Progressive Era Flashcards
Undo the Reconstruction and limit government power.
Objective of the Democratic Party after gaining control after Reconstruction.
Homer Plessy (half) was on the white side of the bus/train, then he said that he was African American. Ferguson forced him to sit on the African American side, sparking this case. The Supreme Court decided that it would be “Separate, but equal,” allowing discrimination and segregation to begin.
Plessy v. Ferguson
Outlawed/ Abolished slavery in the U.S.
13th Amendment
Gave citizenship to former slaves (African Americans).
14th Amendment
Granted the right to vote to African American MEN.
15th Amendment
The right to vote/ voting rights.
Suffrage.
Year when Spindletop happened!
1901
Year that the Civil War started!
1861
Year that Texas becomes a state!
1845
Year that Texas adopts its current Constitution!
1876
The practice to ban alcohol and its consumption.
Prohibition (Temperance)
To achieve their goal of enacting a temperance (ban) of alcohol across the U.S.
The person of the WCTU (Women’s Christian Temperance Union)
Founded the Texas Equal Rights Association in Dallas, first statewide female suffrage/organization in Texas.
Rebecca Henry Hayes
The sale and manufracting of alcohol becomes illegal in the U.S. (Also is the only amendment to ever be repealed)
18th Amendment
Was the first person to own a telephone in Texas, was the Publisher of the Galveston News (He lived in Galveston)
Colonel A. H. Belo
- To ban alcohol (Prohibition)
- Voting rights (Suffrage)
- An end to domestic abuse
What Women fought for in the Progressive Era.
Why ban alcohol?
Women believed that alcohol was the center of many issues in society (domestic abuse, crime rates, etc.)
- Settlements across Texas increased in the west
- Towns grew quickly around railroad stops (Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth)
- Helped carry crops from farms to markets quickly.
Benefits of Railroads.
- Economic depressions (prices of cotton/goods go down)
- High shipping rates charged by railroads
- Farmers were overproducing cotton crops (prices go down even more)
Why were farmers in debt? (Why farmers were in debt.)
Farmers relied on railroads to transport their crops to market, they have no choice but to pay the high prices for shipping!
The main issue that farmers had- monopolies! Since their cotton won’t sell as much, it makes them lose more money.
A social group dedicated to economic reform; they set up Cooperative stores so farmers could get what they need for cheap.
The Grange
They wanted farmers in Texas to become more politically active and have their own political party specifically for farmers.
The Populist Party
Farmers banded together to fight against the unfair practices of railroad monopolies by lobbying congress and petitioning.
The Farmers’ Alliance
What group as the most effective?
The Populist Party!
Set fair rates and watched over railroad practices in Texas.
Texas Railroad Commission
Who created the TX Railroad Commission?
James Hogg- Attorney General/Governor at the time
Was the Railroad Commission successful?
Yes, within a few years most of the unfair practices had stopped.
Leader of the Progressive Movement, Once in office, he had targeted businesses and railroad companies that operated unfairly. He passed the Anti-Trust Act, which targeted these companies
James Hogg
Were jointly owned stores where farmers could buy supplies at cheaper prices.
Cooperatives
The first law passed that outlawed monopolistic business practices. (This meant that businesses could no longer partner up and set high prices!)
The Anti-Trust Act (Only effective in TX) Hogg worked with the populists.
Was the Anti-Trust Act successful?
Yes, many business were caught in the monopoly practice.
What did people in Texas previously use oil for?
1.Native Americans used oil that seeped up from underground as medicine.
2. By the late 1800s, most oil was refined into a product called kerosene that was burned to provide light.
Sparked the Age of Oil in Texas- marked the discovery of several major fields in TX and the growth of the oil industry.
Corsicana
In 1870,after the first oil well was drilled at Oil Springs, a much bigger find happened in Corsicana.
Launched the “Age of Oil” in TX
After drilling 1,139 ft into the ground, oil suddenly shot out of the ground. A stream of oil 100 ft high gushed for 9 days straight. Soon the well was producing 75,000 barrels of oil daily. By 1902, this place had produced 18 million barrels of oil.
Spindletop
Were often dirty, lawless, crowded, and unhealthy. When the oil and boom was over, the towns population disappeared. Formed around popular oil fields.
Boomtowns
The oil boom created demand for products needed in the oil industry. One of the most important products was LUMBER!
(Why would they use it?)
1.Lumber (wood) was used to create oil derricks
2.Oil derrick- high towers that hold the drilling equipment
Which city benefited the most from the growth of the oil industry and why?
As oil fields grew around it, Houston reaped the most benefits and became the center of the oil business. By 1900, it had a well-developed rail network.
Houston could provide the transportation, banking, insurance, and legal services that oil companies needed.
September 8, 1900- a category 4 hurricane hit Galveston, TX; this resulted in the worst natural disaster in U.S. history ever. Between 6,000-12,000 died.
The Galveston Hurricane.
Why was the commission successful?
Each person focused on their expertise, which made it very efficient (Became a model for other cities, relied on experts rather than politicians)
What did they do to prevent this disaster(Galveston Hurricane) in the future?
Engineers created a massive sea wall and they raised the level of the city
The Progressives believed that voting was necessary for a strong democracy, so they created…
The Terrell Election Law of 1905
What did the Terrell Election Law of 1905 do?
Required that major political parties hold primary elections.
This allowed voters, rather than political insiders, to choose candidates for office. (More democratic)
….. Texans with traditional views argued that women had no need to vote because men protected their rights and that women would neglect their homes and children if they were involved in politics.
Opposition to the women’s suffrage had claimed…
…….If women had the right to vote they could be even more effective in their traditional roles. EX: they could vote in favor of better schools, more playgrounds, and improved public health.
Suffragist supporters claimed…..
In 1918 women won the right to vote in state primary elections by making a deal with sympathetic Governor ____
William Hobby
They promised that if he would sign a bill granting women the right to vote in primary elections, they would support him in the upcoming primary.
Women would vote for Hobby if he signed the bill granting women the right to vote- ended up winning in a landslide.
Gives women the right to vote.
19th Amendment
Laws passed to limit the rights of African Americans (segregation)
Jim Crow Laws (Separate, but equal)
Some examples of Jim Crow Laws are:
1.Forced to sit at the back of buses
2.Had to use separate “colored” fountains and restrooms
3.Could only live on the poor side of town
4.Had to attend segregated schools that lacked proper supplies, teachers, or funding
How did the Democratic Party in TX prevent African Americans from participating in politics?
Through poll taxes and literacy tests. They had to pay $1.50 in tax ($50 today), to vote. You had to take a test to show you could read before you could vote, often full of riddles, but were successful in preventing African Americans from voting.
Both Latin and African Americans
fought discrimination by joining various organizations. Such as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) was also founded to combat discrimination and participated in strikes for better wages and working conditions. African Americans had the NAACP- worked toward racial equality.
What did churches do for racial equality?
Gave advice on community affairs, private church colleges allowed individuals to receive higher education, and were one of the most important institutions fighting for equality.
