Unit 5 APUSH: Gilded & Progressive CH 23-26, 28, 29a; AMSCO 16-19, 21

Sharecropping

1865–1900. Southern landlords supplied land and tools while freedpeople paid with crop shares. While planters claimed this ensured mutual benefit, Black farmers described endless debt and coercion. The system preserved white control over land and labor, limiting Reconstruction’s promise of economic freedom.

Crop‑lien system

1865–1900. Country merchants advanced supplies on credit, using future crops as collateral. Creditors insisted liens protected investment, while indebted farmers protested sky‑high interest and one‑crop dependence. This arrangement deepened rural poverty, tied regions to cotton, and fueled agrarian unrest and Populism.

Black Codes

1865–1867. Southern legislatures passed laws restricting Black mobility, labor contracts, and civic participation. White lawmakers claimed they preserved order, while freedpeople denounced them as slavery by another name. The codes prompted Radical Reconstruction, revealing federal power’s importance for protecting citizenship and labor rights.

Jim Crow laws

1870s–1960s. Southern states imposed segregation and disfranchisement through statutes and local ordinances. White supporters called them necessary for “racial peace,” while Black communities condemned systematic exclusion and violence. Jim Crow created a rigid racial caste system, shaping migration patterns and civil rights struggles.

Redeemers / Bourbon Democrats

1870s–1890s. Conservative southern Democrats “redeemed” state governments, cutting services and reversing Reconstruction reforms. They celebrated white supremacy and low taxes, while Black southerners and poor whites experienced disfranchisement and school cuts. Redeemer rule entrenched Jim Crow, one‑party dominance, and regional economic underdevelopment.

Homestead Act

1862–1976. Federal law offered 160 acres of public land to settlers improving claims over time. White homesteaders praised free land, while Native nations and dispossessed communities experienced forced removal and broken treaties. The act accelerated western settlement, expanded smallholding ideology, and intensified conflicts over land and sovereignty.

Pacific Railway Act

1862–1871. Congress granted loans and land to companies building the first transcontinental railroad. Railroad backers framed subsidies as nation‑building, while critics decried giveaways and corruption. The act hastened continental integration, corporate power growth, and Indigenous dispossession along railroad corridors.

Morrill Land‑Grant Acts

1862, 1890. Laws granted federal land to states, funding colleges in agriculture and mechanical arts. Supporters hailed expanded practical education, while critics noted segregated institutions and uneven access. Land‑grant schools reshaped higher education, advanced scientific farming, and widened regional capacity for industrial development.

Gilded Age

c. 1870–1900. Term from Twain’s novel described dazzling wealth covering deep political and social problems. Boosters celebrated progress and industry, while critics highlighted corruption, inequality, and fragile democracy. The label frames APUSH debates about capitalism, reform, and the limits of laissez‑faire governance.

Laissez‑faire

1870s–1900. Many politicians and business leaders argued government should minimally interfere with markets. Industrialists praised laissez‑faire as protecting property and innovation; reformers saw cover for exploitation. This ideology constrained regulation efforts, shaped Supreme Court decisions, and fueled Progressive critiques of unchecked capitalism.

Transcontinental Railroad

1863–1869. Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines met at Promontory Summit, linking coasts. Investors celebrated faster trade and migration, while Chinese laborers and Native nations bore deadly costs. The line revolutionized transportation, encouraged national markets, and accelerated western militarization and land loss.

Company towns

1870s–1920s. Corporations built housing, stores, and schools for workers, often paying wages in scrip. Employers claimed paternal care and stability, while workers complained about surveillance, high prices, and dependence. Company towns revealed tensions between industrial order, worker autonomy, and emerging labor organizing strategies.

Panic of 1873

1873–1879. Railroad overbuilding and Jay Cooke’s failure sparked bank runs and prolonged depression. Bankers blamed overregulation and “unsound” loans, while farmers and workers condemned speculation and contraction. The downturn weakened Reconstruction support, radicalized agrarian politics, and intensified disputes over gold versus greenbacks.

Great Railroad Strike of 1877

1877. Wage cuts on major railroads triggered strikes that spread across multiple states. Railroad executives portrayed protests as insurrection, while workers insisted they resisted arbitrary corporate power. Federal troop deployments signaled government alignment with capital and inaugurated a new era of national labor conflict.

