Progressivism emerged during a critical period in the United States. The late 19th century, decades after the Civil War, was marked by fears of another major conflict, this time between industrial capitalism and labor. The guiding principle behind Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal was ensuring fairness and balance in the face of these challenges.
The rise of industrial capitalism dramatically reshaped America after the Civil War. By 1900, American factories produced a third of the world’s goods, facilitated by large-scale manufacturing, technological advancements, efficient production methods, the rise of corporations, and new consumer products. Companies like Standard Oil, Nabisco, and Kodak became household names. However, this growth came at a cost. Cities became polluted and overcrowded, leading to outbreaks of diseases. Unskilled laborers, including child workers, faced low wages, unemployment, and dangerous working conditions. Businesses often prioritized profit over safety, leading to worker injuries and deaths. Farmers struggled under railroad trusts’ high transport rates.
Theodore Roosevelt giving a speech in Waterville, Maine, 1902. (GLC06449.22)
Theodore Roosevelt delivering a speech in 1902, advocating for progressive reforms.
The Rise of Progressivism
These issues led to widespread outrage, even among the middle class. Muckraking journalists exposed business exploitation and government corruption. Lincoln Steffens’s The Shame of the Cities (1902) revealed political corruption in urban centers. This prompted the growth of Progressivism, which aimed to address these problems and reform the system.
Progressivism, which arose between 1890 and 1917, had diverse focal points, including social justice, economic equality, and political reform. While complex, it can be viewed as encompassing three main areas: government reform, industrialization’s effects, and corporate power regulation. Progressives embraced modernity, aiming to regulate industry and mitigate capitalism’s impacts for the public good. Theodore Roosevelt, in a 1910 speech, stated that the government should be “the steward of the public welfare.” The movement aimed to alleviate industrial capitalism’s most devastating effects on individuals and communities, primarily through regulation rather than dismantling big business.
Progressive reformers came from varied backgrounds, forming alliances to achieve their goals. They included reformers, activists, women’s groups, immigrant leaders, urban political figures, and union organizers. These progressives generally believed in rational science, technical expertise, and the importance of social sciences like sociology and economics. They also sought to address social problems and regulate the economy, changing American attitudes toward the role of government.
Reforming Government and Society
To address urban political corruption, reformers aimed to undermine political machines. “Good government” advocates sought to restructure municipal governments. The National Municipal League, co-founded by Theodore Roosevelt, supported the election of at-large city council members. While intended to reduce party influence, this sometimes lessened popular influence. Other reforms promoted democratic participation, such as the initiative and referendum. The Seventeenth Amendment (1913) mandated direct election of US Senators. A significant movement for more democratic government was the woman suffrage movement, which mobilized millions.
Women’s political networks were key in addressing industrialization’s effects. Settlement houses, run by black and white women reformers, provided essential services and advocated for better sanitation, factory conditions, housing, and the abolition of child labor. Leaders like Jane Addams, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Lillian Wald championed government’s role in ensuring citizens’ social welfare. Activists also focused on improving city services and reforming tenements. Laws protecting worker health and safety, such as those limiting women’s working hours and regulating child labor, were enacted across the country.
Reining in Corporate Power
Efforts to curb corporate power included the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890, which outlawed business combinations that restrained trade. Progressive reformers also strengthened business regulation, tightened control of the railroad industry, and created federal regulatory bodies like the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Trade Commission. These measures also aimed to protect consumers from unsavory production practices.
Theodore Roosevelt championed Progressivism, using the presidency to advance reform on a national level. As governor of New York, he supported civil service reform and a new tax on corporations. His reformist stance led to his nomination as vice president in 1900, but William McKinley’s assassination elevated him to the presidency.
Political cartoon depicting Theodore Roosevelt’s “Square Deal”, emphasizing fairness.
The Square Deal: Fairness and Regulation
Roosevelt’s primary aim was not to destroy big business, but to regulate it. He believed the concentration of industry threatened fair markets and democracy. He utilized the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to challenge business monopolies, initiating an anti-trust case against the Northern Securities Company in 1902. His administration launched 42 additional anti-trust cases. Regulating business became increasingly important during his second term. Roosevelt believed regulation was necessary to level the playing field and provide a “square deal” to citizens, as he promised during his re-election campaign. He supported laws like the Hepburn Act (1906), which regulated railroads, and the Pure Food and Drug and Meat Inspection Acts (1906), which controlled the food and drug industries.
Roosevelt also championed workers’ rights, eight-hour workdays for federal employees, workers’ compensation, and income and inheritance taxes on the wealthy. He emphasized the conservation of natural resources, creating new national parks, national monuments, and wildlife preserves. Through the Bureau of Fisheries and National Forest Service, Roosevelt promoted efficient government management of resources.
In the 1912 election, after being dismayed by the slow pace of reform under his successor, William Howard Taft, Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party and campaigned under the banner of “New Nationalism.” This platform included faith in a strong federal government, an activist presidency, balancing public and corporate interests, and supporting various progressive causes.
The Shadow Side of Progressivism
While guiding the country toward economic regulation and government attention to social welfare, Progressivism also had a darker side rooted in social control. Progressives regulated leisure activities, targeting working-class entertainments and promoting middle-class values. Eugenics gained support, leading to laws compelling sterilization of those deemed to have “bad” genes, often disproportionately affecting minorities and the mentally ill.
Progressivism’s greatest failure was its acquiescence to the disenfranchisement of African Americans. Most progressive reformers did not join the fight against lynching and often supported laws that effectively denied black Americans the right to vote and entrenched Jim Crow segregation.
The Legacy of Progressivism
Progressivism’s defining characteristic was its moderateness. It represented a middle ground between laissez-faire capitalism and socialist reorganization, advocating for regulation of business and protection of workers without dramatically altering the distribution of wealth or control of the economy. Progressives bequeathed the belief in an active government to moderate the effects of large-scale capitalism on citizens and communities. Roosevelt exemplified this balance, opposing unregulated business, defending labor unions, supporting consumer protections, and initiating government protection of natural resources. His balancing act of reform and regulation helped the nation navigate the crisis at the end of the nineteenth century and adapt to the modern industrial society of the twentieth century.
