reform effort, generally centered in urban areas and begun in the early 1900s, whose aims included returning control of the government to the people, restoring economic opportunities, and correcting injustices in American life.
advocate for improving the lives of women and children; appointed chief inspector of factories in Illinois; helped win passage of the Illinois factory act in 1893 which prohibited child labor and limited women's working hours.
writer or journalist of the early 1900s who uncovered shameful conditions in business and other areas of American life.
Robert M. La Follete
Progressive Republican who in Wisconsin, led the way in regulating big business. He made the railroad industry a major target. Nickname: "Fighting Bob"
allowed all citizens to introduce a bill into the legislative and required members to take a vote on it
Amendment to the United States Constitution (1913) gave Congress the power to tax income.
Passed in 1913, this amendment to the Constitution calls for the direct election of senators by the voters instead of their election by state legislatures.
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1920) extended the right to vote to women in federal or state elections.
author who wrote a book about the horrors of food productions in 1906 - wrote The Jungle
This 1906 work by Upton Sinclair pointed out the abuses of the meat packing industry. The book led to the passage of the 1906 Meat Inspection Act.
26th President of the United States, 26th president, known for: Progressive Politics, conservationism, trust-busting, Hepburn Act, safe food regulations, "Square Deal," Panama Canal, Great White Fleet, Nobel Peace Prize for negotiation of peace in Russo-Japanese War
President Theodore Roosevelt's plan for reform; all Americans are entitled to an equal opportinity to succeed
Meat Inspection Act
1906 - Laid down binding rules for sanitary meat packing and government inspection of meat products crossing state lines.
Pure Food and Drug Act
1906 - the act that prohibited the manufacture, sale, or shipment of impure of falsely labeled food and drugs
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909 to work for racial equality
William Howard Taft
27th president of the U.S.; he angered progressives by moving cautiously toward reforms and by supporting the Payne-Aldrich Tariff; he lost Roosevelt's support and was defeated for a second term.
Bull Moose Party
a name given to the progressive party, formed to support Theodore Roosevelt's candidacy for the presidency in 1912
Election of 1912
Presidential campaign involving Taft, T. Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson. Taft and Roosevelt split the Republican vote, enabling Wilson to win
28th president of the United States, known for World War I leadership, created Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, Clayton Antitrust Act, progressive income tax, lower tariffs, women's suffrage (reluctantly), Treaty of Versailles, sought 14 points post-war plan, League of Nations (but failed to win U.S. ratification), won Nobel Peace Prize
Booker T. Washington
Prominent black American, born into slavery, who believed that racism would end once blacks acquired useful labor skills and proved their economic value to society, was head of the Tuskegee Institute in 1881.
W.E.B. Du Bois
Harvard professor; believed that African Americans should strive for full rights immediately; founded the NAACP
Clayton Antitrust Act
Corrected the problems of the Sherman Antitrust Act; outlawed certain practices that restricted competition; unions on strike could no longer be considered violating the antitrust acts
Federal Trade Commission
A government agency established in 1914 to prevent unfair business practices and help maintain a competitive economy.
Federal Reserve System
The system created by Congress in 1913 to establish banking practices and regulate currency in circulation and the amount of credit available. It consists of 12 regional banks supervised by the Board of Governors. Often called simply the Fed.
National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
An organization founded in 1890 to demand the vote for women
Susan B. Anthony
(1820-1906) An early leader of the women's suffrage (right to vote) movement, co-founded the National Women's Suffrage Association with Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1869.
Carrie Chapman Catt
A women's suffrage leader, she was twice the president of the NAWSA She was one of the main people attributed to woman's suffrage.
Radical suffragist supporting protests against President Wilson and formed the National Woman's Party (1885-1977)