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Julius Chambers F.G.R.S
Julius Chambers was a journalist and muckraker during the Progressive era. He undertook an investigation in the Bloomingdale Asylum. He investigated supposed mistreatment of the inmates. This project led to the release of 12 inmates, and eventually led to new mental illness laws. Muckrakers were a huge part of the progressive era because many of their discoveries led to reform -
Robert La Follette
Fighting Bob La follette was a leader in political reform during the progressive movement. He wanted to get lobyists out of politics. Often lobyists would bribe politicians. Obviously this was a bad occurence, so he worked hard to oust them. -
Eugene Debs
Eugene Debs was a socialist and great strike leader in the progressive era. Some consider him the most progressive person in the progressive era. By todays standards he would be a socialist because he wanted a complete overhaul of the social and economic system. Therefore, he wanted reforms which is why we connect him to progressivism. -
Woodrow Wilson
Wilson was the US president in 1914. He was very liberal minded and was the son of a Presbyterian minister during the Civil War. he brought about progressive reforms and asserted his leadership during WWI and claimed Americas involvement in the war was to make the world "safe for democracy". -
Teddy Roosevelt
Persued anti-trust cases and against companies like Swift Beef Trust and Northern Securities. Advanced the cause of Conservatism and restricted private development. Known as the candidate for the newly formed Progressive party. -
William Jennings Bryan
Bryan ran for president 4 times and was never elected. He was the candidate for the Populist Democrats. He geared his policies towards improving the middle class. As a member of the Populists, he was for the "common man". He also wanted to challenge socialists by producing limited reforms. -
Jane Addams
Jane Addams was a social worker during the progressive movement who wanted to improve womens rights. She also wanted to improve others morals. She was also the biggest advocate for Settlement House Movement. This movement pushed for better living conditions for immigrants. Clearly this is connected to Progressivism because many during that time period wanted major reforms -
Charles Evan Hughes
Hughes was a very accomplished political figure. He was the governor of New York, the Rebublican presidential candidate, and the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. He is related to Progressivism because of his work to discover unethical practices at the Stevens Gas Commision and the Armstrong Commision. -
H.G Welles
Welles was a very famous british author and "father of the British progressive movement." He was the creator of the Progressive League, which is why he is labeled as a progressive. -
Upton SInclair
SInclair was a muckraker famous for exposing the horrible treatment of workers and products in factories, He discovered that meat was pratically unedible and that workers were dying. This prompted laws passed for reform, thus creating the Food and Drug Administration. This was a massive progressive reform that was very influential -
Hiram Johnson
Johnson was the founder of the progressive party and the opponent of Theodore Roosevelt in the presidential election. He was a progressive Republican but he opposed the conservative views. He supported ameliorative farm legislation. He was a staunch Isolationalist, which meant he did not want the U.S. involved with other countries. -
Corrupt Practices Act
The Corrupt Practices Act put limits on how much political parties and House general elections could spend. This was clear political reform. Unfortunately it was rarely enforced and had few penalties . -
Public Service Reform
Some of the many public service reforms in the progressive era were: privacy when voting so empoloyers would not discriminate, women voting rights, free kindergartens, night schools and public playgrounds. This was a reform because it made education more accessible to those with time or money contraints. -
XVI Amendment
"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration" This amendement was a huge reform, and one that was readily embraced by the socialists. The number one goal of socialism at the time was a graduated income tax. -
XVII Amendmennt
The 17th amendment essentially passed a law the organized senators. It allowed only two people from each state to become senators . It essentially revamped the process of elected state legislatures appointing senators. Clearly this was reform to the government, political reform to be exact. -
business reforms
Business reforms were made to make changes in regulation . Henry Ford probably made the biggest changes in his business. He payed workers a higher wage, but essentially made them into robots by having them work conveyor belts. This devalued the worker, because they could be replaced easily. It stripped the worker of value and skill. -
labor reform
Labor reforms tried to fix such problems as over working employees, and under age workers. The Juvenile labor rights were put into practices to prevent young children from working, since thery were often perfoming very dangerous or strenuous jobs. -
social justice reform
Social justice reforms were the push for equality and public saftey durign the progressive era. The reforms were: womens suffrage and prohibition. Prohibition changed things fro the worse because there were riots. womens suffrage was a great change in retrospect because it gave equal rights to females. -
XVIII Amendment
The hated 18th amendment was basically the law that enacted prohibition. This was a huge reform on the business level and social level. One, alcoholic beverage companies were out of business, and regular people couldn't enjoy a drink with their friends. -
XIX Amendment
The 19th amendment was absolutley huge. It gave women the right to vote after years and years of protests and dissatisfaction. This was a huge social reform because men would have to swallow their pride and adjust to womens rights.