Chapter 21: “Urban America and the Progressive Era”
Summary:
The Progressive Era began with the belief that America needed a new social atmosphere to cope
with the problems brought on by economic and social change following the Civil War. Its ideas were
centered of the ending of political corruption, bringing more business like methods to governing, and
offering a more compassionate legislative response to the excess of industrialism. Progressives highly
opposed social Darwinism and found inhumane and unchristian like. The establishment of the Hull
House by Jane Addams brought many women to help reshape the politics in the Progressive Era. In the
early 1900s, Oregon passed the Initiative, Referendum, and Recall amendments. These were eventually
passed all throughout the west. The southern states strengthened the “Jim Crow” laws with the belief
that segregation was necessary in political and social reform. Changes in journalism also took effect in
the Progressive Era. They brought focus to urban poverty, political corruption, the predicament of
industrial workers, and immoral business practices. Journalism and Roosevelt’s outburst of muckraking
gave way for public opinion on a national scale.
During the Progressive Era, many people began to speak out against alcohol abuse such as the
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League. Many of the same reformers also
spoke out against the social evil, prostitution. By 1908, movies had become the most popular form of
entertainment. Education became very important. Children went to school at a younger age and the
school days became longer. Social control took major changes during the Progressive Era. Racism gained
social and political ground and many believed the Darwin’s theory of evolution supported their claims.
Margaret Sanger campaigned for the idea of birth control. Protest against racial discrimination began
with Niagara movement and the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People.
Just before World War I majority of the industrial labor force was foreign-born. Many came to
earn money and then returned to their homelands. Mexicans came to work on the railroads. Japanese
immigrants were not allowed to become U.S. citizens because they were not white. Immigrant
communities were referred to as urban ghettos. Industrial safety laws were put in place after the
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911. Following the depression of the 1890s, the American Federation of
Labor emerged as the strongest organization of workers. The IWW or Wobblies wanted the all workers
to unite as one class.
Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901 after the assassination of William McKinley. He
placed the Sherman Antitrust Act, Hepburn Act, and the Food and Drug Act. After Theodore’s second
term, Taft was elected president. In 1912, Woodrow Wilson was elected president. During his first term,
he placed the Underwood-Simmons Act, Sixteenth Amendment, Federal Reserve Act, and the Clayton
Antitrust Act. The Federal Trade Commission was established to give the government control over
corporations.
Important People:
Jane Addams – found one of the first settlement houses, the Hull House; social welfare agency
Florence Kelley – wrote a report that laid the ground work for the limitation of woman to working eight
hour days, kept children from under the age of fourteen from working, and ended tenement labor; she
also did the first scientific study on urban poverty in America; established the New York Child Labor
Committee and the U.S. Children’s Bureau
Robert M. La Follette: “Fighting Bob” pushed for corporate tax rates, a direct primary, improved civil
service code, and a railroad commission; became known as the “Wisconsin Idea”
Jacob Riis – author of “How the Other Half Lives” discusses the life of poor people in New York City;
contained pictures
S.S. McClure – author of the firs large-circulator magazine “McClure’s” marked the beginning of the
popularity of cheap magazines
John Dewey – explained how education was a method of social progress and reform
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. – supported the view that courts needed to take in account the social changes
Big Tim Sullivan – part of the Henry Street Settlement
Margaret Sanger – campaigned about birth control
President Theodore Roosevelt – became president after the assassination of William McKinley
Key Terms:
Social Darwinism – the application of Charles Darwin’s theory of biological evolution to society, holding
that the fittest and wealthiest survive, the weak and the poor perish, and government action is unable
to alter this “natural” process
Progressive Era – an era in the United States (roughly between 1900 and 1917) in which important
movements challenged traditional relationships and attitudes
Prohibition – a ban on production, sale, and consumption of liquor, achieved temporarily through state
laws and the Eighteenth Amendment
Initiative – procedure by which citizens can introduce a subject for legislation, usually through a petition
signed by a specific number of voters
Referendum – submission of a law, proposed or already in effect, to a direct popular vote for approval
or rejection
Recall – the process of removing an official from office by popular vote, usually after using petitions to
call for such a vote
Muckraking – journalism exposing economic, social, and political evils, so named by Theodore Roosevelt
for it “raking the muck” of American Society
Wobblies – popular name for the members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
Niagara Movement – African American group organized in 1905 to promote racial integration, civil and
political rights, and equal access to economic opportunity
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People – interracial organization co-founded by
W.E.B. Dubois in 1910 dedicated to restoring African American political and social rights
Sherman Antitrust Act – the first federal antitrust measure passed in 1890; sought to promote economic
competition by prohibiting business combinations in restraint of trade or commerce
Hepburn Act – act that strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) by authorizing it to set
maximum railroad rates and inspect financial records
Food and Drug Act – act that established the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which tested and
approved drugs before they went on the market
New Freedom – Woodrow Wilson’s 1912 program for limited government intervention in the economy
to restore consumption by curtailing the restrictive influences of trusts and protective tariffs, thereby
providing opportunities for individual achievement
Underwood-Simmons Act of 1913 – reform law that lowered tariff rates and levied the first regular
federal income tax
Sixteenth Amendment of 1913 – authorized a federal income tax
Federal Reserve Act – the 1913 law that revised banking a currency by extending limited government
regulation through the creation of the Federal Reserve System
Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 – replaced the old Sherman Act of 1890 as the nation’s basic antitrust law.
It exempted unions from being construed as illegal combinations in restraint of trade, and it forbade
federal courts from issuing injunctions against strikers
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – government agency established in 1914 to provide regulatory
oversight of business activity
Places and Countries:
Chicago – location of the Hull House
Northeast and Industrial Midwest – had a hard time providing basic services for its large populations
West – passed the Initiative, Referendum, and Recall amendments
South – belief that the disfranchisement of black voters and public segregation were necessary;
prohibition was favored
Southern and Eastern Europe – where most of the immigrants came from
Timeline:
Date
1889
1890
1893
1895
1900
1901
1905
1906
1908
1909
1911
1912
1913
1914
1916
Event
Establishment of Hull House in Chicago by Jane
Addams
Passage of Sherman Antitrust Act
Jacob Riis publishes “How the Other Half Lives”
“McClure’s” magazine put into circulation
Establishment of Henry Street Settlement
Establishment of Initiative, Referendum, and Recall
in Oregon
Roosevelt becomes president after the
assassination of McKinley
Establishment of IWW
Formation of the Niagara Movement
U.S. Forest Service created
Passing of Food and Drug Act
Taft elected president
Movies become popular
Establishment of National Association of the
Advancement of Colored People
WCTU is the largest woman’s organization if U.S.
history
Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire
Election of Wilson
Margaret Sanger campaigns about birth control
Establishment of the Sixteenth Amendment
Passing of the Underwood-Simmons Act and the
Federal Reserve Act
Placement of Clayton Antitrust Act
Establishment of Federal Trade Commission
Establishment of National Park Service