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Women's Chirstian Temperance Movement founded
The WCTU was the first mass organization among women to promote social reform through links to applied Christianity and out of a concern for the negative effects of alcohol on society. -
Interstate Commerce Act signed into law
The Interstate Commerce Act required railroads to publish their rates openly and forbade unfair discrimination against shippers, creating a space where competing business interests could be resolved. -
National American Woman Suffrage Association is formed
NAWSA is formed in 1890 as a merger between two prominent women's suffrage organizations to spread the cause of women's rights by focusing on getting states to pass suffrage amendments in order to pressure Congress to do the same. -
"How the Other Half Lives" by Jacob Riis is published
This novel by Jacob Riis shocked middle and upper class America by showing the horrific, crowded living conditions of the New York slums, which inspired a generation to look toward more progressive policies. -
Sherman Antitrust Act passed by Congress
In an attempt to control the trusts, the Sherman Act was passed to forbid combinations in restraint of trade, which threatened the iron grip of monopolistic companies. -
Ida B. Wells leads anti-lynching campaign
Ida B. Wells led an anti-lynching crusade and became a civil rights journalist that covered the injustices and exposed the violence that African Americans faced in the South. -
Anti-saloon League fights for Prohibition
Once a major political force in the United States, the Anti-saloon League fought to enact more anti-alochol laws and set in motion a national effort for the 18th amendment to the Constitution which enacted Prohibition. -
Antracite Coal Strike
A workers union in Pennsylvania organized a strike that demanded higher wages for workers and shorter work days before the winter when people needed coal to heat their homes, which created anti-management sentiments among the public. -
Ida Tarbell pioneers muckracker journalism
Ida Tarbell uncovered the unfair policies of the Standard Oil company through her investigative journalism, which contributed to the breakup of Standard Oil's monopoly on the American oil industry. -
Square Deal Policy
President Roosevelt's domestic policy, known as the Square Deal, promised not to favor any one particular group over the other and be fair to all while controlling corporations, consumer protection, and conservation of natural resources. -
Department of Commerce and Labor
President Roosevelt signed into law this cabinent whose primary job was to curb the excesses of big business, adding to the progressive agenda of Roosevelt. -
Elkins Act passed
This act amended the previous Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 and curved the railroad rebate evil by placing a heavy fine on railroad companies that gave rebates and on shippers that accepted those rebates. -
Northern Securities Antitrust
The Northern Securities Company, a monopoly organized by J.P. Morgan, was challenged by Roosevelt in court and was forced to be dissolved, which angered big business and sent a jolt through Wall Street. -
Lincoln Steffens becomes part of muckraker trio
Lincoln Steffens publishes a series of articles that targeted corrupt American political machines in several U.S. cities and formed a book called The Shama of the CIties, which made him one of the first muckrakers in the nation. -
Robert La Follette helps spark progressive reforms
La Follette was a Republican-progressive governor of Wisconsin and U.S. Senator that fought against corporate power and corruption by supporting several key pieces of reform legislation. -
"The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair is published
This novel exposed the terrible plight of workers in the meat packing industry and the disgustingly unsanitary conditions that resulted in meat with traces of rat and human remains, which ignited a desire for more government regulation of big business. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
This act banned the sale of mislabeled or poisonous goods to protect the public after muckrakers such as Upton Sinclair revealed the corruption inside some manufuacturing companies. -
Meat Inspection Act signed into law
The Meat Inspection Act mandated that preparation of meat over state lines would be subject to federal insepction after Upton Sinclair exposed the ills of the meat packing industry in his novel "The Jungle". -
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire occurs in New York
This fire was the most devastating industrial disaster in New York's history that brought attention to the dangerous conditions of big business factories and led to more regulations on working conditions. -
Roosevelt joins Progressive (Bull Moose) Party
Theodore Roosevelt joins the Progressive Bull Moose Party to run for president, after failing to get the 1912 Republican nomination, which splits the Republican vote and paves the way for a Democratic victory under Woodrow Wilson. -
17th Amendment ratified
The 17th Amendment changed Senators from being elected to the U.S. Senate by state legislatures to being elected by the people in the states they represent. -
Underwood Tariff is passed
This tariff levied an income tax on the American people and had a goal of reducing taxes on manufactured and semi-manufactured goods and getting rid of duites on most raw materials. -
Federal Reserve Act is enacted
In order to keep from relying on wealthy individuals to bail out the government in a financial crisis, Woodrow Wilson signed a law that created a central bank, the Federal Reserve, for more economic stability. -
Federal Trade Commission is founded
This presidentially appointed committee monitored companies engaged in interstate commerce and looked to crush monopolies by making sure there were no unfair trade practices occuring. -
Clayton Antitrust Act
This act supplemented previous laws against monopolies and unfair business practices by closing loopholes that big business had exploited in the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. -
John Dewey contributes to Progressive movement
John Dewey was a progressive whose ideas on education helped shape the formation of our nation's public schools through reform and new philosophical ideas. -
Keating-Owen Child Labor Act
This act passed by Congress banned the sale of goods in interstate commerce made by factories who employed children under fourteen years of age or mines who employed those under 16 in an effort to curb immoral child labor practices. -
Margaret Sanger leads birth-control movement
Fiery feminist Margaret Sanger led the way in openly championing birth control and the use of contraceptives by publishing monthly birth control magazines and by later founding the American Birth Control League in 1921. -
Eugene V. Debbs convicted under Espionage Act
A prominent American socialist who had run for president three times previously, Debbs was arrested under the Espionage Act of 1917 for making a speech in which he urged resistance to the draft. -
18th Amendment is ratified
The 18th Amendment officially banned the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the United States and was a result of the hard work of prohibition groups that wanted to improve society by getting rid of alcohol. -
19th Amendment ratified
The 19th Amendment granted nationwide suffrage to women after years of struggle and protest by women's rights leaders such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.
