Chapter 22 - The Progressive Era (1900-1920)

Question 1

Explain why historians have a difficult time describing the Progressives.

Answer 1

They were a diverse group of people that were not clearly definable. Moreover, there were a plethora of different reform agendas that all become incorporated into the concept of progressivism.

Question 2

Which political party expressed progressivism’s ideals.

Answer 2

The Republican, Democratic, and Bull Moose Party all embraced many progressive initiatives.

Question 3

Define the three different historical interpretations of the Progressive Era and the years they were popular.

Answer 3

1) The “Status Revolt” Thesis - Americans who thought they were losing power attempted to hold it through reform initiatives - 1940-1950
2) The “Search for Order” Thesis - An Attempt to Impose Order into what seemed to be an unstable society - 1960-1970
3) The Intervention Thesis - Someone had to intervene to make sense of the brand new political, social, and economic landscape. - Modern Era.

Question 4

What brought about the Progressive Era?

Answer 4

Response to changes wrought by industrialization, immigration, and urbanization.

Question 5

What three dynamics radically reshaped America?

Answer 5

1) Urbanization
2) Immigration
3) Industrialization

Question 6

What class primarily supported the Progressive movement?

Answer 6

The Middle Class

Question 7

Why did businessmen support the Progressive movement?

Answer 7

They believed small amounts of strategically-placed government action would help the Business environment.

Question 8

What key actor helped push reform efforts?

Answer 8

Shifting Coalitions.

Question 9

Define shifting coalitions.

Answer 9

When a group with a reform agenda would partner with other groups to pass a single reform agenda and pattern with different groups to pass other pieces of that agenda.

Question 10

List five key elements of the progressive worldview.

Answer 10

1) Christian Presuppositions and a desire to do what is morally right. (Thus Moral Crusades)
2) A faith in science and its methods to promote efficiency and organization. (Gospel of Efficiency.)
3) The conviction that rational orderly, and structured management was superior to person management.
4) Optimism that humans can solve all their socio-economic problems via regulation, policing, and management.
5) A belief in democratic methods, especially if it meant taking power away from big business and urban machines.

Question 11

Define the four categories of Progressive Era reforms.

Answer 11

1) Business Regulations - Moving Away From Unbridled Capitalism to Some Regulation on Some Business Activity.
2) Good Government Reforms - Wanted to Give Power to the People and dismantle to corrupt political practices that occurred during the Gilded Age.
3) Social Justice Measures - Addressing unjust conditions such as child labor, prostitution, starvation wages, and false advertising.
4) Social Control Measures - Reestablish traditional morals and cultural standards. (Temperance and Blue Laws.)

Question 12

In what region was Progressivism the weakest?

Answer 12

The South.

Question 13

Describe Western Progressivism.

Answer 13

Target railroad companies to reduce their influence and regulating the industry. Large amounts of democratization occurred and they took the lead in granting women the right to vote.

Question 14

What characteristics made Progressivism strong in the Midwest and Northeast?

Answer 14

1) Urban Growth
2) Industrial Growth
3) Numerous Immigrants
4) A Sizable Middle Class That Included Professionals and Business Men.

Question 15

In what two regions was Progressivism the strongest?

Answer 15

1) The Northeast.

2) The Midwest.

Question 16

Who launched the Progressive movement?

Answer 16

Early 1900s investigative journalists.

Question 17

What was the ancestor movement to the Progressives?

Answer 17

The Populist Movement.

Question 18

Why was populism defeated in the election of 1896?

Answer 18

1) William Jennings Bryan was defeated.
2) Populist Ideas were carried forward by the minority Democratic Party.
3) fusion with the Democrats stripped populists of their energy and repeal.

Question 19

What were the most important acts of protocol-Progressive legislation in the 1800s?

Answer 19

1) The Pendleton Act - Launched Widespread Civil Service Reform (Ended the Spoils System)
2) The Sherman Anti-Trust Act
3) The Creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Question 20

What were the three main pre-Progressive private sector. reform movements?

Answer 20

1) Ida Wells’ Anti-Lynching Campaign
2) Jane Addams Settlement House Movement
3) Francis Willard’s Women’s Christian Temperance Movement (WCTU)

Question 21

What form of business integration did private reform groups follow?

Answer 21

Horizontal Integration.

Question 22

What notable organizations followed this horizontal integration strategy?

Answer 22

1) The American Bar Association
2) The American Medical Association
3) The American Association of University Professors

Question 23

What were magazine journalists who helped trigger the Progressive movement nicknamed?

Answer 23

Muckrakers.

Question 24

Where does the term Muckraker originate?

Answer 24

John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.

Question 25

Which President popularized the term Muckraker?

