Chapter 17 - Progressivism Review Sheet

Progressivism Review

Terms

• Progressivism: A political philosophy and reform movement that developed to correct the social and political problems caused by industrialization and urbanization.

• Jane Addams: A leading figure in the settlement house movement. She opened the Hull House in Chicago.

  • Hull House grew to include 13 buildings and inspired college-educated middle-class women to become social workers.

• Carrie Chapman Catt: Re-energized the national suffrage effort.

  • Worked as one of the country's first female superintendents.
  • Traveled around the country urging women to join the National American Women's Suffrage Association, which she became president of in 1900.
  • Promoted her “winning plan” and “society plan.”

• Ida Tarbell: A black teacher who helped form the National Association of Colored Women.

  • The association aimed to help families strive for success and assist those who are less fortunate.
  • The association set up daycare centers to protect and educate black children while their parents went to work.

• Alice Paul: A social activist leader raised in a Quaker home where she was encouraged to be independent.

  • She believed drastic steps were needed for women to win the right to vote.
  • She organized women to recruit others across the nation and formed the National Women's Party.
  • The NWP was the first group to march outside the White House with picket signs.

• Margaret Sanger: A nurse who thought that family life in women's health would improve if mothers had fewer children.

  • She opened the country's first birth control clinic in 1916.
  • She was jailed several times for being a public nuisance.
  • In 1921, she founded the American Birth Control League to make family planning information available to more women.

• Settlement Houses: Community centers that provided social services to the urban poor.

  • Gave classes in childcare, taught immigrants English, ran nursery schools and kindergarten.
  • Provided theater, art, and dance programs for adults.

• Social Gospel: A social movement outlined by Rauschenbusch in Christianity and the Social Crisis that emphasized applying Christian principles to solve social problems like poverty, inequality, and injustice.

  • It argued that true Christian faith demands not only individual salvation but also social action and reform to create a more just and equitable society.

• Lincoln Steffens: Leading muckraker and managing editor at McClure’s, a magazine known for uncovering social problems.

  • He published a collection of articles on political corruption, The Shame of the Cities, that exposed how the government of Philadelphia let utility companies charge their customers excessively high fees, and how corrupt politicians won elections by bribing and threatening voters, revealing how political corruption affected all aspects of life in a city.

• Upton Sinclair: Published The Jungle, a naturalist novel that related the despair of immigrants working in Chicago’s stockyards and revealed the unsanitary conditions in the industry.

• Jacob Riis: Influential muckraker and photographer for the New York Evening Sun, who showed the crowded, unsafe, and rat-infested tenement buildings where the urban poor lived.

  • He published works that shocked the nation's conscience and led to reforms.

• Muckraker: Writers who dramatized the need for reform through sensational investigative reports that uncovered a wide range of ills afflicting America in the early 1900s.

  • They were angry at Roosevelt for giving them this name, but in time, took it up as a badge of honor.

• Temperance Movement: A movement to promote the practice of never drinking alcohol led by the Women's Christian Temperance Union.

  • The members of this union felt that alcohol often led men to neglect their families, abuse their wives, and spend all their earnings on liquor.

• Initiative: Gave people the power to put a proposed new law directly on the ballot in the next election by collecting citizens' signatures on a petition.

• Referendum: Allowed citizens to approve or reject laws passed by a legislator.

• Recall: Gave voters the power to remove public servants from office before their terms ended.

• Meat Inspection Act: Allowed the federal government to inspect meat sold across state lines and meat processing plants.

• Federal Reserve Act: Created the Federal Reserve Board to oversee banks and manage reserve funds.

• 16th Amendment: Gave Congress the power to collect taxes on people's income.

• 17th Amendment: Instituted the direct election of senators by the people of each state.

• 18th Amendment: Banned the making, selling, and transporting of alcoholic beverages in the United States.

• 19th Amendment: Gave women the right to vote in all elections.

• Theodore Roosevelt: A charismatic Republican President who embraced Progressive ideals, passed Progressive reforms, expanded the powers of the presidency, and ultimately changed the way Americans viewed the roles of the President and government.

  • He is widely considered the first Progressive president, known for his "Square Deal" policies, which focused on fairness for all citizens, trust-busting, and regulating railroads and the food industry.
  • He also expanded national parks and forests, demonstrating his commitment to environmental conservation.
  • He was first a Progressive governor of New York.

• Gifford Pinchot: Led the Division of Forestry in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

  • Recommended that forests be preserved for public use, so trees would have time to mature into good lumber to be then logged for wood to build houses.
  • New areas that were placed under protection.

• John Muir: California nationalist admired by Roosevelt, whose efforts led Congress to create Yosemite National Park in 1890.

• Woodrow Wilson: Democratic president who used the expanded power of the presidency to promote a far-reaching reform agenda.

  • He championed a "New Freedom" agenda that focused on antitrust legislation, tariff reform, and banking regulation.
  • His presidency saw the creation of the Federal reserve System, the Federal Trade Commission, and the passage of the Clayton Act and the Adamson Act.
  • He also embraced new technology like the airmail service and the interstate highway system.
  • He was first a Progressive governor of New Jersey

• William Howard Taft: Initially a progressive, continued Roosevelt's reforms but was more cautious and less flamboyant.

  • He further broke up trusts, reduced tariffs, and signed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, which many progressives criticized.

• Sherman Antitrust Act: A foundational US law designed to promote competition and prevent monopolies in interstate and foreign trade.

  • It prohibits contracts, combinations, and conspiracies that unreasonably restrain trade, as well as the monopolization or attempt to monopolize any aspect of interstate commerce.
  • The Act is enforced by the Department of Justice and can result in both civil and criminal penalties for violations

• National Reclamation Act: Provided for federal irrigation projects by using money from the sale of public lands.

• Square Deal: Roosevelt's program aimed to keep the wealthy and powerful from taking advantage of the poor and small business owners, and prevent any crookedness, not to take care of the lazy and make everyone rich.

• New Freedom: Woodrow Wilson's plan aimed to provide more opportunities and freedom for small businesses by placing strict government controls on corporations.

• New Nationalism: Theodore Roosevelt's plan aimed to restore the government's trustbusting power.

• Pure Food and Drug Act: Allowed federal inspection of food and medicine and banned the shipment and sale of impure food and the mislabeling of food and medicine.

• Underwood Tariff Act: Lowered tariffs on imported goods and established a graduated income tax.