Ch 13 Sec 1 – The Roots of Progressivism
• progressivism – fixing government so it was more
responsive to the needs of the people
• muckrakers – journalists who investigated poor social
conditions and political corruption in America
• direct primary – people vote for their political party’s
candidates rather than have them picked by the elite
• initiative – allows citizens to propose legislation (laws) to
the state legislatures and ask them to vote on it
• referendum – legislation submitted to the voters for
approval
• recall – allows voters to demand a special election to
remove an elected official from office
• 17th Amendment (1913)–Senate to be elected directly by
the people (no longer the state legislatures)
• Socialism, the idea that the government should own and
operate industry for the community as a whole
Chapter Objectives
Section 1: The Roots of Progressivism
• Discuss the rise of the Progressive
movement. 
• Evaluate the impact of initiative, referendum,
and recall and of the Seventeenth Amendment.
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Guide to Reading
Main Idea
Progressivism was a diverse response to the
problems posed by industrialism and modern life. 
Key Terms and Names
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
progressivism 
muckraker 
Jacob Riis 
commission plan 
Robert La Follette 
direct primary 
initiative 
• referendum 
• recall 
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The Rise of Progressivism
• The era in American history from about 1890 to 1920
is known as the Progressive Era.
• Progressivism was a collection of different ideas and
activities about how to fix the problems within
American society.
(pages 418–420)
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The Rise of Progressivism
• Progressives disagreed among themselves on the
solutions, but agreed that the government should take
a more active role in solving society’s problems
caused by urbanization and industrialization.
Muckrackers
Populists
Temperance
Labor
Unions
Suffragettes
Middle Class
Women
Civil
Rights
(pages 418–420)
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The Rise of Progressivism (cont.)
• Progressives believed that first the government
needed to be fixed and made more responsive to
people before other problems could be addressed.
• Progressives also believed
that they could fix society’s
problems by applying
scientific principles to
society.
• The muckrakers were a
group of journalists who
investigated social
conditions and political
corruption.
(pages 418–420)
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The Rise of Progressivism (cont.)
• Their articles led to public debate on social and
economic problems and put pressure on politicians
to introduce reforms.
• Muckraker Jacob Riis
focused on social
problems in his book How
the Other Half Lives,
published in 1890.
• The book described
poverty, disease, and
crime in many immigrant
neighborhoods in New
York City.
(pages 418–420)
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Making Government Efficient
• There were many types of progressivism.
Progressives often took opposing sides on issues
and on how to solve the problems.
• One group of
progressives believed that
problems in society could
be solved if government
was efficient.
• They felt that government
could become efficient by
applying the principles of
scientific management.
• They thought that
managing a city required
experts, not elected
politicians.
(page 420)
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Making Government Efficient (cont.)
• Progressives wanted to replace the existing system
with a commission plan where a board of
commissioners or a city manager with expertise in
city services would select and hire specialists to run
city departments.
• In 1901 Galveston,
Texas, was the first
to adopt the
commission
system.
• Many cities
followed shortly
after.
(page 420)
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Democracy and Progressivism
• Many progressives wanted more democracy in
society.
• The governor of
Wisconsin, Robert La
Follette, criticized
how political parties
ran their conventions.
• He pressured the
state legislature to
require each party to
hold a direct
primary, a party
election in which all
party members vote
for a candidate to run
in the general
election.
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(page 421)
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Democracy and Progressivism (cont.)
s
e
r
v
a
• Three new
reforms were
introduced by
progressives to
force state
legislators to
respond to voter’s
concerns.
• The initiative
allowed a group
of citizens to
introduce
legislation and
required the
legislature to vote
on it.
•
PAST Successes of State Initiatives
Aid to dependent children, blind, mentally ill
Bottle deposit bills
Campaign finance reforms
Direct election of US Senators
Direct primaries
Food sales tax exemptions
Merit systems for civil servants
Minimum wages
Mining reclamation
Mining severance & oil extraction taxes
Old age pensions
Open meetings
Prohibiting cyanide mining
Public school funding
State financial audits
Sunshine laws
Tax limits
Term limits
Victim rights
Women's suffrage
Workman's compensation
(page 421)
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Democracy and Progressivism (cont.)
• The referendum
allowed proposed
legislation to be
submitted to the
voters for
approval.
(page 421)
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Democracy and Progressivism (cont.)
