Who Were the Key Progressivists?

The Progressive Era was an age of reform. Labor violence, and industrial accidents, combined with deplorable working conditions and a feeling that the trusts were in control of people's lives, fueled the desire for reform. Both the working-class and the middle-class were instrumental in these changes.

Shelton Stromquist theorizes that it was the working class, via strikes, that stimulated the progressive movement. "Workers were the agents in the construction of a new urban politics…"[1] He states that "mass strikes, political insurgency and the "social crisis" of American capitalism in the 1890s created a unique set of conditions that serve as a breeding ground for corporate consolidation and social and political reform."[2]

 The working class had motive to press for changes because of the personal discomfort caused by difficult working conditions, such as unreasonably long hours, poor safety practices and low wages. The unions that formed were meant to help provide job security and fight for better working conditions. Occasionally, violence occurred, such as during the Homestead strike. "Strikes… Prompted the formation of cross class alliances…"[3]

While strikes "gave temporary span and direction to municipal progressivism,"[4] they struck some middle-class Americans as almost too revolutionary. As Stromquist points out, "class conflict and mass protest created conditions that invited reform but did not wholly dictate the outcomes."[5] However, the middle class supported reform, as they read about conditions and events in newspapers and muckraking. The middle-class became worried about how the working class situation was going to affect them. Beyond this, many middle-class citizens were truly concerned for the working class and felt compassion for them. They felt compelled to do something about it.

Maureen A. Flanagan argues that the middle class, particularly upper- middle class, white men and women, such as those that formed the City Clubs of Chicago, were the key group or groups in shaping progressive reform. "It is commonly accepted that male and female reformers in the first two decades of the 20th century had different agendas for reform…"[6] Both the men's City Club and the Women's City Club of Chicago tackled "problems of garbage disposal, public education and police power."[7] However, the women held a more humanitarian view of "well-being" [8] and of "ensure[ing] moral and social order"[9] through “Municipal Housekeeping.” [10] The men, on the other hand viewed the city as a business and as such it should be run like one. They were "thinking in terms of profitability in fiscal efficiency."[11]

 While the men’s clubs tended to look at the issues through the eyes of a businessman, the women’s clubs strove to make the world a better place through social reform. Regardless, reform was achieved through politics. Often this took place at the city level, but increasingly, as issues became more complex, it took place at the state, and even national level. Therefore, as the working-class fought for better conditions, the middle-class became concerned and worked to make big reforms through politics. Together, the working-class and middle-class men and women worked hard to shape progressive reform.

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[1] Sheldon Stromquist, “The Crucible of Class: Cleveland Politics and the Origins of Municipal Reform in the Progressive Era.” Journal of Urban History 23, no 2. (1997):194

[2] Ibid.195

[3] Ibid.194

[4] Ibid.194

[5] Ibid.195

[6] Maureen A. Flanagan, “Gender and Urban Political Reform, the City Club and the Women’s City Club of Chicago in the Progressive Era,” The American Historical Review 95, no 4 (1990):1033

[7]  Ibid.1046

[8] Ibid.1045

[9]Ibid.1045

[10] Ibid.1046

[11]Ibid. 1046

"Every Dog (No Color Distinction) Has His Day"

In "Every Dog (No Color Distinction) Has His Day", an African-American man is shown with a big grin, hands in his pocket and feet crossed suggesting idleness. A stereotypical Native American man is shown holding a peace pipe and talking to an Asian American man who in turn stares at a group of posters. Thomas Nast has one poster labeled "Know Nothingness of the past" and "Down with the Irish, Down with the Dutch." The largest poster talks about the "Chinese Problem" and about prohibiting Chinese immigration. There is a smaller sign stating "The Chinese Must Go!" labeled “Kearny, A Real American.”

“The Chinese Must Go!” was the slogan used by the Workingmen's Party of California, which Dennis Kearney was a part of. They spread anti-Chinese messages across California. Kearney became involved in the labor movement and proved to be very charismatic. He and others in the Workingmen's Party blamed Chinese immigrants for taking jobs from the laborers and lowering wages. As a result of this, mobs attacked Chinese businesses and homes, burning them and killing some of the people. Kearney started lobbying for changes to California's constitution that would add anti-Chinese provisions.

 In this cartoon, Nast shows the irony of the situation. The slogan "every dog has his day", referred to how Kearny, who was an immigrant from Ireland, gained his day of recognition but is now persecuting the Chinese. Nast made fun of Kearny, by calling him a "real American" when he, along with every other non-Native American in America was an immigrant. The mention of the “know nothings” refers to the American Party of the 1850s who had anti-Catholic, German and immigration sentiments.

 In this cartoon, Nast compared the treatment of Native Americans, the slavery of African-Americans and used reminders of how the Irish were treated, as a testament to how immigrants have been treated poorly throughout American history. The use of an illustration of a train, symbolizing the forced movement of Native Americans to the West and the KKK sign against African-Americans is a comparison to the movement against the Chinese. The use of stereotypes and exaggerated body and facial expressions was a way for Nast to reach a larger audience. Even people who couldn't read would be able to understand the Chinese man's scowl and folded arms. It was meant to reach the average American, and remind them of the injustices of the past and impress on them that it was happening again.

http://immigrants.harpweek.com/ChineseAmericans/2KeyIssues/DenisKearneyCalifAnti.htm

