Wayback Wednesday: Wisconsin and the Progressive Era

Wayback Wednesday: 

Wisconsin and the Progressive Era

The first couple of decades of the 1900s were an interesting time, and each state was affected differently. By the 1910s, Wisconsin was leading the country in milk and cheese production having doubled the number of cows in the state between 1900 and 1910. The University of Wisconsin appointed Henry A. William its first agricultural professor in 1880. He was appointed dean in 1891 and led the department’s growth, founded the first dairy school, and experimented with new dairy methods.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin governor Robert M. La Follette was leading the charge into the Progressive Era, a time period known for its social and political reform efforts. Ten years before he was elected, the La Follette was an up-and-coming attorney when Republican leader Philetus Sawyer offered him a bribe to fix a court case. Incensed, “For the rest of the decade, La Follette traveled around the state speaking out against crooked politicians, powerful lumber barons, and corrupt railroad interests. Elected governor in 1900, he pledged to institute reforms to protect common people. Those who followed him called themselves "Progressive" Republicans. They believed that the proper business of government was not business, but service to the common people.” (Wisconsin Historical Society)

Laws passed during his tenure (1901-1909) include a civil service act that regulated appointments to

public office within the state, an automobile license law, a statewide primary election system, the implementation of maximum hours of labor for children as well as a list of dangerous occupations prohibited to children under 16, and the nation’s first Workmen’s Compensation Act (now Worker’s Compensation), guaranteeing injury compensation as a legal right.

In 1913, Wisconsin passed the first minimum wage law that specified a “living wage” must be paid to women and minors, as well as the first state income tax. Other laws subjected railroads, mortgages, and inheritances to taxation. Additional laws provided state control over how corporations issued stock and imposed stricter regulations on railroad and insurance companies. Reforms included new sanitation systems, municipally owned water and power systems, the creation of community parks, and improved schools.

Interestingly, an area of reform that Wisconsin didn’t support was women’s suffrage. Referendum after referendum was voted down. With the passage of the nineteenth amendment women had the right to vote in federal elections, however, they would not be allowed to vote in state elections until fourteen years later.

By 1914, the Progressive movement had fractured. La Follette was in the Senate, and Governor Frances McGovern supported Theodore Roosevelt for president which angered many of the leaders in the Republican party, then came World War I, interrupting the era. The state’s large German population opposed entering the war in Europe, earning the Wisconsin the nickname “Traitor State.” Ultimately, more than 118,000 Wisconsinites served in the armed forces, approximately 1,800 who gave their lives.

Photo Credits:

Henry A. William: Public Domain

Justice Scales: Pixabay/Sang Hyung Cho

Women: Public Domain/Library of Congress

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Love and Chocolate

She just needs a job. He wants a career. Is there room in their hearts for love?

Ilsa Krause and her siblings are stunned to discover their father left massive debt behind upon his death. To help pay off their creditors and save the farm, she takes a job at Beck’s Chocolates, the company her father despised and refused to supply with milk. Then she discovers her boss is Ernst Webber, her high school love who unceremoniously dumped her via letter from college. Could life get any more difficult?

A freshly-minted university diploma in his hand, Ernst Webber lands his dream job at Beck’s Chocolates. His plans to work his way up the ladder don’t include romantic entanglements, then Ilsa Krause walks back into his life resurrecting feelings he thought long dead. However, her animosity makes it clear she has no interest in giving him a second chance. Can he get her to change her mind? Does he want to?

Purchase link: https://books2read.com/u/mdQerZ

Traveling Tuesdsay: Wisconsin

Traveling Tuesday: Wisconsin

The 30th state to be admitted to the union, Wisconsin originated a territorial possession of the United States in 1783 after the Revolutionary War. Four years later it became part of the Northwest Territory, then Indiana Territory from 1800 to 1809, followed by Illinois Territory from 1809 to 1818, then Michigan Territory until 1836 when by an act of Congress it became Wisconsin Territory. Interestingly, the territory remained under British control until after the War of 1812.

Initially, a leader in fur trading, the area saw a shift to lead mining after it came under American control. The change brought an influx of immigrants from the US and Europe (with a large percentage of “expert miners” from Cornwall, England) in search of wealth. According to several sources, including the Wisconsin Historical Society, Wisconsin became known as the Badger State because many of the miners lived in tunnels they dug into the hillsides, like badger dens.

By 1829, more than 4,000 miners populated the state with fifty-two smelting works. A little more than a

decade later, the state was producing more than half of America’s lead, somewhere in the amount of 15-20 million pounds. Output began to decline around 1847, and news of the 1848 California gold rush sent the miners west.

As the mining industry declined, agriculture saw a surge with wheat being the primary crop. Soil depletion and insects prompted a change to cranberries and tobacco by some farmers, however, a large percentage turned to dairy farming which proved to be an excellent decision. By 1915, Wisconsin was the leading producer of dairy products in the United States. According to Wikipedia, the term “America’s Dairyland” appeared in newspapers as early as 1913.

A close second to Wisconsin’s dairy industry is brewing. The first brewery opened in 1835 by a man name John Philips. Highly successful he opened a second the following year. By 1860, over 200 breweries operated within the state, more than forty of them in Milwaukee. Most scholars feel this is a result of the number of German immigrants who arrived in the 1840s and 1850s and the demise of the Chicago breweries in the “Great Chicago Fire.”

Come back next Tuesday to learn how the Progressive Era impacted the state. Or did the state influence the era?

Photo Credits:

Mine: Pixaby/bocux

Barrels: Pixabay/Artur Gorecki

________________

Love and Chocolate

She just needs a job. He wants a career. Is there room in their hearts for love?

Ilsa Krause and her siblings are stunned to discover their father left massive debt behind upon his death. To help pay off their creditors and save the farm, she takes a job at Beck’s Chocolates, the company her father despised and refused to supply with milk. Then she discovers her boss is Ernst Webber, her high school love who unceremoniously dumped her via letter from college. Could life get any more difficult?

A freshly-minted university diploma in his hand, Ernst Webber lands his dream job at Beck’s Chocolates. His plans to work his way up the ladder don’t include romantic entanglements, then Ilsa Krause walks back into his life resurrecting feelings he thought long dead. However, her animosity makes it clear she has no interest in giving him a second chance. Can he get her to change her mind? Does he want to?

Purchase link: https://books2read.com/u/mdQerZ