and tasks that are inappropriate for their age. During the Progressive Era, it was a significant social issue due to the exploitation of children in factories and mines. The video highlights the work of Lewis Hine, who used photography to document child labor, contributing to the passage of laws that limited the practice.

💡Unions

Unions are organizations that represent the collective interests of workers and negotiate with employers for better working conditions and wages. The video discusses the role of unions in the Progressive Era, particularly the AFL and the IWW (Wobblies), in advocating for workers' rights and improved labor conditions, which was a key aspect of the broader progressive movement.

💡Henry Ford

Henry Ford was an American industrialist and the founder of the Ford Motor Company. He is known for his introduction of the Model T automobile and the assembly line technique of mass production. In the context of the video, Ford is mentioned for his innovative wage policy, paying workers a then-unprecedented $5 per day, which was intended to enable them to afford the cars they produced and contributed to the growth of consumer culture.

💡Jim Crow Laws

Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. Named after a popular 19th-century minstrel show, these laws became a symbol of the systemic racial discrimination against African Americans during the Progressive Era. The video discusses how these laws legally segregated the South and disenfranchised African Americans, highlighting the era's contradictions and social injustices.

💡Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington was an influential African American educator, author, and leader of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the founder of the Tuskegee Institute, which focused on vocational education for African Americans. The video describes Washington's philosophy of self-help and accommodation, which sought to improve the status of African Americans through economic progress and vocational skills, rather than through direct confrontation of racial barriers.

💡W.E.B. DuBois

W.E.B. DuBois was a prominent African American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, and one of the founders of the NAACP. He advocated for full civil and political rights for black people. In the video, DuBois is contrasted with Booker T. Washington, representing a more aggressive approach to fighting for civil rights through 'persistent, manly agitation,' as opposed to Washington's accommodationist stance.

💡Social Legislation

Social legislation refers to laws and policies enacted by governments to address social problems and promote the welfare of citizens. During the Progressive Era, there was a push for government action to solve the issues of the modern industrial world. The video mentions social legislation in the context of state and local level successes, such as public control over utilities and funding for public services, as opposed to federal successes like Prohibition, which was less effective.

💡Taylorism

Taylorism, named after efficiency expert Frederick W. Taylor, refers to the principles of scientific management that aimed to improve productivity by setting rigid rules and supervision in the workplace. The video discusses Taylorism as both a response to worker exploitation and a method that could be seen as limiting worker autonomy, reflecting the complex nature of progress and its impact on individual freedom.

Highlights

Introduction to the Progressive Era and its diverse range of reformers, including radicals and less radical progressives.

Discussion on the term 'Progressive Era' and its implications regarding progress toward freedom and justice, including the controversial Prohibition.

The Progressive Era as a response to the issues of the Gilded Age, with a focus on individual and group actions to address social and economic problems.

The tension between broad participatory democracy and effective governance as a defining characteristic of the Progressive Era.

The social problems of industrial capitalism, such as low wages, long hours, and poor working conditions.

The role of muckraking journalism in exposing industrial and political abuses, contributing to progressive reforms.

Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle' and its significant impact on food safety and labor laws.

The use of photography by Lewis Hine to document child labor, influencing child labor laws.

The significance of unions in improving workers' conditions and the innovative approach of Henry Ford in paying higher wages to boost consumer demand.

The contrasting philosophies of the AFL and the IWW (Wobblies) in advocating for workers' rights.

The influence of Henry George's ideas on wealth distribution and the role of taxation in addressing economic inequality.

Simon W. Patten's optimistic view of industrialization leading to a new civilization with benefits for all, including increased leisure time.

The emergence of mass consumption society and its connection to the concept of freedom through access to goods.

The role of scientific management (Taylorism) in increasing productivity and its impact on workers' autonomy.

The Progressive Era's emphasis on government solutions to social problems and the rise of social legislation.

The successes and failures of Progressive policies, particularly at the state and local levels, versus federal level.

The contradiction between government by experts and increased popular democratic participation in the Progressive Era.

The impact of the 17th Amendment and the rise of direct democracy through initiatives and referendums.

The limitations on immigrants' and African Americans' political participation during the Progressive Era, including literacy tests and poll taxes.

Booker T. Washington's accommodationist stance and WEB DuBois's advocacy for full civil and political rights for African Americans.

The relevance of the Progressive Era to contemporary issues of immigration and economic justice, and the enduring urge toward progress.

Transcripts

Episode 27: Progressive Era

Hi, I’m John Green, this is CrashCourse U.S. history, and today we’re gonna talk

about Progressives.

No Stan Progressives.

Yes.

