Progressive Era

Question 1

Although he designed several buildings, Frederick Law Olmsted is best known for his contributions to what field of architecture?

Answer 1

Active until his death in 1903, Olmsted is remembered today for his efforts in landscape architecture. Olmsted believed that access to parks should be granted to all citizens (a revolutionary idea) and designed the layout of Central Park in Manhattan, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and Chicago’s riverside parks.

Question 2

Define:

pragmatism

Answer 2

Pragmatism is a philosophical belief that absolute truth doesn’t exist, but rather that truth is changeable. Pragmatists such as John Dewey and William James contended that by experimentation, unfixed ideas and laws could be changed to provide for an improved ordering of society.

During the Progressive Era, pragmatism proved attractive to reformers, who sought to challenge notions that stood in the way of reform and societal advancement, such as laissez-faire economic theories and rugged individualism.

Question 3

Who were the muckrakers?

Answer 3

Active in the early years of the 20th century, the muckrakers were a group of journalists and authors who exposed corruption in business and government.

Popular muckrakers included Ida Tarbell, who attacked the Standard Oil Company, and Lincoln Steffens, who targeted corruption in St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee.

Question 4

What did Upton Sinclair describe in The Jungle?

.

Answer 4

Sinclair’s novel described the travails of Jurgis Rudkus, who worked in Chicago’s Meatpacking District. Sinclair’s description of unsanitary conditions led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) and the Meat Inspection Act (1906), the first laws empowering the government to protect the public from adulterated food

Question 5

What is the Australian Ballot?

Answer 5

First popularized in Australia, the Australian Ballot received widespread adoption in the early 1900s. Under the Australian Ballot, a vote is cast in private.

As part of the Progressive Movement, the use of the Australian Ballot marked a significant reform as a means of preventing voter intimidation.

Question 6

What did the Seventeenth Amendment establish?

Answer 6

As part of the reforms of the Progressive Era, the Seventeenth Amendment established the direct election of Senators, and was passed in 1913.

Prior to its passage, Senators were nominated by state legislatures, which Progressives (and the Populists before them) believed was a process influenced by corruption.

Question 7

In the legislative process, what is an initiative?

Answer 7

An initiative is a means by which a petition, signed by a requisite number of voters, can be presented as an electoral measure to the people as a whole.

During the Progressive Era, the right to propose initiatives was established in a number of state constitutions.

Question 8

In the legislative process, what is a recall?

Answer 8

A recall allows voters to remove an elected government official from office with whom they are displeased.

During the Progressive Era, reformers championed the recall as a means of removing corrupt officials.

Question 9

In the legislative process, what is a referendum?

Answer 9

A referendum allows voters to directly cast ballots on proposed laws.

Reformers championed the referendum as a means of enhancing the role of voters in their government during the Progressive Era.

Question 10

In 1911, a fire at the ______ _____ ______ led to improved workers’ safety laws.

Answer 10

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory

Some 146 factory workers, all women, died as a result of the fire. Unable to escape due to locked doors, women jumped from the 10th floor of the factory to avoid burning to death. Some of the fire’s victims were as young as 14.

Question 11

Progressives championed government takeover of utilities, including electric companies, streetcar lines, waterworks, and gasworks. Why?

Answer 11

Prior to the Progressive Era reforms, utilities formed a reliable source of jobs and funds for city bosses. By taking control of these formerly private companies, Progressives started to break the power of city bosses.

Question 12

By 1915, supporters of Prohibition had convinced 2/3 of the states to issue complete bans on alcohol. What derisive nickname applied to those who supported Prohibition?

Answer 12

They were known as “drys.” Their opponents, on the other hand, were known as “wets.”

The drys won their war in 1919, when Prohibition was formally established nationwide by a Constitutional Amendment.

Question 13

President Theodore Roosevelt summed up his labor policy by the term “Square Deal.” What did Roosevelt mean?

Answer 13

Unlike most previous administrations, which had been pro-business, Roosevelt vowed to offer a Square Deal to both business and labor.

During a coal strike in 1902, Roosevelt forced arbitration on both sides, giving the United Mine Workers a 10% wage increase and a 9-hour day, but allowing the mine owners to avoid recognizing the unions.

Question 14

As part of his “Square Deal” Roosevelt invoked the Sherman Act for what purpose?

Answer 14

Roosevelt attacked trusts, more specifically “bad trusts,” those corporations he believed were acting contrary to the public interest. Roosevelt attacked and broke up some 40 companies, including the Northern Securities Company (a railroad trust) and Standard Oil.

Question 15

Roosevelt supported ______ by establishing some of the first National Parks.

Answer 15

conservationism

Roosevelt established five National Parks, 150 National Forests, four National Game Preserves, and 51 Federal Bird Reservations.

Question 16

In the election of 1908, William Howard Taft, Roosevelt’s chosen successor, defeated William Jennings Bryan, who was running for a third time. How did Taft distinguish his administration from Roosevelt’s?

