USII: The Gilded Age & Progressive Era

Progressive Movement

-aimed to restore economic opportunities and correct injustices in american life.

-Formed by Midwestern Farmers, Socialists, and Labor Organizers -attacked monopolies, and wanted other reforms, such as bimetallism, transportation regulation, the 8-hour work day, and income tax-

Muckraker

-journalists who wrote about the corrupt side of businesses and public life in mass circulation magazines during the early twentieth century.

-A group of investigative reporters who pointed out the abuses of big business and the corruption of urban politics; included Frank Norris (The Octopus) Ida Tarbell (A history of the standard oil company) Lincoln Steffens (the shame of the cities) and Upton Sinclair (The Jungle)

Scientific Management

-the application of scientific principles to increase efficiency in the workplace.

-a management theory using efficiency experts to examine each work operations and find ways to minimize the time needed to complete it

Referendum

a procedure by which a proposed legislative measure can be submitted to a vote of the people

Recall

a procedure for removing a public official from office by a vote of the people

Initiative

a procedure by which a legislative measure can be originated by the people rather than by law makers.

Seventeenth amendment

provides for the election of US Senators by the people rather than by state.

Robert M. Lafolette

led the way to the regulating big business. Progressive governor from Wisconsin

-direct primary elections, public utilities

Florence Kelly

became an advocate for improving the lives of women and children.

-Active in the settlement house movement -

Prohibition

the banning of alcoholic beverages.

NACW

1896, African-American women created this group; founded in 1896 to improve living and working conditions for African-American women

Suffrage

the right to vote.

NAWSA

-national american women suffrage association.

-it was founded in 1890 by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Supported the Wilson administration during World War I and split with the more radical National Woman's Party, who in 1917 began to picket the White House because Wilson had not forcefully stated that women should get the vote

The Jungle

-a novel by Upton Sinclair, published in 1906, that portrays the dangerous and unhealthy conditions prevelant in the meat packing industry of that time.

-The book led to the passage of the 1906 Meat Inspection Act.

Conservation

the planned management of natural resources, involving the protection of some wilderness areas and the development of others for the common good.

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, -founded in 1909 to abolish segregation and discrimination, to oppose racism and to gain civil rights for African Americans, got Supreme Court to declare grandfather clause unconstitutional

Meat Inspection Act

dictated strict cleanliness requirements for meat packers and created the program of federal meat inspection that was in use untill it was released by more sophisticated techniques in the 1990's.

Pure Food & Drug Act

-a law enacted in 1906, to halt the sale of contaminated foods and drugs and to ensure truth in labeling.

-The act that prohibited the manufacture, sale, or shipment of impure of falsely labeled food & drugs.

Square Deal

-The philosophy of President Theodore Roosevelt; included in this was the desire to treat both sides fairly in any dispute. In the coal miner's strike of 1902 he treated the United Mine Workers representatives and company bosses as equals; this approach continued during his efforts to regulate the railroads and other businesses during his second term.

Susan B. Anthony

-a leading proponent of women suffrage. "I would sooner cut off my right hand than ask the ballot for the black man and not for women."

-social reformer who campaigned for women's rights, the temperance, and was an abolitionist, helped form the National Woman Suffrage Association

Theadore Roosevelt

-nauseated by Sinclair's account. Invited Sinclair to the white house and promised "the specific evils you point out shall, if their existence if proved, and if i have the power, be eradicated".

-He didn't like the monopolies, trust, abuses in the meatpacking industry and chopping down too many trees. He created the Food & Drug Act, Meatpacking Act, Square deal.

Upton Sinclair

-began research for a novel in 1904, his focus was the human conditions in the stock-yards of Chicago. He intended to reveal "the breaking of human hearts by a system [that] exploits the labor of men and women for profits"

-muckraker who shocked the nation when he published The Jungle, a novel that revealed gruesome details about the meat packing industry in Chicago. The book was fiction but based on fact

Bull Moose Party

-a name given to the progressive party, formed to support Theodore Roosevelt's candidacy for the presidency in 1912

Wanted:

tariff reduction, women's suffrage, higher corporate regulation and a child labor ban, a federal compensation for workers, direct election of senators, and the initiative referendum recall process in every state

Payne-Aldrich Tariff

a set of tax regulations, elected by congress in 1909, that failed to significantly reduce tariffs on manufactured goods.

Federal Reserve System

Central banking system w standard modern currency, 12 district banks in major cities connected through one system (1913)

Nineteenth Amendment

granted women the right to vote, adopted in 1920.

Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)

-certain monopolies=illegal

-now legal to go on strike/peaceful protest

-can form labor unions

-under Wilson

Federal Trade Commission

• gov't body regulating big businesses. It investigated possible violations of antitrust laws, shut down illegal companies

Woodrow Wilson

-reform governor of New Jersey.

