AP US: Unit 17: The Progressives

Progressive theorists

insisted that society couldn't afford to live the luxury of individualism and they needed more government action. They were in both political parties, all religions, and at all levels of gov't

Progressives

wanted to make the majority of Americans better but not for the super wealthy (big businesses, bankers)

Muckraking

magazine trends that exposed American corruption. They believed in fixing capitalism, not overthrowing it. They also believed in more democracy

Initiative

when voters could take action to make laws begin instead of waiting

Referendum

when voters could vote on the proposed bills instead of big business agents

Recall

when voters could removed officials that were bribed into their job

Australian ballot

a secret ballot that helped to get the true votes without intimidation or bribes at the polls

17th amendment

established Senators to be voted in by the public's votes. Set up 2 Senators for each state.

City-manager system

this system used deserving, trained people to manage urban affairs. It valued efficiency over democracy

Department of Commerce and Labor

created by Roosevelt, this regulated interstate trade. It helped reduce monopolies

Panic of 1907

America's producing more goods than before, but the money supply wasn't increasing at the same rate

Aldrich-Vreeland Act

allows banks to give out loans on other things than goods, creating more money. By increasing the money supply, goods were able to be produced at the rate demanded again

Federal Reserve Act

centralized banking system (national bank), allowing more money to be circulated when needed. Set up the Federal Reserve Board of 12 men to oversee banks

Payne-Aldrich Bill

lowered tariffs but once it got in the hands of the Senate, they saw a chance to raise tariffs and they did. Taft called this the "best bill to ever pass" which was a stupid mistake proving that he knew little about tariffs

Northern Securities decision

Roosevelt busted the Northern Securities Company, a "bad trust," successfully. It angered big businesses but got Roosevelt a reputation as a trustbuster (which is what he wanted)

Square Deal

every American should have an equal chance of succeeding. However many big businesses had allies and monopolies that cut small businesses out of a chance to succeed

The C's (of TR's Square Deal)

1. Caring for the consumers (meat inspection act, pure food and drug act) 2. Control of corporations (eliminating bad trusts) 3. Conservation of natural resources

Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire

factory laws were rarely enforced, but after a fire at a factory causing many deaths, there were more strict laws set in place, including insurance for the workers

Anthracite coal mines strike

coal miners struck for a 20% pay raise and to lessen the work hours from 10 to 9. Bosses refused to negotiate so Roosevelt threatened to use troops to regulate the mines which got a compromise

The Jungle

Sinclair's book exposed the unsafe and unsanitary slaughterhouses, causing people to not want to eat meat. Some American meat had found to be tainted with other materials. It also showed how immigrant's odds were against them

Meat Inspection Act

stated that meat being shipped over state lines had to be inspected

Pure Food and Drug Act

prevented the mixing of other possible things with foods and mislabeling foods and pharmaceuticals

Bureau of Mines

Taft made this to manage mineral resources. This was a naturalist move and popular among progressives

Ballinger-Pinchot quarrel

Ballinger opened public lands in 3 states, but Pinchot didn't like this. Taft fired Pinchot from his high position, creating protests. This spread Roosevelt's and Taft's beliefs farther apart

Federal Farm Loan Act

offered lower loan costs to farmers

Warehouse Act

offered loans on security of staple crops

La Follette Seaman's Act

provided good treatment and decent wages for sailors. Negative result: shipping rates increased

Workingmen's Compensation Act

provided help to federal civil-service workers during disability

Adamson Act

established an 8 hour work day for all railroad employees with extra pay if they went overtime

Elkins Act

the new and effective railroad legislation since the Interstate Commerce Commission was proven to have failed. It banned and fined all railroad rebates given and accepted

Hepburn Act

banned free passes and bribery for railroads

Conservationists

wanted to use natural resources for the benefit of Americans

Preservationists

wanted to preserve the natural resources; leave them as they naturally are

Desert Land Act

gov't sold land for cheap if the buyer watered the land to help growth within 3 years

