1. Working Towards Prohibition
1.1. Problem
1.1.1. Alcoholism was a large problem during this time. People believe it was connected to insanity and violence and led to poverty.
1.1.2. Alcohol also led to Immorality. This would be like gambling and the destruction of families.
1.2. Reformers
1.2.1. Temperance movement began to gain popularity as members called for a ban on the sale of alcohol to help put a stop to some of what they felt were society's evils.
1.2.2. Mary Hunt and the Women's Christian Temperance Union felt that Prohibition would promote morality and better health.
1.2.3. Carrie Nation went as far as taking a hatchet to saloons as she preached the evils of alcohol.
1.3. Solution
1.3.1. 18th Amendment went into effect January 16, 1920. It banned the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the United States. Saloons were forced to close their doors.
1.3.1.1. Illegal nightclubs known as Speakeasies sold liquor.
1.3.1.2. People called bootleggers made money by transporting and selling liquor illegally.
1.3.1.2.1. In 1933, The 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition, but unfortunately, the organized crime that it had created did not end with it.
1.3.1.3. There was a growth of organized crime. In nearly every major city, criminal gangs battled for control of bootlegging operations.
2. Working Towards Suffrage
2.1. Problem
2.1.1. Women were fighting for the right to vote
2.2. Reformers
2.2.1. National American Woman Suffrage Association focused on getting each state to allow its women to vote.
2.2.2. Elizabeth Cady Stanton served as the first president of the NAWSA.
2.2.3. Susan B. Anthony became president of the NAWSA in 1892.
2.3. Solution
2.3.1. 19th Amendment was passed in 1920 which gave women full voting rights.
3. Working Towards Workers Rights
3.1. Problems
3.1.1. Factory workers were getting paid very low wages.
3.1.2. Factory workers were also working long work days in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
3.2. Reformers
3.2.1. Samuel Gompers was a famous union leader. He felt workers all over the United States needed unions and felt new laws were needed to help working people. He fought for laws that would limit the work day to eight hours. In 1886 he helped start the AFL.
3.2.2. American Federation of Labor worked hard to make changes in many workplaces. Many unions joined the AFL. Slowly American workers began to see Laws that limited work hours and increased wages.
3.3. Solutions
3.3.1. Workers started Labor Unions to work together to make their jobs better. The Unions could ask for better pay, shorter work days, or safer working conditions.
3.3.2. If the workers did not get what they asked for, they would stop working until they got what they wanted. Striking was effective, and employers did not like them
4. Working Towards Health & Safety
4.1. Problems
4.1.1. In the 1900's there was no way to tell if you were eating contaminated food or if the medicines you were taking were safe.
4.1.2. Many reformers saw a widespread lack of healthcare.
4.2. Reformers
4.2.1. Upton Sinclair wrote a novel exposing the lack of safety and sanitation for workers in the meat packing industry.
4.2.2. Alice Hamilton was a doctor who helped factory workers. She worked to teach factory owners how to make their factories safer and keep the air clean for their workers.
4.2.3. Lillian Wald was a nurse who had the idea of sending nurses to people who were too sick or poor to go to a hospital. She started a visiting nurse program.
4.3. Solutions
4.3.1. After reading The Jungle, Theodore Roosevelt acted to pass the meat inspection act and signed the Pure Food and Drug Act.
4.3.2. Visiting Nurse Program was in New York City so that many nurses could help sick people at home.
5. Working to End Poverty
5.1. Problems
5.1.1. Immigration brought millions of people into cities and they became very overcrowded. This created crowded tenements which were poorly designed and not good.
5.1.2. Families often didn't have a lot of money and did not have places to turn to for help. Their neighborhoods became known as urban slums.
5.2. Reformers
5.2.1. Jacob Riis exposed the poor conditions and inspired people to help
5.2.2. Jane Addams created settlement houses that provided services for poor people in the community. Her house was known as the Hull House.
5.3. Solution
5.3.1. Settlement houses: provided services to poor people in the community. These services could be english classes, child care and work training. These were established in many urban areas.
6. Working to End Corruption
6.1. Problems
6.1.1. Political machines: these were organizations that influenced votes and controlled local governments. Political machine bosses gave bribes of jobs in power or money to people who supported their agendas.
6.1.1.1. Tammany Hall was the most famous political machine in New York City. Tammany Hall and boss Tweed stole enormous amounts of money from the city.
6.2. Reformer
6.2.1. Robert M. La Follette was a Wisconsin governor. Wisconsin was the first state to establish a direct primary.
6.3. Solution
6.3.1. Direct primary was primary where voters choose candidates for the parties to run in elections. Oregon newspaper editor promoted three government reforms.
6.3.1.1. Initiatives allowed voters to propose laws.
6.3.1.2. Referendums allowed citizens to vote on proposed laws.
6.3.1.3. Recalls allowed people to vote a government.
7. Working to End Child Labor
7.1. Reformers
7.1.1. Lewis Hine was a photographer that went photographed children in factories. This was to show how terrible is was to have kids be factory workers. Americans learned from the photos and were inspired to support for child labor laws and compulsory education.
7.1.2. The National Child Labor Committee was dedicated to ending all child labor. Members worked to expose working conditions, get support for state-level child labor laws, and create compulsory education
7.2. Solution
7.2.1. Compulsory education laws required children to go to school and kept them from working dangerous factory jobs.
8. Working to End Racism
8.1. Problems
8.1.1. Jim Crow Laws restricted rights of African Americans. Examples of this were poll taxing, or literacy test before voting.
8.1.2. Segregation was the separation of whites and blacks. This ranged from schools, trolley seats, bathrooms, and waiting rooms.
8.2. Reformers
8.2.1. Ida B. Wells was an African American journalist. She worked to fight against black lynching in the south.
8.2.2. W.E.B. Dubois helped start the N.A.A.C.P.
8.2.3. Booker T. Washington was a leader in the effort to achieve equality. He funded the Tuskegee Institute.
8.3. Solution
8.3.1. N.A.A.C.P. worked to end the discrimination of African Americans in the U.S.
8.3.2. Tuskegee Institute helped african Americans learn trades and gain economic strength.
9. Working Towards Conservation
9.1. Problem
9.1.1. There was a gradual reduction and loss of natural resources.
9.2. Reformers
9.2.1. Theodore Roosevelt was a strong campaigner for conservation-controlling how America's natural resources were used.
9.2.2. John Muir preserved more than 200 million acres of public lands and established the first wildlife refuge. He also doubled the number of national parks.
9.3. Solutions
9.3.1. The first wildlife refuge was established in Pelican Island, Florida.
9.3.2. National Parks were doubled in the U.S. at this time.