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/320530/Know-Nothing-party

Enlightenment Ideals,The French Revolution & Women

Human rights shouldn't have to be bought, earned or even fought for; they belong to people simply because they are born. They are the same for everyone, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion or political view, we are all born free. Therefore, human rights are universal. As T.H. Marshall put it, and I agree, human rights can be divided into three categories, or evolutions. First are civil rights. These include life, liberty and that all are born free. This first wave of rights also includes freedom of religion, opinion, assembly and other things of this nature. Second are political rights. Third, are social or human rights. This is about the right to equal education, the right to health care, the right to work etc. Further, all of humanity has the responsibility to respect others natural, human rights.Obviously in the course of history, and even today, this is not always respected. 
The Enlightenment ideals of “natural rights” led to questions about whose “nature” or “whose God” determines these human rights. At the time of the French Revolution, there was much division regarding the rights of slaves, the poor and women. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 was approved by the National Assembly, a restructuring of the Estates General called by Louis XVI. The Declaration recognized basic human rights as belonging only to citizens who were male. In response to this, groups of women's rights supporters started a campaign for women's rights (Hunt 27). In 1790, Nicolas de Condorcet argued that human rights are universal, and should be extended to women (Doc 34). Etta Palm d’Aelders (Doc 35) also petitioned the National Assembly for civil and political rights for women. When the French Revolution didn't bring about acknowledgment of women's rights,  Olympe de Gouges published the Declaration of the Rights of Women and Female Citizen in 1791. She modeled her declaration on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, took each article the national assembly pronounced and rewrote it to include women. It follows the 17 articles point for point. For example, the first article declares "men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility" (Doc 14). The First Article of the Declaration of Rights of Women and Female Citizen reads, "Woman is born free and remained equal to man in rights. Social distinctions may only be based on common utility" (Doc 36).For her views, and daring to speak out, she along with other female activists suffered abuse from the government (Hunt 27). 
The prevailing attitude, was to denounce women's political activism. Pierre Gaspard Chaumette , who denounced slavery, did not include women in his view of political rights. He called those women seeking these basic human rights, "Viragos [noisy, domineering; Amazons]" and said they were “denatured women" seeking to "soil this line of liberty… and were “shameless" (Doc 40). The documents exemplify the way the French Revolution treated women. Most of these women activists were arrested, however Gouges was sent to the guillotine in 1793 ( Hunt 27). It would take women another 150 years to win equal rights. The grounds? “Nature” as Chaumette made clear (Wright, Lecture 4, & Doc 40).

Work Cited:

Chaumette, Pierre Gaspard, Speech at the General Council of the City Government of Paris Denouncing Women’s Political Activism November 17, 1793(Document 40)

Condorcet, On the Admission of Women to the Rights of Citizenship, July 1790 (Document 34)

D’Aelders, Etta Palm, Discourse on the Injustice of the Laws in Favor of Men, at the Expense of Women, December 30, 1790 (Document 35)

Declaration of the rights of Man and Citizen August 26, 1789 (Document 14)

De Gouges, Olympe, Declaration of the Rights of Women, September 1791 (Document 36)

Hunt, Lynn. The French Revolution and Human Rights. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1996.

An "Interesting Narrative"

Although the evidence suggested by Vincent Caretta, and presented by Brychan Carey regarding Olaudah Equiano’s birthplace is compelling, it is not conclusive. Equiano states that he was born in Africa, that he was unable to speak English initially because he spoke an African dialect, this and the other facts he presented about his life were verifiable. Equiano states in his autobiography that he was born in Africa. His versions of events could easily be confirmed or denied by others who knew him, for example Pascal, a lieutenant in the royal navy.[1] One could also consider the importance of religion to Equiano. Being right with God was important to him and there are many testimonies to his character as a Christian in the Narrative. It seems unlikely he would have tried to lie about his origins. Also, the amount of detail he provided regarding his early life in Africa and the stories of his mother lend truth to his narrative. Even the small mistakes give it credence, as they are the memories of a very small child. As a young child he often told people the story of his capture and of his sister. On the Industrious Bee, Dick Baker was his interpreter many times[2]; if Equiano was born in South Carolina he would have understood English. As Equiano wrote his Narrative to promote the abolition of the slave trade, he had to have known that there would be efforts to discredit him. In fact, efforts to do just that were successfully disputed by Equiano because of his ability to provide witnesses. Mary Guerin and Pascal, among others, could verify that when Equiano was younger, he knew very little English. In fact, according to Allison, Equiano  "produced witnesses who could verify that he arrived in England 30 years earlier, unable to speak any language but "that of Africa"[3]  The cultural information provided at the beginning of his Narrative, along with his ability to speak the African language counters the baptism record. At the time of his baptism he may not have understood English well enough to understand the question or perhaps his godparents gave the information for him and not knowing where he was born, gave the information of where he had recently come from. Also needed to be taken into consideration are all the facts that were proved right. In fact, most of the accounts of his life are generally accurate, as proven by ship logs and other documents, indicating that he was truthful. Equiano wrote that he was offered for sale in Virginia and the British captain named Pascal purchased him.[4] The merchant ship the Industrious Bee that he worked on is a verifiable fact as well as the snow he encountered in England.[5]   Any discrepancies of dates can be attributed to his young age at the time of his kidnapping; children sense of timing and dates aren't as developed as adults. The evidence offered regarding Equiano’s birthplace and date discrepancy is circumstantial at best, and easily explained.

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[1] Olaudah Equiano The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Written by Himself (1789) With Related Documents ed with Intro by Robert J. Allison (New York:Bedford/St. Martin’s) 71

[2] Ibid. 73

[3] Olaudah Equiano The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Written by Himself (1789) (With Related Documents ed with Intro by Robert J. Allison (New York:Bedford/St. Martin’s)Caretta “Questioning the Identity” 228-9

[4] Ibid. 71

[5] Ibid. 74