HIST 1493 – Progressive Movement (1890-1920)

Question-and-answer flashcards covering key people, laws, events, and concepts of the Progressive Era (1890-1920) for HIST 1493.

What were the three broad goals shared by most Progressives?

To expand democracy, increase efficiency (often through science and expertise), and promote social justice.

Who were the muckrakers and what distinguished them from “yellow journalists”?

Investigative journalists who exposed social, political, and economic problems to spur reform; unlike yellow journalists, they focused on fact-based exposés rather than sensationalism for sales.

Which 1890 book by Jacob Riis used photojournalism to reveal tenement conditions in New York City?

How the Other Half Lives.

What Progressive‐era political tools allowed citizens to propose laws, vote on existing laws, and remove officials?

The initiative, referendum, and recall.

Define the Progressive-era term “initiative.”

A process that lets citizens place a proposed law directly on the ballot through petition.

Define the Progressive-era term “referendum.”

A vote that allows citizens to approve or reject an existing law passed by the legislature.

Define the Progressive-era term “recall.”

A procedure enabling voters to remove an elected official before the end of that official’s term.

What was the Wisconsin Idea championed by Governor Robert La Follette?

The practice of using academic experts to research and draft legislation aimed at improving state conditions, including reforms such as workmen’s compensation, minimum wage, progressive taxation, direct election of U.S. senators, and support for woman suffrage.

Who authored The Principles of Scientific Management (1911) and what did it advocate?

Frederick Winslow Taylor; it advocated using time-motion studies and standardization to maximize industrial efficiency by having managers design work routines that laborers carried out.

What organization formed in 1904 led the campaign against industrial child labor?

The National Child Labor Committee (NCLC).

Which photographer’s images helped the NCLC raise awareness of child labor?

Lewis Hine.

What 1911 disaster killed 146 garment workers and spurred workplace-safety laws?

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City.

Which two major groups spearheaded the Progressive fight for prohibition?

The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Anti-Saloon League.

Which constitutional amendment (ratified 1919) banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol?

The Eighteenth Amendment.

Who was the five-time Socialist Party presidential candidate who helped found the party?

Eugene V. Debs.

What labor organization, founded in 1905 by “Big Bill” Haywood, advocated industrial unionism and the general strike?

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), nicknamed the Wobblies.

What were Jim Crow laws?

State and local statutes enforcing racial segregation of Black and white Americans in the South.

What was Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Compromise” message (1895)?

He urged African Americans to pursue economic self-improvement and vocational skills, believing social and political rights would follow.

Which institution did Booker T. Washington lead from 1881 until 1915?

Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama.

Who argued for immediate civil rights through the leadership of a “talented tenth” and helped found the NAACP in 1909?

W. E. B. Du Bois.

What was the Niagara Movement and why was it important?

An organization of Black activists (1905) led by Du Bois that demanded full civil rights; it laid groundwork for the NAACP.

Why was Theodore Roosevelt nicknamed the “Trustbuster”?

He initiated over two dozen antitrust suits, publicly condemning “bad trusts” that abused power while tolerating “good trusts” that benefited consumers.

Which muckraker’s novel prompted Roosevelt to push the Meat Inspection Act of 1906?

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.

What two federal laws did Roosevelt support in 1906 to protect consumers?

The Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act.

What federal agency did Roosevelt create to manage forests, and who was its first chief?

The U.S. Forest Service, led by Gifford Pinchot.

Approximately how many acres of public land did Roosevelt place under federal protection?

About 230 million acres.

Which 1910 law signed by Taft expanded Interstate Commerce Commission oversight to telephones and telegraphs?

The Mann-Elkins Act.

Name the two constitutional amendments proposed during Taft’s presidency that later became the 16th and 17th Amendments.

The federal income tax (16th) and direct election of U.S. senators (17th).

What new party did Roosevelt lead in the 1912 election, and what was its nickname?

The Progressive Party, nicknamed the “Bull Moose Party.”

Why did Woodrow Wilson win the 1912 election with only 42 % of the popular vote?

The Republican vote split between President Taft and Progressive candidate Roosevelt, allowing Wilson to prevail.

What 1913 act created America’s central banking system and what is its governing board informally called?

The Federal Reserve Act; its governing body is the Federal Reserve Board, or “the Fed.”

How can the Federal Reserve combat a recession according to the 1913 act?

By lowering the discount rate to encourage banks to borrow and increase money circulation.

What Progressive belief linked the diverse grassroots reforms from Texas townships to New York slums?

That middle-class citizen activism and expertise could solve America’s social and political problems.

Which group feared radical Progressives such as the Socialist Party and IWW, and why?

Mainstream Progressives and many middle-class Americans, because radicals favored workers’ empowerment and direct action perceived as revolutionary.