-28th president of the United States, known for World War I leadership, created Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, Clayton Antitrust Act, progressive income tax, lower tariffs, women's suffrage (reluctantly), Treaty of Versailles, sought 14 points post-war plan, League of Nations (but failed to win U.S. ratification), won Nobel Peace Prize

William Howard Taft

-Roosevelt picked him for his secretary of war, to run against William Jennings Bryan who had been nominated by the democrats for the third time. Slogan "vote for _____ this time, you can vote for Bryan any time".

-he pledged to carry on progressive program, then he didn't appoint any Progressives to the Cabinet, actively pursued anti-trust law suits, appoints Richard Ballinger as Secretary of the Interior, Ballinger opposed conservation and favored business interests, he fires Gifford Pinchot (head of U.S. forestry), ran for re-election in 1912 but lost to Wilson

Gifford Pinchot

-head of the U.S. forest service under President Roosevelt.

-believed that it was possible to make use of natural resources while conserving them

Carrie Chapman Catt

-She expressed her optimism in a letter to her friend Maud Wood Park.

-Spoke powerfully in favor of suffrage, worked as a school principal and a reporter

-became head of the National American Woman Suffrage, an inspired speaker and a brilliant organizer. Devised a detailed battle plan for fighting the war of suffrage.

Underwood Tariff (Wilson)

-reduced tariff rates: 1st major time since Civil War

-helped to limit the power of Big Businesses, and help commoners

16th Amendment (Wilson)

-legal federal income tax (like a stepladder: more you make, more gets taxed)

-federal gov't main source of $ (raked a lot more in than tariffs of the past)

What happened to the Republican Party in 1912?

IT SPLIT. Taft's cautious nature made it impossible for him to hold together the two wings of the party: Progressives and Conservatives. The Progressives wanted change, and the Conservatives favored big business and the status quo or things staying the same.

Progressives Opposed Taft bc...

he signed and defended the Payne-Aldrich Tariff, opposed conservation, and supported Speaker of the House Joe Cannon. Cannon weakened or ignored progressive bills and the rules of seniority.

Conservatives Support Taft

because they opposed Progressivism, Roosevelt, and low tariffs. They favored big business.

How many candidates were there for President in the 1912 election?

Four parties run candidates in the 1912 election.

Progressive Party: Theodore Roosevelt

Republican Party: William Howard Taft

Democratic Party:Woodrow Wilson

Socialist Party: Eugene Debs.

Progressive Party and Roosevelt

What was their candidate's position on big business?

Progressives and Roosevelt supported government's role to supervise big business but were NOT anti-monopoly.

Republican Party and Taft

What was their candidate's position on big business?

Favored business but wanted to break up trusts.

Democrats and Woodrow Wilson

What was their candidate's position on big business?

Supported small business and free market competition.

Socialist Party and Eugene Debs

What was their candidate's position on big business?

Big Business was EVIL. Do away with capitalism and redistribute wealth. Government runs all utilities, etc.

Gifford Pinchot: Why is he an important figure in U.S. History?

Head of U.S. Forest Service under Teddy Roosevelt. He believed in preserving U.S. wilderness areas balanced with some private development. (Pinchot's multi-use land program.)

Which three new developments finally brought the success of the woman suffrage movement within reach?

1. Increased activism of local and grass roots groups. 2.The use of new strategies and leadership to build support. (Peaceful picketing for 24 hours in front of White House.)

3.Regeneration of National movement under Carrie Chapman Catt.

(also fact that entrance into WW1 was inevitable, and women stepped up)

How did Wilson retreat on Civil Rights?

1. Opposed Federal Anti-lynching legislation.

2. Appointed Southern Segregation Supporters to his cabinet.

3. Allowed segregation of federal offices (a step backwards)

Did Taft use the bully pulpit?

No, he was a more passive president. He didn't use his presidential power to speak out against issues

What was Woodrow Wilson's platform/slogan?

The "New Freedom"

Wilson's "New Freedom": ideals

anti-trust, bank reform, lower tariffs. Supported small businesses. Keep government interaction (how Roosevelt personally mediated in Coal Strike and Suits) in the economy limited. Instead, change the actual market regulations/rules to target businesses.

How did the election of 1912 go for Wilson (besides the obvious fact that he won!)

Only got 42% of popular vote, got OVERWHELMING ELECTORAL MAJORITY

1902 Coal Strike

Roosevelt created a third party commission to mediate btwn workers and owners!

Set public precedent: when a strike threatened well being of the country, was the President's job to get involved!!

What did the Elkins and Hepburn Acts under Roosevelt do?

They set limits on the railroad monopoly in order to prevent corruption and bribery w business partners (set max rates, couldn't give out free tickets, have to tell public before raising rate)

National Reclamation Act of 1902 (Newlands Act)

Under Roosevelt

$ from selling land in the West funded nationwide irrigation (Roosevelt Dam and Shoshone Dam)

What three strategies were adopted by the suffragists to win the vote?

1. Convince State Legislatures

2. Against 14th amendment in court

3. Create and Amendment (eventual 19th amendment)

Women's Christian Temperance Movement

Frances Willard: leader (1879)

huge/influential women's group