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Unit 3 Glossary (Progressivism)
16th Amendment- The 16thAmendment (1913) gave Congress the power to tax income.
17th Amendment- The 17th Amendment (1913) guaranteed the direct election of senators by the
voters. In the case of a vacancy in a Senate seat, the amendment authorized a special election to fill
the vacancy.
Jane Addams- (1860-1935) The first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize (1931), Jane Addams is more
widely known for her role in the establishment of Hull House in Chicago in 1889 and the Settlement
House movement in the United States. Motivated by a visit to Toynbee Hall, a settlement begun by
Oxford men on London’s East End, Addams and her friend Ellen Gates Starr returned to open Hull
House. By 1893 it offered medical care, legal aid, language classes, music, and drama to more than
two thousand needy each week. Their activism in support of the poor, immigrants, and women
involved Addams in politics. She became the first vice president of the National American Woman
Suffrage Association in 1911 and campaigned for Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Party in
1912. To ensure peace and freedom she helped found the American Civil Liberties Union in 1920 and
served as the first president of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in 1919, a
role she continued until her death.
Susan B. Anthony- (1820-1906) Susan B. Anthony was a leading force in the women’s suffrage
movement for 50 years. Born in Massachusetts to a Quaker family, she taught school and became
convinced that society needed to be reformed and freed from slavery and alcoholism. She was
president of the Canojoharie Daughters of Temperance in the 1840s. She met Elizabeth Cady Stanton
in 1851 at an antislavery rally. They organized the Women’s State Temperance Society of New York.
Not until 1853 did Anthony support the cause of women’s suffrage and equal rights, but she remained
committed to the cause for the remainder of her life, contributing significantly to the effort to attain
equal rights for women.
William Jennings Bryan- (1860-1925) A noted politician and orator, William Jennings Bryan supported
reforms benefiting ordinary people. He served as a representative to the Illinois legislature where he
favored income tax, prohibition, and women’s suffrage. He earned the Democratic nomination for
president in 1896 but lost the race. He also lost in 1900 and 1908. He served as Woodrow Wilson’s
secretary of state but resigned in 1915 because he did not support Wilson’s aggressive stance toward
Germany. Bryan made a fortune in real estate deals in Florida. His last oration was as a spokesman for
the prosecution in the Scopes trial in which he supported a literal interpretation of the Bible and
denounced the teaching of evolution in the schools.
Bull Moose Party- A political (third) party in the United States founded by Theodore Roosevelt during
the presidential campaign of 1912; its emblem was a picture of a bull moose.
Child Labor- Children were viewed as laborers throughout the 19th century. They worked with their
families on farms and in small businesses starting at a young age. Children also worked in mills and
factories from the start of industrialization in the late 1700s. In 1789 at the first American spinning
mill, located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, nine children between the ages of 7 to 12 composed the work
force. The number increased to over 100 by 1799. Though several bills were introduced throughout
the 19th century to reduce the employment of children or at least improve the conditions under which
they labored, business opposition remained strong because children often performed the same work
as men but earned less. In many families the mother and children in addition to the father worked as
laborers to earn enough to survive. In 1880 at least one-fifth of the children in the United States
between 10 and 14 years of age held jobs. Many were immigrants. In the 1890s and early 1900s many
states passed anti-child labor bills. In 1916 the Keatings-Owen Child Labor Bill prohibited the interstate
commerce of items produced using child labor. This marked the first time the federal government
used the economic leverage of interstate commerce to prompt change. The bill was later declared
unconstitutional, but it paved the way for future legislation.
Civil Service Reform- In order to reduce the power of political machines, Congress took action in the
late 19th century to protect ethical politicians and to create standards for political service. The Civil
Service Act of 1883 established a commission to develop a test to administer to those seeking a job in
government.
Clayton Anti-Trust Act- An amendment passed by the U.S. Congress in 1914 that provides further
clarification and substance to the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The Clayton Antitrust Act attempts
to prohibit certain actions that lead to anti-competitiveness. The Clayton Antitrust Act provides
barriers to a broad range of anti-competitiveness issues. For example, topics such as price
discrimination, price fixing and unfair business practices are addressed in the Act. They are enforced
by the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Conservation- To conserve natural resources is to preserve them by limiting commercial development
and ensuring their wise use. Areas of scenic beauty, or of scientific, geological, or biological interests
preserved as national parks. In 1872 Congress approved Yellowstone as the first area of national
distinction. The National Park Service was created in 1916 to administer the growing number of
natural areas established as national parks. Not all efforts to conserve natural resources result in the
establishment of parks and recreation areas. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter established the
Department of Energy with a goal to conserve and develop new sources of fuel.
