The Progressive Era and Gilded Age Vocabulary

A comprehensive vocabulary review of key terms, individuals, legislation, and events from the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era.

Nativism

Favoring native-born Americans and opposing immigration.

Urbanization

Growth of cities as people moved there for jobs.

Political machine

Organization that won votes by providing jobs and services.

Patronage

Giving government jobs to political supporters.

Tammany Hall

Powerful New York Democratic political machine.

Boss Tweed

Tammany Hall leader known for corruption and stealing public money.

Thomas Nast

Cartoonist who exposed Boss Tweed's corruption.

Muckrakers

Journalists who exposed corruption and social problems.

Jacob Riis

Exposed poverty and overcrowded tenements in How the Other Half Lives.

Lincoln Steffens

Exposed corruption in city governments in The Shame of the Cities.

Upton Sinclair

Wrote The Jungle, exposing unsanitary meatpacking conditions.

Social Gospel

Belief that Christians should address poverty and social problems.

Jane Addams

Founded Hull House, a settlement house helping immigrants and the poor.

Settlement house

Community centre offering education and support to poor and immigrant families.

Robert La Follette

Progressive governor of Wisconsin who promoted political reforms.

Direct primary

Election in which voters choose a party's candidate.

Initiative

Allows citizens to propose a law.

Referendum

Allows voters to vote directly on a proposed law.

Recall

Allows voters to remove an elected official before their term ends.

16th Amendment

Allowed a federal income tax.

17th Amendment

Established direct election of U.S. senators.

18th Amendment

Established Prohibition of alcohol.

19th Amendment

Prohibited denying the vote on the basis of sex; expanded women's suffrage.

21st Amendment

Repealed Prohibition.

Theodore Roosevelt

President associated with the Square Deal, trust-busting and conservation.

Square Deal

Roosevelt's program focused on corporate regulation, consumer protection and conservation.

Trust-busting

Government action against monopolies and anticompetitive trusts.

Northern Securities case

Roosevelt-era antitrust case that led to the breakup of a railroad holding company.

Anthracite Coal Strike (1902)

Roosevelt intervened to mediate a major coal miners' strike.

Elkins Act (1903)

Banned railroad rebates and discriminatory pricing practices.

Hepburn Act (1906)

Strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission's power to regulate railroad rates.

Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

Required greater food and drug safety and truthful labelling.

Meat Inspection Act (1906)

Established federal inspection of meatpacking.

Conservation

Protecting and managing natural resources for long-term use.

Newlands Reclamation Act (1902)

Funded irrigation projects in the American West.

William Howard Taft

President who continued antitrust enforcement but split with many Progressives.

Payne–Aldrich Tariff (1909)

Kept tariffs high, angering many Progressives.

Ballinger–Pinchot controversy

Dispute over conservation that deepened the split between Taft and Roosevelt.

Election of 1912

Wilson won after the Republican Party split between Taft and Roosevelt.

Bull Moose Party

Popular name for Roosevelt's Progressive Party in 1912.

New Nationalism

Roosevelt's plan for strong federal regulation of large corporations and social reform.

New Freedom

Wilson's original program focused on restoring competition and limiting corporate power.

Underwood–Simmons Tariff (1913)

Lowered tariffs and was accompanied by a federal income tax.

Federal Reserve Act (1913)

Created the Federal Reserve System to manage the nation's banking and monetary system.

Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)

Strengthened antitrust law and included protections for labor unions.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911)

Factory fire that killed 146 people and prompted workplace safety reforms.

Muller v. Oregon (1908)

Upheld an Oregon law limiting women's working hours in certain jobs.

Booker T. Washington

Favored vocational education and economic advancement before demanding full equality.

W.E.B. Du Bois

Demanded immediate civil rights and higher education; opposed delaying equality.

NAACP

Organization founded in 1909 to fight racial discrimination, including through legal action.

Ida B. Wells

Journalist and activist who campaigned against lynching.

NAWSA

Organization that campaigned for women's suffrage through lobbying and state-level efforts.

Carrie Chapman Catt

Suffrage leader associated with NAWSA and its winning strategy.

Alice Paul

Suffrage activist who used more confrontational protests and picketing.

National Woman's Party

Organization that used direct action to demand women's voting rights.

Ida Tarbell

Journalist who exposed Standard Oil's business practices.

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

Early federal law intended to restrict monopolies and anticompetitive business practices.

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

Federal agency created to regulate railroads.

Anti-Saloon League

Organization that campaigned for Prohibition.

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

Restricted Chinese labor immigration to the United States.

Immigration Act (1917)

Imposed a literacy test and restricted immigration from parts of Asia.