Progressive Era Reforms

New York State Tenement House Act 1901

Mar 7, 1901

This law was one of the first such laws to ban the construction of dark and poorly ventilated tenement buildings. . Among other sanctions, the law required that new buildings must be built with outward-facing windows in every room, an open courtyard, proper ventilation systems, indoor toilets, and fire safeguards. It was an important law because many cities, especially New York City, had an enormous amount of clustered families living in small tenements of poor conditions.

Square Deal

Oct 7, 1901

SQUARE DEAL: Theodore Roosevelt did not share his support of big businesses as the McKinley. Instead, he chose to give every American a fair chance, or as it came to be known: “a Square Deal”.• Domestic policy acquired by TR• It was based on 3 basic ideas;o conservation of natural resources creation of National Conservation Comission• compromise btw preservationist and big businesseso national parks and monuments –saved up to 200million acreso control of corporationsoconsumer protection

Reclamation Act

Jun 17, 1902

John Wesley Powell became convinced that irrigation was the only means by which much of the West could sustain population. "An Act Appropriating the receipts from the sale and disposal of public lands in certain States and Territories to the construction of irrigation works for the reclamation of arid lands." This Act irrigated all the arid states of the West but it also led to the eventual damming of nearly every major western river.

Northern Security Antitrust Case 1904

Mar 7, 1904

The Northern Securities Company, formed by J.P. Morgan, J.D. Rockefeller, E.H. Harriman and James Hill, was a railroad trust that was sued in 1902 by President Roosevelt for restricting competition defined by Sherman Antitrust Act. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the US in 1904 and the trust was dissolved. The outcome was positive because Roosevelt affirmed government control over the country’s economy. It was one of the first times that the Sherman Antitrust Act was used against companies.

Pure food and Drug Act (1906) & Meat Inspection Act (1906)

Mar 7, 1906

Like Upton Sinclair’s description on slaughterhouses, the majority of food-producing “factories” had no sanitation regulations . Rats, human parts, saw dust and harmful chemical products were a few components that made the population fall sick (cholera).With Roosevelt’s help, the Senate passed the acts in order to provide inspections on all foods and drugs. Effect of these two acts made was now that citizens were guaranted sanitized, regulated food for what they were paying for.

Elkins Act and Hepburn Act

Mar 7, 1906

The Hepburn Act is a 1906 United States federal law that gave the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) the power to set maximum railroad rates and extend its jurisdiction. The Elkins Act authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to impose heavy fines on railroads that offered rebates, and upon the shippers that accepted these rebates. Both Acts limited the power of railroad trusts and was a part of the Square Deal.

Muller v. Oregon

Mar 7, 1908

A landmark decision in United States Supreme Court history, it says both sex discrimination and usage of labor laws are legal. Curt Muller, the owner of a laundry business, was convicted of violating Oregon labor laws by making a female employee work more than ten hours in a single day. This labor law gave women more protection but it excluded women of color, food processors, agricultThis case is still the basis many labor laws concerning Discrimination in the work place. especially for women.

Standard Oil Antitrust Case

Mar 7, 1911

The Standard Oil Company was founded by John D. Rockefeller. To achieve its greatness Standard Oil eliminated and controlled all the competition. They used spying, negotiating with railroads, making others go bankrupt and a bunch more. At its peak Standard Oil was able to control 88% of the oil trade in the United States. The Supreme Court made Standard Oil dissolve in 1911. The court's remedy was to divide Standard Oil into several geographical separate and eventually competing firms.

National Women´s Party

Mar 7, 1913

The National Woman´s Party was originally named: the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage. It was a women´s organization founded by Alice Paul in 1913. The formation came from the women that found it unfair that the women had to right to vote. The Party priority was passing a constitution ammendment ensuring women´s. They were the first women to picket women´s rights in front of the White House. After the 19th ammendment the Party turned its attention to passage of an Equal Rights Amendment.

HAMMER VS. DAGENHART CASE [THE CHILD LABOR CASE]

Apr 14, 1918

Dagenhart was a worker at a mill with his two minor sons who would go jobless if the Keaten-Owen Act of 1916 was enforced. Prohibited interstate sale of merchandise made in factories that employed children under 14, or in which children under 16 worked more than eight hours a day, overnight, or more than six days a week. Court overturns 1916 act, and rules that the government did not have the right to legislate the sale of products that were made by companies that ignored the Child Labor Act

19th Amendment 1919

Mar 7, 1919

The 19th Amendment allows for every United States citizen, male and female to vote. All states had to let women vote according to the new amendment ratified on August 18, 1920.
Women's suffrage finally was showing its gains over years of fighting. The Amendment hence states:
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
Perviously the sufferage was saught state by state.

Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923)

Mar 7, 1923

The court case argued whether women’s rights applied to their minimum salary. The female workers and children at the Children’s Hospital fought for equal pay. It was a major dishonor for women’s equal rights because under the foundation of equity (19th Amendment), hindering not only further steps towards a fair future, but taking away the chance to develop as a more educated nation (children were paid even less, dissipating the opportunity to study in a higher level).