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Eugene Debs becomes national secretary of Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
Eugene Debs was known to be a reformer involving railroads. At first his struggle against the industry was more subtle, but in the 1880's he started to change his views. He started to support railroad union groups and strikes put against major railroad industries. In 1888-1889, he was involved in a year long strike against the Chicago, Quincy and Burlington Railroads. http://www.historycentral.com/Bio/people/images/debs.gif -
William Jennnings Bryan wins Presidential Nominee
William Jennings Bryan was a man of great importance during the Progressive Era. He ran for Presidency in 1900 and 1908, never to win once. He was claimed "The Common Man", in his constant support of eqaul treatment of people vs business. The reforms themelves were small, but it was the intention that mattered, The reputaion of the party was tainted however, as it now supposedly didnt attack capitalist motives anymore. -
Business Reforms
Teddy Roosevelt busted Trust Brokers, and kept the rich from getting any richer at the expense of the common folk. Business monopolies were busted, and people like John D Rockefeller were exposed as cruel people who took advantage of loosely defined business laws to exploit theri workers. That all evened out the power of business to normal people power. -
Public Service Reforms
The economy was running well in the times before Progressivism, but at he expense of the general public. Many strikes were held towards railroads and transportation services to improve conditions and oppresion. The Public Utility Commission was passed to give the power to the agency's commissioners to regulate the way things were ran. -
Corrupt Practices Reforms
There were a lot of corrupt practices during the time before progressivism, and the Progressive Era sought to deal with that exactly. Jacob Riss was a muckraker who turned attention to a ceratin problem, in which poor poeple who had no place to stay could sometimes live in horrid conditions, with a "5 cents per spot" deal. The spaces were small, conditions unfair, and it turned attention to factories, and poor treatment of its employees. These realizations sought reform, and that happened. -
Social Reform
The types of social reform during this era were: the women's rights movement, educational reform, prohibition and immigration reform. Women's suffrage was granted, the ideas of education and its values rose, the short time of the 18th amendment was a good portion of the prohibition part, and working conditions bettered for immigrants as their rights got more recognized. The YMCA, WCTU were organizations that helped. -
Labor Reforms
There were many labor reforms put into place during the progressive era. Mostly, because many people outside the businesses saw the horrors, whether it be through publication of written works or experience, and saw to change the rules and regulations. Workers had a great advancement, as the creations of Unions allowed them to unite as one and bring down the oprression that businesses gave. There became better conditions, increased wages. Keating-Owen Act and NCLC helped with child labor. -
Teddy Roosevelt becomes president of USA
Roosevelt was nominated as the representative of the Progressive Party in 1912. He was concerned to be too liberal as a Republican, so they did not allow him to run for president again. He lost in the Election of 1912, but gained some popularity as a result. Roosevelt made many reforms during the Progressive Era, such as busting trusts, conservation of land, and the Square Deal. -
H.G Welles delivers lecture at Royal Institution
H.G Welles was an English novelist who was considered the "father" of future studies. All of Welles's movements and ideas had to do with thte concept of progression, human progression. Better technology, better life standards, better conditions, social laws and political laws. He opened the eye of the general public with hios writings and ideas. "Anticipations", as it was called, was a very successful work, as was "The Discovery of the Future". -
Ida Tarbell
Ida Tarbell was one of the first and most influential muckrakers of the progressive era. Ida focused on the social and moral reform aspects, as she discussed the unfair practices business would take in order to get thte most work done, often at the expense of their workers. She weven rote her own book, The History of the Standard Oil Company. In McClure's Magazine, she exposed people like John D. Rockefeller as frauds and evil business masterminds who manipulated. This made her very influential. -
Upton Sinclair publishes The Jungle
The Jungle was a novel that changed the way the meatpacking industry of the 1900's operated. It opened the eyes if the public on how poorly treated the workers of these companies were, and how the condtions that their food was being held in. Not only did Sinclar lead to the creation of the Food and Drug Acts and the Meat Inspection Act, he also showed that a writer could be a major influence in reform and law making. As a socialist, he continued to publish more novels, but none as successful. -
Charles Evans Hughes becomes Governer of New York
Hughes was a very powerful man who had important accomplishments and positions throughout his life. He was the United States Secretary of the State, Associate Justivce of the US Supreme Court, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He barely missed out becoming President, loosing to Woodrow Wilson. With all his power, Hughes was one of the great Progressive reformers. He secured labor registration, insurance reform, the creation of a Public Service Commission, and advocated the Wagner Act. -
Hiram Johnson appointed Assistant District Attorney
Johnson's goal was to romove all the power a state had in poilitics and economics and put it into the hands of the people. His endeavors led to a revision of California's constitution in 1911. He was the founder of the Progressive Political Party in 1912, and was elected to the US Senate in 1916. There he performed an investigation on West Virgiania Coal mines, continuing to strive for reform. -
16th Amendment
The Congress now had the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from any source, without distributing it among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration of the american population (per year). -
Woodrow WIlson becomes President of the USA
As a president, Wilson was very well respected. As a progressor, he thought it was essential to have a stronger central governent than an overpowering federel government. He supported anti-trust legislation and labor acts. In 1912 he pledged something called "New Freedom", in which he promised fair business competition by removing monopolitic economic trusts. Thought the creation of the Federal Trade Commission, he reduced tariffs, and introduced the income tax to reform the national economy. -
17th Amendment
This amendment was simple enough, as it pertained the Senate to have two representatives from each state, regardless of the population of that state. Each senator has a value of one vote, and can serve for up to 6 years. -
Robert La Follette
Nicknamed "Fighting Bob", La Follette was a huge reformer during the progressive era at the state level in Wisconsin. One of his main goals was to drive business out of politics. He thought they should have no part in politics, because with them corruption became easier. He spoke against the entry of the US into war, and was very unpopular, but it showed his good character. He was afraid it was a ploy to give busnisses more money and power, something he had worked hard to prevent earlier on. -
18th Amendment
The 18th amendment stated that the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic sbstances within the US, import or export is prohibited. The enformement of the rule was to be made a year after it was ratified. However, this would later be reppealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933. -
19th Amendment
Women were allowed the power to vote, so they gained suffrage. Now, they were politically equal to men. This was a huge matter in the women's rights movement, and now people could start to say reform was truly getting places, because now a woman was compared equal to a man. This would set the stage for further reform. -
Jane Addams wins Nobel Peace Pize
Jane Addams was a muckraker during the time of the Progressive Era. She was one of the most prominent advocates for the improvement of social condirions for immigrants and poor people. In 1889, she founded Hull House in chicago, a social service. She also wrote "Twenty Years at Hull House", a book highlighting social and ethical aspects in the 1910's. Before becoming the first american woman to win the nobel peace prize, she founded the Woman's International League for Peace and Freedom.
