Progressive Era

  • Jim Crow Laws

    Jim Crow Laws

    Laws restricting the rights of black people in America. Generally included physical segregation, voter suppression, anti-miscegenation laws, and other "black codes".
  • Tuskegee Institute

    Tuskegee Institute

    College founded by Booker T. Washington for the education of young black Americans
  • Chinese Exclusion Act

    Chinese Exclusion Act

    A law that banned Chinese immigration to the USA. Used competition for jobs as justification.
  • Interstate Commerce Act

    Interstate Commerce Act

    Law designed to reduce railroad monopolies. Required that RRs not over-inflate their prices, but did not allow rates to be fixed by the government.
  • Jane Addams - Hull House

    Jane Addams - Hull House

    Residential complex designed to improve the living and working conditions of immigrants. Meant to stand in opposition to the harsh conditions of contemporary tenements and factories and prove that better conditions were feasible.
  • Sherman Antitrust Act

    Sherman Antitrust Act

    Law that prohibited monopolies from forming and laid the framework to break up existing monopolies.
  • Plessy V. Ferguson

    Plessy V. Ferguson

    Supreme Court case that established "separate but equal", a segregationist policy that allowed black people to be forced into lower-quality, all-black schools, transportation, neighborhoods, etc.
  • Muckrakers

    Muckrakers

    Progressive-Era journalists who attempted to expose the conditions of mines, meat-packing plants, textile factories, tenements, and other forms of exploitation within Gilded-Age society.
  • Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal

    Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal

    A set of programs and policies pushed by President Roosevelt, primarily focusing on conservation, limitations to corporate power, and consumer protection.
  • McKinley Assassinated

    McKinley Assassinated

    William McKinley, 25th president, was shot and killed by anarchist Leon Czolgosz, six months into McKinley's second term, at the Buffalo, NY Pan-American Exposition.
  • Coal Miner Strike of 1902

    Coal Miner Strike of 1902

    United Mine Workers of America declare a strike in Pennsylvania. Resulted in a 10% pay increase and a 9-hour workday. Teddy Roosevelt served as a neutral arbitrator between the strikers and the mine company, which did not recognize the union.
  • Ida Tarbell - "The History of Standard Oil"

    Ida Tarbell - "The History of Standard Oil"

    A book (originally a magazine serial) documenting the corruption of J. D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company. Credited with accelerating the push for the breakup of Standard Oil.
  • Niagara Movement

    Niagara Movement

    Group of educated black Americans who fought to end segregation, promote civil rights, and opposed the "Atlanta Compromise".
  • Upton Sinclair - "The Jungle"

    Upton Sinclair - "The Jungle"

    Book documenting horrific conditions of a meat-packing plant, including the incorporation of fillers, toxic chemicals, and regular injuries occurring on-site. Originally intended to expose the exploitative working conditions of the factory, but the public was more interested in its disgusting descriptions of meat products.
  • Pure Food and Drug Act

    Pure Food and Drug Act

    Consumer protection law designed to ensure quality and safety of food products, ban false advertising, regulate what could be sold as medicine, and punish companies that included harmful substances in their food.
  • Teddy Roosevelt's Antiquities Act

    Teddy Roosevelt's Antiquities Act

    Grants the president the power to establish national monuments. Has been used over 100 times to date.
  • Federal Meat Inspection Act

    Federal Meat Inspection Act

    Required that meat be slaughtered and processed in sanitary conditions, established regulations regarding what additives were allowed in meat, and prevented the mislabeling or false advertisement of meat products.
  • Muller V. Oregon

    Muller V. Oregon

    Supreme Court case that endorsed Oregon's law restricting the rights of women to work freely. Oregon's limit on the working hours of women was upheld, and women's right to freely negotiate contracts was rejected.
  • NAACP Formed

    NAACP Formed

    Civil rights organization created by leaders such as W. E. B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells, and Thurgood Marshall. Opposed all forms of segregation and the "Atlanta Compromise".
  • Taft Wins

    Taft Wins

    Roosevelt did not run for a second term, instead endorsing William Howard Taft, who won by a large margin in the 1908 election.
  • Urban League

    Urban League

    Civil rights organization founded by leaders such as Ruth Standish Baldwin and Dr. George Edmund Haynes. Very active in the administration of FDR and the later Civil Rights movement.
  • Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

    Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

    A fire broke out in a clothing factory, killing 146 workers (mostly Italian and Jewish immigrant women). Many of the deaths were due to the fact that the factory owners had a policy of locking the doors during work hours to stop employees from leaving.
  • 16th Amendment

    16th Amendment

    Allowed a federal income tax without the requirement that it be apportioned to the states by population
  • Wilson Elected

