APUSH Progressive Era

William Howard Taft

(1857-1930) Twenty-seventh president of the United States; he angered progressives by moving cautiously toward reforms and by supporting the Payne-Aldrich Tariff. He lost Roosevelt's support and was defeated for a second term.

Pure Food and Drug Act

1906 - Forbade the manufacture or sale of mislabeled or adulterated food or drugs, it gave the government broad powers to ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs in order to abolish the "patent" drug trade. Still in existence as the FDA.

Initiative

A procedure whereby a certain number of voters may, by petition, propose a law or constitutional amendment and have it submitted to the voters.

Referendum

A procedure whereby the state submits legislation to its voters for approval, allowing citizens to vote directly on issues.

Social Gospel

A reform movement led by Protestant ministers who used religious doctrine to demand better housing and living conditions for the urban poor. Popular at the turn of the twentieth century, it was closely linked to the settlement house movement, which brought middle-class, Anglo-American service volunteers into contact with immigrants and working people.

19th Amendment

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1920) extended the right to vote to women in federal or state elections.

16th Amendment

Amendment to the United States Constitution (1913) gave Congress the power to tax income.

City Manager Plan

Elected officials hired an outside expert who was usually a highly trained businessman or engineer to take charge of the government. People believed that this would result in the decrease of corruption in politics.

NAWSA

National American Woman Suffrage Association; founded in 1890 to help women win the right to vote.

17th Amendment

Passed in 1913, this amendment to the Constitution calls for the direct election of senators by the voters instead of their election by state legislatures.

Recall

Procedure for submitting to popular vote the removal of officials from office before the end of their term.

Bull-Moose Party

Progressive Party; political party created by a split in the Republican Party in the presidential election of 1912; formed by Theodore Roosevelt when he lost the Republican nomination to William Howard Taft and pulled his delegates out of the convention; known as the Bull Moose Party after the party's emblem and after Roosevelt's boast that he was "as strong as a bull moose"

18th Amendment

Prohibited the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcoholic beverages.

Hull House

Settlement home designed as a welfare agency for needy families. It provided social and educational opportunities for working class people in the neighborhood as well as improving some of the conditions caused by poverty.

Hepburn Act

This 1906 act put teeth in the regulator power of the Interstate Commerce Commission. It gave the Commission power to inspect railroad companies' records, set maximum rates, and outlaw free passes, which were often used to influence politicians. Scholars generally consider the Hepburn Act the most important piece of legislation regarding railroads in the first half of the 20th century. It illustrated the trend of the Progressive Era: reform through regulation.

Federal Reserve Act

This Act, passed in 1913 during Wilson's administration, established the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the "Fed." The Federal Reserve System is still the central bank of the United States and is charged with the responsibility of developing and administering monetary and credit policies for the nation. The Fed provides the nation with central banking functions that include handling of government deposits, managing the federal debt, and supervising and regulating private banks. Its most important function in terms of the nation's economic well-being is that of determining the supply of money and credit in the system.

Niagara Movement

This group, which was established in 1905 following a meeting led by W.E.B. Du Bois in Niagara Falls, joined forces with other concerned African Americans and whites to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on February 12, 1908.

Underwood-Simmons Tariff

Wilson's tariff that provided cuts to introduce competition into American markets and break the power of trusts. It also led to the implementation of a graduated income tax

Eugene Debs

an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies), and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States. Through his presidential candidacies, as well as his work with labor movements, Debs eventually became one of the best-known socialists living in the United States.

Northern Securities Company

an important United States railroad trust formed in 1902 by E. H. Harriman, James J. Hill, J.P. Morgan, J. D. Rockefeller, and their associates. The company controlled the Northern Pacific Railway, Great Northern Railway, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, and other associated lines. The company was sued in 1902 under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 by President Theodore Roosevelt, one of the first anti-trust cases filed against corporate interests instead of labor.

Womens Trade Union League

founded by female union members and upper class reformers committed to helping female workers by raising money to support strikes, march on picket lines, and bailed striking women out of jail.

Muckrakers

newspaper reporters and other writers who pointed out the social problems of the era of big business. The term was first given to them by Theodore Roosevelt.

Wobblies

refers to members of the IWW; they were scorned during this time because they were thought to be Anti-American since they did not want to support the war effort

Progressivism

the political orientation of those who favor progress toward better conditions in government and society; this party checked the growing power of big business, and expanded the role of government to promote social justice, efficiency and order in a time of increasing social chaos. This party accomplished to create the 16th and 17th amendments. They reduced the corruption in city governments and had new electoral procedures (initiative, referendum and recall). It fought to end corruption in government and business, and worked to bring equal rights of women and other groups that had been left behind during the industrial revolution.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and resulted in the fourth highest loss of life from an industrial accident in U.S. history. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers, who died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling to their deaths. Because the managers had locked the doors to the stairwells and exits, many of the workers who could not escape the burning building jumped from the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors to the streets below. The fire led to legislation requiring improved factorysafety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers.