Progressive Era

Interstate Commerce Act Passed

Feb 4, 1887

This document created an Interstate Commerce Comission to oversee the conduct of the railroad industry.

How tthe Other Half Lives

Jan 28, 1890

This was an early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s.

National American Woman Suffrage Association formed

Feb 18, 1890

This group was created to work for women's suffrage. It also played a pivital role in passing the 19th amendment.

Sherman Antitrust Act Passed

Jul 2, 1890

This was the first federal act that did not allow monopolistic business practice.

Woman’s Christian Temperance Union

Dec 23, 1890

This was the first mass orginazation among women devoted to socal reform.

Anti-Saloon League

Feb 26, 1895

An orginization lobbying for prohibition in the United States.

Eugene V. Debs

Jun 7, 1897

Eugene V. Debs, American Union leader, became a member of the Social Democracy of America in 1897.

Anthracite Coal Strike

Oct 3, 1902

A strike by the United Mine Workers of America to ask for higher wages, shorter hours, and recognition of their union.

Department of Commerce and Labor

Feb 14, 1903

This was a short-lived Cabinet department of the United States government, which was concerned with controlling the excesses of big business.

Elkins Act

Feb 21, 1903

This authorized the ICC to impose fines on railroads that offered rebates, and shippers who offered these rebates.

The History of the Standard Oil Company- Ida Tarbell

Feb 26, 1904

An expose of the Standard Oil Company at this time run by Rockefeller.

Northern Securities Antitrust

Mar 14, 1904

A case heard by the suprme court against railroad companies who formed a monopoly.

The Shame of the Cities - Lincoln Steffens

Apr 14, 1904

A series of articles originally written for a magazine but made into a book that reported workings of political corruption.

Square Deal Policy

Nov 26, 1905

A domestic program formed by Roosevelt to enforce these three basic ideas; conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection.

The Jungle

Feb 26, 1906

This novel was written to portray the harsh lives and living conditions of immigrants.

Pure Food and Drug Act

Jun 30, 1906

This was the first in a series of laws whose main purpose was to ban foreign and mislabled food and drug products.

Meat Inspection Act

Jun 30, 1906

A United States Congress Act that works to prevent adulterated or misbranded meat and meat products from being sold as food and to ensure that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions.

NAACP - Ida B. Wells

Feb 12, 1909

This is an African-American civil rights orginization madde to ensure the rigths of all people and eliminate racial discrimination. Wells was a co-founder of this group.

Margaret Sanger and Sex Education

Jan 1, 1910

Margaret Sanger actively challenged federal and state Comstock laws to bring birth control information and contraceptive devices to women.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Mar 25, 1911

This was a fire of a factory killing many and making it the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the deadliest in US history.

Progressive (Bull Moose) Party Founded

Nov 26, 1912

This was an American Political Party formed by Roosevelt after a split republican party between him Taft.

Underwood Tariff

Oct 3, 1913

This act re-imposed the federal income tax andlowered basic tariff rates.

Federal Reserve Act

Dec 23, 1913

This was an Act of Congress that created and established the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States, and granted it the legal authority to issue Federal Reserve Notes .

Federal Trade Commission

Sep 26, 1914

FTC was an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act whose purpose was to promote consumer protection and eliminate anticompetitive business practices.

Clayton Antitrust Act

Oct 15, 1914

This was a part of the US antitrust law wtih the goal of adding furhter substance and stablility to the law.

17th Amendment

Nov 26, 1914

This Amendment established the popular election of United States senators by the people.

Democracy and Education - John Dewey

Mar 29, 1916

This book shared his thoughts and findings on progressive education.

Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

Sep 1, 1916

This act limited children labor hours and forbade sale of goods made by them between states.

18th Amendment

Jan 16, 1919

This amendment effectively established the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States by declaring the production, transport, and sale of alcohol illegal.

19th Amendment

Aug 18, 1920

This amendment prohibited any citizen from being denied the right to vote based on gender.

Robert La Follette runs for president of the US

Apr 18, 1924

Robert La Follette runs for President as nominee of his own progressive party.