American Civilization 9
Name
Chapter Summary
Date
Period
The Progressive Era
Progressives – people who believed in reform and the improvement of society
Social Reforms
Living Conditions
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Sanitation & tenement safety
Immigrants are encouraged to
become “Americanized”
Pure Food & Drug Act protects
consumers
18th Amendment bans alcohol
Government Reforms
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Working Conditions
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City & state laws improve
workplace safety
Worker’s compensation laws
provide payment to injured
workers
Laws limit workday hours
Minimum wage
Minority job seekers gain
access to more jobs.
Election Reforms
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Children
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National Child Labor
Committee organizes to end
child labor and establishes laws
Compulsory education laws
require children to attend
school.
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Women fight for the right to
vote – 19th Amendment
NAWSA – state by state
NWP – Alice Paul, picketing the
White House. Constitutional
Amendment
Direct Primary – political party
members decide their candidate for
public office
Initiative -a proposed state law or
issue placed on the ballot to be
voted on.
Referendum – voters accept or
reject laws proposed by legislatures
Recall –right that allows voters
unsatisfactory elected officials from
office
Economic Reforms
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Women
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Commission form of government
City managers
Trained administrators
City-owned public utilities
Roosevelt establishes the Square
Deal
New tax system
Roosevelt breaks up trusts
Environment Reforms
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Conservation & National Parks
established to protect wilderness
and natural resources
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Political Bosses
Popular with poor (especially immigrants)
Corrupt
Controlled work done in cities (county or state
governments)
Provided Jobs and made loans in return for votes
Ex: William Boss Tweed
Muckraker
Work
Thomas Nast
Political
Cartoons
Jacob Riis
Ida B. Wells
Frank Norris
Ida Tarbell
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Progressive / Muckrakers / Reformers
Muckrakers – journalists who used the press to expose
problems
Helped change public opinion
Progressives - Wanted to improve American life
Inspired by religion and Science
Acted in the public interest
Different people with different goals
Subject
Results
Political corruption by NYC's
political machine, Tammany
Hall, led by Boss Tweed.
Tweed was convicted of
embezzlement and died in prison.
How the Other Half Lives
(1890)
Living conditions of the urban
poor; focused on tenements.
NYC passed building codes to
promote safety and health.
A Red Record (1895)
Provided statistics on the
lynching of African-Americans.
NAACP joined the fight for Federal
anti-lynching legislation.
The Octopus (1901)
This fictional book exposed
monopolistic railroad practices
in California.
In Northern Securities v. U.S.
(1904), the holding company
controlling railroads in the
Northwest was broken up.
Exposed the ruthless tactics of
"History of Standard Oil Company" the Standard Oil Company
in McClure's Magazine
through a series of articles
(1904)
published in McClure's
Magazine.
In Standard Oil v. U.S. (1911), the
company was declared a monopoly
and broken up.
Lincoln Steffans
The Shame of the Cities
(1904)
Examined political corruption
in cities across the United
States.
Cities began to use city
commissions and city managers.
Upton Sinclair
The Jungle
(1906)
Investigated dangerous
working conditions and
unsanitary procedures in the
meat-packing industry.
In 1906 the Meat Inspection Act
and Pure Food and Drug Act were
passed.
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Roosevelt
Trustbuster – person who
wanted to destroy all trusts – he
didn’t he just wanted to regulate
them
Square Deal – everyone should
have the same opportunity to
succeed.
Pure Food & Drug Act – required
food and drug makers to list
ingredients.
Conservation – protection of
natural resources
National Parks – an area set
aside for people to visit and run
by the federal government
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The Progressive Presidents
Taft
Trustbuster (more than
Roosevelt)
Favored the graduated income
tax
Approved new safety rules for
miners
Signed laws for 8 hour workday
for government workers.
Raised Tariffs
Fired a Forest Service official and
was accused of blocking
conservation efforts.
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Wilson
New Freedom – Wilson’s plan for
destroying trusts and restoring
economic competition.
Federal Reserve Act – system of
federal banks / power to change
interest rates and control the
money supply.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
– investigates companies who
use unfair practices to destroy
competition.