Progressive Era Flashcards Test 2 !

Flashcards covering key terms, figures, movements, and legislative reforms of the Progressive Era and its associated social changes, including overseas expansion, journalism, women's issues, prohibition, city governance, and voting reforms.

Progressive Era

The first truly nationwide reform movement in the U.S., beginning in cities and involving many middle-class reformers with diverse objectives.

Muckrakers

A term coined by Teddy Roosevelt for the 'new journalists' of the Progressive Era who wrote exposes to investigate and improve society, often published in newspapers and magazines.

Exposes

Investigative journalism pieces written by muckrakers during the Progressive Era, often covering corporate corruption, political scandals, and safety conditions in industries.

Ida M. Tarbell

The most famous muckraker, who authored 'History of the Standard Oil Company,' exposing controversial practices of Rockefeller's monopoly.

Voluntary Organizations (Progressive Era)

Groups formed by progressives to address social problems, notably including efforts to fight disease like the National Tuberculosis Association and the American Cancer Society.

National Tuberculosis Association

A voluntary organization created during the Progressive Era to combat tuberculosis, a prevalent disease at the time.

American Cancer Society

An organization that got its start during the Progressive Era, focusing on cancer research and awareness.

New Woman

A social concept describing the increase in women pursuing professional careers outside the home, particularly in teaching and nursing, during the Progressive Era.

Margaret Sanger

A controversial figure of the Progressive Era who advocated for birth control to free women from chronic pregnancy, published related pamphlets, and was involved in the creation of Planned Parenthood.

Comstock Law

A national law that banned the distribution of information about contraception.

Woman's Suffrage Movement

The organized effort during the Progressive Era that aimed to gain women the right to vote, picking up significant steam nationally.

NAWSA (National American Woman Suffrage Association)

The more mainstream woman suffrage organization, led by Carrie Chapman Catt, which employed a grassroots strategy to garner local and state support for women's voting rights.

Carrie Chapman Catt

The leader of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), known for her grassroots strategy to achieve women's suffrage.

Alice Paul

A more radical leader of the woman's suffrage movement, president of the National Woman's Party, who used an 'in your face' strategy, including picketing the White House and getting arrested.

National Woman's Party

A more radical suffrage group led by Alice Paul, advocating for women's right to vote through direct action and protests.

Nineteenth Amendment

Ratified in 1919 and going into full effect in 1920, this amendment granted women the right to vote nationwide.

Eugenics

A fake science popular during the Progressive Era that falsely argued certain races and ethnic groups were biologically inferior, influencing ideas like Americanization and later, the Nazis.

Americanization

A Progressive Era push to assimilate immigrants into American society, emphasizing patriotism, English language, and American culture in schools.

Immigration Restriction League

An organization that pushed for a literacy test for immigrants, which was eventually passed by Congress and signed into law, requiring immigrants to be able to write in their native language to enter the U.S.

Literacy Test (Immigration)

A law passed during the Progressive Era, largely due to the Immigration Restriction League, requiring immigrants to be able to write in their native language to enter the U.S., which reduced immigration rates.

Prohibition Movement

A social and political movement that aimed to ban the making and selling of alcohol, evolving from the earlier temperance movement.

Anti-Saloon League

The most significant organization in the 20th century's prohibition movement, headquartered in Ohio, which received millions in funding to lobby for alcohol bans at local, state, and national levels.

Dry

A term used during the Prohibition era to describe individuals or groups who were anti-alcohol.

Wet

A term used during the Prohibition era to describe individuals or groups who were pro-alcohol.

Eighteenth Amendment

The 'Prohibition Amendment,' ratified in 1919 and effective in 1920, which banned the making, selling, importing, and transporting of intoxicating alcoholic beverages in the United States.

Volstead Act

The legislation passed to enforce the Eighteenth Amendment, which defined 'intoxicating beverages' (typically over 0.5% alcohol) and set penalties for violations, while also allowing exemptions for medicinal, religious, pre-Prohibition, and industrial alcohol (some of which was denatured with poisons).

Gas and Water Socialism

A Progressive Era reform where cities began taking control of public utilities, such as water supplies and natural gas distribution, to improve efficiency and reduce corruption.

Commission Plan

A reform of city government where a board of commissioners, each running a specific department (e.g., police, fire), collectively governed the city to increase efficiency.

City Manager Plan

A reform of city government where a city council hires a professional manager to handle the day-to-day operations and emergencies of the city, aiming for non-partisan administration.

Wisconsin Idea

A state-level reform plan championed by Governor Robert LaFollette, which involved hiring more state employees, increasing business and railroad regulations, and implementing the direct primary.

Robert LaFollette

The governor of Wisconsin who was a key figure in pushing the reforms known as the Wisconsin Idea.

Direct Primary

A voting reform where the candidate who wins a primary election automatically becomes the party's nominee for the general election, reducing the influence of party bosses.

Initiative (Voter Initiative)

A voting reform allowing groups of voters to introduce proposed legislation by gathering enough signatures to place it directly on the ballot for a statewide vote.

Referendum

A voting reform where state legislatures place proposed laws or constitutional amendments on the ballot for voters to approve or reject.

Recall

A voting reform allowing voters to remove an elected official from office before their term expires through a special election initiated by a petition.

Teddy Roosevelt

A prominent figure of the Progressive Era, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, known for his outdoorsy nature and his administration's progressive reforms.