Chapter Introduction
Section 1: The Roots of
Progressivism
Section 2: Roosevelt and Taft
Section 3: The Wilson Years
Visual Summary
Can Politics Fix Social
Problems?
Industrialization changed American
society. Cities were crowded,
working conditions were often bad,
and the old political system was
breaking down. These conditions
gave rise to the Progressive
movement. Progressives
campaigned for both political and
social reforms.
• What reforms do you think
progressives wanted to achieve?
• Which of these reforms can you
see in today’s society?
The Roots of
Progressivism
Why did many citizens call
for reforms?
Roosevelt and Taft
What were the policies and
achievements of the
Roosevelt and Taft
presidencies?
The Wilson Years
What reforms did President
Wilson undertake?
Big Ideas
Group Action The progressives sought to improve life
in the United States with social, economic, and political
reforms.
Content Vocabulary
• muckraker
• referendum
• suffrage
• direct primary
• recall
• prohibition
• initiative
Academic Vocabulary
• legislation
• advocate
People and Events to Identify
• Jacob Riis
• Robert M. La Follette
• Carrie Chapman Catt
Do any areas of American society
need to be reformed today?
A. Yes
B. No
A. A
B. B
0%
A
0%
B
The Rise of Progressivism
Progressives tried to solve the social
problems that arose as the United
States became an urban, industrialized
nation.
The Rise of Progressivism (cont.)
• Progressivism was a series of responses to
problems in American society that had
emerged from the growth of industry.
• Facts about progressives:
− Their ideas were a reaction against
laissez-faire economics and its emphasis
on an unregulated market.
− They believed that industrialization and
urbanization had created many social
problems.
The Rise of Progressivism (cont.)
− They belonged to both major political
parties.
− Most were urban, educated, middle-class
Americans.
− They believed that government had to be
fixed before it could fix other problems.
− They had a strong faith in science and
technology.
The Rise of Progressivism (cont.)
• Among the first people to articulate
progressive ideas was a group of crusading
journalists who investigated social conditions
and political corruption, also called
muckrakers.
− Photojournalist Jacob Riis highlighted the
plight of immigrants living in New York City
in his book How the Other Half Lives.
− Lincoln Steffens exposed corruption in
urban political machines.
Who published photographs and
descriptions of the poverty, disease, and
crime that afflicted many immigrant
neighborhoods in New York City?
A. Charles Edward Russell
0%
0%
0%
D
A
D. Jacob Riis
0%
A
B
C
D
C
C. Lincoln Steffens
A.
B.
C.
D.
B
B. Ida Tarbell
Reforming Government
Progressives tried to make government
more efficient and more responsive to
citizens.
Reforming Government (cont.)
• One group of progressives focused on
making government more efficient by using
ideas from business.
• Progressives supported two proposals to
reform city government:
− The first, a commission plan,
divided city government into
several departments, each one
under an expert commissioner’s
control.
New Types of Government
Reforming Government (cont.)
− The second approach was a councilmanager system.
• Another group of progressives focused on
making the political system more democratic
and more responsive to citizens.
New Types of Government
Reforming Government (cont.)
• Led by Republican governor Robert M. La
Follette, Wisconsin became a model of
progressive reform.
− He attacked the way political parties ran
their conventions and pressured the state
legislature to pass a law requiring parties
to hold a direct primary.
Reforming Government (cont.)
• Progressives also pushed for three
additional reforms: the initiative, the
referendum, and the recall.
• To counter Senate corruption, progressives
called for direct election of senators by the
states’ voters.
− In 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment was
added to the Constitution.
Which of the following reforms
permitted a group of citizens to
introduce legislation and required the
legislature to vote on it?
A. The initiative
0%
C
A
C. The recall
B
A. A
B. B
0% C.0%C
B. The referendum
Suffrage
Many progressives joined the
movement to win voting rights for
women.
Suffrage (cont.)
• The debate over the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth Amendments split the suffrage
movement into two groups:
− The New York City-based National Woman
Suffrage Association
− The Boston-based American Woman
Suffrage Association
The Woman Suffrage Movement
Suffrage (cont.)
• This split weakened the movement, and by
1900 only four states had granted women
full voting rights.
• In 1890, the two groups united to form the
National American Women Suffrage
Association (NAWSA).
• Alice Paul left NAWSA and formed the
National Woman’s Party so that she could
use protests to confront Wilson on suffrage.
Suffrage (cont.)
• In 1915 Carrie Chapman Catt became
NAWSA’s leader and tried to mobilize the
suffrage movement in one final nationwide
push.