Glenn Curtis- (1863-1947) “The Father of Naval Aviation” and “Founder of the American Aircraft
Industry”. He manufactured motorcycles in his hometown of Hammondsport, New York. In 1907 he
became the “fastest man in the world” when he rode his V-8 powered motorcycle at a sustained speed
of 136.4 MPH to establish a land speed record that stood until 1911 for cars and 1930 for motorcycles.
Today, he is remembered as the inventor of the “Hydroaeroplane” (or seaplane- US patent
#1,170,965). Hi development of this type of aircraft began almost immediately in the fall of 1908 and
by the winter of 1911, the Curtiss seaplane had become a reality.
Clarence Darrow- (1857-1938) The most renowned defense attorney of his time, Clarence Darrow was
born in Ohio to a working-class family. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1878. He and his family
moved to Chicago in 1887 to further his law career. He defended Eugene V. Debs in 1894 against
charges of criminal conspiracy in relation to the American Railway Union strikes. His attraction to social
concerns prompted him to argue criminal conspiracy cases and cases involving union violence and
labor rights. He opposed the death penalty and supported racial equality. In 1925, he defended John
T. Scopes who was charged by fundamentalists for violating a Tennessee statute against teaching
evolution in the schools. His closing arguments are models of expository speaking.
W.E.B. Du Bois- (1868-1963) A leading African-American intellectual. Born in Massachusetts, Du Bois
entered Fisk University in 1885, his first involvement with other African-Americans his own age and his
first exposure to southern racism. He entered Harvard in 1888, and became the first African-American
to earn a Ph.D. His dissertation, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States, was
published by Harvard in 1896. It was the first in a long career of scholarship and writing. He believed
in the ability of the Talented Tenth, the intellectual black elites, to advance the cause for all blacks.
From 1897 to 1910 he headed the economic and history programs at Atlanta University. In 1903 he
published The Souls of Black Folk, his best-known work, and was already challenging the ideas of
Booker T. Washington. In contrast to DuBois’ radical ideas calling for immediate extension of rights to
blacks so they could vote, take advantage of education, and use public facilities, Washington’s
conservative approach was called accommodationism. Washington supported industrial education
and improved personal habits as a way to earn political and social equality. Washington remained the
most influential black spokesman until his death in 1915. Du Bois was active in the formation of the
NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). He served as director of
publicity and research and edited The Crisis until 1934 when he broke with the organization. He
increasingly favored black separatism. From 1934 to 1944 he pursued teaching at Atlanta University
and writing. In 1961 he joined the Communist Party and moved to Ghana where he died at age 95.
Federal Trade Commission- An independent agency of the United States federal government that
maintains fair and free competition; enforces federal antitrust laws; educates the public about identity
theft.
Federal Reserve System- The central bank of the United States. The “Fed”, as it is commonly called,
regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a
central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal
Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. You can divide the Federal Reserve's
duties into four general areas: conducting monetary policy, regulating banking institutions and
protecting the credit rights of consumers, maintaining the stability of the financial system, and
providing financial services to the U.S. government.
Marcus Garvey- (1887-1940) A black man from the West Indies, was the first to forcefully speak about
the concept of African nationalism- of black people returning to Africa, the continent of their
forefathers, in order to build a great nation of their own. His writings and ideas would inspire many
leaders of the civil rights movement during the second half of the twentieth century.
Henry Ford- (1863-1947) Henry Ford helped create a mobile society by mass producing and marketing
the Model T automobile, making it an indispensable part of American life. Through his efforts, the
automotive industry became a world-wide phenomenon. Born on a farm near Detroit, Michigan, Ford
worked on the farm, at a shipbuilding firm, and for a company which serviced steam engines. During
the winters he experimented on building his own internal-combustion engines. He drove his first
home-built automobile in 1896. The Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 and he developed the
Model T by 1908. Ford used mass production to reduce the price of the Model T, and he worked to
perfect the assembly line. He retained complete company control and used it to amass billions of
dollars.
Initiative- Initiative developed out of the political reform efforts of the Progressive Era in the late
1800s and early 1900s. Initiative is the process by which special interest groups, through voter
participation, propose bills to their legislature for a vote. In this way, voters can force lawmakers to
deal with difficult issues.
Jim Crow Laws- The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between
1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities in Southern states of
the former Confederacy, with, starting in 1890, a "separate but equal" status for African Americans.
The separation in practice led to conditions for African Americans that tended to be inferior to those
provided for white Americans, systematizing a number of economic, educational and social
disadvantages. De jure segregation mainly applied to the Southern United States. Northern
segregation was generally de facto, with patterns of segregation in housing enforced by covenants,
bank lending practices, and job discrimination, including discriminatory union practices for decades.
