Progressive Era

Progressive Era

A reform movement led by the urban middle class aimed at expanding democracy, curbing big business, and fixing social problems through reforms.

Progressive Movement Aims

1) Expand political democracy, 2) Limit power of big business, 3) Solve social issues through reform.

Muckraker

Journalists who exposed corruption, inequality, and social injustices during the Progressive Era.

Initiative

A process that allows citizens to propose laws directly.

Referendum

A process that allows citizens to vote on proposed laws.

Recall

A method for voters to remove elected officials before the end of their term.

17th Amendment

Allowed for the direct election of U.S. senators by voters.

19th Amendment

Granted women the right to vote.

16th Amendment

Authorized the federal government to collect income taxes.

Ida Tarbell

A muckraker who exposed the corrupt practices of her book in Standard Oil in History of the Standard Oil Company.

Lincoln Steffens

A muckraker who wrote Shame of the Cities, exposing political corruption.

Frank Norris

Author of The Octopus, which attacked monopolistic railroad practices.

Booth Tarkington

Author of The Gentleman from Indiana, part of the muckraker movement.

Upton Sinclair

Author of The Jungle, which exposed unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry.

Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

Law to ensure safe and properly labeled food and medicine.

Key Labor Reforms

Minimum wage laws, workman's compensation, factory/building inspection codes.

Settlement Houses

Community centers that provided services to immigrants and the poor.

Social Reforms

Public parks, housing improvements, youth support agencies, child labor laws.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court case that upheld 'separate but equal' segregation laws.

William J. Simmons

Founder of the second Ku Klux Klan in the early 20th century.

Lynching

Mob violence, often racially motivated, used to terrorize and punish African Americans.

Anti-Asian Legislation

Laws that discriminated against Asian immigrants, particularly targeting immigration and land ownership.