Progressive Movement

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19th Amendment

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Ratified in 1920, this amendment extended the right to vote to women in federal and state elections.

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17th Amendment

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Ratified in 1913, this amendment provided for the direct election of U.S. senators rather than their selection by state legislatures.

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Progressive Movement

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This movement was actually many movements, some contradictory, during a time of political, economic, and social growth at the end of the 19th century until approximately 1918. The movement focused on urban problems and was led by middle class reformers and typically had the greatest impact on the metropolitan and state level.

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Theodore Roosevelt

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President from 1901 to 1909, this man rose to fame as the leader of the Rough Riders, a volunteer unit during the Spanish-American War. He went on to become governor of New York then vice president and successor to William McKinley following that president's assassination. A Progressive reformer, he worked to regulate the activities of corporations, protect consumers and workers, and promote moderate environmental conservation. He pursued an aggressive style of foreign relations known as "big stick" diplomacy. He ran unsuccessfully for a third term in 1912 as a representative of the Progressive Party

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Pure Food and Drug Act

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This 1906 law was passed in response to questionable packaging and labeling practices of food and drug industries. The act prohibited the sale of adulterated or inaccurately labeled foods and medicines

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NAACP

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This leading Afro-American advocacy organization was founded in 1909 by a group of blacks led by W.E.B. Du Bois. Led by middle-class blacks, it called for an end to racial discrimination, attacked Jim Crow laws, and fought to overturn the 1896 Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson. This organization continues to advocate integration and equal treatment for American blacks.

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Elkins Act

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this 1910 law helped to regulate employment and commerce practices by giving the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate telephone and telegraph lines, and cable and wireless establishments, and to handle any disputes in court.

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Federal Reserve Act

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This 1914 act was Woodrow Wilson's most notable legislative success and remains in effect today. It reorganized the American banking system by creating a network of twelve banks authorized to distribute currency and loan money to other banks.

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Federal Trade Commission

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Wilson's plan to aggressively regulate business led to the 1914 creation of this commission, which monitored and investigated firms involved in interstate commerce. The commission was stronger than the ICC had been and issued "cease and desist" orders when business practices violated free competition.

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Clayton Antitrust Act

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Spearheaded by Woodrow Wilson in 1914, this act strengthened the vague Sherman Antitrust Act by enumerating a series of illegal business practices.

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16th Amendment

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Ratified in 1913, this amendment allowed the federal government to collect a direct income tax. Shortly thereafter, Congress instituted a graduated income tax with an upper tax rate of 7 percent. This tax was seen as necessary to help equalize wealth and to pay for the expanded regulatory role the government assumed during the Progressive Era (when tariffs were simultaneously reduced).