AMERICAN HISTORY – WEBQUEST
PROGRESSIVISM
NAME: __________________________________
INSTRUCTIONS
In this exercise you will be visiting different websites for the purpose of introducing you to some of the events
and ideas of the Progressive Era. The questions below should be answered as you are visiting the websites.
Please save this document to your student drive. Then you can type your answers directly on the document,
print it out and turn it in. Below are the instructions for these activities:
INTRODUCTION
Several years ago the post office issued a series of stamps that celebrated events and people of the Twentieth
Century. "The stamps celebrate things we pretty much take for granted today. They remind us that cars and
planes are inventions from nearly a hundred years ago -- that we wouldn't want to live without." We will use
the information that was provided with the stamps to explore the events of the first decade of the Twentieth
Century
THE DAWN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
The following text is from the 1900s Celebrate the Century stamp sheet.
"Sixty percent of Americans lived on farms or in small towns. Immigrants were arriving at an average of 100 an
hour. Railroads dominated land travel, but things were changing. The first U.S. auto show occurred in 1900 and
in 1908, after Henry Ford made automobiles more affordable with the Model , the first family cross country trip
was documented. The Wright brothers stunned the world with their first airplane flight in 1903, and the game of
baseball grew up.
"President Theodore Roosevelt protected 148 million acres as national forests. The first daily comic strip, "Mutt
and Jeff," appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. The Ash Can School brought realism back to the art world.
"Muckrakers exposed corruption: Ida Tarbell attacked monopoly in the oil industry, and Upton Sinclair revealed
shocking conditions in the meat industry. In 1909, the newly formed NAACP promoted equal rights for African
Americans. New words crept into the American vocabulary in this decade -- words such as cheerleader,
filmmaker, phony, and psychoanalysis.
IMMIGRANTS ARRIVE - Ellis Island was the nation's principal
immigration station between 1892 and 1954. During the peak decade, 1900 to
1909, an average of 100 immigrants arrived each hour.
Question 1: How many immigrants came into the United States through
Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954? Go to the Ellis Island Immigration
Museum to find the answer.
1904 ST. LOUIS WORLD'S FAIR - The Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904
was also known as the St. Louis World's Fair. Americans were already enjoying ice
cream, but the ice-cream cone became popular at the fair.
Question 2: At the Word's Fair, Festival Hall was a large, gold-domed building
that housed a 3,500-seat auditorium and the world's largest pipe organ. After the
fair, that organ was dismantled and loaded into 13 railroad cars. Where is that organ
today?
Go to the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ Web site to answer the question. (The
answer is not Wanamaker’s store!)
KITTY HAWK 1903 - On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the
Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, achieved the first controlled, powered flight in
an airplane.
Question 3: The Wright brothers are most famous for their air exploits, but
before they got involved in flying, they had a successful "ground" business. What
kind of business did they own? You can find that answer at the Wright Brothers
National Memorial, a National Park Service Web page.
MODEL T FORD - The low-priced, 4-cylinder, 20-horsepower Model T Ford
made the automobile more affordable for the average American. One of its
nicknames was the "Tin Lizzie."
Question 4: The 1909 Model T came in four styles -- the touring car, the
runabout, the coupe, and the town car. How much did a brand new Model T
Touring car cost in 1909?
The answer to that question can be found on the Web site of The Model T Ford
Club International.
PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT - The 26th president of the United
States, Theodore Roosevelt, promoted conservation and earned the Nobel Peace
Prize for helping to negotiate an end to the Russo-Japanese War.
Question 5: Teddy Roosevelt became president when President William
McKinley was assassinated. Before he became president, Roosevelt was the
governor of New York and a war hero. In which war did he lead a group called the
Rough Rider Regiment to victory? You can learn the name of that war on the White
House History and Tours Web site. Go to Teddy Roosevelt on the Presidents of the United States page.
ROBIE HOUSE, CHICAGO - Frank Lloyd Wright is considered one of the
nation's most innovative architects. The masterpiece of his early work, constructed
in the Prairie House style, is the Robie House in Chicago.
Question 6: Robie House caused quite a stir when it was completed in 1910.
Construction of the house had gone quickly. How many months did that
construction take? You can read about Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous projects
on the Frederick C. Robie House Web page.
FIRST WORLD SERIES - The championship games of 1903 are considered
baseball's first (modern-day) World Series. Boston, of the American League, beat
Pittsburgh, of the National League, five games to three in a best-of-nine series.
Question 7: Most people didn't expect the Boston Red Sox to win the 1903
World Series, but the Sox did it by winning the last four games. What was the score
of the final game (game 8) of the series? Find this answer using any search engine.
W.E.B. DU BOIS, SOCIAL ACTIVIST - An educator and author, W.E.B. Du
Bois promoted the cause of equality for all Americans. He helped found the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Question 8: As a young man, Du Bois left his Massachusetts home and moved
to Tennessee. There he saw the horrible conditions in which many rural black
people lived. The move to Tennessee changed his life! Why did Du Bois move to
Tennessee in the first place? To find the answer to that question, take a look at a
biographical essay The Achievement of W.E.B. Du Bois.
CRAYOLA CRAYONS - The first box of Crayola crayons was produced
during the Progressive Era. It cost 5 cents.
Question 9: Go to the Crayola web site to answer the following questions: When
was the first box of crayons produced? How many colors were in a box? What
were those colors?
THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY 1903 - The Great Train Robbery, directed by
Edwin S. Porter in 1903, was one of the most successful story films. This boxoffice hit became part of the Western genre.
Question 10: The first narrative film ever made, The Great Train Robbery,
was based on a true event that happened in August 1900 near Table Rock,
Wyoming. In what two countries did director Edwin S. Potter film the movie
version of this story? To learn where the film was made, read the story behind The
Great Train Robbery.
TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY FIRE
Now you will be exploring the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
that occurred in 1911 in New York City. View this website,
Introduction to the Tragedy, clicking on the “Continue” button
to read additional information. Answer the following questions.
1. What was the significance of this event?
2. How were the conditions at the Triangle Shirtwaist
factory typical of other factories?
Now read this primary source document, Pauline Newman's letter, to answer the following questions:
3. Describe the working conditions that Pauline Newman encountered.
4. What struck you as the most horrendous part of her job?
5. Why didn’t she seek out employment somewhere else?
6. Newman’s letter speaks of Child Labor Laws. How did the owners of the factory get around these laws?
7. How would you have responded to someone that says that laws that protect workers are not effective?
8. Describe the relations between workers and the supervisor at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.
Read the account of the fire that appeared in the Chicago Tribune and answer the following question:
9. From the investigation what appeared to be the cause of the fire?
Define the following…
Muckrackers –
Populists –
Children’s Bureau –
Sixteenth Amendment -