• The recall allowed
voters to demand a
special election to
remove an elected
official from office.
(page 421)
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Democracy and Progressivism (cont.)
• To stop Senate corruption, progressives wanted the
direct election of senators by all state voters.
• In 1912 Congress passed the direct-election
amendment.
• In 1913 it was ratified, becoming the Seventeenth
Amendment to the Constitution.
(page 421)
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Social Welfare Progressivism
• Social welfare progressives created charities to help
the poor and disadvantaged and pushed for laws
to help fix social problems.
• In 1900 over 1.7 million
children under the age of
16 worked outside the
home.
(pages 423–425)
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Social Welfare Progressivism
• The National Child
Labor Committee
worked to end child
labor.
(pages 423–425)
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Social Welfare Progressivism
• Many adult workers
labored in difficult
and dangerous
conditions.
• With the creation
of building codes,
workers’
compensation
laws, zoning
laws, and health
codes, the work
environment was
made safer for
workers.
(pages 423–425)
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Social Welfare Progressivism
• Some progressives favored zoning laws and building
codes to regulate how the land and buildings could
be used.
(pages 423–425)
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Progressives Versus Big
Business
• A group of progressives focused on regulating
big business, but they disagreed on the
solutions.
• One side believed
government should
break up big companies
to restore competition.
• The other group wanted
the creation of
government agencies
to regulate big
companies and prevent
them from abusing their
power.
(page 425)
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Progressives Versus Big
Business (cont.)
• Socialism, the idea that the government should own
and operate industry for the community as a whole,
was an idea shared by a small minority of
progressives.
(page 425)
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Progressives Versus Big
Business (cont.)
• Eugene Debs led the American Socialist Party and
was the party’s candidate for president in the election
of 1912.
• Most progressives and most Americans believed in
the American system of free enterprise.
(page 425)
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Populist
Progressive
Change
Direct
election of
Senators
Direct election 17th
of Senators
amendment
Progressive
Income Tax
Progressive
Income Tax
16th
amendment
Women’s
Suffrage
Women’s
Suffrage
19th
amendment
Prohibition
Prohibition
18th
amendment
Checking for Understanding
Define Match the terms on the right with their definitions on
the left.
__
D 1. vote held by all members of
a political party to decide their
candidate for public office
__
B 2. a journalist who uncovers
abuses and corruption in a
society
__
A 3. a political movement that
crossed party lines which
believed that industrialism
and urbanization had created
many social problems and
that government should take
a more active role in dealing
with these problems.
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A. progressivism
B. muckraker
C. commission
plan
D. direct primary
E. initiative
Checking for Understanding
Define Match the terms on the right with their definitions on
the left.
__
C 4. a plan in which a city’s
government is divided into
different departments with
different functions, each
placed under the control of a
commissioner
A. progressivism
__
E 5.
E. initiative
the right of citizens to place a
measure or issue before the
voters or the legislature for
approval
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B. muckraker
C. commission
plan
D. direct primary
The Rise of Progressivism (cont.)
What kind of group were the progressives?
The progressives were a group with widely
different views and ideas about how to fix
society’s problems. They often disagreed
with each other over the issues. They
belonged to both political parties and were
usually urban, educated middle-class
Americans
(pages 418–420)
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Reviewing Key Facts
What were the characteristics of the
Progressive era?
The characteristics of the Progressive era
were the belief that people could improve
society, and that government should play
an active role in reform.
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Critical Thinking
Analyzing Themes: Government and
Democracy How did Wisconsin
governor Robert La Follette help to
expand democracy in the United States?
He pressured the state legislature to
require each party to hold a direct
primary, thus weakening the party caucus
system.
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Reviewing Themes
Government and Democracy How did
initiative, referendum, and recall change
democracy in the United States?
They gave voters more power to
introduce legislation, to approve
legislation, and to remove elected
officials.
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Democracy and Progressivism (cont.)
Why did the progressives want the direct
election of senators?
The United States Constitution had
originally called for each state legislature to
elect two senators from each state. As a
result, political machines often influenced
the election of senators in exchange for
federal contracts and jobs. Progressives
hoped the direct election of senators by all
state voters would end this corruption.
(page 421)
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Social Welfare Progressivism (cont.)
How did social welfare progressives hope
to solve society’s problems?
Social welfare progressives created
charities to help the poor and
disadvantaged, and pushed for laws to
help fix social problems.
(pages 423–425)
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