Us History: Progressivism

Front 1

Muckrakers

Back 1

They were journalists who dug up dirt on companies and public coruption, as well advocating for certain social reforms.

Front 2

Jacob Riis

Back 2

This reporter for the New York Sun wrote "How the Other Half Lives," which detailed the dirt, disease, vice, and misery of the NYC slums. It deeply influenced then NYC police commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt.

Front 3

Theodore Roosevelt

Back 3

This Republican president had these reforms passed under his leadership.
*Elkins Act of 1903
*Hepburn Act of 1906
*Department of Commerce and Labor
*Meat Inspection Act of 1906
*Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906
*Newlands Act of 1902

Front 4

Lincoln Steffens

Back 4

This reporter for McClure's Magazine launched a series of articles titled "The Shame of the Cities" in 1902. It revealed the corrupt alliance between big business and municipal government.

Front 5

Initiative

Back 5

Idea of proposing legislation directly from the people

(Failed)

Front 6

Referendum

Back 6

Idea of placing laws on the ballot for final approval by the people

(Failed, but sometimes in use by states)

Front 7

Recall

Back 7

Idea to allow voters to remove faithless elected officials

(Failed but in use by some states, most recently in California of Gov. Davis- Replaced by The Terminator)

Front 8

Direct Primary

Back 8

Idea in which voters choose their party's candidates, rather than political bosses

(Passed)

Front 9

17th Amendment
(1913)

Back 9

Established the direct election of US Senators, rather than selection by state legislatures, by an amendment to the US Constitution

Front 10

City Manager System

Back 10

Organization of municipal government to have a non-political public administrator, or City Manager, to run the day-to-day affairs of the city alongside the Mayor

Front 11

Muller v. Oregon
(1908)

Back 11

This Supreme Court case affirmed the constitutionality of laws protecting women workers. It limited employers' control over the workplace.

Front 12

Square Deal

Back 12

Pres. Roosevelt's policies of cutting a middle ground between corporations, laborers, and the general public. He used it to help out anthracite minders striking against their coal company in Pennsylvania in 1902.

Front 13

Interstate Commerce Commission

Back 13

Created in 1887, it was a weak regulator over the railroads until the Hepburn Act of 1906.

Front 14

Elkins Act of 1903

Back 14

Passed under Pres. Roosevelt, this act aimed at reducing abuse of rebates used by railroads. It also instilled heavy fines for against shippers and the railroads themselves for abusing rates.

Front 15

Hepburn Act of 1906

Back 15

Passed under Pres. Roosevelt, this act severely restricted the practice of giving free passes to public officials (bribery) by railroads. It also expanded the Interstate Commerce Commission's powers to include the regulation of express and sleeping-car companies, as well as pipelines. The ICC was also authorized to nullify existing rates and stipulate max. rates when necessary.

Front 16

Trustbuster

Back 16

Roosevelt gained a reputation as this (Even though Taft was better.) when he took on the Northern Securities Company, and then forty other monopolies in court.

Front 17

Upton Sinclair

Back 17

He wrote "The Jungle," which was published in 1906. It was meant to expose the plight on the suffering meat workers, but instead appalled public opinion with his accurate descriptions of disgustingly unsanitary food products that were being produced. Pres. Roosevelt was grossed out, so the Meat Inspection Act came quickly.

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Meat Inspection Act of 1906

Back 18

Passed under Pres. Roosevelt, this act decreed that meat shipped over state lines would be subject to federal inspection from the corral to the can.

Front 19

Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906

Back 19

Passed under Pres. Roosevelt, this act prevented the adulteration (over-appealing) and mislabeling of foods and pharmaceuticals (prescription drugs).

Front 20

Newlands Act of 1902

Back 20

Passed under Pres. Roosevelt, this act authorized the collection of money from the sale of public lands in dry states to fund the development of irrigation projects. It led to the Roosevelt Dam.

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Woodrow Wilson

Back 21

This Democratic president had these reforms passed under his leadership.
*Underwood Tariff Bill of 1913
*Federal Reserve Act of 1913
*Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914
*Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914
*Child Labor Act of 1916

Front 22

16th Amendment
(1913)

Back 22

Passed under Pres. Wilson, Congress was allowed to enact a graduated income tax on citizens under this amendment to the US Constitution.

Front 23

Underwood-Simmons Tariff of 1913
(The Underwood Tariff Bill)

Back 23

Passed under Pres. Wilson, it substantially reduced the tariff to roughly 29% and enacted a graduated income tax under the 16th Amendment.

Front 24

Federal Reserve Act of 1913

Back 24

Passed under Pres. Wilson, it created a system of banks in the US, chartered by the government but owned and run by bankers. This was the most significant piece of economic legislation before the New Deal.

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Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914

Back 25

Passed under Pres. Wilson, it lengthened the list of the Sherman Act's list of objectionable business practices as well as exempted labor and agricultural organizations from antitrust prosecution while explicitly legalizing strikes and peaceful picketing.

Front 26

Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914

Back 26

Passed under Pres. Wilson, this new law empowered a presidentially appointed commission to regulate industries engaged in interstae commerce. It regulated trusts.