Knights of Labor

1869–1886. Inclusive union sought to unite skilled and unskilled workers for cooperative, eight‑hour‑day reforms. Employers and many newspapers painted Knights as dangerous radicals, especially after Haymarket violence. Their rise and fall highlighted both possibilities and limits of broad‑based labor solidarity in industrial America.

Andrew Carnegie

1870s–1901. Steel magnate used Bessemer technology and vertical integration to dominate production. Admirers praised efficient “captain of industry,” while critics condemned low wages and Homestead Strike repression. His Gospel of Wealth philanthropy highlighted tensions between elite benevolence and demands for structural economic reform.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

1850s–1877. Railroad and steamship entrepreneur consolidated lines into powerful New York Central system. Investors celebrated efficiency and lower freight rates, while farmers attacked discriminatory pricing and arrogance. Vanderbilt’s empire symbolized transportation revolution, corporate consolidation, and anger that fueled later regulation

Jay Gould

1860s–1890s. Speculator manipulated railroads and stocks, profiting from consolidation and unstable markets. Supporters called him a shrewd modern financier; critics labeled him archetypal “robber baron.” His career underscored dangers of weak regulation and inspired demands for federal oversight and antitrust.

“Robber barons / captains of industry”

1870s–1900. Competing labels described powerful industrialists like Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Morgan. Critics emphasized exploitation, monopoly, and corruption, while defenders highlighted innovation, jobs, and global competitiveness. The terms capture APUSH debates about inequality, capitalism, and moral judgments of industrial leadership.

Horizontal integration

1870s–1900. Firms acquired competitors in same industry level, concentrating production under one corporation. Shareholders celebrated stable prices and reduced competition; reformers warned of monopoly and consumer harm. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil exemplified this strategy, prompting Sherman Antitrust enforcement and Progressive distrust of big business.

Vertical integration

1870s–1900. Single corporations controlled raw materials, transportation, and manufacturing within one industry. Managers praised cost savings and coordination; small firms feared exclusion from essential inputs. Carnegie Steel’s model showed how integration increased power, fueling antitrust politics and labor conflict.

Trusts / holding companies

1880s–1900. Corporations combined under shared boards or holding firms to coordinate prices and output. Business leaders argued trusts stabilized chaotic markets; critics saw dangerous concentrations of economic sovereignty. Their spread provoked Sherman Antitrust Act passage and later Progressive “trust‑busting” campaigns.

Social Darwinism

1870s–1910s. Thinkers like Herbert Spencer applied natural selection to justify social and economic hierarchy. Industrial elites cited “survival of the fittest”; reformers condemned its use against labor and welfare. The ideology supported laissez‑faire, imperialism, and eugenics, later challenged by Social Gospel and Progressivism.

Gospel of Wealth

1880s–1900s. Carnegie argued rich had duty to redistribute surplus wealth through philanthropy. Some contemporaries praised libraries and universities; radicals insisted charity ignored structural injustice. The idea illustrated Gilded Age efforts to reconcile massive fortunes with republican and Christian values.

Thomas Edison

1870s–1910s. Inventor developed practical light bulb, phonograph, and motion picture technologies. Businesses hailed his laboratories as models of organized research; rural critics sometimes lacked immediate access. Edison’s work marked Second Industrial Revolution, transforming daily life and strengthening corporate‑technological alliances.

Munn v. Illinois

1877. Court upheld state regulation of grain elevator rates affecting public interest. Farmers celebrated limits on abuses, while businessmen feared broader attacks on property rights. Munn signaled acceptance of some regulation, yet later cases narrowed states’ authority, shifting power federalward.

Wabash v. Illinois

1886. Supreme Court limited state power to regulate interstate railroad rates. Railroad executives welcomed protection from conflicting laws, while farmers decried defeat of Granger‑style regulation. The decision led directly to Interstate Commerce Act, expanding federal responsibility for economic oversight.

Yellow‑dog contracts

1890s–1920s. Employers required workers to pledge not to join unions as hiring condition. Owners claimed contracts preserved workplace stability; labor organizers condemned coerced surrender of associational rights. Their use highlighted judicial hostility to unions and fueled Progressive‑era efforts to protect organizing.

