-
Jane Addams
In 1889 she and her friend Ellen Gates co-founded the Hull House in chicago. It provide social and educational services to the immigrant residents of the city's crowded working class tenents. She also helped with the goal of protecting social welfare by also helping to establish settlement houses. The houses provide assistance to people who needed it, especially immigrants. -
H.G Welles
A science fiction author who promoted the idea of eugenics ( Darwinism) believing people under a certain intelligence should not produce. He believed people should create our species to thrive not decline. His books that he wrote to persuade people to believe his theories included "The War of World" which supported his theories and beliefs. -
Lincoln Steffens
A muckraker who published two books; "The Shame of the Cities" and "The Stuggle for Self Government". His books exposed facts about business and government corruption. He exposed the voter fraud in Philadelphia on how their political machine doesn't give the people the right to vote becuase the machine controlled the votes.,Making voters incapable of choosing what they wanted. -
Corrupt Practices Reform
During Teddy Roosevelt's presidency he created the Square deal which was various progressive reforms. One was the Elkin's Act in 1903 that authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to impose heavy fines on railroads that offered rebates, and the shippers that accepted the ebates. The railroad companies were not permitted to offer rebates thus commiting corruption in the railroad industry because they were doing discriminatory acts. -
Robert La Follette
Was a govenor of Wisconsin and also served as a senator in 1906. In 1904, he sought to drive business out of politics and then treat them exactly the same as other people. He did this by targeting the railroad industry. He taxed railroad property at the same rate as other business property, set up a comission to regulate rates, and forbade railroads to give free passes to state officials. -
Business Reform
In 1906 another reform from Roosevelt's The Square Deal was passed, The Hepburn Act. This act gave the ICC the power to set maximum rates considered "just and reasonable" and the power to look at the railroads’ financial records. For any railroad that resisted, the ICC’s decisions would be in effect until the end of legal action, this destroyed the ability of the railroads to direct regulation through court appeals. This act changed the way railroad business's ran. -
Upton Sinclair
American author and mukraker who wrote the book "The Jungle" (1906). His book exposed the sickening conditions of the meat packing industry to the public. His book helped bring about change after President Teddy Roosevelt read it and created the Meat inspection act. The act enfourced industrys with strict cleansiness requirments. -
Public Service Reform
In 1906 congress passed the Pure food & Drug act which halted the sale of contaminated foods and medicines and called for truth in labeling. This helped cititzens know ingredients were in the foods they bought and it help protected their health. -
Charles Evans Hughes
He was the govenor of New York (1907) and Supreme court justice. He was also the secretary of state in 1921. He led the progressive movement by modernizing government and improving their power. Appointed counsel for the Stevens Gas Commission, he exposed gross overcapitalization in the gas trust and rates charged to the city for gas and electricity. He proposed strong remedies that emphasized state regulation of the monopolistic utilities which were adopted by state legislatures. (1891) -
Social Justice Reform
During Teddy Roosevelt presidency, he failed to support civil rights for African americans. African americans like Du Bois was upset and wanted change so he and other advocates held a civil rights confrence in Niagra Falls and then in New York. Here they created the NAACP (National Association for the advancement of colored people). Its goal was to gain full equality for African Americans and stop lynching. It tried lobbying congress to support civil rights. -
Hiram Johnson
He was Theodore Roosevelt's running mate in the 1912 election and helped him form the progressive party (Bull Moose party). He became California's govenor and leader of it's progressive movement. He campiagned to tear the state's politics and economy out of the hands of powerful coporations and place it back into the hands of its citizens. His reforms led to revison of the State's constitution giving people the power to vote back (referendum). -
Teddy Roosevelt
The 26th president of the United states served until 1909 and ran again in 1912. He startes his own party which he campaigned for called the Bull Moose Party. It fought for women's suffrage, workmen's compensation, 8 hour workdays, and federal laws against child labor. His party helped fight for the reforms that people wanted. -
16th Ammendment
Gave federal government the power to lay and collect an income tax regardless of the source of that income. The graduated income tax provided the federal government with a new source of income for funds it lost due to cuts in the protective tariff. This opened U.S markets for foreign competition breaking the power of U.S trusts. -
Woodrow Wilson
The 28th president of the United States. Created the "New Freedom" which demanded stronger antitrust legislation, banking reform, and reduce tariffs. Under the New Freedom he was able to help destroy company monopolies by creating the Clayton Antitust Act.The act prohibited companies from acquiring a stock if it would create a monopoly. -
William Jennings Bryan
A congress man for Nebraska in 1891, and served as secretary of state under Woodrow Wilson. He helped Woodrow Wilson get elected and promote Wilson's progressive policies. He supported anit-trust, prohibition, and women's suffrage and promoted these by making strong speeches across the country. -
17th Ammendment
Provided for the direct election of the senators by the people rather than state legislators. Before ammendment people believed big buisness had connections with the state legislators to have them vote for things for their own interest; that led to corruption in the government. With the ammendment people had a voice in the government since they got to pick the people who they wanted to represent them in congress and help get rid of the corruption. -
Eugene Debs
He created the American Socilaist party and was several times the candidate for the party. He created one of the first industrial unions in the U.S, because he wanted unions that included all labors, skilled and unskilled. The union fought against the Great Northern railroad to have it take back the cuts it did on the worker's wages. The union used strikes and were able to undo the cut. -
Labor Reform
In the late 1800's and early 1900's over 1 million children were working in unsafe factories. They were working up to 18-20 hours a day with little pay. Progressive reformers believed that children should be protected from harmful environments so that they would become healthy, productive adults. In 1916 the Keating-Owen act was passed that prohibited the transport of goods created using child labor, putting an end to child labor until it was declared unconstitutional. -
18th Amendment
Banned the manufacturing, sale, and transportation of alcohol. This helped bring moral improvement to people because prohibtionist like the WCTU (Women's Christain temperance union), believed alcohol took people away from their main priorities of working and caring for their family. -
19th Amendment
Gave all American women the right to vote. This was a reform women have advocated for since the beginning of 1848, Leaders of women's suffrage like Susan B. Anthony did petitions and lobbied congress to try to get it passed.