Answer 25

Theodore Roosevelt.

Question 26

List some notable instances of investigative journalists' muckraking.

Answer 26

1) Ida Tarbell's exposure of Standard Oil Company's business practices. 2) Upton Sinclair's disclosure of life inside a Chicago meat-packing plant in The Jungle. 3) Lincoln Stephens exposed political corruption and rampant undemocratic practices in his series "The Shame of the Cities." 4) Ray Stannard Baker investigated ways that black Americans were deprived of their full citizenship rights. 5) Jacob Riis was a photojournalist who published his photos of terrible living conditions in NYC in "How the Other Half Lives" 6) Henry Lloyd and Frank Norris.

Question 27

What was the Progressive Era able to do in regards to government that was the first of its kind?

Answer 27

Far-reaching government intervention.

Question 28

What is the term used to categorize Progressives who advocated private sector reforms and programs?

Answer 28

Voluntarism.

Question 29

List a few examples of Voluntarism.

Answer 29

1) Voluntary Business Led Trade Associations. 2) Jane Addams Hull Houses 3) The setting of professional standards by the ABA, AMA, and other professional organizations. 4) Christian Ministries - Such as the Salvation Army and the YMCA.

Question 30

When did the Social Gospel Movement occur?

Answer 30

From about 1880-1929.

Question 31

Who were the primary champions of the Social Gospel Movement?

Answer 31

1) Washington Gladden | 2) Walter Rauschenbusch.

Question 32

What was the Social Gospel Movement?

Answer 32

A movement that pushed social justice, humanitarian assistance, and attacks on economic oppression to the forefront and lessened the emphasis on conversions.

Question 33

What were the two fronts of the Social Gospel movement?

Answer 33

1) Churches Provided Assistance to Distressed Urban Dwellers | 2) Churches Urged Christian Businessmen to conduct their businesses with equity and justice.

Question 34

Where did the concept WWJD originate?

Answer 34

Charles Sheldon's book In His Steps.

Question 35

Why did the Social Gospel Movement catch on so quickly?

Answer 35

1) The Civil War caused Americans to question the Bible's accuracy and usefulness. 2) Darwin and His Theory of Evolution caused people to repudiate the scientific and historical accuracy of Scripture.

Question 36

What two events sparked the birth of the Fundamentalist movement?

Answer 36

1) Darwin's Theory of Evolution | 2) The Scopes Trial.

Question 37

Define the Fundamentalist Movement.

Answer 37

Reaffirmed the basic "fundamentals" of the faith and openly identified themselves as Fundamentalists. Moreover, they often retreated from Broader non-Christian culture.

Question 38

What denominations were included in the Fundamentalist movement?

Answer 38

1) Presbyterians 2) Baptists 3) Anglicans 4) Methodists

Question 39

What reforms did Social Darwinists utterly reject?

Answer 39

Those that would weaken or soften pure capitalism.

Question 40

What movement arose out of Social Darwinisms exposure to Progressive America?

Answer 40

Reform Darwinism.

Question 41

What is Reform Darwinism?

Answer 41

Humans could aid the evolutionary process with well-placed interventions.

Question 42

What other major intellectual concept aided Progressive reforms?

Answer 42

Pragmatism

Question 43

Define pragmatism.

Answer 43

The belief that truth is only whatever works and yields a desirable result.

Question 44

Who was the spokesman for Reform Darwinism?

Answer 44

Lester Frank Ward.

Question 45

Who was the spokesman for Pragmatism?

Answer 45

1) William James | 2) John Dewey.

Question 46

What social reform project did John Dewey undertake?

Answer 46

The creation of public schools based on the progressive model of hands on experience to determine truth.

Question 47

On what level of government did Progressive begin?

Answer 47

City government.

Question 48

Why did Progressivism begin in cities?

Answer 48

1) Urban and local problems were the primary concern in the late 1800s 2) Reformers were optimistic they could tackle close-up problems. 3) The public was more willing to trust local reformers that they knew. 4) Urban political machines were corrupt and presented colorful targets for reformers.

Question 49

How successful were Progressive Reform movements in cities?

Answer 49

Not very.

Question 50

Why were city Progressive Reform movements not successful?

Answer 50

Reforms could diagnose complex problems but not solve them. (Infrastructure etc.)

Question 51

What was the major effect of Progressive Reform movements in cities?

Answer 51

It forced the Urban political machine to clean up its act.

Question 52

What were the common state-level laws of the Progressive movement?