Some examples of Jim Crow laws are the segregation of public schools, public places, and public
transportation, and the segregation of restrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains for whites and
blacks. The U.S. military was also segregated. These Jim Crow Laws followed the 1800–1866 Black
Codes, which had previously restricted the civil rights and civil liberties of African Americans with no
pretense of equality. State-sponsored school segregation was declared unconstitutional by the
Supreme Court of the United States in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education. Generally, the remaining
Jim Crow laws were overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Robert LaFollette- (1855-1925) A significant third party active during the 1920s was the Progressive
Party, led by Robert LaFollette. He favored the breakup of corporate monopolies and trusts, public
control of the nation’s resources, farm relief, and reduced income taxes. The LaFollete Progressives
earned 16.6 percent of the popular vote in the 1924 election.
Muckrakers- Refers to reform-minded journalists who wrote largely for popular magazines, continued
a tradition of investigative journalism reporting, and emerged in the United States after 1900 and
continued to be influential until World War I, when through a combination of advertising boycotts,
dirty tricks and patriotism, the movement, associated with the Progressive Era in the United States,
came to an end. The term is a reference to a character in John Bunyan's classic Pilgrim's Progress, "the
Man with the Muck-rake" that rejected salvation to focus on filth. It became popular after President
Theodore Roosevelt referred to the character in a 1906 speech.
NAACP- Oldest and largest U.S. civil rights organization. It was founded in 1909 to secure political,
educational, social, and economic equality for African Americans; W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells were
among its 60 founders. Headquartered in Baltimore, Md., the NAACP has undertaken litigation,
political activity, and public education programs.
Pendleton Civil Service Act- (1883) U.S. legislation establishing the modern civil-service system of
permanent federal employment based on merit. Public demand for civil-service reform to replace the
system based on political party affiliation (the spoils system) resulted in a bill sponsored by Sen.
George Pendleton, which provided for selection of government employees by competitive examination
administered by a civil-service commission. Only 10% of government jobs were originally covered by
the law, but successive Congresses expanded its scope to include more than 90% of federal employees.
Plessy v Ferguson- A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896 that the segregation of black people
from white people was legal, as long as black people were given services, such as schools or
restaurants, that were described as "separate but equal" services. The decision specifically concerned
segregation on trains, but led in some states to separate schools, hotels, restaurants, and seats in
theatres, buses etc. The decision made in this court case was changed in 1954 by the Supreme Court's
decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
Political Machines- Political machines, informal organizations that control formal processes of
government, are created by elected officials to guarantee their power. Leaders resort to bribery and
force, if necessary, to hold office. Friends are rewarded with jobs within the government, a process
called the spoils system. Andrew Jackson used this system in his first term as president in 1829 to
reward political backers. At this time it challenged the near monopoly of government participation
held by the upper classes. Political machines also engage in gerrymandering by supporting the division
of election districts unfairly to assure that the candidates favorable to the machine carry more districts
than the opposition. Political machines plant representatives in election districts, make deals with
judges and other professions, and buy votes by offering services in exchange for support. Political
machines often exist in big cities. One of the most notorious, the Tweed Ring led by “Boss” Tweed,
used bribes and fraudulent elections to wrest $200 million from New York City coffers. His undercover
dealings were disclosed by The New York Times in 1871.
Progressive/Progressive Era- Progressivism was a political movement of the early 1900s, first called
progressive by President Woodrow Wilson in 1911. Progressivism was not a united movement.
Instead it occurred over a period of time from the late 1890s to the Great Depression. It began in local
and city politics and spread to influence state and national politics during Wilson’s administration.
Features of the era in which the progressive movement occurred included a decrease in voter
participation and an increase in special interest groups striving to reform society, the economy, and
politics. The movement coincided with the rise of big business and increased interest in scientific
engineering and organization. Progressives were generally more interested in a predictable society
than in individual or local initiative. Reform was concentrated in urban areas and in industry because
that was where the majority of the corporations and those versed in social engineering were located.
Reform efforts of the era did foster change. For instance, following the Galveston Hurricane in 1900,
people were hired to rebuild the city based on their knowledge of city planning, not because of
political connections. Drug inspection and labeling began, child labor laws and minimum wage
measures were considered, and women’s rights gained attention. However, efforts to make society
more efficient and regulated also led to increased segregation and discrimination. In the early 1900s a
series of political reforms was enacted to improve the efficiency and response of city and state
government. These included initiative and referendum which served to give voters a greater role in
the lawmaking process and recall which increased a voter’s ability to eject an elected official from
office.
Pure Food and Drug Act- A law passed in 1906 to remove harmful and misrepresented foods and drugs
from the market and regulate the manufacture and sale of drugs and food involved in interstate trade.
