The Progressive Era Chapter 9

1. The Progressive EraChapter 9 By Team Frostbite

2. What is ‘The Progressive Era?’ • Progressivism- The political attitude which favored progress toward better conditions in government and society. • When?- Flourished in the 1890’s to the 1920’s

3. Regulating Food and Drugs • Pure Food and Drug Act- Required that ingredients are labeled accurately in processed food items. • Meat Inspection Act- Increased the standards of meat used in plants. • The investigation of these were called for by Teddy Roosevelt

4. Legislative Act • Hepburn Act- Strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission, allowing it to set maximum railroad rates • Federal Reserve Act- Created 12 Federal Banks (issue currency and loans) • Elkins Act- Outlawed the use of rebates by railroads.

5. Muckrakers • Muckraking- The act of raking muck • Muck- Weird toxic slime that oozes out of the (alligator monster from batman)’s zits. • Alligator monster from batman- Killer Croc

6. Muckrakers • Muckraking- The act of using journalism to attack injustice in the political world • A main example was the usage of political cartoons, which sprouted in 1754.

7. Segregation • Separated colors from whites • “When you educate a negro you educate a candidate for the penitentiary or spoil a good field hand.” –Benjamin “Pitchfork” Tillman • Whites who sympathized with blacks felt that “we have nothing special to offer the negro”

8. Conservation • Saving of the Earth’s raw materials, credited to Roosevelt’s Era • Concern influenced by American naturalists such as John Muir • Public attitude toward natural resources(exploitation For private gain), conservationists wanted federal supervision of the nation's resources and the preservation of natural resources • Passed the Newlands Reclamation Act.

9. Roosevelt Era Conservation Acts • Newlands Act of 1902-funded irrigation projects from sales of federal lands in the West • Inland Waterways Commission in 1907-study the relation of rivers, soil, forest, waterpower development, and water transportation • National Conservation Commission of 1909-drew up long-range plans for preserving national resources

10. Worker Safety & Conditions • Workers toiled for long hours with bad conditions. Machinery was quite unsafe. • When a worker got caught in the large flywheel of the main steam power plant of a navy yard, his arms and legs were torn off and the lifeless trunk was hurled against a wall 50 feet away. • The 1890 census showed that more than 1,000,000 children, 10 to 15 years old, worked in America. That number increased to two million by 1910. Industries employed children as young as five or six to work as many as eighteen to twenty hours a day.

11. Reforming Government • City gov’t changed to prevent political machines from running the system. • City commissions replaced mayors and city councils. • Worker’s compensation laws were passed.

12. Monopolies • Monopoly- When a company owns all or nearly all of the market for a given product. • A good example of a monopoly is the Standard Oil Company. • The Federal Trade Act- investigated unfair business practices, such as monopolies and inaccurate product labeling. • The Clayton Antitrust Act- Outlawed the creation of a monopoly through any means

13. Reforming Elections • Direct Primary- At the state level, voters had control over candidates. • Recall- Allowed voters to remove a representative from office. • Referendum- Allows citizens to decide if a bill or amendment should be passed.

14. Sources • http://www.regentsprep.org/regents/ushisgov/themes/reform/progressive.htm • http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/progressivism/index.cfm • http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/progressive-era.htm • http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=progressivism • http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html • The Americans by McDougal-Littell