apush ch 27

16th amendment

16th amendment

(1913) gave Congress the power to tax income/played a central role in building up the powerful American federal government of the twentieth century by making it possible to enact a modern, nationwide income tax. Before long, the income tax would become by far the federal government's largest source of revenue.

17th amendment

Passed in 1913, this amendment to the Constitution calls for the direct election of senators by the voters instead of their election by state legislatures.

The Great Coal Strike of 1902

anthracite coal strike, was a strike by the United Mine Workers of America in the anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania. Miners were on strike asking for higher wages, shorter workdays and the recognition of their union.

Eugene V. Debs

(1855-1926) A tireless socialist leader who organized the American Railway Union in the Pullman Strike in 1894. He was later convicted under the World War I's Espionage Act in 1918 and sentenced to ten years in a federal penitentiary. A frequent presidential candidate on the Socialist party ticket, in 1920 he won more than 900,000 votes campaigning for president from his prison cell.

Robert M. LaFollette

(1855-1925) Hailing from Wisconsin, he was one of the most militant of the progressive Republican leaders. He served in the Senate and in the Wisconsin governor's seat and was a perennial contender for the presidency, keeping the spirit of progressivism alive into the 1920s./ "Fighting Bob"

Hepburn Act of 1906

A law that strengthened the rate-making power of the Interstate Commerce Commission, again reflecting the era's desire to control the power of the railroads. It increased the ICC's membership from five to seven, empowered it to fix reasonable railroad rates, and broadened its jurisdiction.

Jacob Riis

(1849-1914) Danish-born police reporter and pioneering photographer who exposed the ills of tenement living in his 1890 book illustrated with powerful photographs, How the Other Half Lives. His work led to the establishment of "model tenements" in New York City.

Upton Sinclair and The Jungle

The publication of his novel earlier that year so disgusted American consumers with its description of conditions in slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants that it mobilized public support for government action.

Pure Food and Drug Act

A law passed by Congress to inspect and regulate the labeling of all foods and pharmaceuticals intended for human consumption. This legislation, and additional provisions passed in 1911 to strengthen it, aimed particularly at the patent medicine industry. The more comprehensive Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 largely replaced this legislation.

Taft and "dollar diplomacy"

Name applied by the President’s critics to the policy of supporting U.S. investments and political interests abroad. First applied to the financing of railways in China after 1909, the policy then spread to Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua. President Woodrow Wilson disavowed the practice, but his administration undertook comparable acts of intervention in support of U.S. business interests, especially in Latin America.

Mann-Elkins Act of 1910

Law passed by Congress to impose penalties on railroads that offered rebates and customers who accepted them. The law strengthened the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The Hepburn Act of 1906 added free passes to the list of railroad no-no's.

Roosevelt's New Nationalism

State-interventionist reform program devised by journalist Herbert Croly and advocated by Theodore Roosevelt during his Bull Moose presidential campaign. Roosevelt did not object to continued consolidation of trusts and labor unions. Rather, he sought to create stronger regulatory agencies to ensure that they operated to serve the public interest, not just private gain.

Wilson's New Freedom

Platform of reforms advocated by Woodrow Wilson in his first presidential campaign, including stronger antitrust legislation to protect small business enterprises from monopolies, banking reform, and tariff reductions. Wilson's strategy involved taking action to increase opportunities for capitalist competition rather than increasing government regulation of large trusts.

Election of 1912

In this election, the Democrats nominated Woodrow Wilson, giving him a strong progressive platform called the "New Freedom" program. The Republicans were split between Taft and Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party with its "New Nationalism" program. Wilson was the first Democrat to win a presidential election since 1892 and one of just three Democratic presidents to serve during an era of the Republican Party presidential domination. Dating from 1861 (the start of the American Civil War), to 1933 (the onset of the Great Depression).