You know, like these guys who used to want to bomb the means of production, but also

less radical Progressives.

Mr. Green, Mr. Green.

Are we talking about, like, tumblr progressive where it’s half discussions of misogyny

and half high-contrast images of pizza?

Because if so, I can get behind that.

Me from the past, your anachronism is showing.

Your Internet was green letters on a black screen.

But no, The Progressive Era was not like tumblr, however I will argue that it did indirectly

make tumblr and therefore JLaw gifsets possible, so that’s something.

So some of the solutions that progressives came up with to deal with issues of inequality

and injustice don’t seem terribly progressive today, and also it kinda overlapped with the

gilded age, and progressive implies, like, progress, presumably progress toward freedom

and justice, which is hard to argue about an era that involved one of the great restrictions

on freedom in American history, prohibition.

So maybe we shouldn’t call it the Progressive Era at all.

I g--Stan, whatever, roll the intro.

Intro So, if the Gilded Age was the period when

American industrial capitalism came into its own, and people like Mark Twain began to criticize

its associated problems, then the Progressive era was the age in which people actually tried

to solve those problems through individual and group action.

As the economy changed, Progressives also had to respond to a rapidly changing political

system.

The population of the U.S. was growing and its economic power was becoming ever more

concentrated.

And sometimes, Progressives responded to this by opening up political participation and

sometimes by trying to restrict the vote.

The thing is, broad participatory democracy doesn’t always result in effective government--he

said, sounding like the Chinese national Communist Party.

And that tension between wanting to have government for, of, and by the people and wanting to

have government that’s, like, good at governing kind of defined the Progressive era.

And also our era.

But progressives were most concerned with the social problems that revolved around industrial

capitalist society.

And most of these problems weren’t new by 1900, but some of the responses were.

Companies and, later, corporations had a problem that had been around at least since the 1880s:

they needed to keep costs down and profits high in a competitive market.

And one of the best ways to do this was to keep wages low, hours long, and conditions

appalling: your basic house-elf situation.

Just kidding, house elves didn’t get wages.

Also, by the end of the 19th century, people started to feel like these large, monopolistic

industrial combinations, the so-called trusts, were exerting too much power over people’s

lives.

The 1890s saw federal attempts to deal with these trusts, such as the Sherman Anti-Trust

Act, but overall, the Federal Government wasn’t where most progressive changes were made.

For instance, there was muckraking, a form of journalism in which reporters would find

some muck and rake it.

Mass circulation magazines realized they could make money by publishing exposés of industrial

and political abuse, so they did.

Oh, it’s time for the Mystery Document?

I bet it involves muck.

The rules here are simple.

I guess the author of the Mystery Document.

I’m either correct or I get shocked.

“Let a man so much as scrape his finger pushing a truck in the pickle-rooms, and all

the joints in his fingers might be eaten by the acid, one by one.

Of the butchers and floormen, the beef-boners and trimmers, and all those who used knives,

you could scarcely find a person who had the use of his thumb; time and time again the

base of it had been slashed, till it was a mere lump of flesh against which the man pressed

the knife to hold it.

... They would have no nails – they had worn them off pulling hides.”

Wow.

Well now I am hyper-aware of and grateful for my thumbs.

They are just in excellent shape.

I am so glad, Stan, that I am not a beef-boner at one of the meat-packing factories written

about in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

No shock for me!

Oh Stan, I can only imagine how long and hard you’ve worked to get the phrase “beef-boner”

into this show.

And you finally did it.

Congratulations.

By the way, just a little bit of trivia: The Jungle was the first book I ever read that

made me vomit.

So that’s a review.

I don’t know if it’s positive, but there you go.

Anyway, at the time, readers of The Jungle were more outraged by descriptions of rotten

meat than by the treatment of meatpacking workers: The Jungle led to the Pure Food and

Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.

That’s pretty cool for Upton Sinclair, although my books have also led to some federal legislation,

such as the HAOPT, which officially declared Hazel and Augustus the nation’s OTP.

So, to be fair, writers had been describing the harshness of industrial capitalism for

decades, so muckraking wasn’t really that new, but the use of photography for documentation

was.

Lewis Hine, for instance, photographed child laborers in factories and mines, bringing

Americans face to face with the more than 2 million children under the age of 15 working

for wages.

And Hine’s photos helped bring about laws that limited child labor.

But even more important than the writing and photographs and magazines when it came to

improving conditions for workers was Twitter … what’s that?

There was no twitter?

Still?

What is this 1812?

Alright, so apparently still without Twitter, workers had to organize into unions to get

corporations to reduce hours and raise their pay.

