Chapter 19: Progressive Movements, Progressive Politics

Henry George

American writer, politician and political economist, who was the most influential proponent of the single tax movement through his book Progress and Poverty

Progress and Poverty

An Inquiry into the Cause of Industrial Depressions and of Increase of Want with Increase of Wealth: The Remedy was written in 1879 by the social theorist and economist Henry George. The book is a treatise on the questions of why poverty accompanies economic growth

Single Tax Movement

A 100% tax on any increase in the value of real estate, was designed to keep property values low and therefore limit the accumulation of wealth while spreading opportunity more broadly in the society

Edward Bellamy

wrote: Looking Backward (1888): A story about a Bostonian who wakes up in a utopian society in the year 2000 where people cooperate rather than compete.

Looking Backward

Bellamy's novel tells the story of a hero figure named Julian West, a young American who, towards the end of the 19th century, falls into a deep, hypnosis-induced sleep and wakes up one hundred and thirteen years later. He finds himself in the same location (Boston, Massachusetts), but in a totally changed world: It is the year 2000 and, while he was sleeping, the United States has been transformed into a socialist utopia. The remainder of the book outlines Bellamy's thoughts about improving the future.

Social Darwinism

Application of Charles Darwin's theory of biological evolution to society, holding that the fittest and the wealthiest should thrive and lead, the weak and the poor deserve their fate, and government action is unable to alter this natural process

Muckraking Journalists

Journalism exposing economic, social, and political evils, so named by Theodore Roosevelt for its 'raking the muck' from the bottom of American society

Upton Sinclair

American author who wrote nearly 100 books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle (1906). It exposed conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.

The Jungle

portrayed the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities. However, most readers were more concerned with his exposure of health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century, based on an investigation he did for a socialist newspaper

Thomas Nast

German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He exposed Boss Tweed and the Tammany Hall political machine

Horace Greenly

An American editor of a leading newspaper, a founder of the Republican party, reformer and politician He helped support reform movements and anti-slavery efforts through his New York Tribune newspaper

Political machine

political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses (usually campaign workers), who receive rewards for their efforts.

Constituents support a candidate in return for anticipated favors.

Initiative, referendum, recall

(Initiative) Procedure by which citizens can introduce a subject legislation, usually through a petition signed by a specific number of votes. (Referendum) Submission of a law, proposed or already in effect, to a direct popular vote for approval or rejection. (Recall) The process of removing an official from office by popular vote, usually after using petitions to call for such a vote

Tammany Hall

New York City's Democratic Party political machine after 1860, using patronage and bribes to maintain control of the city administration

The Tweed Ring

Tweed gathered around him a small ring of bigwigs who controlled New York City's finances. Tweed's Ring essentially controlled New York City until 1870, using embezzlement, bribery, and kickbacks to siphon massive chunks of New York's budget into their own pockets

Ida Tarbell: The History of Standard Oil

exposé of the Standard Oil Company, run at that time by oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, the richest figure in America's history. Originally serialized in 19 parts in McClure's magazine, the book was a seminal example of muckraking, and inspired many other journalists to write about trusts, large businesses that (in the absence of strong antitrust law in the 19th century) attempted to gain monopolies in various industries

Lincoln Steffens: Shame of the Cities

wrote The Shame of the Cities - about urban political corruption, how businessmen and corrupt politicians worked together.

Jane Addams

pioneer American settlement social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in women's suffrage and world peace; member of pragmatist school, founder of social work

Settlement Houses

reformist social movement, beginning in the 1880s and peaking around the 1920s in England and the US, with a goal of getting the rich and poor in society to live more closely together in an interdependent community; reinforced community

Hull House

settlement house in the United States that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located in the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois, Hull House (named for the home's first owner) opened its doors to recently arrived European immigrants Provided social services, defended the poor in legal disputes, and opened as a boarding home when young woment strikers in danger of losing their housing.

Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

first mass organization among women devoted to social reform. Believed that alcohol was an evil among men who administered laws. "Home protection", empowered women to get involved in politics

The Social Gospel

Application of religious ethics to industrial conditions and thereby alleviating poverty, slums, and labor exploitation. Improving society is God's will.

Interstate Commerce Act

United States federal law that was designed to regulate the railroad industry, particularly its monopolistic practices. The Act required that railroad rates be "reasonable and just," but did not empower the government to fix specific rates

Sherman Antitrust Act 1890

The first federal antitrust measure, passed in 1890; sought to promote economic competition by prohibiting business combination, outlawed businesses that would unfairly raise costs for the consumer (monopolies).

Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act 1883

A law of 1883 that reformed the spoils system by prohibiting government workers from making political contributions and by creating the Civil Service Commission to oversee their appointment on the basis of merit rather than politics

Teddy Roosevelt

26th President of the United States. He was a leader of the Republican Party (GOP) and founder of the Progressive Party insurgency of 1912. He is known for his exuberant personality, his leadership of the Progressive Movement, end corruption, naturalism, "trustbuster".

Square Deal

imposed to help the middle class while still protecting business, thus not favoring either end of the spectrum. By definition, the term "square deal" implied that everyone reaped some sort of benefit.

-"Conservation"

-"Regulating Business Monopolies"

-"Enforcng the Anti-Trust Act"

-"Supporting Progressive Ideas"

Pure Food and Drug Act 1906

(TR) 1906 , 1906 - Forbade the manufacture or sale of mislabeled or adulterated food or drugs, it gave the government broad powers to ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs in order to abolish the "patent" drug trade. Still in existence as the FDA.

Meat Inspection Act 1906

United States Congress Act that works to prevent adulterated or misbranded meat and meat products from being sold as food and to ensure that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions

Underwood Tariff 1913

re-imposed the federal income tax following the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment and lowered basic tariff rates from 40% to 25%, well below the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909. It was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on October 3, 1913, and was sponsored by Alabama Representative Oscar Underwood.

Clayton Anti-Trust Act 1914

An attempt to improve the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, this law outlawed interlocking directorates (companies in which the same people served as directors), forbade policies that created monopolies, and made corporate officers responsible for antitrust violations. Benefitting labor, it declared that unions were not conspiracies in restraint of trade and outlawed the use of injunctions in labor disputes unless they were necessary to protect property.

Federal Trade Commission 1914

independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act. Its principal mission is the promotion of consumer protection and the elimination and prevention of anticompetitive business practices, such as coercive monopoly. The Federal Trade Commission Act was one of President Woodrow Wilson's major acts against trusts

Progressive Amendments

period of social activism and political reform in the United States that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. ... The final progressive amendment came with the passage of the 19th amendment and women's suffrage

16th amendment

Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

17th amendment

the Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote

18th amendment

banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol

19th amendment

prohibits any United States citizen from being denied the right to vote on the basis