Forest Reserve Act

public forests were set aside for national parks and reserves. This saved a lot of trees from being cut down

Carey Act

gov't gave land to the state if they watered the land

Newlands Act

Roosevelt was a big nature person and did a lot of work to help preserve America's land. This stated that the gov't was to collect money from the buying of public land and use it for watering the land

The Roosevelt Dam

dams like this one were made to save water to water lands

Hetch Hetchy Valley

the gov't let San Francisco build a dam in Yosemite National Park. Roosevelt favored this since he favored multi-use resources

Multiple-use resource management

Roosevelt was in favor of this. It combined recreation, reservoirs, some type of logging, and summer stock grazing, causing the gov't to ease up on preserving land so much

Election of 1901 and 1904

Roosevelt became president for 2 terms, but he was unpredictable in what he would do. He refused to run for a 3rd term

Election of 1908

Roosevelt, still popular, made sure that whoever was going to run (Republican) next was going to carry on his ideas, so Taft was nominated and Democrats nominated Bryan. Taft won

Taft

popular and smart but struggled with handling the aspect of gov't and was scared of change

Congressional election of 1910

since the Republicans split in 2 (conversionists and reformists), the Democrats won and now had control of the House. A socialist was elected into Congress which showed the step towards Socialism

New Freedom

Wilson's democratic platform calling for a stronger antitrust legislation, banking reform, and tariff reductions

New Nationalism

TR's 3rd party platform calling for a more active gov't role in economic and social affairs (same as Wilson) but TR liked trusts, labor, and women suffrage

Bull Moose Party

this was what TR called his progressive 3rd party due to a line from his speech that expressed how he felt strong

Election of 1912

Wilson greatly won with Roosevelt 2nd. There was a Socialist that ran and had tallied up a bit of votes, which held high hopes for a Socialism future

Dollar Diplomacy

Taft announced the use of this tactic again: the use of a country's financial power to extend its international influence, thus buying support by funding the improvement of another nation

Manchuria railroad situation

Taft wanted to buy the Manchuria railroads monopoly in China from Japan and Russia (owners), then he would give them to the Chinese. By doing this, it would keep the Open Door and would strengthen the US-China bond. However Japan and Russia didn't accept it and Taft failed

Rule of Reason

stated that trusts had unreasonably restrained trades were illegal. This ripped a big hole in the gov't whole "antitrust" mechanism

Wilson

born in the South shortly before the Civil War, he agreed with the idea of secession at the time. He was religious and smart but didn't like compromise and wasn't a people-person. He believed that the president should take leadership to lead Congress.

Triple Wall of Privilege

Wilson's want for elimination: tariff, banks, and trusts. He believed that they were too privileged which hurt the commoners

Underwood Tariff

lowered tariffs and started a graduated income tax, when the tax rate increased as a person's salary increased. The 16th amendment already stated about the tax but this was just laying it all out

Federal Trade Commission Act

Wilson attacked the last triple wall- trusts. This set up positions to investigate the activities of trusts to make sure that they weren't turning monopolistic and to make sure there was no bribery, false advertising, etc.

Clayton Anti-Trust Act

by now, the Sherman Anti-Trust was not working anymore. Adding onto Sherman's, this was a more stern antitrust. It banned price discrimination (different prices for different people) and interlocking directorates (people serving on both their company's competitors boards and their own companies). It also exempted labor unions from being considered as trusts and let strikes be known as a form of peaceful acts

Brandeis

Wilson nominated this person for a chair on the Supreme Court which was big because it was the 1st Jewish person to have a chair

Women's club movement

like settlement houses, they helped women. In the progressive era, they focused on social issues and current events

Separate spheres

term used to describe how many believed a woman's place was in a home.

Muller v. Oregon case

stated that female workers needed more protection in the workspace due to women's weaker bodies. Although meant to help women, it stated that women weren't equal and cost them many jobs

Dry laws

these controlled, restricted, or abolished alcohol. Many places put this into play but cities were generally "wet" with alcohol.

18th amendment

temporarily abolished alcohol sales, consumption, and production