The Progressive Era: A Reference Guide

by Francis J. Sicius

Overview

This fascinating guide documents the transformation of government from passive observer to active participant and ally of the American people during the late-19th and early-20th centuries.

The progressive impulse that energized the United States between 1890 and 1920 forever altered the nature of American government and its relation to its citizens. This book was written to reveal the challenges Americans faced during the Progressive Era and to show how their responses helped transform the nation. Combining a narrative on the era with biographies of key participants, significant primary sources, and an annotated bibliography, the topically organized volume offers a lively contextual guide to one of the great turbaning points in American history.

In addition to covering the major political events of the era, the guide provides profiles of prominent Progressive figures such as Eugene V. Debs, Mother Jones, Margaret Sanger, Jacob Riis, and W.E.B. DuBois. Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and the National Progressive Agenda are covered, as are the Muckrakers, the African American struggle for equal rights, the women's suffrage movement, and efforts to better the conditions of factory workers. The guide also details the rise of the American Empire as the United States took its place on the world stage. The most recent historiography is interwoven throughout.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781610694476
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/26/2015
Series:	Guides to Historic Events in America
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Francis J. Sicius, PhD, is professor of history at St. Thomas University, Miami, FL.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations xi

Series Foreword xiii

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xvii

Chronology xix

Chapter 1 Introduction: The Progressive Era 1

Chapter 2 Farmers and Workers Struggle for Justice 11

Chapter 3 Progressive Politics 27

Chapter 4 The Changing City 41

Chapter 5 Women Raise Their Political Voice 57

Chapter 6 African Americans in the Progressive Age 73

Chapter 7 Literature in the Progressive Age 95

Chapter 8 Religion in the Progressive Age 121

Chapter 9 President Theodore Roosevelt Takes on Big Business, Big Labor, and Conservation 137

Chapter 10 Progressives and Foreign Policy 159

Analytical Essays 179

Counterfactual Essay: The Election of 1896 179

Defining Moments 183

Perspectives Essay 188

Primary Document Essay 197

Biographical Essays 201

Mary Harris "Mother" Jones 201

Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926) 204

Ray Stannard Baker 209

Henry Flagler 213

George Washington Plunkett of Tammany Hall 218

Victoria Woodhull 225

Randolph Bourne 229

Primary Documents 235

1 Jacob Riis Describes Life among the Urban Poor(1890) 235

2 William Jennings Bryan: Cross of Gold Speech (1896) 238

3 Progressive Party Platform (1912) 240

4 Justice John Marshall Harlan's Dissent to Plessy vs. Ferguson Decision (1896) 243

5 Booker T. Washington Delivers the 1895 Atlanta Compromise Speech 246

6 W. E. B. Du Bois, The Philadelphia Negro (1899) 248

7 Upton Sinclair Exposes the Meat Industry (1906) 248

8 Samuel McClure Launches the Muckraking Era(1903) 261

9 Lincoln Steffens, Shame of the Cities (1904) 262

10 Cary Nation: Crusader for Temperance (1909) 263

11 Walter Rauschenbusch Calls for a New Age of Christianity (1916) 265

12 John Muir on the National Parks (1901) 267

13 Teddy Roosevelt on Trusts (1901) 268

14 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911) 270

15 Jane Addams on Suffrage (1909) 276

16 President Woodrow Wilson's Joint Address to Congress, Leading to a Declaration of War against Germany (1917) 277

17 Eugene V. Debs Defends Freedom of Speech and the Working Class (1918) 279

Annotated Bibliography 283

Index 295

Editorial Reviews

With concise information presented in an easy-to-read manner, this is a good starting place for high school reports and casual research, and it is recommended for school and public libraries.” —Booklist

“Useful for reference or circulating collections, the work offers background and brings together materials for further research. Summing Up: Recommended. High school, community college, undergraduate students; general readers.” —Choice

From the Publisher