U.S. Progressive Era: Trust Busting, Amendments, and Social Movements

Trust Busting

Breaking up large business monopolies (trusts)

Muckraking

Writing that exposed real issues but often exaggerated them to make problems seem more extreme

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

Law that made it illegal for companies to form monopolies or unfairly control markets

17th Amendment

Allowed people to vote directly for U.S. senators instead of state legislatures choosing them

18th Amendment

Established Prohibition by banning the sale and consumption of alcohol

19th Amendment

Granted women the right to vote

Labor Unions

Organizations formed by workers to protect their rights and improve working conditions

What conditions were labor unions fighting for?

Higher wages, shorter hours, and better working conditions

Yellow Dog Contract

Agreements where workers promised not to join labor unions

Black List

Lists of union members that employers refused to hire

Jane Addams

Reformer who created Hull House to help poor immigrants and improve urban living conditions

Hull House

Settlement house in Chicago providing education, job training, and social services to immigrants

Temperance

Movement to reduce or ban alcohol due to its negative social effects

Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

Organization that fought for prohibition and supported women's rights

Carrie Nation

Temperance activist known for destroying saloons with rocks, bricks, and hatchets

Prohibition

Nationwide ban on alcohol in the United States

Why did Prohibition fail in the United States?

People continued drinking illegally, leading to increased crime

Populism

Political movement representing farmers and the working class

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court case that upheld racial segregation under 'separate but equal'

NAACP

Organization that fought against segregation and racial discrimination

W.E.B. Du Bois

Leader of the NAACP who advocated for immediate equality and education for Black Americans