Progressives Test US2

Gas and Water Socialism

Municipal reform tactic where city governments took public ownership of essential utilities (gas, water, transit) to prevent private monopolies from overcharging.

16th Amendment (1913)

Created a federal progressive income tax.

17th Amendment (1913)

Established the direct election of US Senators by citizens rather than state legislatures.

18th Amendment (1919)

Prohibition; illegalized the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol.

19th Amendment (1920)

Granted women's suffrage (the right to vote).

1902 Mine Workers Strike (PA Coal Strike)

140,000 coal miners struck for better pay/hours. TR threatened to use federal troops to operate mines, forcing management to arbitrate; established federal intervention for public welfare.

Alice Paul

Radical suffragette and founder of the National Woman's Party who used confrontational tactics like picketing the White House.

Brownsville Incident (1906)

Racial conflict in Texas where TR falsely accused and dishonorably discharged 167 Black soldiers of the 25th Infantry without a trial or due process.

Bull Moose Party (Progressive Party)

Third party formed by Theodore Roosevelt for the 1912 election after the Republican Party re-nominated Taft.

Bully Pulpit

TR's view that the presidency offered a national platform to shape public opinion and push progressive legislation through media and influence.

Carrie Chapman Catt

Leader of NAWSA who organized the "Winning Plan" to secure women's suffrage state-by-state and through a constitutional amendment.

Chester A. Arthur

US President who signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act in 1883, ending the spoils system after James Garfield's assassination.

Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)

Strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act by explicitly banning anti-competitive practices, outlawing corporate monopolies, and exempting labor unions from trust prosecution.

Conservation

Environmental policy advocated by Gifford Pinchot and TR favoring planned, sustainable "gentle use" of natural resources over total preservation or private exploitation.

Eugene V. Debs

Socialist candidate for president who criticized capitalism and advocated for economic reform through socialism.

Federal Reserve System (1913)

Created 12 regional central banks to regulate the money supply, control interest rates, and bring financial stability.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC - 1914)

Federal watchdog agency established to regulate interstate commerce, investigate unfair business practices, and enforce antitrust laws.

Protecting Social Welfare (Goal of Progressivism)

Helping the urban poor through settlement houses, the YMCA, and the Salvation Army.

Promoting Moral Improvement (Goal of Progressivism)

Improving society through Prohibition, anti-saloon leagues, and anti-prostitution efforts.

Creating Economic Reform (Goal of Progressivism)

Curtailing big business, adopting scientific management, and curbing corporate power.

Fostering Efficiency / Political Reform (Goal of Progressivism)

Streamlining government and workplace productivity while eliminating political corruption.

Gifford Pinchot

First Chief of the US Forest Service under TR; advocated for the conservation ("gentle use") approach to natural resources.

Initiative

Process allowing voters to propose a law directly on the ballot.

Referendum

Process allowing citizens to vote directly on laws passed by the legislature.

Recall

Special election enabling voters to remove corrupt or ineffective elected officials before their term ends.

J.P. Morgan

Prominent investment banker whose massive railroad trust (Northern Securities) was broken up by TR’s Justice Department.

Jacob Riis

Progressive photojournalist and reformer who exposed horrific tenement conditions in How the Other Half Lives.

James A. Garfield

US President whose assassination by a disappointed job seeker led directly to civil service reform.

Jane Addams

Founder of Hull House in Chicago, leading the settlement house movement to assist poor city residents and immigrants.

John Muir

Environmental activist and founder of the Sierra Club; advocated for absolute preservation ("fence everything off") of wilderness regions.

Meat Inspection Act (1906)

Federal law inspired by Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle that mandated sanitary conditions and federal inspection for meatpacking facilities.

Muckrakers

Investigative journalists and writers who exposed political corruption, unsafe factory conditions, and social evils to prompt public action.

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; founded in 1909 to fight for civil rights, racial equality, and anti-lynching legislation.

NAWSA

National American Woman Suffrage Association; moderate suffrage group formed in 1890 that fought for voting rights primarily through state-by-state campaigns.

New Freedom

Woodrow Wilson’s progressive platform targeting the "Triple Wall of Privilege" (tariffs, banks, and trusts) to encourage market competition.

Northern Securities Company

J.P. Morgan’s massive railroad trust dissolved by the Supreme Court after TR filed a federal antitrust suit.

Payne-Aldrich Tariff (1909)

Compromise tariff signed by President Taft that raised tariffs on many goods, angering progressive Republicans and splitting the party.

Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)

Law establishing a merit-based system for federal civil service jobs using exams rather than political appointments (spoils system).

Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

Required truthful ingredient labeling on food and medicines and banned the manufacture or sale of adulterated products.

