Regional Divisions and the social impact of Progressivism 1890-1920 Flashcards
Where was the scale of modernisation and social change greatest?
In the Northeast. The region east of Mississippi and north of the Ohio contained the powerhouse industries, the booming cities, and the concentrated transportation networks that were the engines of social change.
Why was the Northeast more ‘European’?
It was the region where most immigrants settled, where the political, business and cultural elites were more open to European influences.
Why was the South determinedly different from the rest of the nation?
- Politically separate: entirely dominated at state and federal level by the Democratic Party.
- Economically different: still dominated by the plantation system and ‘King Cotton’.
- Socially separate: white society resistant to change, clinging to the old ways of segregation.
Why was the South rarely a destination for European immigrants?
11 Italian-Americans were killed by a lynch mob in New Orleans in 1891.
Describe the shifts in population in the South.
From about 1910 African-Americans began moving out of the South to Northern cities like Chicago; during WW1, this northward migration increased in scale.
Why was the social and economic development of the West still Patchy after 1890?
- Some territories did not achieve full statehood until as late as 1912.
- Rapid development of some big cities, such as Denver and the West Coast ports, but the West continued to be a region of boom towns and ghost towns.
What were the boom and ghost towns symbolised by?
The sudden rise and fall of mining towns like Victor, Colorado, or the ‘tent city’ of Nome during the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush of the late 1890s.
What was western society influenced by?
It was transient, influenced by the ideas of ‘rugged individualism’. There was a varied population of prospectors, ranchers, drifters, African-Americans, and Mexican migrants.
Describe the impact of Progressivism on society.
From about 1900, Progressivism was a major force in America, not only in politics but in relation to society, culture and moral values.
What was Progressivism the great age of?
Newspapers and magazines, influential ‘muckraking’ journalists likeLincoln Steffens who examined the underside of American society to expose corruption.
Describe the targets of the muckraking journalists.
Sometimes they were high-and-mighty bankers and industrialists; sometimes it was the low-level corruption of ‘graft’, ‘kickbacks’ and ‘jobs for the boys’ in City Halls.
What was Progressivism often on the side of?
The immigrant communities, demanding social justice and campaigning against unfair practises and poor working conditions.
Give examples of these unfair practises and poor working conditions.
- The fierce denunciation of the appalling neglect by the employers in the garment industry that led to a disastrous fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in 1911.
- A concerted campaign against the use of child labour.
On the other hand, why were Progressives often ready to condemn immigrants?
For being too poor, too Catholic, too keen on drink, cigarettes, and ‘vices’ of all kinds.
Describe the social division of the Progressives.
There was a divide between middle-class Progressives and the working classes, who tended to be quite happy to indulge in the behaviour Progressives were hostile to - the fight for Prohibition was symbolic of this divide.
