Lesson 11: Progressive Era Reforms and Women's Rights

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, reforms, and movements from Progressive Era lessons on driving reform and women's rights.

Progressivism

A movement based on the belief that new ideas and honest, efficient government could achieve social justice and solve problems caused by industrialization, urban growth, corruption, and unsafe working conditions.

Muckraker

Socially conscious journalists and writers who investigated and exposed corruption and social problems, raising public awareness to prompt reform and laws protecting workers and consumers.

Social Gospel Movement

A movement advocating that Christianity should be the basis of social reform, believing communities should help everyone and be equal while supporting child labor laws, shorter workweeks, and assistance for the poor and immigrants.

Settlement House

A community center designed to provide social services, education, childcare, healthcare, English and job training classes, and recreational activities to poor families.

Direct Primary

An election reform that allows citizens to vote directly for party nominees and party leaders rather than relying solely on party officials.

Initiative

A political reform allowing citizens to propose new laws directly on the ballot for voters to decide.

Referendum

A process allowing citizens to vote directly to approve, reject, or repeal laws passed by a legislature.

Recall

A reform giving voters the power to remove elected public servants from office before their terms end without waiting for the next election.

Seventeenth Amendment

A constitutional amendment establishing the direct election of U.S. Senators by the voters of each state.

Lincoln Steffens

Managing editor at McClaire's who exposed political corruption in city governments, leading to local political reforms.

Jacob Riis

A photographer for the New York Evening Sun who documented the poor living conditions in cities, driving urban housing reforms.

Ida Tarbell

A muckraking writer who published the history of the Standard Oil Company, exposing its unfair business practices and helping lead to anti-trust laws.

Upton Sinclair

An author who depicted the despair of immigrants working in Chicago stockyards, leading to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.

Jane Addams and Hull House

Jane Addams founded Hull House to offer social services, education, childcare, healthcare, and job training classes to poor families.

Keating-Owen Act

A federal law passed during the Progressive Era that banned child labor across all states.

John Dewey

An educational reformer who advocated for teaching new topics and encouraging creativity in schools, opposing rigid memorization of facts.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911)

A tragic fire where long work hours, poor ventilation, dangerous fumes, and unsafe machinery led to many deaths, shocking Americans and bringing intense focus to workplace safety and worker protection.

Suffrage

The right to vote in political elections, which was the focus of the women's suffrage movement that eventually secured the Nineteenth Amendment.

Temperance Movement

A reform effort aimed at reducing or banning alcohol consumption to improve social welfare and family life.

NAWSA (National American Woman Suffrage Association)

An organization dedicated to winning women's voting rights that played a central role in passing the Nineteenth Amendment.

Nineteenth Amendment (1920)

A constitutional amendment that guaranteed women the right to vote, expanding democracy by allowing millions of women to participate in elections and influence government.

Florence Kelley

A reformer who fought to ban child labor, help limit work hours, improve workplace safety, and protect children from unsafe factory working conditions.

Muller v. Oregon (1908)

A Supreme Court ruling upholding an Oregon law limiting women's work hours; praised for protecting women workers but criticized for keeping women's work hours different from men's.

Frances Willard (WCTU)

Leader of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union who expanded the temperance movement, advocated for women's suffrage, and supported broad social reforms.

Margaret Sanger

A reformer who founded and promoted birth control, working to increase access to contraception and promote women's reproductive rights.

Ida B. Wells

An investigative activist who campaigned against lynching, exposed racial violence, and fought for civil rights and justice.