Civilizing the City

The cities became a focal point of the progressive movement. Progressives wanted them to become safer and healthier places to live. The attack came on several fronts. The settlement house movement, which began in England, put well-educated women in the role of social workers, tending to the various needs of the ethnically diverse big-city populations. Churches also attacked social problems of the cities through the “social gospel”—a mission to reform society as well as the individual. Christian clergy began to argue against the “gospel of wealth” in favor of Christianizing capitalism. Church leaders also spearheaded the social purity movement, which emphasized cleaning up the urban evil of prostitution. This drive often was accompanied by calls for the prohibition of alcohol, a campaign that demonstrated a strain of nativism as progressives stigmatized groups like the Irish, the Italians, and the Germans as heavy drinkers. All of these efforts were characteristic of the progressive movement, showing the progressives’ belief that the government could solve problems without altering America’s economy or institutions.

HPJ

I love you Grandma.

Scream.

Sometimes I feel like it’s just too quiet, and I need to scream… I feel like yelling at the top of my lungs… It’s an anxious feeling, and it’s upon me now… I don’t think yelling will help… I can’t see any particular cause for this feeling, it’s just there… It’s like being tapped on the shoulder over and over by someone you’d rather not talk to…

When I used to play the drums, I hit pretty hard… I would break a lot of sticks… Now that I’m attempting to learn the piano, I find myself wanting to hit it hard… I wonder how long till I break a string…

It’s quiet here… noise doesn’t help…

January 1, 1920

Prohibition was boosted by the war effort, as its supporters argued that the consumption of alcohol was a waste of needed grain, caused moral and physical weakness, and served to profit German brewers. Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment, which banned the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages, in December 1917, and prohibition went into effect on January 1, 1920.

Progressive Government: City and State

A millionaire by age forty, Thomas Lofton Johnson turned his back on business and entered politics in 1899. He was elected mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, on a pledge to reduce the streetcar fare to three cents, touching off a seven-year war between the mayor and the streetcar moguls. When Johnson responded by building his own streetcar line, his foes tore up the tracks and blocked him with court injunctions and legal delays. At the prompting of his opponents, the Ohio legislature sought to limit Johnson’s mayoral power by revoking the charters of every city in the state, replacing home rule with central control from the capital, Columbus. In the end, Johnson had the city buy the streetcar system as well as the public utilities. Governor Robert La Follette of Wisconsin brought progressive reform to state government in 1901. With popular support and political savvy, he improved education, advocated railroad regulation, and instituted the first direct primary and state income tax in the country. Additionally, he initiated a cooperative relationship between state government and talented educators at the University of Wisconsin to draft more effective legislation. Wisconsin became the model for other progressive states, earning the title “laboratory of democracy.” An emphasis on reform rather than party loyalty became a characteristic of progressivism. Democrats like Tom Johnson and Republicans like Robert La Follette could lay equal claim to the label “progressive.” Hiram Johnson became governor of California in 1911, running on the promise to curtail the influence of the powerful Southern Pacific Railroad and give the state honest government. He introduced democratic reforms and signed an employer’s liability law. Johnson also introduced the use of the initiative, referendum, and recall. His changes were the most beneficial to small business owners and entrepreneurs, who had new opportunities when the Southern Pacific was brought under state control.

militarism

Many progressives hoped that World War I would improve life in America and free Europe from tyranny and militarism. During the war, workers and women made important advances, partly as a consequence of wartime mobilization. But the war also challenged progressive ideals. President Wilson’s efforts to foster patriotic support for the war simultaneously led to a harsh crackdown on dissent and an assault on civil liberties.

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