APUSH - Progressive Era Terms

Progressive Movement

Early 1900s. started by Midwestern Farmers, Socialists, and Labor Organizers -attacked monopolies, and wanted other reforms, such as bimetallism, transportation regulation, the 8-hour work day, and income tax.

Pragmatism

Philosophy spread by William James that judges ideas and policies based on their practical consequences and real-world results, rather than their adherence to abstract principles. It emphasizes a flexible, problem-solving approach to social and political issues, which inspired many late 19th and early 20th-century reform movements.

National Parks (Yellowstone, Yosemite, Sequoia)

Yellowstone - our nation’s first national park, established in 1872 by Congress, showcasing the environmental reform movement

Yosemite - former state park established by Lincoln in California, eventually became a national park in 1890 largely due to the efforts of John Muir

Sequoia - second national park, established in 1890 also due to efforts by John Muir, houses the world’s largest tree

Muckrakers

Investigative journalists/writers who exposed the dark side of big business. Included Upton Sinclair (The Jungle), Ida Tarbell (The History of the Standard Oil Company), and Lincoln Steffens (The Shame of the Cities).

Margaret Sanger

A nurse who, after seeing the horrors of unplanned parenthood, began to advocate for birth control and against the Comstock laws. She founded the American Birth Control League, which became Planned Parenthood.

Jacob Riis

A “muckraker” and immigrant from Denmark who published the photojournal How the Other Half Lives, exposing the grimness of life for the urban poor.

Social Welfare

The effort by reformers to get government and private organizations to help those in need, which challenged the previous laissez-faire ideology. This included settlement houses and was a manifestation of the Social Gospel.

Robert La Folette

A Progressive governor from Wisconsin who also became a Senator. Made the “Wisconsin idea”, which was essentially that university research should be used for the greater good of all citizens. Also advocated for direct primaries, where the people got to elect candidates rather than political machine “bosses”.

Initiative, referendum, recall

Initiative: with a petition, citizens can propose laws on the ballot without going to state legislature first

Referendum: citizens can approve/reject recent acts of state legislature

Recall: citizens can hold a special election to remove a politician from office early

TR’s Square Deal

Teddy Roosevelt’s domestic program that wanted to create fairness between workers, consumers, and businesses. It used the 3 C’s: conservation of natural resources, consumer protection, and control of corporations.

Upton Sinclair

A muckraking author and Socialist known for writing The Jungle, a novel that exposed the meatpacking industry. It helped lead to the creation of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act.

Lincoln Steffens

American muckraker journalist known for writing The Shame of the Cities, which exposed corruption of political machines as well as municipal governments. He wrote for McClure’s magazine, a publication known for pieces that exposed social issues.

The Shame of the Cities (1904)

One of Lincoln Stephen’s most famous pieces, it exposed municipal corruption in cities such as St. Louis and Philadelphia, it included a complacent public in the blame for corporate corruption.

Henry Street Settlement

A settlement house on the Lower East Side founded by Lillian Wald. It was the one of the first public health nursing services of its kind, and it also was responsible for the building of one of the first playgrounds in NYC, which kept children safe from the streets.

Dr. Harvey Wiley

A chief chemist at the US Department of Agriculture who led a very famous experiment called “Poison Squad” which led to the Pure Food and Drug Act, which he is known as the “father” of.

Ida Tarbell

An investigative journalist and muckraker who wrote “A History of the Standard Oil Company’, exposing Rockefeller’s monopolistic and corrupt business. It was published in McClure’s magazine and contributed to public outcry, eventually resulting in the Sherman Antitrust Act’s enforcement against Standard Oil.

National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

An organization founded from the merger of the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1890. It was led by Susan B. Anthony (later Carrie Chapman Catt) and fought for women’s voting rights during the Gilded Age, using grassroots activism and working at local, state, and national levels.

Equal Rights Amendment

An amendment drafted in 1921 (not passed) that took away bias based on sex in legal areas (divorce, property, employment). It gained lots of traction during the 1920s since it was the “next step” after the 19th amendment.

Alice Paul

A suffragist who advocated for the 19th amendment and founded the National Woman’s Party in 1916. She used tactics such as hunger strikes and protests to advocate for women’s rights, which helped draw attention to the cause.