National Labor Union

1866–1873. First major national labor federation united diverse workers for eight‑hour day reforms. Employers dismissed its demands as unrealistic; internal divisions and depression undercut organizing efforts. Its brief life nevertheless pioneered national labor politics and inspired later Knights and AFL strategies.

Haymarket Riot

1886. Chicago rally for eight‑hour day turned deadly after bomb killed police officers. Newspapers blamed anarchists and radical unions, while many workers insisted peaceful protesters were framed. After controversial trials and executions, public opinion turned against Knights, reshaping labor’s public image.

American Federation of Labor

1886–1920s. Samuel Gompers led craft‑union federation emphasizing skilled workers’ wages, hours, conditions. Employers preferred bargaining with AFL over radicals, while excluded groups criticized narrow, often racist membership. AFL’s pragmatic unionism shaped U.S. labor politics, complementing and limiting broader industrial organizing.

Dawes Severalty Act

1887–1934. Law divided tribal lands into individual allotments, selling “surplus” to white settlers. Reformers promised citizenship and farming; Native leaders denounced land loss and cultural destruction. The act dispossessed tribes, undermined communal governance, and set stage for later Indian Reorganization debates.

Battle of Little Bighorn

1876. Lakota and Cheyenne warriors defeated Custer’s 7th Cavalry along Little Bighorn River. U.S. officials portrayed the battle as savage resistance; Native communities celebrated temporary victory. Backlash accelerated military campaigns, tightening reservation confinement and undermining Plains Indigenous autonomy.

Wounded Knee Massacre

1890. U.S. troops killed hundreds of Lakota, including women and children, at Wounded Knee. Army reports framed action as quelling Ghost Dance uprising; critics denounced needless slaughter. The massacre marked symbolic end of armed Native resistance and exposed brutality of U.S. expansion.

Barbed Wire

1870s–1890s. Cheap fencing allowed farmers and ranchers to enclose Great Plains land quickly. Homesteaders welcomed protection of crops and property; cowboys and Natives saw closed trails and dispossession. Barbed wire hastened end of open range, intensified range wars, and altered western settlement patterns.

Old / New Immigrants

1820–1860; 1880–1924. “Old” immigrants came mainly from Northern and Western Europe; later “new” arrivals from Southern, Eastern Europe and Asia. Nativists depicted newer groups as unassimilable, while immigrants emphasized opportunity and community networks. Differences in religion, language, and jobs reshaped urban politics, labor, and American identity.

“New Immigration”

1880–1924. Surge of Italians, Poles, Russian Jews, and others entered industrial cities and mining regions. Employers valued cheap labor; nativists feared radicalism, Catholicism, and racial mixing. This wave drove tenement growth, machine politics, exclusion debates, and later national‑origins quota laws.

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882–1943. Federal law suspended most Chinese labor immigration and restricted reentry and naturalization. Western workers celebrated “white labor” protection; Chinese communities faced surveillance, violence, and family separation. Exclusion pioneered race‑based immigration policy, shaping later Asian exclusion and border‑control regimes.

Nativism

1880s–1920s. Movements prioritized interests of native‑born Americans over immigrants, especially Catholics and Asians. Supporters claimed cultural preservation and wage protection; targets experienced violence, job discrimination, and political attacks. Nativism influenced immigration laws, party coalitions, and debates over American national identity.

Tenement Homes

1870s–1910s. Overcrowded urban apartment buildings housed many working‑class and immigrant families. Landlords defended profitability and low rents; reformers like Jacob Riis exposed disease and fire risks. Tenements spurred housing codes and Progressive public‑health reforms while illustrating costs of rapid urbanization.

The Grange

1860s–1870s. Farmers’ alliance created cooperatives, social events, and campaigns against railroad abuses. Railroad lawyers dismissed it as anti‑business agitation, while members stressed unfair freight and storage rates. Granger efforts pioneered regulatory politics, influencing state laws and later Populist and Progressive reforms.

