Progressive Era Vocab

Progressive Era

A period from about 1890-1920 in which reformers sought to correct many social, economic, and political inequalities and injustices in the United States.

Lincoln Steffens

A muckraker who revealed the destructive effect of corruption on the governments of the major U.S. cities.

Social Gospel

A religious movement among Protestant ministers who sought to apply Christian liberal theology to societal problems. The theology emphasized helping others by following the moral and ethical example of Jesus. Called for the end of child labor and long working hours.

Women’s Suffrage

Women’s right to vote

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

An org. that fights for the constitutional rights of all citizens. (Is still active to this day).

Suffragists

People seeking the franchise for women

Alice Paul

A woman who led the radical wing of the suffrage movement. Fought for the vote in England and wanted to apply marches and protests in the U.S. She formed the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage in 1913

Temperance

Movement that encourages people to limit or moderate their consumption of alcohol or abstain from alcohol completely.

Prohibition

The league pressured local and state gov.s into restricting or prohibiting the consumption, production, and sale of alcohol.

18th Amendment

Prohibited the manufacturing and sale of alcohol in the U.S.

(Approved Dec. 1917).

Volstead Act

Contained measures to enforce prohibition.

17th Amendment

Mandated that all U.S. senators be elected by popular vote.

Recall

The right of citizens to remove an elected official by direct vote.

Ida Tarbell

Writer that exposed the corruption of John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company. (The History of Standard Oil 1904).

Upton Sinclair

Author of The Jungle (1905). Showed the unsanitary conditions of meat-packing industries and stockyards in Chicago. Brought about many reforms concerning food safety laws.

Jacob Riis

Photographer who exposed the crowded/unsafe living conditions within tenement housing and slum life. His work brought upon social reform among urbanized cities/areas.

Jane Addams

Helped improve the housing conditions of poor city people by setting up settlement houses. They provided social services like childcare, artistic, and education programs. The Hull House was a settlement house.

Muller V Oregon

Supreme court ruled in favor of limiting a women’s work day (10 hrs), but it was used to justify paying women less.

National Consumers League & Women’s Trade Union League

• Organized by Florence Kelley. Gave labels that provided that the product was produced in a safe environment that enforced women’s rights.

• WTUL advocated for an 8 hr work day and min. wage for women

19th Amendment

Granted women the right to vote (W/the help of Alice Paul and other Suffragettes).

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) & Urban League

• Made to promote protection, the right to vote, and civil rights for African Americans. It focused more on middle class blacks.

• Urban league was created to help poor blacks,

• Org. Focused on distributing clothes, teaching individuals how to read, write, and help out the under privileged w/economic opportunities.

• African Americans migrated from the South to the North/Midwest for industrial jobs. this was called the “Great Migration.”

Square Deal

Put into action by President Roosevelt to keep the wealthy from taking advantage of small business owners.

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) & Elkin and Hepburn Act

• ICC oversaw that all railroad charges were regulated

• Elkin and Hepburn Acts gave ICC more pwr to regulate against big business.