Also some employers started to realize on their own that one way to mitigate some of

the problems of industrialization was to pay workers better, like in 1914, Henry Ford paid

his workers an average of $5 per day, unheard of at the time.

. Whereas today I pay Stan and Danica 3x that

and still they whine.

Ford’s reasoning was that better-paid workers would be better able to afford the Model Ts

that they were making.

And indeed, Ford’s annual output rose from 34,000 cars to 730,000 between 1910 and 1916,

and the price of a Model T dropped from $700 to $316.

Still, Henry Ford definitely forgot to be awesome sometimes; he was anti-Semitic, he

used spies in his factories, and he named his child Edsel.

Also like most employers at the turn of the century, he was virulently anti-union.

So, while the AFL was organizing the most privileged industrial workers, another union

grew up to advocate for rights for a larger swath of the workforce, especially the immigrants

who dominated unskilled labor: The International Workers of the World.

They were also known as the Wobblies, and they were founded in 1905 to advocate for

“every wage-worker, no matter what his religion, fatherland or trade,” and not, as the name

Wobblies suggests, just those fans of wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey.

The Wobblies were radical socialists; ultimately they wanted to see capitalism and the state

disappear in revolution.

Now, most progressives didn’t go that far, but some, following the ideas of Henry George,

worried that economic progress could produce a dangerous unequal distribution of wealth

that could only be cured by … taxes.

But, more Progressives were influenced by Simon W. Patten who prophesied that industrialization

would bring about a new civilization where everyone would benefit from the abundance

and all the leisure time that all these new labor-saving devices could bring.

This optimism was partly spurred by the birth of a mass consumption society.

I mean, Americans by 1915 could purchase all kinds of new-fangled devices, like washing

machines, or vacuum cleaners, automobiles, record players.

It’s worth underscoring that all this happened in a couple generations: I mean, in 1850,

almost everyone listened to music and washed their clothes in nearly the same way that

people did 10,000 years ago.

And then BOOM.

And for many progressives, this consumer culture, to quote our old friend Eric Foner, “became

the foundation for a new understanding of freedom as access to the cornucopia of goods

made available by modern capitalism.”

And this idea was encouraged by new advertising that connected goods with freedom, using “liberty”

as a brand name or affixing the Statue of Liberty to a product.

By the way, Crash Course is made exclusively in the United States of America, the greatest

nation on earth ever.

(Libertage.)

That’s a lie, of course, but you’re allowed to lie in advertising.

But in spite of this optimism, most progressives were concerned that industrial capitalism,

with its exploitation of labor and concentration of wealth, was limiting, rather than increasing

freedom, but depending on how you defined “freedom,” of course.

Industrialization created what they referred to as “the labor problem” as mechanization

diminished opportunities for skilled workers and the supervised routine of the factory

floor destroyed autonomy.

The scientific workplace management advocated by efficiency expert Frederick W. Taylor required

rigid rules and supervision in order to heighten worker productivity.

So if you’ve ever had a job with a defined number of bathroom breaks, that’s why.

Also “Taylorism” found its way into classrooms; and anyone who’s had to sit in rows for

45 minute periods punctuated by factory-style bells knows that this atmosphere is not particularly

conducive to a sense of freedom.

Now this is a little bit confusing because while responding to worker exploitation was

part of the Progressive movement, so was Taylorism itself because it was an application of research,

observation, and expertise in response to the vexing problem of how to increase productivity.

And this use of scientific experts is another hallmark of the Progressive era, one that

usually found its expression in politics.

American Progressives, like their counterparts in the Green Sections of Not-America, sought

government solutions to social problems.

Germany, which is somewhere over here, pioneered “social legislation” with its minimum

wage, unemployment insurance and old age pension laws, but the idea that government action

could address the problems and insecurities that characterized the modern industrial world,

also became prominent in the United States.

And the notion that an activist government could enhance rather than threaten people’s

freedom was something new in America.

Now, Progressives pushing for social legislation tended to have more success at the state and

local level, especially in cities, which established public control over gas and water and raised

taxes to pay for transportation and public schools.

Whereas federally the biggest success was, like, Prohibition, which, you know, not that

successful.

But anyway, if all that local collectivist investment sounds like Socialism, it kind

of is.

I mean, by 1912 the Socialist Party had 150,000 members and had elected scores of local officials

like Milwaukee mayor Emil Seidel.

Some urban progressives even pushed to get rid of traditional democratic forms altogether.

A number of cities were run by commissions of experts or city managers, who would be

chosen on the basis of some demonstrated expertise or credential rather than their ability to

hand out turkeys at Christmas or find jobs for your nephew’s sister’s cousin.