Farmers’ Alliance / Colored Farmers’ Alliance

1875–1892. Regional alliances organized cooperatives, credit plans, and railroad challenges in South and West. White alliances often excluded Black farmers, prompting separate Colored Farmers’ Alliance organizing. Their activism laid groundwork for Populist Party, highlighting race, class, and regional tensions.

Henry George

1879–1890s. Reform economist’s book Progress and Poverty attacked unearned land rents and urban inequality. Elites derided his “single tax” as radical confiscation; working‑class readers embraced moral clarity. George’s ideas shaped land‑reform debates, urban Progressivism, and critiques of industrial capitalism’s distribution.

Horatio Alger stories

1860s–1890s. Popular novels depicted poor boys rising through honesty, hard work, and timely help. Middle‑class readers celebrated upward mobility; critics noted philanthropy and luck overshadowed structural barriers. These narratives reinforced individualist interpretations of success, complicating responses to inequality and labor unrest.

“New South”

1877–1900. Southern boosters like Henry Grady promoted industrial growth, railroads, and diversified agriculture. They advertised racial harmony and opportunity, while Black southerners endured disfranchisement, lynching, and sharecropping. The New South ideal masked persistence of staple‑crop dependence and regional economic subordination.

Exodus of 1879 / Exodusters

1879–1881. Black southerners migrated to Kansas seeking land, safety, and political autonomy. White planters condemned “abandonment” of labor; migrants invoked Exodus language of deliverance. The movement dramatized Reconstruction’s collapse and foreshadowed later Great Migration patterns.

Mary Elizabeth Lease

1890–1896. Kansas Populist orator urged farmers to “raise less corn and more hell.” Populist audiences cheered militant attacks on railroads and bankers; conservative papers mocked her radicalism and gender. Lease’s speeches symbolized agrarian revolt, women’s political activism, and anti‑corporate protest.

Populist (People’s) Party

1892–1896. Third party of farmers and workers demanded railroad regulation, silver coinage, and democratic reforms. Elites warned Populism threatened property rights and stability; supporters saw defense of producers’ democracy. Its Omaha Platform prefigured Progressive income tax, direct election, and expanded federal responsibility.

Coxey’s Army

1894. Jacob Coxey led unemployed workers’ march demanding federal public‑works jobs during depression. Critics ridiculed “tramps” invading Washington; marchers insisted government must address mass joblessness. Though dispersed, the protest anticipated New Deal employment programs and expanded views of federal responsibility.

Silverites vs. Goldbugs

1890s. Silverites pushed bimetallism to inflate currency and relieve debtors; Goldbugs defended gold standard. Business and eastern creditors warned silver would wreck confidence; farmers claimed gold strangled opportunity. The monetary fight climaxed in 1896 campaign, crystallizing sectional and class divisions over policy.

Cross of Gold speech

1896. Democrat William Jennings Bryan denounced gold standard, championing silver and indebted producers. Urban financiers mocked his inflationary proposals; rural and western audiences hailed prophetic defense of “common man.” The speech became iconic, illustrating oratory’s role in framing economic justice debates.

Australian (secret) ballot

1890s–1910s. States adopted standardized, government‑printed ballots marked in private voting booths. Reformers touted protection from bribery and intimidation; machines worried secrecy weakened patronage control. The reform professionalized elections, helping reshape Gilded Age politics and voter‑party relationships.

The Significance of the Frontier in American History (Turner Thesis)

1893. Historian Frederick Jackson Turner argued frontier experience forged American democracy and individualism. Critics noted erasure of Native, Mexican, and Black experiences, while many contemporaries accepted celebratory narrative. His thesis shaped historical interpretations, imperial debates, and anxieties about frontier “closure.”

Homestead Strike

1892. Carnegie Steel’s Homestead plant locked out union workers after wage disputes; Pinkertons attacked by strikers. Middle‑class observers feared class war; unions saw coordinated assault on organized labor. Defeat crippled steel unionism, cementing corporate‑state alliance against industrial workers.

Pullman Strike

1894. Company town wage cuts without rent reductions sparked strike; American Railway Union staged boycott. Company leaders and Cleveland administration cited mail disruption; workers condemned injunctions and troop deployments. The conflict confirmed federal willingness to crush national strikes, radicalizing Eugene Debs and many labor activists.

