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As radical progressives fought to change conservative America, a group of Protestant ministers organized the Social Gospel movement to instill religious ethics into the business world. 18. Congregational minister Washington Gladden started a ministry for working-class neighborhoods and favored sanctions to improve workers’ rights. 19. Walter Rauschenbusch, a Baptist minister, proclaimed that Christians should endorse social reform to end poverty and labor abuse. 20. According to the members of the Social Gospel movement, it was the government’s ethical responsibility to improve the living and working conditions in America. 21. Many economists climbed aboard the religious bandwagon to call for state action to produce social progress. B. Municipal, State, and National Reforms 1. During the first decade of the twentieth century, urban populations grew quickly and corruption spread throughout all levels of political institutions. 2. Political machines and dishonest public officials controlled some of the largest cities in the nation. 3. San Francisco lawyer Abe Ruef, who operated one of the most powerful political machines of the era, forced companies to pay substantial bribes to conduct business in the
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Presented with abundant opportunity, but also hindered by significant internal and external problems, the America was seeking leaders who could provide a new direction. 2. The political climate was ripe for reform, and the stage was set for the era of the Progressive Presidents, beginning with Republican Theodore Roosevelt. 3. Teddy Roosevelt was widely popular due to his status as a hero of the Spanish-American War and his belief in “speaking softly and carrying a big stick.” 4. Taking over the presidency in 1901 after the assassination of William McKinley, he quickly assured America that he would not take any drastic measures. 5. He then demanded a “Square Deal” that would address his primary concerns for the era; the three C’s: control of corporations, consumer protection, and conservation. 6. The ownership of corporations and the relationship between owners and laborers, as well as government’s role in the relationship, were the contentious topics of the period. 7. Workers were demanding greater rights and protection, while corporations expected labor to remain cheap and plentiful. 8. Coal mining was dirty and dangerous work, and 140,000 miners went on strike and demanded a 20 percent pay increase and a reduction in the workday from ten to nine
Presented with abundant opportunity, but also hindered by significant internal and external problems, the America was seeking leaders who could provide a new direction. 2. The political climate was ripe for reform, and the stage was set for the era of the Progressive Presidents, beginning with Republican Theodore Roosevelt. 3. Teddy Roosevelt was widely popular due to his status as a hero of the Spanish-American War and his belief in “speaking softly and carrying a big stick.” 4. Taking over the presidency in 1901 after the assassination of William McKinley, he quickly assured America that he would not take any drastic measures. 5. He then demanded a “Square Deal” that would address his primary concerns for the era; the three C’s: control of corporations, consumer protection, and conservation. 6. The ownership of corporations and the relationship between owners and laborers, as well as government’s role in the relationship, were the contentious topics of the period. 7. Workers were demanding greater rights and protection, while corporations expected labor to remain cheap and plentiful. 8. Coal mining was dirty and dangerous work, and 140,000 miners went on strike and demanded a 20 percent pay increase and a reduction in the workday from ten to nine