Carrie Chapman Catt

An suffragist who served two terms as NAWSA president. She had the “Winning Plan”, which aimed to get women’s voting rights to be a federal amendment and also work to get this right state-by-state. After the 19th amendment, she founded the League of Women Voters in 1920 to educate on voting and encourage women to vote. She also worked with labor reformers and temperance reformers to bring more support to women’s rights.

National Women’s Party

A party established in 1916 by Alice Paul. It broke away from NAWSA because it preferred to use more militant tactics, such as protests and hunger strikes, to fight for women’s suffrage. Many members were arrested in 1917 after “picketing” in front of the White House and one of their first major actions was the 1913 Women Suffrage Procession in DC.

William Howard Taft

27th president who helped pass the 16th amendment (income tax) in Congress, broke up many trusts, and passed Dollar Diplomacy (using economic power instead of militant power to assert dominance over East Asia and Latin America).

Eugene V. Debs

Leader of the American Railway Union and led the Pullman Strike in 1894. He also helped found the American Socialist Party and the Industrial Workers of the World. He ran as a Socialist candidate for president five times. He was imprisoned under the Espionage Act during World War 1.

Woodrow Wilson

The 28th president of the United States and leader of the nation during WW1. He wanted a new world, based on democracy and self-determination. He oversaw the Federal Reserve Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act. He also envisioned the League of Nations and gave the 14 Points Speech.

Theodore Roosevelt

The 26th president of the United States who advocated for the “Square Deal”, helped with the National Parks movement, helped with laws such as the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act, and helped workers by regulating rates, like with the Hepburn Act.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911)

A fire in a textile factory that killed 146 workers, most of them women, which could have been prevented if the factory wasn’t using things such as locked exit doors. It exposed the horrors of industry work and led to the founding of New York’s Safety Investigating Commission and gave the labor reform movement even more fuel.

Muller v. Oregon

1908 SCOTUS case that upheld a state law limiting women’s workdays to 10 hours per day. The case happened because Curt Muller violated this rule by forcing women to work longer using the “freedom of contract” clause as justification, but there was a unanimous decision in the name of women’s health.

Lochner v. New York

A 1905 case that got rid of a NY law limiting the workday of bakers to 10 hours per day/60 hours per week on the basis of “freedom of contract”.

Gifford Pinchot

1st head of the US Forest Service, appointed in 1905, under Roosevelt, environmental activist that thought natural resources could be used but still conserved. He wanted to use resources for “the greatest good for the greatest number”. Did NOT believe in completely restricting human use of natural resources.

Populist Party (People’s)

A party that arose from mostly farmers that formed from the Grangers, which then became the National Alliance before being the Populists. They had many voters for James B. Weaver in 1892 under the Omaha Platform, and endorsed William Jennings Bryan for 1896, eventually dissolving into the Democratic Party.

Direct Primary

A preliminary election where regular citizens get to vote in the primaries instead of political machines, which was a response to political corruption.

William Jennings Bryan

Free silver supporter who delivered the “Cross of Gold” speech, he was the Democratic candidate in 1896 as well as being a Populist. He ran for president 2 more times after that, but never won.

Frederick W. Taylor

Promoted Taylorism, which is the study of scientific management. He analyzed and synthesized workflows in order to promote economic efficiency, especially when it came to productivity. This included using a stop-and-time method and standardizing processes.

17th Amendment

1913 Amendment under Wilson that mandated direct state election of senators.

16th Amendment

1913 amendment that created a national income tax not based on state population, ensuring a reliable source of funding.

18th Amendment

1919 Amendment that established Prohibition, result of the Temperence movement, led to the illegal black market of alcohol, repealed in 1933.

19th Amendment

1920 amendment that prohibits voting discrimination based on sex. This granted women the right to vote, a result of the work of NAWSA and the National Woman’s Party

Municipal Reform

Progressive era efforts to address corruption within cities, which manifested in increased transparency.

Trust Busting

Government efforts to break up monopolies and trusts using laws such as the Sherman Antitrust Act. For example, Standard Oil was broken up into many smaller companies.

Pure Food and Drug Act + Meat Inspection Act

PFD - 1906 law that prohibited sales of misbranded food/drugs in interstate commerce. This led to the creation of the FDA to enforce the law. It was the result of efforts by muckrakers like Upton Sinclar.

