Progressive Era

Conservation Reforms

Roosevelt set aside millions of acres for national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges, starting the modern conservation movement.

The Square Deal

Roosevelt’s domestic policy that aimed to protect consumers, control corporations, and conserve natural resources.

Pure Food & Drug Act (1906)

Law that banned harmful ingredients in food and drugs and required honest labeling.

Hepburn Act (1906)

Strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate railroad rates and prevent unfair practices.

Meat Inspection Act (1906)

Required sanitary meatpacking conditions and federal inspection of meat products.

Department of Commerce & Labor (1903)

Created to monitor and regulate big businesses and improve labor conditions.

New Nationalism (1912)

Roosevelt’s 1912 campaign platform calling for a strong federal government to regulate industry and protect workers and the public.

New Freedom Platform

Wilson’s plan to limit big business, reduce tariffs, and reform banking to restore economic opportunity.

Underwood Tariff Bill (1913)

Reduced tariffs and introduced a federal income tax to replace lost revenue.

Federal Reserve Act (1913)

Established the Federal Reserve System to regulate the money supply and stabilize the economy.

Federal Trade Commission Act (1914)

Created the FTC to stop unfair business practices and deceptive advertising.

Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)

Strengthened antitrust laws and protected labor unions from being targeted as monopolies.

Workmen’s Compensation Act (1916)

Provided financial assistance to federal workers injured on the job.

Child Labor Acts (1916)

Limited child labor by restricting the sale of goods made by children under certain ages.

16th Amendment

Authorized Congress to collect a federal income tax.

17th Amendment

Established direct election of U.S. Senators by voters.

18th Amendment

Prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcoholic beverages (Prohibition).

Florence Kelley

Reform leader who fought for child labor laws, improved factory conditions, and minimum wage legislation.

Jane Addams

Founder of Hull House; pioneer of settlement houses and social reform for immigrants and the poor.

Alice Paul

Suffragist who led the National Woman’s Party; used protests and hunger strikes to win the vote.

Mother Jones

Labor activist who fought for miners’ rights and against child labor.

Ida Tarbell

Muckraker journalist who exposed the corrupt practices of Standard Oil.

National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

Led by Susan B. Anthony and later Carrie Chapman Catt; used state-by-state campaigns for women’s voting rights.

19th Amendment (1920)

Granted women the right to vote nationwide.

Muller v. Oregon (1908)

Supreme Court upheld laws limiting women’s working hours, citing health concerns.

Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923)

Overturned Muller v. Oregon, ruling that women’s workplace protections violated equal rights.

Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

Reform group that advocated for prohibition, moral reform, and women’s rights.

NAACP (1909)

Organization founded to fight racial discrimination through legal challenges and public advocacy.

W.E.B. Du Bois

Scholar and civil rights leader who co-founded the NAACP; demanded immediate equality and higher education for Black Americans.

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacist group that used violence and intimidation to maintain racial segregation.

Niagara Movement (1905)

Du Bois-led group demanding civil rights and opposing Booker T. Washington’s accommodationist approach.

Chicago Race Riot of 1919

Deadly racial conflict sparked by tensions over housing, jobs, and segregation.

D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation (1915)

Film that glorified the Ku Klux Klan and promoted racist stereotypes.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett

Journalist and activist who led campaigns against lynching and for racial justice.

Guinn v. United States (1915)

Supreme Court case that struck down grandfather clauses restricting Black voting rights.

Buchanan v. Worley (1917)

Supreme Court ruled that racial zoning laws were unconstitutional.

The Social Gospel

Religious movement calling for Christians to address social problems like poverty and inequality.

Initiative, Referendum & Recall

Political reforms allowing citizens to propose laws, vote directly on legislation, and remove elected officials.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (1911)

Factory fire that killed over 140 workers, leading to major workplace safety reforms.

Muckrakers

Journalists who exposed corruption and social injustice in early 1900s America.

Upton Sinclair

Wrote The Jungle, exposing unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry.

Lincoln Steffens

Wrote The Shame of the Cities, uncovering corruption in urban politics.

David G. Phillips

Exposed corruption in the U.S. Senate with “The Treason of the Senate.”

John Spargo

Wrote The Bitter Cry of the Children, highlighting child labor abuses.

Ray Stannard Baker

Investigated racial inequality and wrote about the plight of African Americans.

Payne-Aldrich Tariff (1909)

Taft-era tariff law that failed to lower tariffs as much as Progressives wanted, angering reformers.

Ballinger-Pinchot Controversy (1910)

Dispute over conservation policies that split the Republican Party and hurt Taft’s reputation.