• On August 26, 1920, the Nineteenth
Amendment went into effect.
Woman Suffrage, 1869–1920
Which group wanted to focus on
passing a constitutional amendment?
A. National Woman
Suffrage Association
B. American Woman
Suffrage Association
A. A
B. B
0%
A
0%
B
Reforming Society
Many progressives focused on social
welfare problems such as child labor,
unsafe working conditions, and alcohol
abuse.
Reforming Society (cont.)
• Probably the most emotional progressive
issue was the campaign against child labor.
• Many adult workers also labored in difficult
conditions, so some changes went into
effect.
Reforming Society (cont.)
• Some of the changes included:
− Workers’ compensation laws
− Zoning laws
− Building and health codes
− Government regulation of business to
protect workers
Reforming Society (cont.)
• The temperance movement emerged from
the concern that alcohol explained many of
society’s problems.
− This movement later pressed for
prohibition.
Reforming Society (cont.)
• Many progressives agreed that big business
needed regulation.
− The Sherman Antitrust Act and the
Interstate Commerce Commission both
helped with regulation.
− Some progressives even advocated
socialism—the idea that the government
should own and operate industry for the
community.
Why did the Supreme Court uphold
Oregon’s right to limit hours for women
working in laundries?
A. Healthy mothers were the
state’s concern.
B. They viewed women as more
fragile than men.
C. The state needed these women
for other jobs as well.
0%
D. The women needed to care for
husbands and children as well.
A
A. A
B. B
C.0% C 0%
D. D
B
C
0%
D
Big Ideas
Individual Action Presidents Theodore Roosevelt
and William Taft worked to improve labor conditions,
control big business, and support conservation.
Content Vocabulary
• Social Darwinism
• arbitration
• insubordination
Academic Vocabulary
• regulate
• environmental
People and Events to Identify
• Square Deal
• Pure Food and Drug Act
• United Mine Workers
• Gifford Pinchot
• Hepburn Act
• Richard A. Ballinger
• Upton Sinclair
• Children’s Burea
• Meat Inspection Act
Do you feel that protecting our
environment should be an important
political issue?
A. Yes
B. No
A. A
B. B
0%
A
0%
B
Roosevelt Revives the Presidency
Theodore Roosevelt, who believed in
progressive ideals for the nation, took
on big business.
Roosevelt Revives the Presidency (cont.)
• Roosevelt’s reform programs became known
as the Square Deal.
• To Roosevelt, it was not inconsistent to believe
in Social Darwinism and progressivism at the
same time.
• Roosevelt believed that trusts and other large
business organizations were very efficient and
part of the reason for America’s prosperity.
− However, he also wanted to ensure that
trusts did not abuse their power.
Roosevelt Revives the Presidency (cont.)
• Roosevelt also believed that it was his job to
keep society operating efficiently by
mediating conflicts between different groups
and their interests.
− He urged the United Mine Workers
(UMW) and mine owners to accept
arbitration.
Roosevelt Revives the Presidency (cont.)
• In 1903, Roosevelt convinced Congress to
create the Department of Commerce and
Labor to investigate corporations and
publicize the results.
− However, he later agreed to advise the
companies privately and allow them to
correct their problems without taking them
to court.
− Therefore, Roosevelt was able to regulate
big business without sacrificing economic
efficiency.
Roosevelt Revives the Presidency (cont.)
• In keeping with his belief in regulation,
Roosevelt pushed the Hepburn Act through
Congress in 1906.
• By 1905 consumer protection had become a
national issue.
− Many Americans were equally concerned
about the food they ate.
− In 1906 Upton Sinclair published his novel
The Jungle, which resulted in the Meat
Inspection Act being passed in 1906.
Roosevelt Revives the Presidency (cont.)
− The Pure Food and Drug Act passed the
same day.
Who was Roosevelt’s first target
when he decided to make an example
of major trusts that were abusing
their power?
A. J. P. Morgan
0%
D
D. John D. Rockefeller
A
0%
A
B
C0%
D
C
C. James J. Hill
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
B
B. Jay Gould
Conservation
New legislation gave the federal
government the power to conserve
natural resources.
Conservation (cont.)
• Roosevelt put his stamp on the presidency
most clearly in the area of environmental
conservation.
• In 1902, Roosevelt supported passage of the
Newlands Reclamation Act, which paid for
irrigation and land development projects in
the West.
Conservation (cont.)
• Roosevelt also backed efforts to save the
nation’s forests through careful management
of the timber resources of the West.