Robert M. La Follette

Progressive Republican governor of Wisconsin who reformed state politics by curbing railroad power and implementing direct primary elections.

Scientific Management

Application of efficiency studies (pioneered by Frederick Winslow Taylor) to determine optimal productivity while balancing worker output.

Square Deal

TR’s domestic agenda designed to give a "fair shake" to all Americans by balancing business, labor, and consumer interests.

Theodore Roosevelt

26th US President (1901–1909); progressive leader who expanded presidential power, busted trusts, mediated labor disputes, and created national parks.

Trustbusting

Government legal actions taken to break up illegal corporate monopolies and trusts that restricted trade and manipulated prices.

Upton Sinclair

Muckraker author whose 1906 novel The Jungle exposed unsanitary conditions in Chicago’s meatpacking industry.

William Howard Taft

27th US President (1909–1913); hand-picked successor to TR who busted 90 trusts but angered progressive Republicans over tariffs and conservation.

Women's Suffrage

The movement for women’s constitutional right to vote, culminating in the 19th Amendment in 1920.

Woodrow Wilson

28th US President (1913–1921); Democrat who won the 1912 election due to the Republican split and enacted his "New Freedom" reforms.

Suffrage Strategy 1: State-by-State

Lobbying individual state legislatures to grant women voting rights (argued moral influence would refine politics and frontier society).

Suffrage Strategy 2: 14th Amendment Lawsuits

Suing in federal court arguing that women were citizens under the 14th Amendment and inherently possessed voting rights.

Suffrage Strategy 3: Constitutional Amendment

Lobbying Congress directly for a federal constitutional amendment to guarantee national voting rights.

Suffrage Status by 1900

State-by-state strategy had limited success in Western states (WY, UT, CO, ID); legal strategy failed in Supreme Court; constitutional amendment repeatedly failed in Congress.

Reasons TR is a Top President

Expanded presidential power (Bully Pulpit), protected consumers/busted trusts (Northern Securities, Meat Inspection Act), and created national conservation system.

Alaska Purchase (1867)

Purchased from Russia by Secretary of State William Seward for $7.2 million ("Seward's Folly"), adding resource-rich territory to the US.

Alfred T. Mahan

Naval officer and author of The Influence of Sea Power Upon History; urged the US to build a modern navy, establish overseas bases, and construct a canal.

Guantanamo Bay

Naval base in southeastern Cuba leased to the United States under the terms of the Platt Amendment.

Hawaii Annexation (1898)

Annexed by McKinley due to its commercial value (sugar, pineapples) and strategic naval importance (Pearl Harbor coaling station).

Open Door Policy (1899)

Policy articulated by Secretary of State John Hay demanding equal trading rights for all nations in China to protect American export markets.

Panama Canal

Man-made waterway constructed through Central America to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, cutting shipping time for military and merchant fleets.

Platt Amendment (1901)

Provisions added to Cuban Constitution allowing US military intervention, restricting Cuban debt/treaties, and granting US naval leases (Guantanamo Bay).

Roosevelt Corollary

TR’s extension of the Monroe Doctrine declaring the US would act as an "international police power" in Latin America to prevent European intervention.

Rough Riders

Voluntary cavalry regiment led by Theodore Roosevelt and Leonard Wood that fought during the Spanish-American War in Cuba.

William H. Seward

Secretary of State who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.

Teller Amendment (1898)

Congressional resolution stating the US would not annex Cuba following the Spanish-American War and would leave control to its people.

Theodore Roosevelt (Imperialism Context)

Assistant Secretary of the Navy and leader of Rough Riders who expanded US global power through big-stick diplomacy and naval expansion.

USS Maine

American battleship whose explosion in Havana Harbor on Feb 15, 1898 (killing 260 sailors) pushed the US into war with Spain.

Yellow Journalism

Sensationalized, exaggerated reporting by newspaper rivals Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst that inflamed US public sentiment against Spain.

Causes of Spanish-American War

Yellow journalism whipping public opinion into a frenzy, and the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor ("Remember the Maine!").

Arguments FOR Imperialism

Need for new export markets/resources, strategic naval strength/bases (Mahan), and belief in Anglo-Saxon cultural superiority ("White Man's Burden").

Arguments AGAINST Imperialism

Violated democratic principle of consent of the governed, high financial cost to taxpayers, trade doesn't require political control, and denial of rights to natives.

Manifest Destiny vs. 1900s Imperialism: Similarities

Both driven by appetite for land/trade, justified by cultural/racial superiority beliefs, and resulted in suppressing native self-determination.

Manifest Destiny vs. 1900s Imperialism: Differences

Manifest Destiny focused on contiguous land meant for statehood; 1900s Imperialism focused on overseas island territories governed as colonies without statehood path.