Chapter 21: The Progressives

17th Amendment

Established the direct election of senators (instead of being chosen by state legislatures)

John Dewey

He was a philosopher who believed in "learning by doing" which formed the foundation of progressive education.

Tom Johnson

Reform mayor of Cleveland who sought to reduce political influence in public utilities, reduce streetcar fares, and increase public services for the average citizen

Eugenics

the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics

NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

Interracial organization founded in 1909 to abolish segregation and discrimination and to achieve political and civil rights for African Americans.

William James

founder of functionalism; studied how humans use perception to function in our environment

GFWC (General Federation of Women’s Clubs)

formed to

coordinate the activities of local organizations. By the early twentieth century, the clubs were becoming less concerned with cultural activities and more concerned with contributing to social betterment

Federal Reserve Act

a law that set up a system of federal banks and gave government the power to control the money supply

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

a fire in New York's Triangle Shirtwaist Company in 1911 killed 146 people, mostly women. They died because the doors were locked and the windows were too high for them to get to the ground. Dramatized the poor working conditions and let to federal regulations to protect workers.

NAWSA (National American Woman Suffrage Association)

founded in 1890 to help women win the right to vote

Alice Paul

Head of the National Woman's party that campaigned for an equal rights amendment to the Constitution. She opposed legislation protecting women workers because such laws implied women's inferiority. Most condemned her way of thinking. Wrote the Equal rights amendment

Bull Moose Party

The Republicans were badly split in the 1912 election, so Roosevelt broke away forming his own Progressive Party ( because he was "fit as a bull moose..."). His loss led to the election of Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson, but he gained more third party votes than ever before.

Gilford Pinchot

Close friend of Roosevelts, appointed nations's first professional forester, head of the U.S. Division of forestry. Helped establish the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 to protect some 172 million acres of timberland.

Hetch Hetchy

A valley in Yosemite National Park dammed to provide water for San Francisco. Caused huge controversy.

Hull House

Settlement home designed as a welfare agency for needy families. It provided social and educational opportunities for working class people in the neighborhood as well as improving some of the conditions caused by poverty.

IWW (Industrial Workers of the World or Wobblies)

A labor organization for unskilled workers, formed by a group of radical unionists and socialists in 1905 under Haywood. This radical union aimed to unite the American working class into one union to promote labor's interests. It worked to organize unskilled and foreign-born laborers, advocated social revolution and led several major strikes. Stressed solidarity.

Jane Addams

the founder of Hull House, which provided English lessons for immigrants, daycares, and child care classes

Louis Brandeis

A Progressive-style lawyer called "the people's lawyer," and fought for public causes. When nominated to the Supreme Court by Woodrow Wilson in 1916, his appointment drew outrage as his "radical" behavior and anti-Semitism as he was the first Jewish person on the Supreme Court. Wrote Other People’s Money

Muckrakers

Journalists who attempted to find corruption or wrongdoing in industries and expose it to the public

New Freedom

Woodrow Wilson's domestic policy that, promoted antitrust modification, tariff revision, and reform in banking and currency matters.

New Nationalism

Roosevelt's progressive political policy that favored heavy government intervention in order to assure social justice

18th Amendment

Prohibited the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcoholic beverages

Robert La Follette

Progressive Wisconsin governor who attacked machine politics and pressured the state legislature to require each party to hold a direct primary. Wisconsin experiment. - taxes on inheritance, regulated railroad and industries.

Social Gospel

Movement led by Washington Gladden - taught religion and human dignity would help the middle class over come problems of industrialization

W. E. B. Du Bois

fought for African American rights. Helped to found Niagara Movement in 1905 to fight for and establish equal rights. This movement later led to the establishment of the NAACP. "Talented Tenth" of African Americans should have access to education

Who were the Progressives?

Mostly middle class, city dwellers, women

Goals of the Progressive Movement

"direct, purposesful human intervention in social and economic affairs." to regulate and/or break up trusts.

McClure's Magazine

An American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. It was in this magazine that progressive muckraker journalists like Lincoln Steffens and Ida Tarbell got their start.

Ida Tarbell

A leading muckraker and magazine editor, she exposed the corruption of the oil industry with her 1904 work A History of Standard Oil.

Linclon Steffens

The shame of the cities - corruption of municipal government.