Labor injunctions

1890s–1920s. Judges issued court orders banning strikes, boycotts, or picketing that affected commerce. Employers praised injunctions as necessary to protect property and public order during unrest. Their frequent use against unions revealed judiciary’s alignment with capital, provoking Progressive demands for labor protections.

Lochner v. New York

1905. Supreme Court struck down bakery hour limits, citing “liberty of contract” under Due Process. Employers celebrated shield against regulation; Progressives decried judicial obstruction of health and labor laws. Lochner era jurisprudence constrained reform until later decisions expanded police powers and worker protections.

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896–1954. Court upheld Louisiana’s segregated railroad cars, endorsing “separate but equal” doctrine. Southern lawmakers celebrated legal sanction for Jim Crow; Black leaders like Harlan and later NAACP denounced racial caste. The ruling legitimized segregation nationwide until overturned by Brown, shaping twentieth‑century civil rights struggles.

Ellis Island

1892–1954. Federal immigration station processed millions, especially “new immigrants,” entering through New York Harbor. Inspectors claimed to protect public health and labor markets; arrivals recalled stressful exams and questioning. Ellis Island symbolized opportunity and exclusion, central to APUSH themes of identity, peopling, and nativism.

Settlement House Movement

1880s–1920s. Middle‑class reformers created community centers providing education, childcare, and social services in poor neighborhoods. Residents emphasized cross‑class cooperation; critics sometimes feared paternalism or socialist influence. Settlement houses linked Social Gospel ideals to practical reform, nurturing Progressive leadership and urban policy experimentation.

Jane Addams / Hull House

1889–1910s. Addams co‑founded Hull House in Chicago, offering classes, clubs, and advocacy. Immigrant neighbors valued resources and political help; business leaders sometimes resented critiques of exploitation. Her work exemplified female Progressive leadership, influencing labor laws, child welfare, and peace activism.

Social Gospel

1870s–1920s. Protestant reformers argued Christian ethics required challenging poverty, inequality, and industrial abuses. Some ministers warned politics corrupted religion; supporters insisted faith demanded structural social change. The movement bridged churches and reform, feeding into settlement work, labor support, and Progressive regulation.

Eugenics / race “science”

1890s–1930s. Some scientists promoted ranking races and selective breeding to “improve” national stock. Restrictionists cited these studies to justify immigration quotas and sterilization laws targeting marginalized groups. Eugenics linked pseudoscience and state power, reinforcing racism and nativism that APUSH students must critique.

Political Machines

1870s–1910s. Urban party organizations traded jobs and services for votes, often skimming contracts. Immigrants credited machines with jobs and protection; reformers attacked graft, vote‑buying, and boss rule. Machines shaped city growth and immigration politics, prompting Progressive structural reforms like city‑manager systems.

Tammany Hall

1860s–1900s. New York Democratic machine dispensed patronage and social services in exchange for loyalty. Critics highlighted Tweed‑era graft; many Irish and other immigrants valued real assistance. Tammany illustrated both inclusive urban politics and corruption that fueled civil service and electoral reforms.

Thomas Nast

1860s–1880s. Harper’s Weekly cartoonist lampooned Tweed, Democrats, and anti‑Reconstruction forces with vivid imagery. Reformers praised visual exposure of corruption; targets called cartoons partisan and inflammatory. Nast’s work demonstrates media’s power to shape public opinion, party symbols, and reform momentum.

Sears, Roebuck

1890s–1910s. Mail‑order company sold goods nationwide through catalogs reaching rural and small‑town consumers. Customers welcomed lower prices and choice; local merchants feared unfair competition and community decline. Sears accelerated consumer culture, integrated regional markets, and illustrated railroads’ and postal systems’ economic impact.

George Washington Carver

1890s–1940s. Scientist at Tuskegee promoted crop rotation, peanuts, and sweet potatoes to restore southern soils. White agricultural leaders praised practical innovations but resisted broader racial equality; Black farmers gained limited leverage. Carver’s work tied Black uplift, environmental stewardship, and agricultural modernization to Progressive themes.