Progressive editor Walter Lippman argued for applying modern scientific expertise to solve

social problems in his 1914 book Drift and Mastery, writing that scientifically trained

experts “could be trusted more fully than ordinary citizens to solve America’s deep

social problems.”

This tension between government by experts and increased popular democratic participation

is one of the major contradictions of the Progressive era.

The 17th amendment allowed for senators to be elected directly by the people rather than

by state legislatures, and many states adopted primaries to nominate candidates, again taking

power away from political parties and putting it in the hands of voters.

And some states, particularly western ones like California adopted aspects of even more

direct democracy, the initiative, which allowed voters to put issues on the ballot, and the

referendum, which allows them to vote on laws directly.

And lest you think that more democracy is always good, I present you with California.

But many Progressives wanted actual policy made by experts who knew what was best for

the people, not the people themselves.

And despite primaries in direct elections of senators it’s hard to argue that the

Progressive Era was a good moment for democratic participation, since many Progressives were

only in favor of voting insofar as it was done by white, middle class, Protestant voters.

Alright.

Let’s Go to the Thought Bubble.

Progressives limited immigrants’ participation in the political process through literacy

tests and laws requiring people to register to vote.

Voter registration was supposedly intended to limit fraud and the power of political

machines.

Stop me if any of this sounds familiar, but it actually just suppressed voting generally.

Voting gradually declined from 80% of male Americans voting in the 1890s to the point

where today only about 50% of eligible Americans vote in presidential elections.

But an even bigger blow to democracy during the Progressive era came with the Jim Crow

laws passed by legislatures in southern states, which legally segregated the South.

First, there was the deliberate disenfranchisement of African Americans.

The 15th amendment made it illegal to deny the right to vote based on race, color or

previous condition of servitude but said nothing about the ability to read, so many Southern

states instituted literacy requirements.

Other states added poll taxes, requiring people to pay to vote, which effectively disenfranchised

large numbers of African American people, who were disproportionately poor.

The Supreme Court didn’t help: In 1896, it made one of its most famous bad decisions,

Plessy v. Ferguson, ruling that segregation in public accommodations, in Homer Plessy’s

case a railroad car, did not violate the 14th amendment’s Equal Protection clause.

As long as black railroad cars were equal to white ones, it was A-OK to have duplicate

sets of everything.

Now, creating two sets of equal quality of everything would get really expensive, so

Southern states didn’t actually do it.

Black schools, public restrooms, public transportation opportunities--the list goes on and on--would

definitely be separate, and definitely not equal.

Thanks, ThoughtBubble.

Now, of course, as we’ve seen Progressive ideas inspired a variety of responses, both

for Taylorism and against it, both for government by experts and for direct democracy.

Similarly, in the Progressive era, just as the Jim Crow laws were being passed, there

were many attempts to improve the lives of African Americans.

The towering figure in this movement to “uplift” black southerners was Booker T. Washington,

a former slave who became the head of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, a center for

vocational education.

And Washington urged southern black people to emphasize skills that could make them successful

in the contemporary economy.

The idea was that they would earn the respect of white people by demonstrating their usefulness

and everyone would come to respect each other through the recognition of mutual dependence

while continuing to live in separate social spheres.

But Washington’s accommodationist stance was not shared by all African Americans.

WEB DuBois advocated for full civil and political rights for black people and helped to found

the NAACP, which urged African Americans to fight for

their rights through “persistent, manly agitation.”

So I wanted to talk about the Progressive Era today not only because it shows up on

a lot of tests, but because Progressives tried to tackle many of the issues that we face

today, particularly concerning immigration and economic justice, and they used some of

the same methods that we use today: organization, journalistic exposure, and political activism.

Now, we may use tumblr or tea party forums, but the same concerns motivate us to work

together.

And just as today, many of their efforts were not successful because of the inherent difficulty

in trying to mobilize very different interests in a pluralistic nation.

In some ways their platforms would have been better suited to an America that was less

diverse and complex.

But it was that very diversity and complexity that gave rise and still gives rise to the

urge toward progress in the first place.

Thanks for watching.

I’ll see you next week.

Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan Muller.

Our script supervisor is Meredith Danko.

The associate producer is Danica Johnson.

The show is written by my high school history teacher, Raoul Meyer, Rosianna Rojas, and

myself.

And our graphics team is Thought Café.

Every week there’s a new caption for the libertage.

You can suggest captions in comments where you can also ask questions about today’s

video that will be answered by our team of historians.

Thanks for watching Crash Course.

If you like it, and if you’re watching the credits you probably do, make sure you’re

subscribed.

And as we say in my hometown don’t forget to be awesome...That was more dramatic than

it sounded.

Progressive Era -