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Hi, and welcome back to Heimler's History.
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In this lecture,
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we get into the Progressive Era,
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which is an era of great
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change in American history.
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Now, the progressives had many faces
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and diverse stations in life,
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but they all agreed on one thing: to use
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the government as
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an agent of human welfare.
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No! [REACTION]
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Yes.
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All right, let's get to it.
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(It's time to kick it old school).
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[MUSIC]
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(Take that easy).
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So, the Progressives had their roots
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in the Greenback Labor Party of the 1870s
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and the Populous Party of the 1890s,
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and as a whole, this movement was very
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wary of the unrestrained
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power of capitalism.
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All of this hands-off,
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laissez-faire-type governing didn't
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seem to fit in a new industrial age.
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The Progressives reasoned
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that a non-interventionist government was
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fine for the old days of the Jeffersonian
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farmer, but now things had changed
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and grown more complex,
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and there needed to be a government
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which could change with the times.
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And so, beginning in 1902,
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there was a whole group of photographers
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and writers who made an industry out
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of exposing the evils of this new age,
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and they became known as the muckrakers.
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Among the most significant
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of the muckrakers was Jacob Riis,
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whose photography of the New York City
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poor uncovered the grinding conditions
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in which many of the city's poor lived.
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There was also Ida Tarbell,
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who published a scathing history
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of Rockefeller's Standard Oil.
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And perhaps most famous of all was
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Upton Sinclair, whose expose on the brutal
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and unsanitary conditions of a Chicago
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meat processing plant appalled the nation
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so profoundly,
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President Roosevelt included,
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that Congress hastened to pass new
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legislation including the Pure Food
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and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.
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Now, progressivism wasn't only a movement
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among writers and photographers, it also
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had a strong political contingent as well.
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And we can't really talk about all their
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different political aims and desires,
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but essentially the progressivists
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wanted two things.
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Number one, they wanted to curb corporate
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monopolies through the agency
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of the state, and two, improve
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the common lot of laborers and citizens.
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And to this end, the Progressives were
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able to pass a constitutional amendment,
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namely the 17th Amendment.
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Prior to this,
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the only members of the federal government
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who were elected by the people were
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the House of Representatives,
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but the 17th Amendment changed
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that and put the election of senators
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into the hands of the people.
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And let's not forget the ladies.
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Traditionally, as you know,
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the woman's place in American culture was
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having babies, raising babies,
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and making everybody in the family
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a sandwich, because the men have important
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things to do like, you know, vote
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and drink prodigious amounts of alcohol.
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But it's during this age that women start
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banding together to find the strength
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enough to tell their men to make
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their own stinking sandwiches.
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Most significant during this period was
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the ground swell of agitation these
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women caused for the right to vote.
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Now, the men were not too happy about
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this, and why would they be since in their
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view, a woman was just
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a half-baked version of a man?
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Now, it wouldn't be until 1920 that women
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officially had the Constitutional
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right to vote, but it all began here.
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Now, one significant area of reform
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that attracted women was factory reform.
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You'll recall that during this time,
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many women started working in factories,
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and they were a good hire for employers
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because they only had to pay them
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about a third of what they paid men.
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Honestly, I don't understand why women
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are so discontent during this period.
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Anyway, a couple of very significant court
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cases were settled in favor of women
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during this time,
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including Muller versus Oregon.
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Now,
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this case proved the constitutionality
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of laws protecting women workers
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on account of they were
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weaker bodily than men.
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Now, we have to be careful not to read our
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current standards of equality
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and anti-discrimination
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laws back into this period.
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If we do, we'll be tempted to wag our
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finger at all this, but in reality,
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women felt this was a legal triumph
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in their favor and a stepping
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stone to further their goals.
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The problem with laws, however,
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is that they mean nothing sitting on the
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books in some dusty legal depository.
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No, laws must be enforced, and sadly,
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many of these new laws which upheld
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the rights of women were not.
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Case in point, the Triangle
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Shirtwaist Factory in New York City.
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Now, this factory employed hundreds
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of women in the garment industry.
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We already know that factories were dismal
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places to work, but in addition to all
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of that, this factory paid no regard
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for fire safety codes and kept
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all of its exit doors bolted shut.
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For what reason, I don't know.
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Anyway, one night in 1911,
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a fire broke out in the factory
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and hundreds of women working
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there were trapped inside.
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And when it became clear that there was no
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way to escape the fire,
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many women fled to the windows
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on the eighth floor and jumped.
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Here's a firsthand account published
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in the Milwaukee Journal March 27th,
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1911: "I was walking through
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Washington Square when a puff of smoke
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issuing from the factory caught my eye.
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I reached the building before
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the alarm was turned in.
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I saw every feature of the tragedy
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visible from outside the building.
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I learned a new sound, a more horrible
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sound than description can picture.
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It was the thud of a speeding
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living body on a stone sidewalk.
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Thud, dead; thud, dead;
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thud, dead; thud, dead.
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62 thud deads."
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I call them that because the sound
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and the thought of death came to me
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each time at the same instant.
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There was plenty of chance
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to watch them as they came down.
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The height was 80 feet.
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I even watched one girl falling,
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waving her arms, trying to keep her body
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upright until the very instant
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she struck the sidewalk.
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She was trying to balance herself.
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Then came the thud, then a silent,
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unmoving pile of clothing
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and twisted, broken limbs.
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It would be the worst human disaster
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New York City would know
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until September 11th, 2001.
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And I don't quote this to shock you,
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although it is shocking.
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I tell you this to try to move you out
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of the cold, rational realm of court cases
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and factory legislation and to help you
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feel the horror that these progressives
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felt, and to help you feel the reason why
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they agitated for so much new
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legislation and government intervention.
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Now, there's more to the Progressive story
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and we'll get to that in the next lecture,
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but for now, I will see you next time.