Progressive Era

1. Progressive Era 1900-1920

2. Social Darwinism • The idea that people and societies compete for survival, with the fit becoming wealthy and successful while the weak struggle to survive. • Examples: Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller • Government should stay out of people’s lives

3. Progressivism • Reform movement concerned with curing the ills caused by industrialization. • Many different views on how to fix the ill’s of society

4. Theodore Roosevelt • Roosevelt emerged spectacularly as a "trust buster" by forcing the dissolution of a great railroad combination in the Northwest. Other antitrust suits under the Sherman Act followed. • Some of Roosevelt's most effective achievements were in conservation.

5. William Taft • William Howard Taft (1857-1930)--Republican President of the United States from 1909 to 1913. The United States' most corpulent chief executive, Taft stayed close to the policies of Roosevelt at the beginning of his term. Later in his presidency, however, Taft favored conservative measures, such as a high protective tariff, and lost popularity. • His administration initiated 80 antitrust suits and submitted to the states amendments for a Federal income tax and the direct election of Senators. A postal savings system was established, and the Interstate Commerce Commission was directed to set railroad rates. • Broke more trust than Teddy Roosevelt

6. Woodrow Wilson • The Underwood Act-which called for income tax • The passage of the Federal Reserve • In 1914 antitrust legislation established a Federal Trade Commission to prohibit unfair business practices. • Another burst of legislation followed in 1916. One new law prohibited child labor; another limited railroad workers to an eight-hour day.

7. Upton Sinclair • Muckraker • President Theodore Roosevelt read The Jungle and ordered an investigation of the meat-packing industry. He also met Sinclair and told him that while he disapproved of the way the book preached socialism he agreed that "radical action must be taken to do away with the efforts of arrogant and selfish greed on the part of the capitalist." • With the passing of the Pure Food and Drugs Act (1906) and the Meat Inspection Act (1906), Sinclair was able to show that novelists could help change the law.

8. Lincoln Steffens • Muckraker • In 1892 Steffens became a reporter on the New York Evening Post. Later he became editor of McClure's Magazine, where he became associated with the style of investigative journalism that became known as muckraking. One of Steffen's major investigations involved exposing local government corruption. A collection of Steffen's articles appeared in the book The Shame of the Cities (1904). This was followed by an investigation into state politicians, The Struggle for Self-Government (1906).

9. Jacob Riis • Muckraker • When Jacob A. Riis, a police reporter in New York, began his personal campaign to expose the misery of the underprivileged living in the crime-infested slums of the lower East side, he soon found that the printed word was not sufficiently convincing, and so he turned to photography by flashlight.

10. Carrie Chapman Catt • Key coordinator of the woman suffrage movement and skillful political strategist, Carrie (Lane) Chapman Catt revitalized the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and played a leading role in its successful campaign to win voting rights for women. In 1920 she founded the League of Women Voters upon ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

11. Jane Addams • Jane Addams is remembered primarily as a founder of the Settlement House Movement. She and her friend Ellen Starr founded Hull House in the slums of Chicago in 1889. She is also remembered as the first American Woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

12. Robert La Follette • Nicknamed “Fighting Bob” he crusaded relentlessly for reforms that expanded democracy, increased government efficiency and protected natural resources. • Responsible for establishing Direct Primaries • Initiative, Referendum and Recall

13. Ida Tarbell • Muckraker • She was a part of a group of journalist known as the muckrakers. • She was the journalist who single-handedly caused John D. Rockefeller's mighty Standard Oil Company to crumble in the early 1900s.

14. John Muir • John Muir (April 21, 1838 - December 24, 1914) was an environmentalist, naturalist, traveler, writer, and scientist. He is, however, probably best remembered as one of the greatest champions of the Yosemite area's natural wonders. • Mr. Stewart’s Hero

15. William E.B. Du Bois • Very active in the fight for social justice for African-Americans . • Helped start the NAACP in 1909 (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

16. Alice Paul • A brilliant organizer and activist, Alice Paul believed that women would never be given the vote; they had to demand it. • In the U.S., she joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1910 • She was instrumental in bringing about ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 • Use of protest, Controversial

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