Progressive Era Reforms and Antitrust Legislation

Vocabulary terms detailing key figures, legislation, and concepts related to anti-corruption and antitrust reforms during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Thomas Nast

A political cartoonist for Harper's Weekly whose drawings attacked Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall, helping turn public opinion against corruption, and who popularized the elephant and donkey as symbols of the Republican and Democratic parties.

Spoils System

The practice of giving government jobs as rewards for political support.

Pendleton Act (1883)

A law passed following the assassination of President Garfield that created the civil service system, requiring federal jobs to be awarded based on competitive exams rather than political patronage.

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

The first federal law passed against monopolies and trusts that restrained competition, which was initially poorly enforced and sometimes turned against labor unions by the courts.

Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)

A law passed under Woodrow Wilson that banned specific unfair business practices such as price discrimination and certain mergers, while establishing that unions and strikes were not automatically illegal restraints of trade.

Samuel Gompers

A labor leader who famously referred to the Clayton Antitrust Act as labor's "Magna Carta."

Progressive Era

The historical turning point when government and reformers actively combated corrupt politicians and corrupt business power.