11: Populism and Progressivism

11: Populism and Progressivism

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Historiography of Progressivism - McCormick (Rutgers)
Historiography of Progressivism - McCormick (Rutgers)
This five-page read is only for teachers, though a thoughtful culling and editing of portions could be distilled for high school students. The progressives named themselves and their era, and historians have used that term for years though it recently has fallen out of favor. Why? Practitioners of history as a discipline of inquiry offer competing understandings of history over time - this article illustrates this dynamic.
Historiography of Progressivism - McCormick (Rutgers)
Bradley Martin Ball of 1897 - Business Insider
Bradley Martin Ball of 1897 - Business Insider
A costume party of the rich at the Waldorf Astoria in 1897 that cost $9 million (in today's money) - is a story that should start the unit on Progressivism
Bradley Martin Ball of 1897 - Business Insider
Theodore Roosevelt Annual Message to Congress, 1906
Theodore Roosevelt Annual Message to Congress, 1906
In Roosevelt's argument for an inheritance tax and income tax, he explains what the rich have to than the government for. This belongs in a DBQ alongside Reagan's (and Clinton's) "Government is the problem" and Obama's "You didn't build that" Why is it that the narrative canon doesn't recognize or admit Teddy's call for an income tax?
Theodore Roosevelt Annual Message to Congress, 1906
State of the Union Address Part II 1906 Theodore Roosevelt
State of the Union Address Part II 1906 Theodore Roosevelt
How many people teaching Theodore Roosevelt would believe that he argued for a Constitutional Amendment to relegate the authority to legislate divorce laws to the states? How many would believe that he argued that good people have a responsibility to have more children to prevent the death of the race? - Yet both are here in his 1906 Annual Message
State of the Union Address Part II 1906 Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt - The Man with the Muck-rake
Theodore Roosevelt - The Man with the Muck-rake
Although the term muckraker is often used in classrooms without any real investigation into the term, seeing it first used by Roosevelt shows how it was a pejorative term. Students can read through two or three paragraphs to see it
Theodore Roosevelt - The Man with the Muck-rake
Bryan's "Cross of Gold" Speech: Mesmerizing the Masses
Bryan's "Cross of Gold" Speech: Mesmerizing the Masses
Text of the speech and audio recording of Bryan repeating it after it was originally presented. The highlighted section shows how Ronald Reagan's "trickle down" theory was discounted almsot a hundred years before he exclaimed it
Bryan's "Cross of Gold" Speech: Mesmerizing the Masses
FORM 1040 (1913)
FORM 1040 (1913)
This primary source document may be of more interest to teachers and other adults, but nonetheless, this is what the 1040 tax form looked like in 1913
FORM 1040 (1913)
"The negro a beast" by Charles Carroll, 1906 (Book)
"The negro a beast" by Charles Carroll, 1906 (Book)
This book is shocking to the 21st century audience, teachers could clip just the images or a clip or two to show students the pervasiveness of racism in early 20th century America
"The negro a beast" by Charles Carroll, 1906 (Book)
Court Instruction to Jury in the Case of United States vs Susan B. Anthony
Court Instruction to Jury in the Case of United States vs Susan B. Anthony
"The 14th by gives no right to a woman to vote, and the voting by Miss Anthony was in violation of the law." This quote is from the judge's instructions to a jury empaneled to determine whether Susan B Anthony violated the law by voting.
Court Instruction to Jury in the Case of United States vs Susan B. Anthony
Atlanta Exposition Speech, by Booker T. Washington, 1895 (Speech)
Atlanta Exposition Speech, by Booker T. Washington, 1895 (Speech)
Notice the title of this speech in the typed copy - isn't that different from the versions of the same speech that refer to it as the "Atlanta Compromise" speech? Who named the speech and when? How did one title for the speech become more prominent than the others? How is power exercised through the titling of the speech? How does this represent the psychological concept of anchoring
Atlanta Exposition Speech, by Booker T. Washington, 1895 (Speech)
The public dance halls of Chicago. - Louise de Koven Bowen
The public dance halls of Chicago. - Louise de Koven Bowen
Certain reformers amongst the Progressives were very descriptive in their language and disdainful of the very people they were purporting to help - this is a great example of that
The public dance halls of Chicago. - Louise de Koven Bowen
Mulberry Street NYC c1900 LOC 3g04637u edit - History of New York City (1898–1945) - Wikipedia
Mulberry Street NYC c1900 LOC 3g04637u edit - History of New York City (1898–1945) - Wikipedia
Easy "Do Now" activity - have students play "hide and seek" by describing a detail in the image to the rest of the class and having the rest of the class look to find it. i.e the person farthest from the camera still looking at the camera, (note - click on the image for a much larger version)
Mulberry Street NYC c1900 LOC 3g04637u edit - History of New York City (1898–1945) - Wikipedia
New Jersey Legacy: The Progressive Banner - YouTube
New Jersey Legacy: The Progressive Banner - YouTube
Instead of teaching only about the Progressive Era on a national scale, teaching it on a state scale may result in a different impression of the era. This is yet another twist to the taught narrative canon.
New Jersey Legacy: The Progressive Banner - YouTube
Another Open Letter to Woodrow Wilson by WEB Du Bois
Another Open Letter to Woodrow Wilson by WEB Du Bois
The taught narrative canon focuses on Wilson in WOrld War I, Versailles and the League of Nations - this letter illustrates another significant element of his presidency.
Another Open Letter to Woodrow Wilson by WEB Du Bois
The Leopard's Spots: A Romance of the White Man's Burden--1865-1900
The Leopard's Spots: A Romance of the White Man's Burden--1865-1900
This book published in 1902 is a belated response the "Uncle Tom's Cabin", written by a Baptist minister who grew up in the south during Reconstruction. This racist book claims that giving blacks the vote after the Civil War empowered them to take wealth from white people and give it to themselves. It is part of a three books series of which some claim was the inspiration for the movie "The Klansman", which became "Birth of a Nation"
The Leopard's Spots: A Romance of the White Man's Burden--1865-1900
Songs of the Suffragists | lwvbhnps
Songs of the Suffragists | lwvbhnps
"Enjoy this historical tour of feminist songs from 1850 to 2020, a showcase of the enduring suffragist message, and a call to continue the fight for freedom and equality. From the LWV in Berkeley Heights, New Providence & Summit
Songs of the Suffragists | lwvbhnps
Race traits and tendencies of the American Negro : Hoffman, Frederick L. (Frederick Ludwig), 1865-1946
Race traits and tendencies of the American Negro : Hoffman, Frederick L. (Frederick Ludwig), 1865-1946
Using data from the 1890s census, Frederick Hoffman argues that African-Americans are a race that is going extinct, justifying higher insurance rates for them or the denial of coverage. he was an executive for the Prudential Insurance Company. He was also the PResident of the American Statistical Association and his papers are not housed at the National Library of Medicine
Race traits and tendencies of the American Negro : Hoffman, Frederick L. (Frederick Ludwig), 1865-1946
1901: "Sexual inversion" book by Havelock Ellis
1901: "Sexual inversion" book by Havelock Ellis

Ellis was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. This is considered the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality.

1901: "Sexual inversion" book by Havelock Ellis
Sanborn Maps Navigator
Sanborn Maps Navigator
The map digitization tool will take you to fire insurance maps made at the turn of the 20th century, allowing you to see what cities, towns looked like at that time
Sanborn Maps Navigator