− He appointed Gifford Pinchot to head the
United States Forest Service, established
in 1905.
Under Roosevelt, the power of which
branch of government dramatically
increased?
A. Legislative
B. Executive
C. Judicial
0%
A
A. A
B. B
C.0%C
B
0%
C
Taft’s Reforms
William Howard Taft broke with
progressives on tariff and conservation
issues.
Taft’s Reforms (cont.)
• William Howard Taft called Congress into a
special session to lower tariff rates.
− The tariff debate divided progressives, and
in the end, Taft signed into law the PayneAldrich Tariff, which cut tariffs hardly at all
and actually raised them on some goods.
Taft’s Reforms (cont.)
• Many progressives were unhappy when Taft
replaced Roosevelt’s secretary of the
interior, James R. Garfield, an aggressive
conservationist, with Richard A. Ballinger, a
more conservative corporate lawyer.
− Gifford Pinchot charged Ballinger with
having once plotted to turn over valuable
public lands in Alaska to a private
business group for personal profit.
Taft’s Reforms (cont.)
− Taft’s attorney general decided the
charges were groundless, but Pinchot
leaked the story to the press and asked
Congress to investigate.
− Taft fired Pinchot for insubordination.
Taft’s Reforms (cont.)
• Despite his political problems, Taft had many
successes:
− He brought twice as many antitrust cases
in four years as his predecessor had in
seven.
− He established the Children’s Bureau in
1912.
− He set up the Bureau of Mines in 1910.
Taft’s Reforms (cont.)
• Frustrated with Taft over the issue of trusts,
Roosevelt announced that he would enter
the presidential campaign of 1912.
The Bureau of Mines did all of the
following EXCEPT
A. monitor the activities of
mining companies.
B. expand the national forests.
C. prohibit children from
working in the mines.
D. protect waterpower sites
from private development.
0%
A
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
B
A
B
C0%
D
C
0%
D
Big Ideas
Individual Action Woodrow Wilson increased the
control of the government over business.
Content Vocabulary
• income tax
• unfair trade practices
Academic Vocabulary
• academic
• unconstitutional
People and Events to Identify
• Progressive Party
• New Nationalism
• New Freedom
• Federal Reserve Act
• Federal Trade Commission
• Clayton Antitrust Act
• National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
Do you feel that discrimination is still
an issue in the United States today?
A. Yes
B. No
A. A
B. B
0%
A
0%
B
The Election of 1912
Woodrow Wilson was elected after
Republican voters split between Taft
and Roosevelt.
The Election of 1912 (cont.)
• Theodore Roosevelt left the Republican
Party and became the presidential candidate
for the newly formed Progressive Party in
the election of 1912.
• Conservative Republicans rallied behind
William Howard Taft.
• Woodrow Wilson was a progressive
Democrat.
The Election of 1912 (cont.)
• The election of 1912 was a contest between
two progressives with different approaches
to reform.
− Roosevelt called his program the New
Nationalism.
− Wilson countered with what he called the
New Freedom.
New Nationalism Versus New Freedom
The Election of 1912 (cont.)
• Roosevelt and Taft split the Republican
voters, enabling Wilson to win.
New Nationalism Versus New Freedom
Which candidate believed that
monopolies should be destroyed and
that freedom was more important
than efficiency?
A. Woodrow Wilson
A. A
B. B
A
0%
0%
B
B. Theodore Roosevelt
Wilson’s Reforms
President Wilson reformed tariffs and
banks and oversaw the creation of the
Federal Trade Commission.
Wilson’s Reforms (cont.)
• Five weeks after taking office, Wilson
appeared before Congress to present his bill
to reduce tariffs.
• In 1913, Congress passed the Underwood
Tariff, and Wilson signed it into law.
• This law reduced the average tariff on
imported goods to about 30 percent of the
value of the goods and provided for levying
an income tax.
Wilson’s Reforms (cont.)
• To restore public confidence in the banking
system, Wilson supported the establishment
of a federal reserve system.
• The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 created
12 regional banks to be supervised by a
Board of Governors, appointed by the
president.
Progressives Reform the Economic System
Wilson’s Reforms (cont.)
• In the summer of 1914, at Wilson’s request,
Congress created the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) to monitor American
business.
− The FTC had the power to investigate
companies and issue “cease and desist”
orders against companies engaging in
unfair trade practices.
Wilson’s Reforms (cont.)
• Wilson wanted the FTC to work toward
limiting business activities that unfairly
limited competition, as opposed to breaking
up big business.
