Progressive Era Reforms & the 17th Amendment
Direct Election of US Senators Gives Voters a Greater Choice
As early as 1828 Congress and incoming President Andrew Jackson called for direct popular election of United States Senators and Presidents. Senators were appointed by state legislatures, a practice that would remain unchanged until the Progressive Era of the early Twentieth Century. Ratified by three-quarters of the states, the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution provided for two Senators “from each state, elected by the people thereof…” The Amendment was adopted May 31, 1913.
Progressive Electoral Reform
Progressives in the first decade of the Twentieth Century represented both reform minded Republicans like Wisconsin’s “Fighting Bob” LaFollette and populist Democrats such as William Jennings Bryan. Political devices such as the Recall and the Proposition were enacted by state legislatures to curb the power of strong party bosses like Senator Mark Hanna of Ohio. High on the list of reforms was a Constitutional amendment providing for the direct election of Senators.
By the time President Roosevelt’s Square Deal was announced, the Senate, intent on blocking progressive reform, had been viewed as an oligarchy for many decades. The Republican “Old Guard” had rebuffed five attempts by the House to pass an amendment guaranteeing direct election of its members, beginning in 1893. Many of the Senators were directly linked to the so-called “interests,” big business conglomerates like Standard Oil.
Progressive Changes in the States Lead to Passage
Nebraska was the first state to enact a “preferential primary law” in 1875 and by 1912 twenty-eight states had enacted similar laws. Preferential primary laws bound state legislatures to follow the will of the voters and send to Washington men directly selected by the people. Many of these states represented the mid-west where Populism had flourished in the 1890s. These newly elected men joined forces with Progressives to enable passage of the Seventeenth Amendment.
Scandal was also part of the successful attempt to amend the Constitution. In his bid to become Illinois’ Senator, William Lorimer was found to have bribed members of the Illinois state assembly. At a time when progressive “muckrakers” like Lincoln Steffens were writing about urban corruption, the Lorimer affair added ammunition to Progressive charges of elitism, the role of moneyed interests, and election fraud.
The appeal of the Seventeenth Amendment also rested on philosophical grounds. Prior to the Civil War, states tended to see themselves as sovereign entities, particularly in the South. It was not uncommon to refer to “these United States.” Senators in the “Federal Legislature” represented states, not people. This view changed after the Civil War as the country developed a national identity built around a strong central government that subordinated the states.
Finally, Gilded Era opposition by farm states and growing labor movements to the eastern banking interests and growing trusts or monopolies helped build a Populist Movement that saw electoral reform as one element of overall social and political change. This included territorial laws giving women the vote, as in Wyoming in 1869.
Enactment of the Seventeenth Amendment
The Seventeenth Amendment was passed by Congress in June, 1911 and adopted May 31, 1913. Whereas the Senate had been a “club” of state party bosses and powerful men that guarded their prestige jealously, the new amendment would open the doors to more independent candidates, chosen by the people and not the party leadership. One long term consequence may have been the introduction of vast spending by future candidates in order to achieve office, although this phenomenon is a fairly recent development.
Sources and Further Reading:
Lewis Gould, The Most Exclusive Club: A History of the Modern United States Senate (Basic Books, 2006)
Alfred H. Kelly and Winfred A. Harbison, The American Constitution: Origins and Development (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1976.
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