Tuskegee Institute

1881–1900s. Booker T. Washington’s school emphasized vocational training and self‑help for Black students. Supporters argued practical skills would win economic respect; critics like Du Bois feared acceptance of segregation. Tuskegee anchored debates over accommodation, uplift, and education’s role in challenging Jim Crow.

Atlanta Compromise

1895–c.1915. Washington urged Black southerners to pursue economic progress while temporarily accepting segregation and disfranchisement. White elites endorsed his moderation; younger activists and Du Bois condemned retreat from political rights. The speech crystallized strategic disagreements within Black leadership about resisting Jim Crow.

Ida B. Wells

1890s–1910s. Journalist investigated lynching, documenting false accusations and economic motives behind racial terror. White defenders claimed lynching protected white womanhood; Wells exposed lawless violence and demanded federal action. Her campaigns internationalized anti‑lynching efforts, linking race, gender, and rule‑of‑law concerns.

W.E.B. Du Bois

1895–1920s. Scholar‑activist demanded full civil and political rights, championing “Talented Tenth” leadership. Washington supporters criticized him as elitist and impractical; radicals welcomed uncompromising equal‑rights stance. Du Bois helped found NAACP, shaping twentieth‑century civil rights litigation and intellectual critique of racism.

Sherman Antitrust Act

1890–present. Congress banned contracts, combinations, and conspiracies restraining trade or attempting monopolization. Corporate lawyers initially used it against unions; reformers insisted it target big business cartels. The act became cornerstone of antitrust law, later strengthened by Progressive regulation and trust‑busting.

Forest Reserve Act

1891–1905. Law allowed presidents to withdraw forest lands from private sale. Western developers complained about blocked access; conservationists welcomed protection of watersheds and timber. The act launched federal forest reserves, foreshadowing national parks and Progressive conservation policy.

Muckrakers

1890s–1910s. Investigative journalists exposed corporate abuses, corruption, and urban poverty in books and magazines. Business leaders decried sensationalism; reformers credited reporting with mobilizing middle‑class outrage. Their work built support for antitrust, food‑safety, housing, and political reforms.

Jacob Riis

1890s–1900s. Photojournalist’s How the Other Half Lives documented New York tenement filth and overcrowding. Elites resented implied criticism; many readers demanded housing codes and sanitation improvements. Riis’s images linked visual culture, urban reform, and Progressive understandings of structural poverty.

Ida Tarbell

1902–1904. Her History of the Standard Oil Company detailed Rockefeller’s secret rebates and predatory tactics. Standard Oil defenders called her biased; readers saw compelling evidence of monopoly abuse. Tarbell’s work helped justify antitrust actions, including the 1911 breakup, strengthening Progressive regulatory arguments.

John Muir

1890s–1914. Naturalist advocated wilderness preservation, co‑founding Sierra Club and influencing Yosemite protections. Preservationists praised his spiritual defense of nature; city boosters favored utilitarian development projects. Muir’s campaigns shaped conservation debates, contrasting preservation and resource management within Progressive policy.

Theodore Roosevelt

1901–1909. Progressive Republican president promoted Square Deal of conservation, consumer protection, and corporate regulation. Business conservatives feared radicalism; many workers and reformers welcomed energetic federal leadership. Roosevelt expanded presidency’s role, advanced trust‑busting, and redefined national government as active regulator.

Square Deal

1901–1909. Roosevelt pledged a “square deal” for labor, business, and consumers. Corporations criticized his interventions as class politics; supporters saw balanced regulation curbing abuses. The program institutionalized federal mediation in labor disputes and reinforced Progressive confidence in expert governance.

Elkins and Hepburn Acts

1903–1906. Laws banned railroad rebates and empowered ICC to set maximum rates. Railroad executives protested political interference; shippers and farmers applauded curbs on discriminatory pricing. These measures significantly strengthened federal economic regulation, aligning with APUSH themes of state‑market relations.

Meat Inspection Act

1906–present. Required federal inspection of meatpacking plants and sanitary standards after uproar over The Jungle. Packers resented new costs yet benefited from enhanced consumer confidence and export markets. The act illustrated how muckraking, public opinion, and federal power reshaped food industries.