Answer 16

One of Taft’s early actions was to attempt to break up U.S. Steel, which Roosevelt had considered a good trust. In addition, Taft fired Roosevelt’s chosen head of the Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot, which angered Roosevelt.

Question 17

In 1909, Progressive Republicans sought to oust the powerful Speaker of the House, Joseph “Uncle Joe” Cannon, a symbol of Conservative Republicans. How did President Taft respond?

Answer 17

Taft failed to support the Progressives, and Cannon remained as Speaker.

During the 1910 midterm elections, Taft lent vocal support to Conservative Republican candidates over Progressives. The move backfired, and Progressives were elected in large numbers. They ousted Cannon, and Taft’s actions provoked a rift in the Republican Party between the Conservatives and Progressives.

Question 18

During their Presidential convention in 1912, Conservative Republicans refused to admit Progressives, who supported ousting Taft and nominating Roosevelt for a third term. How did the Progressives respond?

Answer 18

They formed a third party, the Progressives, and nominated Theodore Roosevelt. The new party was nicknamed the “Bull Moose Party” after a reporter questioned Roosevelt’s health, and was informed that Roosevelt felt as fit as a Bull Moose.

During the campaign, an assassin attempted to kill Roosevelt, but the bullet’s force was blunted by a copy of Roosevelt’s speech, carried in his front pocket. With a bullet in his chest, Roosevelt gave his speech and only then went to the hospital.

Question 19

With Taft and Debs receiving little support, the 1912 presidential campaign became a contest between Teddy Roosevelt and New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson. What did Roosevelt propose to do if elected?

Answer 19

Calling his program “New Nationalism,” Roosevelt proposed full suffrage for women, increased government regulation of business, and the creation a modest social welfare program.

Question 20

In the 1912 election, Democratic Party nominee Woodrow Wilson’s plan was termed “New Freedom.” What did Wilson propose?

Answer 20

Similar to Roosevelt, Wilson proposed to target corruption and limit big business. Wilson assailed the “triple wall of privilege” – trusts, banks, and tariffs.

With Republicans split between Taft and Roosevelt, Wilson became only the second Democratic President since the Civil War.

Question 21

In addition to the Republicans, Democrats, and Progressives, Eugene V. Debs ran for President in 1912, as the nominee of the _____ _____.

Answer 21

Socialist Party

Debs, who had turned to socialism after the Pullman Strike in 1894, earned 6% of the vote, the highest total the Socialist Party would ever receive. During World War I, the Socialist Party lost much of its influence and became an insignificant political force.

Question 22

During the 1912 campaign, Democrat Woodrow Wilson vowed to reduce the “triple wall of privileges” – tariffs, banks, and trusts. How did Wilson attack the high tariffs established by Republicans?

Answer 22

Wilson supported the Underwood Tariff, which reduced consumer prices. To offset the decrease in federal revenue, Wilson also proposed a graduated income tax, ranging from 1% to 6%. Congress passed both measures.

Question 23

Woodrow Wilson saw banks as a necessary evil, under the thumb of the wealthy. How did Wilson seek to curb the banks’ power?

Answer 23

Under Wilson, Congress established the Federal Reserve System in 1913. The Federal Reserve serves as the lender of last resort, lending money to banks in the event of a bank run, provided the bank is still solvent. With this role, the Federal Reserve can exercise a supervisory role over banks.

Question 24

At the request of Woodrow Wilson, Congress increased federal oversight and regulation of business. What two steps did Congress take?

Answer 24

Congress strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act by passing the Clayton Act, which increased the number of impermissible business activities.

Congress also created the Federal Trade Commission, which it empowered to investigate all “unfair trade practices.”

Question 25

In 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois published Souls of Black Folks, which took issue with Booker T. Washington’s position on blacks’ political, social, and economic rights. What did Du Bois argue?

Answer 25

Unlike Washington, who contended that equal political and social rights would follow economic equality, Du Bois contended that economic independence would result only if political and social equality were secured.

Du Bois and his supporters, known as the Niagara Movement, founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to advocate for equal rights.

Question 26

What was the First Great Migration?

Answer 26

Between 1900 and 1920, over a million blacks left the South and migrated to Northern cities, fleeing racial persecution and seeking jobs in Northern factories.

Question 27

What organization was founded to aid Southern blacks migrating north during the First Great Migration?

Answer 27

Founded in 1911 to aid the new arrivals in Northern cities, the National Urban League’s motto was “Not Alms But Opportunity,” and it promoted black economic independence and self-reliance.

Question 28

During the early years of the 20th century, new leaders arose to argue for women’s suffrage, including Alice Paul, who broke with the National American Woman Suffrage Association to form the National Women’s Party. What did Paul advocate?

Answer 28

Paul advocated for more strident suffrage efforts, including parades and hunger strikes.

Although her methods were disapproved of by Carrie Chapman Catt, the new head of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, both women’s efforts were rewarded when the 19th Amendment granted female suffrage in 1920.