American History On-Line Study Guide

American History On-Line Study Guide Mr. Maxa & Mr. Bellisario

Table of Contents • Click here for Section 1 • Click here for Section 2 • Click here for Section 3

SECTION 1

What was Progressivism • Progressivism was a mix of ideas and views about how to fix the nation’s problems. • Most progressives believed that industrialism and urbanization had caused many social problems.

Who were Progressive • They belonged to both major political parties. • Most Progressives were urban, educated, middle-class Americans • Progressive leaders were journalists, social workers, teachers, politicians, and members of the clergy.

What did they feel about Government • Although they focused on different issues, they all believed that the government should play an active role in solving most of society’s problems. • They also believed people should fix society’s problems by applying scientific principles to them.

Muckrakers • Examined social conditions and political corruption. • They uncovered corruption in many areas. • Some looked into the unfair practices of large corporations.

Jacob Riis • Jacob Riis wrote about the poverty and disease that were part of many immigrant neighborhoods in New York City. • The work of muckrakers pressured politicians to start reforms.

Reforming Government • In most cities, the mayor or city council chose the heads of city departments. • They often hired political supporters and friends. • These people often knew nothing about managing city services. • Bosses of political parties controlled who ran for office. • Political machines influenced the election of senators.

Galveston, TX • September 8th, 1900 a hurricane hit the town, killing 6,000 people. • The political machine running the city was incapable of responding to the disaster.

City Commissioners • A commission plan divided city government into several departments, each under an expert commissioner’s control.

Robert LaFollette • Republican governor from Wisconsin. • Attacked the way political parties ran their conventions. • He pressured the state legislature to pass a law requiring parties to hold direct primary.

Direct Primary • In a direct primary, party members voted for a candidate to run in the general election.

Initiative • An initiative allows a group of citizens to require the legislature to vote on laws the group introduced.

Referendum • The referendum allows proposed laws to be put to the voters for approval.

Recall • The recall allows voters to remove an elected official from office before his or her term expired.

17th Amendment • The Seventeenth Amendment gives voters the right to elect their senators directly.

Women’s Suffrage • A movement by women to gain the right to vote.

Seneca Falls Convention • The first women’s rights convention met in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. • The convention’s top goal, and that of many women progressives, was getting women the right to vote.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton • At the first women’s right convention, she convinced the delegates that their first priority should be the right to vote. • Help found the National Woman Suffrage Association with Susan b. Anthony.

NAWSA • In 1890 the two groups joined to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). • NAWSA started slowly, but many women realized that they needed suffrage to push for social reform and for labor laws to protect them. • NAWSA threw its support behind President Wilson in the election of 1916.

Carrie Chapman Catt • Leader of NAWSA in 1915. • She used NAWSA’s resources to defeat two anti-suffrage senators during the 1918 election.

19th Amendment • In 1919, the Senate passed the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. • The states ratified it in 1920.

Child Labor • Many children worked in dangerous and unhealthy conditions. • States began passing laws setting age and hour limits for working children.

John Spargo • Wrote, The Bitter Cry of the Children, which he wrote detailed evidence of child labor conditions.

Workers Compensation • Before the Progressive Era, when workers were injured or killed on the job, they and their families received little or no compensation. • Progressives put pressure on states for develop worker compensation laws.

Muller v. Oregon • Case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme court. • The court upheld the state’s right to limit the hours worked by women.

Zoning Laws in Cities • Laws the divided a town or city into zones for commercial, residential, or other developments.

Prohibition Movement • Some progressives believed alcohol caused many problems in American life. • The temperance movement supported the moderation or elimination of alcohol consumption. • The temperance movement later pushed for prohibition, or laws making it illegal to make, sell, or consume alcohol.

WCTU • Formed in 1874 and by 1911, had a quarter million female members. • They were oppose to the sell and consumption of alcohol.

SECTION 2 Back to Section 1 Forward to Section 3

T.R. • President Roosevelt believed in both progressivism and Social Darwinism. • He thought large corporations, helped the United States prosper. • He also thought the government should balance the needs of groups in American society. • His reforms programs were known as the Square Deal. • T.R. was a progressive republican.

Square Deal • The name of the T.R. program. • “I shall see to it…that every man has a square deal, no more no less”.

Trustbuster • T.R. felt that some trusts were part of the reason for America’s prosperity. • His goal was to make sure trusts did not abuse their power. • T.R. decided to take on J.P. Morgan's Northern Securities.

Northern Securities RR Holding Company • When the railroad company Northern Securities tried to form a monopoly, Roosevelt sued them under the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Coal Strike of 1902 • A union of coal mine workers––the United Mine Workers––launched a strike in eastern Pennsylvania. • It led to a potential crisis in the supply of the nation’s coal. • As the strike wore on, Roosevelt asked the union and the owners to agree to arbitration. • T.R. presided over arbitration, the mine workers won.

United Mine Workers • United Mine Workers started a strike in eastern Pennsylvania. • The workers were striking over: • Increased pay • Reduced work hours • Union recognition

Arbitration • Arbitration - A settlement imposed by an outside party. • T.R. stepped in personally to settle the miners strike.

Upton Sinclair • Wrote, The Jungle, which he wrote a fictional account of the bad conditions at a Chicago meat packing plant. • He intended to write about the conditions of the immigrants but the public was outraged by what occurred in the plant.

Meat Inspection Act • Passed in 1906 that required federal inspections of meat sold through interstate commence and required the Agricultural Department to set standards of cleanliness in meatpacking plants.

Pure Food and Drug Act & Food and Drug Administration • Also passed in 1906 which prohibited the manufacturing, sale, or shipment of impure or falsely labeled food and drugs. • The Pure food and Drug Act help establish the FDA.

Conservation Movement • He was alarmed at the rate at which natural resources were being used. • He introduced reform to save the nation’s forests through timber management. • He also added over 100 million acres to the protected national forests, established five new national parks, and established 51 federal wildlife reserves.

Gifford Pinchot • The head of the U.S. forest Service. • Rejected laissez-faire argument that the best way to preserve public land was to sell it to lumber companies. • Believed that trained experts in forestry and resource management should apply the same scientific standards to the landscape.

William Howard Taft • Was handpicked by Roosevelt to be the next president and to continue T.R.’s vision. • Taft was actually a conservative republican.

The Real “Trustbuster” • Taft was a strong opponent of trusts. • He brought twice as many antitrust cases in four years as T.R. did in seven years.

Ballinger-Pinchot Controversy • Taft replaced Roosevelt’s conservationist secretary of the interior with a more conservative corporate lawyer, Richard A. Ballinger. • One official, Gifford Pinchot, accused Ballinger of wrongdoing. • Although the attorney general found his charges groundless, Pinchot leaked the story to the press. • Taft fired Pinchot for insubordination, or disobedience.

SECTION 3 Back to Section 1 or Section 2

Election of 1912 • The election featured T.R. (running again under the Progressive Party), Taft (Republican), and Wilson (Democrat). • Wilson wins!

3 Parties • T.R. – Progressive Party (a.k.a. Bull Moose) • Taft – Republican Party • Wilson – Democrat

Progressive Party • Party started by T.R. in 1912 after the Taft won the Republican nomination.

American History On-Line Study Guide