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Period: to
Progressive Movement
The Progressive Movement began in the late 19th century and
continued until World War I. It was a time of great social change,
when people began to address their concerns about rampant
corruption in the U.S. government and ills of society. Muckrakers,
or journalists who worked to expose abuses of corporate power,
helped to gather public support for regulation and reform during
the Progressive Era. -
Interstate Commerce Act
The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 is a United States federal law that was designed to regulate the railroad industry, particularly its monopolistic practices. The Act required that railroad rates be "reasonable and just," but did not empower the government to fix specific rates.This act is important because It aimed to ensure fair transportation rates and eliminate rate discrimination. -
Sherman Antitrust Act
Approved July 2, 1890, The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was the first Federal act that outlawed monopolistic business practices. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was the first measure passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit trusts. -
Jacob Riis exposes tenements
Photojournalist Jacob Riis published the book How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York, which exposed the horrible conditions faced by immigrants living in the slums of New York. By using photographs, drawings, and written descriptions, Riis's book included images of sweatshops, child labor,
and overcrowded and unsanitary tenements. Riis used his book to advocate social reform. -
McKinley is assassinated
He was shaking hands with the public when Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, shot him twice in the abdomen. McKinley died eight days later on September 14 of gangrene caused by the gunshot wounds. He was the third American president to have been assassinated, following Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and James A. Garfield in 1881. -
Northern Security Antitrust
The Roosevelt administration brings an antitrust suit against the Northern Securities Company, which bankers have created in order to pool the holdings of the largest railroad tycoons. -
Coal Miner Strike
Coal miners go on strike in Pennsylvania, protesting the working conditions of the mines.. After months of striking, coal miners finally agree to an arbitration commission at President Roosevelt's behest. The commission awards the mine workers a nine-hour day and a 10% wage increase, but the United Mine Workers Union does not receive company recognition and the miners are forbidden from striking again for the next three years. -
Elkins Act
The Elkins Act is a 1903 United States federal law that amended the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The Act authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to impose heavy fines on railroads that offered rebates, and upon the shippers that accepted these rebates. -
Court Dissolves Northern Securities
The Justice Department won the suit and the company was dissolved according to the 1904 Supreme Court ruling in Northern Securities Co. v. United States case, decided five to four. -
The Jungle was Published
Upton Sinclair publishes The Jungle, an account of the meatpacking industry in Chicago's stockyards. Sinclair is trying to raise public awareness of corporate corruption and the deplorable conditions in which poor workers toil, but most of the resulting public outcry instead centers on demand for more food safety provisions. -
Meat Inspection
After congress passes the Pure Food and Drug Act, Congress also approves its second Meat Inspection law to date. The U.S. Drug Administration must inspect all animals destined for human consumption—cattle, horses, sheep, goats, and swine—before they are slaughtered. -
The Hepburn Act
The Hepburn Act is passed at President Roosevelt's behest, expanding the powers of the ICC beyond railroads to express companies and other forms of transportation (like ferries, sleeping-car companies, etc.). The ICC can now reduce rates that it finds unreasonable. -
Food and Drug Act
Congress passes the Pure Food and Drug Act in response to exposes of the patent-drug, meatpacking, and food industries. -
Muller v. Oregon
In Muller v. Oregon, the Supreme Court holds that Oregon can constitutionally pass a law limiting women's work in factories and laundries to ten hours a day -
Progressive Movement
Seeks to reform various aspects of American society and politics. -
Mann-Elkins Act
Congress passed this act to strengthen the Interstate Commerce Act, which required railroad rates to be "reasonable and just." The law did not specify what "reasonable and just" meant, so the act was not effective in regulating rates. Under the Mann-Elkins Act, railroad companies were required to prove that their
rates were reasonable. -
Standard Oil Antitrust
Taft administration uses the Sherman Antitrust Act to act against the Standard Oil trust and the American Tobacco Company. -
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
A fire broke out resulting in the death of 146 workers who were unable to escape from the upper floors of the building. Workers were unable to escape because doors had been locked to prevent workers from stealing materials. Fire ladders were not tall enough to reach the trapped workers on the upper floors.This brought attention to the unsafe conditions that many workers faced in sweatshops. This led to new safety regulations. -
Wilson is elected
With the Republican vote split between Taft and Roosevelt, the Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson is elected president -
16th, 17th Amendments Ratified
The 16th amendment created a federal income tax. The 17th Amendment changed how senators were elected. It gave the people the power to elect senators in direct elections, rather than having senators appointed by state legislatures. -
Federal Reserve Act
Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act in 1913, which created 12 regional Federal Reserve banks to be supervised by a Federal Reserve Board. The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States, and still exists today. -
Federal Trade Commission Act
Wilson signs the Federal Trade Commission Act, creating the five-person Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to regulate businesses and investigate possible violations of antitrust laws. Like the ICC (its predecessor), the FTC gradually succumbs to the influence of the very businesses it is supposed to regulate. -
Clayton Antitrust Act
Congress passed the Clayton Antitrust Act to act as an "amendment" to the Sherman Antitrust Act. This act prohibits exclusive sales contracts, local price cutting (to freeze out competitors), and interlocking directorates in corporations with capital of $1 million or more. This act was used to clarify the Sherman Antitrust Act. -
Benjamin P. DeWitt publishes "The Progressive Movement"
Benjamin P. DeWitt, a 24-year-old professor of English and government at New York University, publishes The Progressive Movement, his only book. -
Alice Paul forms the National Women's Party
Alice Paul was a suffragist leader in the early twentieth century. She formed the National Women's Party in 1916, which worked hard to gain a constitutional amendment allowing women the right to vote. She was well known for leading protests and hunger strikes. -
18th Amendment is passed
Due to pressures from members of the Temperance Movement, many state governments passed state-wide prohibition in the early 1900s. Responding to this growing support, Congress passed a resolution in 1917 regarding nationwide prohibition to be presented to the states for ratification. The 18th Amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919, banning the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol. This began the Prohibition Era, which lasted until the passage of 21st Amendment in 1933. -
19th Amendment is passed
In 1920, Congress passed the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. This amendment gave all women who were citizens of the United States the right to vote in local, state, and federal elections in the U.S -
CITATIONS
1.[Link text] Regenhardt, C. (Ed.). (n.d.). The Progressive Era (1890-1920). Retrieved from https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/progressive-era.cfm
2. [Link text] Khan, S. (n.d.). The Progressive Era. Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/rise-to-world-power/age-of-empire/a/the-progressive-era
3.[Link text] Britannica, E. (2019 15). United States. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States/The-Progressive-era
