Ch. 29 Class Discussion Questions
#1: The text says that progressivism was less a minority movement than a dominant majority mood. What were the basic
social and political conditions that created that reforming mood, and what diverse people and ideas were all sheltered
under the broad progressive umbrella?
Progressive Roots
GLP | Populists | Laissez-faire
Lloyd, Veblen, Riis, and Dreiser
Socialists and Muckrakers
Cleanse Capitalism | More Democracy
#2: What did the progressive movement accomplish at the local, state, and national levels? How did women contribute
to and benefit from the movement?
Political Progressivism
initiative, referendum, and recall | 17th amendment
Progressivism in the Cities and States
Progressive Women
Settlement House Movement
Separate Spheres
Muller v. Oregon (1908) | Lochner v. N.Y. (1905)
#3: The text says that Theodore Roosevelt sought to tame unbridled capitalism without fundamentally altering the
American economic system. How do his policies regarding the trusts, labor, and consumer protection reflect this middle
way? Why was Roosevelt regarded with hostility by many industrialists even though he sought to reform rather than attack
them?
TR’s Square Deal for Labor
TR Corrals the Corporations
Caring for the Consumer | Earth Control
#4: What caused the Taft-Roosevelt split, and how did it reflect the growing division between Old Guard and
progressive Republicans?
The “Roosevelt Panic” of 1907
The Rough Rider Thunders Out
Taft: A Round Peg in a Square Hole
The Dollar Goes Abroad as a Diplomat
Taft the Trustbuster
Taft Splits the Republican Party
The Taft-Roosevelt Rupture