Progress Era Flashcards
Progressivism is / was -
The political orientation of those who favor progress toward better conditions in government and society
Progressivism in detail -
Progressives sought the elimination of government corruption, women’s suffrage, social welfare, prison reform, prohibition, and civil liberties. While the progressive promotion of public health initiatives and universal education benefited everyone, especially the poor and immigrants, progressives did not organize to promote black suffrage or equal rights. However, many progressive individuals did fight for civil rights on a smaller scale, and progressive activists, journalists, and thinkers formed advocacy groups such as the National Association for the Advancement for Colored People (NAACP)
Disfranchisement
to deprive of a franchise, of a legal right, or of some privilege or immunity; especially : to deprive of the right to vote
The Temperance Movement
The temperance movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries was an organized effort to encourage moderation in the consumption of intoxicating liquors or press for complete abstinence. The movement’s ranks were mostly filled by women who, with their children, had endured the effects of unbridled drinking by many of their menfolk. In fact, alcohol was blamed for many of society’s demerits, among them severe health problems, destitution and crime. At first, they used moral suasion to address the problem.
Muckrakers
People in the United States had long been displeased with the unsafe conditions, political corruption and social injustice of the industrial age, but it was not until the late 19th century that the proliferation of cheap newspapers and magazines galvanized widespread opposition. Writers directed their criticisms against the trusts (oil, beef and tobacco), prison conditions, exploitation of natural resources, the tax system, the insurance industry, pension practices and food processing, among others.
Theodore Roosevelt, however, became angry when he read a bitter indictment of the political corruption of the day. The president, clearly one of the most fervent reformers, believed that some of the writers were going too far, and cited the muckraker image in a speech on April 14, 1906, criticizing the excesses of investigative journalism.
Interstate Commerce Act
In 1887, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act which created the Interstate Commerce Commission, the first true federal regulatory agency. It was designed to address the issues of railroad abuse and discrimination and required the following:
1 Shipping rates had to be “reasonable and just”
2 Rates had to be published
3 Secret rebates were outlawed
4 Price discrimination against small markets was made illegal.
Good Government Movements
The rise of experts, 1908, the first City Manager hired. - emerged during the early 20th century. The reformists involved in that movement created a new governance model for local government. Rather than focusing on politics, this new form of governance recognized that local governments are indeed public “corporations” that provide the services upon which our quality of life depends and which should be managed as businesses.
Margaret Sanger (1879-1966)
Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood. She devoted her life to legalizing birth control and making it universally available for women. Born in 1879, Sanger came of age during the heyday of the Comstock Act, a federal statute that criminalized contraceptives. Margaret Sanger believed that the only way to change the law was to break it. Starting in the 1910s, Sanger actively challenged federal and state Comstock laws to bring birth control information and contraceptive devices to women. Her fervent ambition was to find the perfect contraceptive to relieve women from the horrible strain of repeated, unwanted pregnancies.
John Dewey
Thought the best way to salvage modern culture was to train for social.
America`s best known philosopher and proponent of pragmatism, or “instrumentalism” as he called his version of it. Heavily influenced by Darwin, and tried to interpret thinking as an attempt to resolve tension and conflict.
Adopted “learning by doing” as his watchword.
Also helped to organize the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Association of University Professors. Along with Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, he was one of the great influences on the concept of “legal realism,” according to which judges take an active role in making law and should understand the social consequences of their decision. Today, this is sometimes described as “legal activism.”
Dewey died on June 1, 1952 at the age of 92 in New York City.
16th Amendment
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
17th Amendment
This was the election of US senators by popular vote instead of by state legislatures. Recall allowed voters to remove unsatisfactory public officials from office, and for the first time, politicians had to be held accountable.
Booker T. Washington
Prominent black American, born into slavery, who believed that racism would end once blacks acquired useful labor skills and proved their economic value to society, was head of the Tuskegee Institute in 1881. Wrote book “Up from Slavery.”
Federal Reserve Act
Sparked by the Panic of 1893 and 1907, this 1913 act created the Federal Reserve System, which issued paper money controlled by government banks.
Federal Trade Commission
Investigated the activities of trusts and stop unfair trade practices. Enabled the government to more easily kill monopolies.
Food and Drug Act
This act creates the FDCA; the federal law that regulates the quality, purity, potency, effectiveness, safety, labeling, and packaging of food, drugs, and cosmetic products.
