•

• Reaction to Industrialization— against big business and social problems caused by industrialization
• Populist movement – 1880s-
1890s  farmers movement to lower shipping rates and other reforms
• The Progressive movement wanted government to play a larger role in helping people and fixing society

• Reform Movements of the mid-1800s
• Women played a large role in social reform because they had no political rights (could not vote)
• Temperance
(Prohibition) – ban alcohol
• Women’s Suffrage – women’s right to vote
• 1848—Seneca Falls
Convention kicks off women’s suffrage movement

• Populists – reform for farmers and democratic reform
• Populists wanted lower shipping rates for farm goods
• Started as the Grange movement
• Populist Ideas that Became
Progressive Laws
1.
Direct election of
Senators
2.
Progressive Income tax (earn more $, pay more tax)

•

• Other major issue for Populists:
• Free silver
• Money was on gold standard  rare and expensive (benefitted the rich)
• Farmers wanted silver to be legal tender (would result in inflation  cheaper for farmers to pay off debts)
• 1896  Populist Democrat William
Jennings Bryan runs for President in support of free silver

• During the Populist era, government made some reform to slow industrialization, but did not enforce the laws or decisions
• Interstate Commerce Act
(1887)– created the Interstate
Commerce Commission to investigate and end railroad shipping rate abuses
• Sherman Anti-trust Act
(1890)– prohibited monopolies, made trusts illegal
• ***These laws and decisions were rarely enforced by the federal government until the early 1900s***

• Muckrakers --members of the press that investigated corruption in order to expose problems to the American people.

• Jacob Riis – wrote How the
Other Half
Lives to expose poor living conditions in the slums of
New York City

• Ida Tarbell – wrote “History of
Standard Oil Company” in 1904, which exposed the ruthless business practices of Standard Oil
Company.
• In 1911, the Supreme Court ruled that Standard Oil was a monopoly and It was broken up
• Lincoln Steffens – wrote “The
Shame of the Cities” in 1904, which examined political corruption in U.S. cities

• Upton Sinclair – wrote a novel called “The Jungle” in 1906, which exposed the dangerous and unhealthy working conditions of the meat-packing industry.

•
•

• Jane Addams – founded Hull
House in Chicago. She pioneered social work by giving aid to women and immigrants.
• 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
– in NYC, 146 garment workers (mostly women) died because they were locked inside the factory.
• This led to fire safety reform, and factory safety reforms.

• The Progressives wanted to make the government more democratic, so they created many reforms in some states.
• Initiative – the right of citizens to propose a new law
• Referendum – Allows voters to pass or reject a law.
• Recall– Allows voters to have an elected representative removed from office.
• Direct Primary –voters select candidates to run for office

• Theodore Roosevelt 1901-1909
• Was known as the “Trustbuster” president because he worked to break up only harmful trusts.
• Called his reforms “The Square Deal”
• 1904 – the Supreme Court ruled that the
Northern Securities railroad was an illegal monopoly
• Pure food and Drug Act (1906) --
Required that companies accurately label the ingredients contained in food items.
• Meat Inspection Act (1906) –Required the government to have health inspectors make sure meat is safely produced

• William H. Taft 1909-1913
• Broke up trusts such as U.S.
Steel, but eventually stopped his progressive policies
• Roosevelt decided to run for President against Taft in
1912
• Taft and Roosevelt split the
Republican vote in 1912, allowing Democratic candidate Woodrow
Wilson to win the election.

• Woodrow Wilson 1913-
1921
• Wilson believed that all monopolies and trusts should be broken up
• Clayton Antitrust Act
(1914) -- Strengthened the
Sherman Antitrust Act by outlawing all monopolies
• Federal Reserve Act
(1913) – allowed the government to regulate the
money supply by raising or lowering interest rates.

• 16 th Amendment (1913) – allowed the federal government to create an income tax
• 17 th Amendment (1913) – Allowed for the direct election of U.S.
Senators by the people, not state legislatures

• 18th Amendment (1919) –
Prohibition. Banned the production, selling, or transportation of alcohol.
Repealed in 1933 with the 21st amendment.

• 19th Amendment (1920) – Women’s Suffrage. Gave women the right to vote in all elections.

• After World War I, the American public had grown tired of all the change and reform.
• In the 1920 election, Senator
Warren Harding called for a
“Return to Normalcy”, meaning an end to Progressive reform and involvement in world affairs.
• He promised a return to laissezfaire government and isolationist foreign policy. He won the election in a landslide.