Pure Food and Drug Act

1906–1930s. Law banned misbranded and adulterated foods and medicines, mandating truthful labels. Patent‑medicine makers attacked regulation; consumers and reformers prioritized safety and transparency. It laid groundwork for the FDA, expanding federal responsibility for public health.

Muller v. Oregon

1908. Supreme Court upheld women’s maximum‑hour law using Brandeis brief on health differences. Reformers hailed protection from sweatshops; feminists worried it justified gender discrimination and limited opportunities. The ruling advanced labor regulation while entrenching gendered assumptions, complicating later equal‑rights arguments.

Progressivism

1890s–1920s. Reform movement sought to address industrialization’s problems through regulation, democracy expansion, and social justice. Critics feared bureaucracy and socialism; advocates trusted experts and government activism to curb abuses. Progressivism redefined federal and state roles, influencing later New Deal and Great Society programs.

Initiative and Referendum

1890s–1910s. Political reforms let citizens propose laws and approve or reject legislative acts directly. Reformers championed tools against machine domination; some lawmakers warned of unstable popular majorities. These mechanisms broadened direct democracy, reshaping state‑level policymaking in the Progressive Era.

17th Amendment

1913–present. Amendment mandated direct election of U.S. senators by voters instead of state legislatures. Supporters argued it reduced corruption and corporate influence; critics feared weakening federalism. It deepened democratic participation, reinforcing Progressive commitments to accountability and popular sovereignty.

Anti‑Saloon League

1893–1933. Single‑issue lobby coordinated religious and civic groups for national alcohol prohibition. Supporters blamed liquor for poverty and crime; opponents stressed personal liberty and ethnic traditions. Its success leading to 18th Amendment showed organized pressure groups’ power in federal policymaking.

Women’s Christian Temperance Union

1870s–1920s. Women’s organization linked temperance with suffrage, labor laws, and social purity campaigns. Some observers dismissed members as moralistic meddlers; activists framed reform as protecting homes and children. WCTU nurtured female political skills, bridging antebellum reform and Progressive women’s activism.

18th Amendment

1920–1933. Prohibited manufacture, sale, and transport of intoxicating liquors nationwide. Temperance advocates celebrated moral victory; urban workers and immigrants often turned to illegal speakeasies. Prohibition spurred organized crime, enforcement challenges, and later repeal arguments about regulating private behavior.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

1909–present. Interracial organization pursued civil rights through courts, protests, and public education. Southern whites branded it subversive; Black communities embraced its legal challenges to lynching and segregation. NAACP litigation strategy laid foundation for mid‑twentieth‑century victories like Brown v. Board.

Robert La Follette

1901–1925. Wisconsin governor and senator championed “Wisconsin Idea” of expert‑driven Progressive reform. Conservative Republicans denounced his regulation and tax policies; reformers admired model state experimentation. His leadership linked state‑level innovation to national movements for primaries, labor laws, and corporate oversight.

Federal Reserve Act

1913–present. Law created central banking system with regional banks and Federal Reserve Board. Bankers worried about political intrusion; farmers hoped flexible currency would ease credit crunches. The Fed transformed monetary policy, crisis management, and debates over federal control of the economy.

Federal Trade Commission

1914–present. Independent agency empowered to investigate unfair business practices and enforce antitrust statutes. Business critics feared arbitrary interference; Progressives viewed expert regulators as guardians of fair competition. The FTC institutionalized administrative oversight, central to APUSH themes of modern regulatory state.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

1911. Blaze in locked New York garment factory killed 146, mostly young immigrant women. Owners blamed accidental tragedy; survivors emphasized unsafe conditions and blocked exits. Public outrage produced major state labor‑safety reforms, illustrating Progressive responses to industrial disaster.

Hetch Hetchy Valley

1908–1923. San Francisco sought dam in Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy for municipal water. Preservationists like John Muir mourned sacred landscape loss; conservationists emphasized pragmatic resource use. The controversy highlighted Progressive tensions between preservation, development, and expert‑driven environmental policy.

Fourth Party System

1896–1932. Era of Republican dominance, with debates over tariffs, money, and reform realigned. Business‑oriented Republicans and reform Democrats jostled over regulation; Populist ideas filtered into major parties. This framework helps students track continuity and change from Gilded Age politics into New Deal realignment.