Chapter 21: Urban America and the Progressive Era 1900-1917

Vocabulary flashcards for Chapter 21: Urban America and the Progressive Era 1900-1917

Progressivism

A varied collection of reform communities uniting citizens in political, professional, and religious organizations to address problems brought on by economic and social change in the post-Civil War decades.

Muckraking

A form of journalism that exposed urban poverty, political corruption, the plight of industrial workers, and immoral business practices.

Social Darwinism

The orthodox theory that attributed social inequality to natural selection and the 'survival of the fittest.'

Settlement House Movement

A reform movement where college-educated, middle-class women lived in poor communities and worked for immediate improvements in the health and welfare of those communities.

Honest Graft

Making money from inside information on public improvements.

Direct Primary

A procedural reform that promised to take the selection of electoral candidates out of the hands of party bosses and into the hands of party voters.

Initiative

The popular power to initiate legislation.

Referendum

The right to a popular vote on proposed legislation.

Australian Ballot

A secret ballot that took the mechanics of ballot printing and distribution from the parties and made it the responsibility of the government.

Recall

The power to remove elected officials from office.

Wisconsin Idea

The application of academic scholarship and theory to the needs of the people.

Social Control

The idea that society needed an 'ethical elite' of citizens 'who have at heart the general welfare and know what kinds of conduct will promote this welfare.'

Prohibition Movement

A movement aimed at ending the production, sale, and consumption of alcohol.

Mann Act

Made it a federal offense to transport women across state lines for 'immoral purposes.'

National Board of Censorship (NBC)

A voluntary board of civic activists that reviewed new movies, passed them, suggested changes, or condemned them.

Americanization

The belief that schools could be the vehicle by which immigrant children could break free of the parochial ethnic neighborhood.

Open Shop

A campaign launched by the National Association of Manufacturers to eradicate unions altogether.

Industrial Unionism

A labor organizing strategy that sought to include all workers in a given industry, regardless of their skill.

Niagara Movement

The group protested legal segregation, the exclusion of blacks from labor unions, and the curtailment of voting and other civil rights.

NAACP

interracial organization emerged from this conference, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Bully Pulpit

term to describe his view of the presidency, as a platform from which he could exhort Americans to reform their society.

New Nationalism

Roosevelt's vision of a strong federal government, led by an activist president, regulating and protecting the various interests in American society.

New Freedom

Wilson's platform was far more ambiguous than Roosevelt's. TheNew Freedom emphasized restoring conditions of free competition and equality of economic opportunity

Progressive Party

The new Progressive Party nominated Roosevelt and Hiram Johnson of California as its presidential ticket.