• Unsatisfied by Wilson’s approach,
progressives in Congress responded by
passing the Clayton Antitrust Act in 1914.
Wilson’s Reforms (cont.)
• In 1916, Wilson signed the first federal law
regulating child labor.
− The Keating-Owen Child Labor Act
prohibited the employment of children
under the age of 14 in factories producing
goods for interstate commerce.
− The Supreme Court declared the law
unconstitutional in 1918.
Wilson’s Reforms (cont.)
• Wilson also supported the Adamson Act and
the Federal Farm Loan Act.
Which act became one of the most
significant pieces of legislation in
American history?
A. The Clayton Antitrust Act
B. The Sherman Antitrust Act
C. The Federal Reserve Act
D. The Hepburn Act
0%
A
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
B
A
B
C0%
D
C
0%
D
Progressivism’s Legacy and Limits
Progressivism changed many people’s
ideas about the government’s role in
social issues.
Progressivism’s Legacy and Limits (cont.)
• By the end of the Progressive Era,
Americans expected the government,
particularly the federal government, to play a
more active role in regulating the economy
and solving social problems.
• The most conspicuous limit to progressivism
was its failure to address racial and religious
discrimination.
Progressivism’s Legacy and Limits (cont.)
• In 1905 W.E.B Du Bois and 28 other African
American leaders met at Niagara Falls to
demand full rights for African Americans.
− This meeting was one of the many steps
leading to the foundation of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP).
Progressivism’s Legacy and Limits (cont.)
• Jewish people also faced discrimination.
• Sigmund Livingston started the AntiDefamation League (ADL) to combat
stereotypes and discrimination.
Which of the following women
worked to improve the situation of
African Americans?
A. Mary White Ovington
B. Jane Addams
C. Ida Wells-Barnett
D. A and B
E. All of the above
0%
A
A. A
B. B
C. C
D.0% D0%
0%
E.C ED
B
0%
E
Causes of the Progressive Movement
• People thought progress in science and knowledge
could improve society.
• People thought immigration, urbanization, and
industrialization had created social problems.
• People thought laissez-faire economics and an
unregulated market led to social problems and that
government could fix them.
• Political corruption prevented
the government from helping
its citizens.
Effects on Business and Society
• Interstate Commerce Commission is strengthened.
• Consumer protection laws are passed.
• Federal Trade Commission is created.
• Federal Reserve System is
created to regulate the money
supply.
• Clayton Antitrust Act grants
labor unions more rights.
• Zoning laws and building
codes improve urban housing.
Effects on Business and Society (cont.)
• Child labor laws are passed, regulating time and
conditions for minors to work.
• Workers’ compensation laws are passed.
• Temperance movement
begins seeking limitations
on the production and
consumption of alcohol.
Effects on Politics
• Cities begin adopting commission and city-manager
forms of government.
• States begin to adopt the direct primary system,
allowing voters to choose candidates for office.
• States begin to allow
initiatives, referendums,
and recall votes.
Effects on Politics (cont.)
• Seventeenth Amendment is ratified, requiring direct
election of senators.
• Nineteenth Amendment is ratified, guaranteeing
women the right to vote.
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Select a transparency to view.
ANSWER: The two
approaches were
different. Roosevelt
favored strengthening
the federal
government’s role in
the economy, whereas
Wilson favored
reducing its role.
muckraker
a journalist who uncovers abuses and
corruption in a society
direct primary
a vote held by all members of a
political party to decide their
candidate for public office
initiative
the right of citizens to place a
measure or issue before the voters or
the legislature for approval
referendum
the practice of letting voters accept or
reject measures proposed by the
legislature
recall
the right that enables voters to
remove unsatisfactory elected
officials from office
suffrage
the right to vote
prohibition
laws banning the manufacture,
transportation, and sale of alcoholic
beverages
legislation
a proposed law to be voted on by a
governing body
advocate
to propose a certain position or
viewpoint
Social Darwinism
based on Charles Darwin’s theories
of evolution and natural selection,
states that humans have developed
through competition and natural
selection with only the strongest
surviving
arbitration
settling a dispute by agreeing to
accept the decision of an impartial
outsider
insubordination
disobedience
regulate
to govern or direct according to rule
environmental
having to do with the environment;
the complex system of plants,
animals, water, and soil
income tax
a tax based on the net income of a
person or business
unfair trade practices
trading practices that derive a gain at
the expense of the competition
academic
associated with higher learning at a
scholarly institution
unconstitutional
not in accordance with or authorized
by the constitution of a state or
society
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