    Wilson Elected

    Democratic candidate who won the 1912 election against the incumbent Taft. He was more progressive than most of his party, but was pro-segregation and led the country into WWI.
  • 17th Amendment

    17th Amendment

    Established direct election of US senators, instead of the old system in which they were chosen by state legislatures.
  • Underwood-Simmons Tariff

    Underwood-Simmons Tariff

    AKA the Revenue Act of 1913, replaced tariffs with a national income tax.
  • Federal Reserve Act

    Federal Reserve Act

    Created the Federal Reserve, which would serve as the United States' central bank. Designed to ensure events like the panic of 1907 did not occur again.
  • Trench Warfare

    Trench Warfare

    A style of battle characterized by semi-permanent trenches from which both sides would intermittently launch attacks. Little ground was gained or lost, and casualties were far higher than in traditional warfare.
  • Department of Labor Established

    Department of Labor Established

    An executive department responsible for setting and enforcing labor rights, statistics, and wage and hour standards. Contains OSHA and other regulatory agencies the ensure labor laws are followed by businesses.
  • Federal Trade Commission Act

    Federal Trade Commission Act

    Signed into law by President Wilson, established the FTC.
  • Clayton Antitrust Act

    Clayton Antitrust Act

    Law that strengthened the antitrust protections of the prior Sherman antitrust act. Its primary purpose was to prevent monopolies forming, instead of waiting for them to grow and dismantling them later.
  • Federal Trade Commission

    Federal Trade Commission

    Independent executive agency that enforces consumer protections and antitrust laws.
  • The Birth of a Nation

    The Birth of a Nation

    Pro-segregation and pro-slavery film depicting the Civil War as a "war of northern aggression", claiming that slaves enjoyed their enslavement, and advocating for the "Lost Cause" myth. Wildly popular at time of release (even being shown in the White House), led to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan due to its positive portrayal of Klansmen.
  • Second Rise of the KKK

    Second Rise of the KKK

    In the aftermath of Birth of a Nation, Klan membership rose dramatically. Between reconstruction and this time, the Klan was a small and fringe group, but they now resumed their activity including lynchings, demonstrations of their numbers at the Capital, voter suppression, and the repression of black politicians.
  • Lusitania Sunk

    Lusitania Sunk

    British ocean liner carrying American civilian passengers. Strongly contributed to the USA entering WWI, though this would not happen immediately.
  • Booker T. Washington

    Booker T. Washington

    Early activist in opposition to Jim Crow laws, eventually endorsed the "Atlanta Compromise" which promoted entrepreneurship and education but did not challenge segregation.
  • Zimmerman Telegram

    Zimmerman Telegram

    Secret message from Germany to Mexico urging the latter to enter WWI on the Central Powers' side in exchange for conquering territory from the USA. Was intercepted and prompted widespread American support for entering the war.
  • Wilson Asks For War

    Wilson Asks For War

    President Wilson addresses a joint session of Congress, advocating that they declare war on the Central Powers.
  • Espionage Act

    Espionage Act

    Law prohibiting Americans from endorsing enemies of the USA during wartime, punishing interference with recruitment and military operations, and preventing insubordination.
  • Hammer V. Dagenart

    Hammer V. Dagenart

    Now-overruled Supreme Court decision that Congress cannot regulate working conditions. This occurred specifically in response to the Keating-Owen Act, which attempted to stifle child labor.
  • Wilson's Fourteen Points

    Wilson's Fourteen Points

    Speech outlining Woodrow Wilson's ideas for ending WWI and preventing future wars like it. These included democracy, self-determination, and free trade.
  • Sedition Act

    Sedition Act

    Expanded on the Espionage Act, prohibiting any anti-government or anti-war speech. Also punished anyone openly opposing war bonds and the use of "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" against the USA.
  • Armistice Day

    Armistice Day

    Day when WWI ended with a peace agreement between Germany and the Allied Powers.
  • 18th Amendment

    18th Amendment

    Created Prohibition of alcohol.
  • Versailles Peace Conference

    Versailles Peace Conference

    Conference in which Germany formally surrendered, ceding certain territories and being forced to pay reparations to the Allied Powers. It also restricted Germany's military, allowed the Allies to occupy certain parts of the country, and established the League of Nations.
  • Wilson Stroke

    Wilson Stroke

    President Wilson suffered a stroke, preventing him from seeking a third term as he'd intended.
  • Treaty of Versailles to Senate

    Treaty of Versailles to Senate

    The US Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles as it opposed formation of the League of Nations.
  • League of Nations

    League of Nations

    International union designed to prevent future wars, but had little power and was not universally recognized.
  • 19th Amendment

    19th Amendment

    Recognized women's right to vote.