United States History Chapter 18: The Progressive Era

Progressivism

a movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that favored achieving political and social reform through education, wider political participation, and direct government action.

secret ballot

voting system by which those who vote do not have to reveal their identity when voting

direct primaries

in which the nomination of party candidates is by party members not by party leadership

initiative

a process in which voters initiate legislation by petitioning that legislatures consider an action

referendum

allows people to vote whether a law should be enacted or rejected.

trustbusting

the breaking up of monopolies

gas-and-water socialism

government owned gas and water

City Commission

divided city government into several departments, each headed by a city commisioner

City manager

system of city goverment in which the government is handled by a city manager

Sixteenth amendment

amendment that added federal income tax

Seventeenth amendment

amendment that called for direct election of senators

Eighteenth amendment

amendment that restricted alchohol

Ninteenth Amendment

Amendment that allowed women to vote

muckrakers

progressive writers who exposed abuse and corruption

Eugene V. Debs

Socialist candidate for President

Robert La Follette

Wisconsin republican progressive leader

Theodore Roosevelt

President most closely associated with Progressivism

“Square Deal”

Roosevelt’s central philosophy — that everyone should get fair treatment and equal opportunity

Upton Sinclair

Author of the Jungle, drew attention to the terrible conditions of meat packing plants

Hepburn Act

Act that regulated railroads

Pure Food and Drug Act

Act that outlawed the interstate sale of impure food and drugs and required honest labeling of such products

Meat Inspection Act

Act that required the Department of Agriculture to oversee the preparation and packaging of meat and to inspect the health of animals before they were slaughtered.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court case that ruled that “separate but equal” facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional

Booker T. Washington

Author of Up from Slavery, sought economic betterment for Blacks apart from legislation

W. E. B. Du Bois

Argued that blacks could not truly improve themselves economically until they enjoyed equal participation in the political process as American citizens

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

a black-and-white organization that had the goal of equality for blacks and a focus on legal battles that achieved that objective

William Howard Taft

Winner of 1908 election, defended a publicly hated tariff law. Slow to act, unlike Roosevelt

Joseph Cannon

Speaker of the House

Progressive Party

Also known as the Bull Moose Party, headed by Theodore Roosevelt

Woodrow Wilson

A progressive Democratic candidate who won the election of 1912

Underwood Tariff Act

Act that the Wilson administration helped pass that slashed tariff rates

Federal Reserve Act

Act that the Wilson administration helped pass that divided the nation into twelve banking districts, each served by a private regional Federal Reserve Bank

Clayton Antitrust Act

strengthened the Sherman Anti-Trust Act by expanding the list of practices prohibited to corporations. Exempted labor unions from antitrust legislation and legalized strikes, picketing and boycotts.

Federal Trade Commission Act

Act that established the FTC, authorized to define and halt unfair business practices

Progressive Education

Education method that stated that education should be based on experience, not simple memorization

George Washington Carver

professor at the Tuskegee institute, born slave, became a peanut farmer

John Dewey

professor at Columbia University and leader of secular humanism

secular humanism

philosophy that denies the existence of God and affirms the goodness and perfectibility of man

modernism

religious philosophy that rejected the Torah as written by Moses, denied atonement for sin, inspiration of the Bible, virgin birth

social gospel

religious philosophy that emphasized the external cleaning of people as opposed to heart change

Billy Sunday

Baseball player turned pastor who worked for the MCA