Review for Quiz - The Progressive Era
Progressive Movement
Progressives – People who sought to return control of the government to the people, restore
economic opportunities and to correct injustices in American life.
Muckrakers – Magazine journalists who exposed the corrupt side of business and public life in the
early 1900’s
Ida Tarbell – One of the leading muckrackers, as well as a teacher, author and journalist. She is
thought to have pioneered investigative journalism.
Upton Sinclair – An outspoken socialist who received fame in 1906 for his muckracking novel, “The
Jungle”, which exposed conditions in the meat packaging industry and contributed to the passage of
the Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act in 1906.
Meat Inspection Act – A 1906 law establishing hygiene standards in the meatpacking industry
Pure Food and Drug Act – A 1906 law banning sale of contaminated food and medicine. The law
required truthful labels.
Jacob Riis – As a Danish-American social reformer and photographer, his purpose in journalism was
to aid impoverished New Yorkers by exposing the living conditions of the poor to the middle and
upper classes. He is considered one of the fathers of photography due to his early adoption of flash.
Jane Addams – She was a social activist and one of the most prominent reformers during the
Progressive Era. She helped to turn America to issues concerning mothers, such as the needs of
children, public health and world peace. In 1889, she co-founded the Hull House and in 1920 was
the co-founder for the ACLU. She became the first American woman to win the Noble Peace Prize in
1931 and is recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the United States.
Hull House – A settlement house in Chicago that became the residence for 25 women, acting as a
center for research, empirical analysis, study, debate and a pragmatic center for living in and
establishing good relations with the neighborhood.
Susan B. Anthony – The leader of the Women Suffrage Movement.
National American Women’s Suffrage Association – Formed on February 18, 1890 to work for
women’s suffrage in the United States. It was created as a merge of the National Women Suffrage
Association and the American Women Suffrage Association.
Temperance Movement/Anti-Saloon League – the temperance movement was an organized effort
to prevent the drinking of alcoholic beverages. The Anti-Saloon League was the leading organization
lobbying for prohibition in the United States in the early 20th century.
Carrie Nation - an American woman who was a radical member of the temperance movement, which
opposed alcohol before the advent of Prohibition. She is particularly noteworthy for attacking alcoholserving establishments with a hatchet.
Initiative, Referendum and Recall
Initiative Process – A means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered
voters can force a public vote.
Referendum Process – A direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to vote on a particular
proposal which may result in the adoption of a new law.
Recall Referendum – A procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through
a direct vote before his or her term has ended.
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt – Following the assassination of President McKinley on September of 1901,
Roosevelt succeeded the office and became the youngest president in history, leading his party and
country into the Progressive Era. He was first person to use the presidency as a "bully pulpit”.
Bull Moose Party -- President Theodore Roosevelt founded the Progressive Party, which
became known as the “Bull Moose Party” after he was unable to receive the Republican nomination
in 1912.
Progressive Movement – The progressive movement consisted of activists who sought to reform
urban life between 1890 and 1920. The movement’s goals were protecting social welfare, creating
economic reform and fostering efficiency in the workplace.
Sherman Antitrust Act – President Theodore Roosevelt’s position on trusts were that they should
all be busted. Approved on July 2 of 1890, The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was the first
Federal act that outlawed monopolistic business practices between 1890 and 1920. It was used by
Theodore Roosevelt to sue the Northern Securities Company in 1902.
Northern Securities Company – a short-lived American railroad trust formed in 1901 by JP Morgan
and JD Rockefeller that was sued in 1902 under the Sherman Antitrust Act by the Justice
Department under President Theodore Roosevelt.
Coal Strike of 1902 – Known as the anthracite coal strike, it was a strike by the United Mine Workers
of America in eastern Pennsylvania, asking for higher wages, shorter work days and recognition of
their union. President Theodore Roosevelt investigated the strike and proposed a reform after
acknowledging each side’s position, marking the first time in which the federal government intervened
as a neutral arbitrator.
Square Deal – President Theodore Roosevelt’s domestic policy, stressing conservation, control of
corporations, and consumer protection. It aimed at helping the middle class and involved attacking
plutocracy and bad trusts while protecting business from the extreme demands of organized labor.
Election of 1912
Eugene Victor “Gene” Debs – An American union leader that was one of the founding members of
the Industrial Workers of the World, and five times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for
President of the United States. He was the nominee for the Socialist Party in the election of 1912.
William Howard Taft – 27th President (1909-1913) who broke up Standard Oil in 1911 via the
Sherman Antitrust Act and is the US President that busted the most trusts. In 1912, he enacted the
Children’s Bureau for improving child abuse prevention, foster care and adoption. He was the
Republican Party nominee for the election of 1912, but was not re-elected in 1912 because of his
failure to unify the Republican Party after he angered both the progressives and conservationists.
Theodore Roosevelt – After failing to receive the Republican Party nomination for the election of
1912, he formed the Progressive Party and ran as the nominee for the party in the election.
Woodrow Wilson – He was the Democratic Party nominee for the election of 1912 and won the
election to become the 28th president from 1913 to 1921. He was, however, not concerned with
African American civil rights even though he appealed to them during the election cycle.
Constitutional Amendments
16th Amendment – Ratified in 1913 to allow Congress to obtain income tax without apportioning it
among the states or basing it on the United States Census.
17th Amendment – Ratified in 1913 to establish the popular election of senators by the people of the
states, whom were previously elected by state legislatures.
18th Amendment – Ratified in 1919 to established the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United
States by declaring the production, transport, and sale of alcohol (though not the consumption or
private possession) illegal.
19th Amendment – Ratified in 1920 to guarantee all women the right to vote.
African-American Rights
Plessy v. Ferguson – 1896 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that separation of the races in
public accommodations was legal, “separate but equal”.
NAACP – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is an African-American
civil rights organization formed in 1909 by WEB Du Bois, Moorfield Storey and Mary White Ovington
to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and to
eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.
WEB Du Bois – Was an African-American civil rights activist that rose to national prominence as the
leader of the Niagara movement, a group of African-American activists who wanted equal rights for
blacks.
Booker T. Washington – Was an African-American educator and was the dominant leader of the
African American community between 1890 and 1915. He founded the Tuskegee Institute in 1881, a
private, historically black university.