MI - Also a result of efforts by muckrakers like Upton Sinclair, a 1906 law that forced all livestock and meat to be inspected before sale and prohibited sale of misbranded meat. It also established slaughtering standards.

Thorstein Veblem

Economist and sociologist who wrote the 1899 book The Theory of the Leisure Class, which brought up conspicious consumption and basically said that rich people were buying luxury products as a marker of status. He wanted leadership to shift from the wealthy to more “useful” people like engineers.

The Grangers

A farmers’ organization that later became the Farmers’ Alliance and then the Populist Party. It was founded by Kelley in 1867 and wanted to establish cooperatives to help farmers economically.

Federal Reserve Act

1913 act signed by Wilson that established the Federal Reserve, a central banking system, to stabilize the economy by regulating money supply and policy and being a last resort for other banks. It created 12 regional banks supervised by a presidentially-appointed board.

Interstate Commerce Act

An 1887 law under Cleveland that was the first major attempt to regulate railroad prices. This act came after the Wabash v. Illinois case that said that states couldn’t regulate interstate commerce. This reaffirmed this ruling and established the Interstate Commerce Commission that oversaw the enforcement of these laws.

Half Breeds

A faction in the Republican party that opposed party patronage and wanted civil service reform. They wanted government roles to be based on merit, not connections, which led to the Pendleton Act of 1883. This party included James Garfield, and one of their main leaders was James Blaine. 

Stalwarts

A Republican faction that supported party patronage and was against civil service reform. They were very loyal to the party system and wanted to keep “party bosses”. One of their main leaders was Conkling. They supported Grant’s administration. Chester A. Arthur was a Stalwart.

Sherman Antitrust Act

An 1890 law that aimed to break up monopolies or “trusts”. It was limited by cases such as the E.C. Knight Company Case and largely ineffective, but was used to break up the Standard Oil Company.

Munn v. Illinois

An 1877 SCOTUS case that determined that when private property affects the common good, it is able to be regulated by the state. This case affirmed an IL law that set a maximum price on what grain elevator operators could charge farmers for storage.

Wilson-Gorman Tariff

An 1894 law that slightly lowered the tariff rates imposed by the McKinley Tariff and placed a 2% income tax on incomes above $4,000. The income tax was ruled unconstitutional in 1895 and taken away.

Free Silver Election 1896

Free silver was the main topic of debate in the 1896 election, with William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic/Populist candidate, wanting free silver, and McKinley, the Republican candidate, wanting the gold standard. Ultimately, McKinley won and passed the Gold Standard Act in 1900.

Pendleton Act

An 1883 law that required government positions to be awarded based on merit, not the spoils system. It created a system of competitive exams granted by the Civil Service Commission. It was partially a result of James A. Garfield’s assassination by someone who thought he was owed a government position just for supporting Garfield.

Farmers’ Alliance

The group formed from the Grangers that later became the Populists. They advocated for reforms such as railroad regulation and cooperatives. One of their key ideas was the subtreasury plan, where farmers could store their produce in warehouses and get government loans until the selling price went up.

Jacob S. Coxey

A Populist/businessman who led “Coxey’s Army”, a group of unemployed citizens marching in DC with the aim of getting the government to give federal funding to public works projects, which would offer jobs for the unemployed. This idea failed, and Coxey was arrested for trespassing.

Mary Lease

A political activist, lecturer, and writer. She helped lead the Populist Party, and is known for her catchphrase “raise less corn and more h*ll”. She was very against big business and said that “Wall Street owns the country”, and she also advocated for women’s suffrage and temperence.

William R. Hearst

“Yellow journalist” known for exaggerating events in Cuba to build support for the Spanish-American War. He was the owner of the New York Journal.

New Nationalism Platform

Theodore Roosevelt’s 1912 election platform for the Republican party. It was very progressive and called for social insurance, minimum wage laws, and graduated income tax. It called to regulate trusts, not break them up. It endorsed women’s suffrage and direct elections. It was influenced by a 1909 book by Herbert Croly called The Promise of American Life.

New Freedom Platform

Woodrow Wilson’s platform in 1912 for the Democrats. It was also very progressive, calling to completely break up all trusts. It wanted a limited government. It manifested as the Underwood Tariff Act of 1913, which lowered tariffs, the Federal Reserve Act, the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, which strengthened and further defined the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914, which investigated unfair business practices.