Answer 52

1) Purging the Electorate of Unqualified (Black and Immigrant) Voters and Giving the Remaining Electorate More Power 2) Independent Regulatory Commissions. 3) Minimal Workers Compensation Laws 4) Modest Gains in Labor Legislation (Protective for Women and Children) 5) Penal Reform, The Invention of Reform Boards, and Juvenile Courts 6) Initial Public Safety Regulations (Speed Limits and Licenses) 7) Prohibition 8) Anti-Narcotic Laws 9) Anti-Prostitution Laws

Question 53

What President Helped Cement the National Progressive Movement among pro-business parties?

Answer 53

Theodore Roosevelt.

Question 54

What three Presidents supported Progressive Reforms?

Answer 54

1) Theodore Roosevelt. 2) Woodrow Wilson 3) William Howard Taft

Question 55

What event caused Theodore Roosevelt to take office?

Answer 55

The Assassination of McKinley.

Question 56

What action by Roosevelt gave organized labor a huge victory?

Answer 56

His refusal to side with the owners and refusing to send in federal troops to quell a strike.

Question 57

What two federal acts did TR support that targeted the Railroad Industry?

Answer 57

1) The Elkins Act | 2) The Hepburn Act

Question 58

After reading The Jungle, what bills did TR pass?

Answer 58

1) The Pure Food and Drug Act | 2) The Meat Inspection Act

Question 59

What policy did TR take towards land in the west?

Answer 59

He set aside millions of acres of Western land as permanent wildlife refugees, national parks, and national forests.

Question 60

How many anti-trust prosecutions did TR initiate?

Answer 60

24.

Question 61

What two notable companies were prosecuted under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act?

Answer 61

1) The Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads | 2) The Swift Beef Trust.

Question 62

What effect did TR have on the future of progressivism?

Answer 62

He made it more safe for Presidents to be Progressive.

Question 63

Why did Progressives embrace government regulations of trusts?

Answer 63

1) Monopolies seemed to threaten economic opportunity. 2) Some monopolies killed free market competition and deceived investors to raise capital. 3) Progressives were anti-bad monopolies (Pro-Competition) 4) Powerful Businesses, like Powerful Politicians, should have their influence checked and balanced.

Question 64

Who followed TR's administration?

Answer 64

William Howard Taft.

Question 65

How successful was Taft at pushing the Progressive Agenda?

Answer 65

Not very. He made enemies and stumbled into positions where he could not move for progressive reforms. He alienated both Republicans and Democrats as a result.

Question 66

List the Progressive Reforms Taft Supported.

Answer 66

1) 16th Amendment (Income Tax) 2) 17th Amendment (Direct Election of Senators) 3) The Mann-Elkins Act (Strengthened the National Governments Regulatory Authority over Railroads.) 4) A Strengthening of the ICC 5) Establishment of Federal Bureaus of Mines and Children.

Question 67

How many trust-busting initiatives did Taft initiate?

Answer 67

Three times as many as TR.

Question 68

What party was created out of frustration with Taft's ineptitude?

Answer 68

The Bull Moose Party.

Question 69

Who followed Taft's administration?

Answer 69

Woodrow Wilson.

Question 70

What was unique about Wilson's election?

Answer 70

He won with less than 50% of the vote.

Question 71

Which party did Wilson come from?

Answer 71

The Democratic Party.

Question 72

Was Wilson a liberal or conservative democrat?

Answer 72

Conservative.

Question 73

What were the chief domestic reforms of the Wilson administration?

Answer 73

1) Lowering of the Protective Tariff (Underwood Tariff) and Imposition of the Income Tax 2) Creation of the Federal Reserve System. 3) The Federal Trade Commission 4) Passed the Clayton Anti-Trust Act 5) Federal Aid to Distressed Farmers 6) Child Labor Laws 7) Eight Hour Workday For Railroad Workers. 8) Prohibition 9) Women's Suffrage

Question 74

What sparked Wilson to implement more progressive reforms?

Answer 74

The resignation of SCOTUS Justice Hughes to challenge Wilson in 1916. Hughes was more progressive than Wilson.

Question 75

List 12 Examples of Progressive Reforms.

Answer 75

1) Settlement House Movement 2) Housing and Sanitation Reforms 3) Beautification Campaigns (Parks & Civic Centers) 4) Anti-Prostitution Campaigns 5) Women's Suffrage 6) Factory Safety Regulations/Limits on Working Hours 7) Temperance and Prohibition 8) Killing the Political Machine 9) Initiative, Referendum, Recall, and 17th Amendment 10) Meat Inspection and Pure Food and Drug Acts 11) Anti-Trust Regulation 12) National Parks and Wildlife Refuges

Question 76

Describe How Much Roosevelt did for Land Conservation.

Answer 76

1) 42 Million Acres of National Forests 2) 53 National Wildlife Refuges 3) 18 Areas of "special interest" -Grand Canyon etc.