Upton Sinclair

author who wrote a book about the horrors of food productions in 1906 - wrote The Jungle

Meat Inspection Act

Law that authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to order meat inspections and condemn any meat product found unfit for human consumption.

David G. Phillips

Wrote a series in Cosmopolitan titled "The Treason of the Senate" which boldly charged that 75 of the 90 senators represented the railroads and trusts, not the people. His indictment impressed President Roosevelt. He continued his writing until he was killed in 1911.

Jacob Riis

A Danish immigrant, he became a reporter who pointed out the terrible conditions of the tenement houses of the big cities where immigrants lived during the late 1800s. He wrote How The Other Half Lives in 1890.

American Medical Association (AMA)

The largest professional association of physicians and medical students in the United States, founded in 1847.

National Farm Bureau Federation

A nationwide organization of agriculture whose goals were to teach better farming and marketing methods and to gain political influence

Women's Clubs

This was formed by women in 1892 and it was created to coordinate the activities of local organizations. When it was formed, there were more than 100,000 members in nearly 500 clubs. By 1917, there were over 1 million members. Planted trees supported schools, helped pass state and federal child labor laws.

Initiative

voters can propose a law or a constitutional amendment.

Referendum

a legislative act is referred for final approval to a popular vote by the electorate

recall

procedure whereby voters can remove an elected official from office

Secret (Australian) Ballot

A ballot printed by a state that allows voters to pick and choose among different candidates and party preferences in private

city reformers

Went after saloons, brothels, political machines

Ida B. Wells

African American journalist. published statistics about lynching, urged African Americans to protest by refusing to ride streetcards or shop in white owned stores

Woman's Christian Temperance Union

A woman's organization devoted to the prohibition movement.

Socialism

A system in which society, usually in the form of the government, owns and controls the means of production.

Eugene V. Debs

Head of the American Railway Union and director of the Pullman strike; he was imprisoned along with his associates for ignoring a federal court injunction to stop striking. While in prison, he read Socialist literature and emerged as a Socialist leader in America.

good and bad trusts

If a trust controlled an entire industry but provided good service at reasonable rates, it was a "good" trust to be left alone. Only the "bad" trusts that jacked up rates and exploited consumers would come under attack

Teddy Roosevelt

Twenty-sixth president of the United States; he focused his efforts on trust busting, environment conservation, and strong foreign policy. Conservation was his most enduring achievement (preserving or conserving land.)

Square Deal

Economic policy by Roosevelt that favored fair relationships between companies and workers

Sherman Antitrust Act

First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions

anthracite coal mines in PA

miners strike and employers don't want to negotiate. T.R threatens to send federal troops and employers then negotiate

Hepburn Act

This 1906 law used the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate the maximum charge that railroads to place on shipping goods.

Pure Food and Drug Act

1906 - Forbade the manufacture or sale of mislabeled or adulterated food or drugs, it gave the government broad powers to ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs in order to abolish the "patent" drug trade. Still in existence as the FDA.

Forest Reserve Act

allowed president to set aside forest reserves from land in public domain

New lands act

Funded irrigation projects to turn dry areas into places for agriculture

Panic of 1907

Caused by mistrust for and lowered confidence in bankers. Peopled blamed Roosevelt

William Howard Taft

27th president of the U.S.; from cincinnat, he angered progressives by moving cautiously toward reforms and by supporting the Payne-Aldrich Tariff; he lost Roosevelt's support and was defeated for a second term.

Payne-Aldrich Tariff

Signed by Taft in March of 1909 in contrast to campaign promises. Was supposed to lower tariff rates but Senator Nelson N. Aldrich of Rhode Island put revisions that raised tariffs. This split the Repulican party into progressives (lower tariff) and conservatives (high tariff).

Election of 1912

Woodrow Wilson wins! When Theodore Roosevelt broke from the Republicans to form the Bull Moose (AKA "Progressive") Party, he hoped to win back the presidency. His presence split the Republican vote resulting in a win for the Democrat, Wilson.

Woodrow Wilson

28th President of the United States, democrat, lower tariff rates. didn't support women's suffrage.

Clayton Antitrust Act

1914 law that strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act. Made labor unions and agricultural organizations exempt for anti-trust prosecution.