Recall- Recall developed out of the political reform efforts in the Progressive Era of the late 1800s and
early 1900s. Through the process of recall, voters hold the power to remove a public official from
office before the next scheduled election.
Referendum- Referendum developed out of the political reform efforts of the Progressive Era in the
late 1800s and early 1900s. Referendum is the process by which voters approve bills offered by the
legislature. Controversial bills, such as tax, increases can thus be put to a public vote before becoming
law.
Scientific Management- An early 20th century school of management thought concerned primarily
with the physical efficiency of an individual worker. Scientific management is based on the work of the
US engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) who in his 1911 book The Principles Of Scientific
Management laid down the fundamental principles of large-scale manufacturing through assembly-line
factories. It emphasized rationalization and standardization of work through division of labor, time and
motion studies, work measurement, and piece-rate wages.
Segregation- The separation or isolation of a race, class, or ethnic group by enforced or voluntary
residence in a restricted area, by barriers to society, by separate educational facilities, or by other
discriminatory means.
Upton Sinclair- (1878-1968) An avowed Socialist, Sinclair hoped to illustrate the horrible effects of
capitalism on workers in the Chicago meatpacking industry. His bone-chilling account, The Jungle,
detailed workers sacrificing their fingers and nails by working with acid, losing limbs, catching diseases,
and toiling long hours in cold, cramped conditions. He hoped the public outcry would be so fierce that
reforms would soon follow. The clamor that rang throughout America was not, however, a response
to the workers’ plight. Sinclair also uncovered the contents of the products being sold to the general
public. Spoiled meat was covered with chemicals to hide the smell. Skin, hair, stomach, ears, and nose
were ground up and packaged as head cheese. Rats climbed over warehouse meat, leaving piles of
excrement behind. Sinclair said that he aimed for America’s heart and instead hit its stomach. Even
President Roosevelt, who coined the derisive term “muckraker,” was propelled to act. Within month,
Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act to curb these sickening
abuses.
Spoils System- The postelection practice of rewarding loyal supporters of the winning candidates and
party with appointed public offices.
Square Deal- President Theodore Roosevelt's domestic program formed upon three basic ideas:
conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. These three
demands are often referred to as the "three C's" of Roosevelt's Square Deal. It aimed at helping
middle class citizens and involved attacking plutocracy and bad trusts while at the same time
protecting business from the most extreme demands of organized labor.
Suffrage/Enfranchisement- Political franchise, or simply franchise, distinct from other rights to vote, is
the right to vote gained through the democratic process.
Teddy Roosevelt- (1858-1919) Born in New York, Theodore Roosevelt was the twentieth president. He
graduated from Harvard, was elected to the New York legislature, wrote history and served as
president of the New York police boards. He gained national attention as the leader of the “Rough
Riders,” a volunteer cavalry unit which served in the Spanish-American War. He served as governor of
New York and then as McKinley’s vice president. When McKinley was assassinated in 1901, Roosevelt
succeeded to the presidency and was later elected to a full term in 1904. He supported expansionism,
the development of a canal across Central America, and a powerful navy. Under Roosevelt’s direction
the United States became the police of the western hemisphere and numerous reforms were enacted:
he prosecuted big business for trust violations, supported passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, and
created national parks.
Tenements- Also called tenement house; a run-down and often overcrowded apartment house,
especially in a poor section of a large city.
Urbanization- Urbanization can be defined as the rapid and massive growth of, and migration to, large
cities. Positive and negative consequences can result. In U.S. urbanization, some of these issues are:
employment, sanitation, housing, sewage, water, fire, social welfare, role of government, and political
machines (controlling organizations).
Booker T. Washington- (1856-1915) An African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor to
presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the
U.S. African-American community. In 1881, he founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in
Alabama (now known as Tuskegee University), which grew immensely and focused on training African
Americans in agricultural pursuits. A political adviser and writer, Washington clashed with intellectual
W.E.B. Du Bois over the best avenues for racial uplift.
Ida B. Wells- (1862–1931) was an African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist
and, with her husband, newspaper owner Ferdinand L. Barnett, an early leader in the civil rights
movement. She documented lynching in the United States, showing how it was often a way to control
or punish blacks who competed with whites. She was active in the women's rights and the women's
suffrage movement, establishing several notable women's organizations. Wells was a skilled and
persuasive rhetorician, and traveled internationally on lecture tours.
Frances Willard- (1838-1898) Willard was the president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union,
the nation’s foremost prohibition organization. Although national prohibition was not enacted until
1919, the WCTU was successful at pressuring state and local governments to pass dry laws. Willard
advocated a “Do Everything” policy which meant that chapters of the WCTU also served as soup
kitchens or medical clinics. She was the first dean of women at Northwestern University; she appeared
on a 1940 postage stamp and was the first woman represented in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol
Building.