Progressive Era Notes

Progressive Era

a time period when the size and role of the US Government was growing; the federal government began doing more to help people, regulate big business, and protect natural resources.

Muckrakers

these were journalists who investigated working conditions, living conditions, political corruption, and corruption in big business; they revealed problems in society so that government could fix the problems.

Scientific Management

created by Frederick Winslow Taylor as part of the efficiency movement during the Progressive Era; this involved applying scientific principles to factory work in order to increase productivity.

Direct Primary

a type of election where the voters can select their political party's candidates for the general election; before this, the political party bosses chose the candidates they wanted to run in the general election; this progressive reform took power away from the political party bosses.

Initiative

a progressive reform that allows the voters of a state to propose a bill to the state legislature; the state legislature would be required to take action on the bill; this put more power in the hands of the voters. Alabama does not have this.

Referendum

a progressive reform that allows the state legislature to send a proposed bill to the voters to accept or reject; this put more power in the hands of the voters. Alabama does have this.

Recall

a special election to remove an elected official from office before their term is over. Only some Alabama counties have this power.

Secret Ballot

also known as the 'Australian Ballot,' this allows voters to vote in private without anyone knowing who they voted for; this really hurt the ability of political machines to stay in power.

Sixteenth Amendment

this created the Federal Income Tax.

Seventeenth Amendment

this allowed voters in each state to choose who their two US Senators would be; previously, the state legislature in each state chose that state's US Senators; this put more power in the hands of the people.

Eighteenth Amendment

this prohibited the manufacture, sale, transportation, and consumption of alcohol in the US; was later repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933.

Nineteenth Amendment

this granted all women, 21 and older, the right to vote in the US.

Suffrage

the right to vote.

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

an early progressive attempt to limit the power of monopolies; largely ignored until Teddy Roosevelt (TR) became president in 1901, this law was very weak and had many loopholes.

Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)

this law strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act by closing many of the loopholes that made it so weak; it stopped price discrimination, made price discounts illegal for RRs, and exempted unions from monopoly status (legalized unions).

Interstate Commerce Commission (1887)

an early progressive attempt to limit the power of railroad monopolies; weak at first, it was strengthened by later laws.

Hepburn Act (1906)

strengthened the ICC by giving it the power to set RR rates if RR companies would not cooperate.

Adamson Act (1916)

set an eight hour day for RR workers.

Mann-Elkins Act (1910)

increased the regulatory power of the ICC by extending its power to include communications; also gave it more power over RRs (short haul & intrastate).

Capitalism

A type of economic system in which human behavior is driven by the profit motive; people have an incentive to work hard because hard work can lead to more pay/benefits.

Socialism

A theoretical type of political and economic system in which the people/workers would collectively own all business/factories and control the government.

Communism

According to Karl Marx, this would be the final stage of socialism in which the government would fade away because it would no longer be needed due to everyone working together in national socialist harmony for the common good.

Meat Inspection Act (1906)

The first federal law that required health and safety standards in meat packing plants; included strict cleanliness requirements and also required each meat packing plant to have federal meat inspectors to verify the safety of the meat.

Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

Made it illegal to make false claims about food and drug products; it also made it illegal to make false claims about the ingredients of food and drug products.

Conservation

The setting aside of land and natural resources for future use.

Conservative

A political belief that the size and role of government should be very limited; true conservatives would want the government (federal, state, and local) to be small and have very little involvement in people or business.

Tariff

A tax on an imported product (a product brought into a country).

Payne-Aldrich Tariff (1909)

Was originally intended to be a very progressive tariff reduction (or lowering) bill; most of the tariff reductions were removed and the tariff actually did very little.

Underwood Tariff (1913)

Reduced the tariff rate to the lowest level since the Civil War (1861-1865); this directly led to a reduction in federal government revenue and was the main reason the federal income tax (16th Amendment) was created.

Richard Ballinger

Chosen by President Taft to replace James Garfield as the Secretary of the Interior; he oversaw all public lands for the US Government; he was not a conservationist and he removed over 3 million acres of government land from protected status.

James Garfield

Son of former President Garfield; was Secretary of the Interior under TR, but Taft replaced him with Richard Ballinger; Garfield was a big supporter of conservation.

Gifford Pinchot

Head of the US Forest Service; appointed by his close friend TR, he was a devout conservationist; his criticism of his boss (Ballinger) led to his being fired by Taft.

Joseph Cannon

Speaker of the House of Representatives (1903-1911); he was a virtual dictator in the House and controlled virtually every bill that entered the House; he hated progressives and tried to block any progressive bill.

Progressive or "Bull Moose" Party

Created in 1912 when many progressive Republicans fled the Republican Party after being locked out of the 1912 Republican National Convention; they nominated TR for President in 1912.

William Howard Taft

President (1909-1913); was the Republican Party's nominee for president in 1912; he was considered to be the conservative candidate in the 1912 Election; he finished in third place behind Wilson and TR.

Woodrow Wilson

President (1913-1921); was the Democratic Party's nominee for president in 1912; he won the 1912 Election because of the split in the Republican Party; he was a progressive Democrat.

Eugene Debs

Socialist Party's candidate for president in 1912; he was the most progressive of all the candidates because he wanted to replace the capitalist system with a socialist one; he came in fourth place behind Wilson, TR, and Taft.

Federal Trade Commission (1914)

A government agency created to protect consumers by making sure companies did not engage in unfair business practices; TR proposed the agency during the 1912 election, but Wilson created it after being elected.

Federal Reserve System (1913)

Created by Wilson to stabilize the banking system in the US; specifically created to protect smaller banks from closing during financial panics; the "Fed" controls the US money supply by raising and lowering interest rates.

NAACP (1909)

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; created by W.E.B. Du Bois and other prominent reformers to fight for justice and equal rights for all Americans; focused on fighting racism, segregation, discrimination, and lynching through legal means.

Upton Sinclair

Muckraker; wrote The Jungle about the horrible conditions in the meatpacking industry; as a result, the government created new laws to regulate the meatpacking industry.

Ida Tarbell

Muckraker; wrote about John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Monopoly; as a result, the government broke up Standard Oil into many smaller companies.

Lincoln Steffens

Muckraker; wrote articles exposing how corrupt political machines operated; as a result, progressive changes were made to destroy political machines.

Jacob Riis

Muckraker; wrote The Shame of the Cities about the horrible living conditions in tenement houses; as a result, cities passed ordinances and zoning laws to prevent overcrowding.

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt (TR)

Very progressive president (1901-1909); he ran for the Republican nomination in 1912 against Taft; he left the Republican Party and helped form the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party; he came in second place behind Wilson in the 1912 Election.