The Progressive Era
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USHC-4.6
USHC-4.6 Compare the accomplishments and limitations
of the women’s suffrage movement and the Progressive
Movement in affecting social and political reforms in
America, including the roles of the media and of reformers
such as Carrie Chapman Catt, Alice Paul, Jane Addams,
and Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.
The Progressive Period
As the 1800’s came to a close many people’s
life style was on the rise
 However, immigrants and poor laborers continued
to work under harsh conditions.
 Local political machines controlled government
and were often very corrupt.


As a result people began to demand
reforms in government, business, and
society in general.
The Muckrakers

Leading intellectual writers came on the
scene during the Progressive Period. They
***wrote stories about government corruption
and problems with big business. Muckrakers
 The most famous Muckraker was ***Upton
Sinclair who wrote a book called The Jungle.
***The book uncovered the horrors in
the meat packing industry.
 It inspired President Roosevelt to clean up
the meat industry.
Progressivism was
aided by the media
“Muckrackers” investigated the corporations
and conditions of the times
-The plight of the Native Americans
-The worker and immigrant
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Women in the Progressive Era
***Women took a role in promoting
social reform
- now had the opportunity for higher
education at new women’s colleges
- new jobs at factories and offices
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The most important reform…VOTING!
The Women’s Suffrage Movement
In the 1870’s Susan B. Anthony became arguably
the most well known leader urging the peoples
right to vote.
 She established the National American Woman
Suffrage Association (NAWSA) The movement
struggled until 1920 when the 19th Amendment
giving women the right to vote nation wide.
 ***First state to give women the right to
vote was Wyoming!!!
 (West was more tolerant than the east)

Carrie Chapman Catt
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Founded the NAWSA (National American
Women’s Suffrage Association)
***Women campaigned on the idea that
they would clean up society and gov.
Alice Paul
Formed the National Women’s Party
Wanted an amendment to the
Constitution
-Engaged in marches and picketed the
White House
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19th Amendment- gave
women the right to vote in
1920
Jane Addams
-Educated woman
-Established the Hull House in Chicago,
for immigrants to take vocational classes
receive childcare (settlement house)
***Wanted protection for child laborers
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Hull House in Chicago
***18th Amendmentprohibited the making,
selling, or transporting of
alcohol in the US

Time period was called
PROHIBITION (time of no alcohol)
Sec 2: Political
Reform
Progressivism started at the city and state
level
***Gained support at the national level
with Pres. Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt
***First President to give support to
rights of workers
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The Spoils System
Since Lincoln’s death, corruption went up
in the federal government
 Many blamed the ***spoils system- gave
government positions to political
supporters, reward those who were loyal
 Someone got so angry that he didn’t get a
position, he assassinated President James
Garfield

Garfield’s death led to the Pendleton Act.
 This Act created the Civil Service Commissionapplicants must pass an exam to gain any official
position in the government

Teddy Roosevelt
Youngest president elected by 1901 and full of
changes
 Roosevelt’s first change was stopping the
Anthracite Coal Mine Strike
 Roosevelt threatens to use federal troops unless
the strike is settled
 Next was his opposition to monopolies. One of
the most famous cases was Northern Securities v.
US
 ***Nicknamed the “Trust-buster” for breaking up
monopolies

***Bully Pulpit- uses his presidency to end
conflicts between management and
employees
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***Created the nations first National Parks, so a
conservationist
***Created the Pure Food and Drug Act & the
Meat Inspection Act (inspired by the book
“The Jungle”
Taft, Wilson, and the Election of 1912
After one term, Roosevelt stepped down and his
friend William Taft became President
 Taft was not a reformer and let the Republican
party divide due to issues with tariffs
 ***Roosevelt was angered by this and formed the
Progressive, or “Bull Moose” Party
 Since the Republicans were split between Taft and
Roosevelt, Democrat won the election Woodrow
Wilson in 1912

Taft and Wilson
The Bull Moose Party….what does this
cartoon say?
Wilson and his policies
Wilson helped create the ***Federal Reserve Actoversaw the circulation of money and helped
prevent bank failures
 ***Clayton Antitrust Act- Strikes and boycotts
became legal (referred to as the ‘Magna Carta of
Labor’
 16th Amendment- Federal government can collect
income taxes
 17th Amendment- Direct election of senators

Segregation
Separation based on race
 Took place in restaurants, schools,
hospitals, etc
 ***Two kinds:
 1. De jure- Based on law
 2. De facto- done by economic/social
factors

Notable African-Americans of the
Progressive Period
Booker T. Washington- former slave, and
founder of Tuskegee Institute
 Believes blacks should be the master of
trades to be treated as equals (farmers,
construction, waiters, etc.)
 Agrees with segregation, as mentioned in a
speech in Atlanta: ‘be as separate as
fingers, yet one as the hand…”

Booker T Washington
W.E.B. Du Bois- First black Ph.D. graduate
from Harvard
 Does not agree with Washington
 Atlanta Compromise- Don’t settle for a
trade, strive to get higher jobs, be active in
politics
 Niagara Movement- Outline an agenda for
African-American progress in the US
 Founder of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Du Bois
EOC SAMPLE QUESTIONS:
1.
Pres. Theodore Roosevelt would
MOST likely use the term “muckraker”
to apply to which of the following?
A. A woman demanding the right to vote
 B. A supporter of the temperance movement
 C. A journalist writing about abuses in
government and business
 D. A woman with a hatchet attacking saloons.

2. Of the following, which person would
likely NOT have voted for the Progressive
Party in 1912?
A. A supporter of the “Bull Moose” Party
 B. Those who believed in a laissez-faire
approach to economics
 C. A woman who believed she deserved
the right to vote
 D. A former leader of the Populist
movement

3. The system which rewarded political
supporters with government positions
was:
A.
B.
C.
D.

The Pendleton Act
The Civil Service System
The spoils system
The “Wisconsin system”
4. Which of the following would be
supported by the decision in Plessy v.
Ferguson?
A. It is OK to have separate schools for blacks and
whites, so long as both have qualified teachers.
 B. It is illegal to separate people by race because it
violates the spirit of the Constitution.
 C. African-Americans cannot be denied the right
to vote
 D. De Facto segregation is acceptable based on
law.

5. On which of the following points
would W.E.B Du Bois likely DISAGREE
with Booker T. Washington?
A. What occupations blacks should pursue
in US society
 B. The need for blacks to take steps to better
themselves and become economically
independent
 C. The need for blacks to be better trained
and educated
 D. The belief that whites enjoy certain
advantages in society
