Progressive Era Reforms Timeline

By bofa

  • Pendleton Act

    The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (ch. 27, 22 Stat. 403) is a United States federal law, enacted in 1883, which established that positions within the federal government should be awarded on the basis of merit instead of political affiliation.Following the assassination of President James A. Garfield by a disgruntled job seeker, Congress passed the Pendleton Act in January of 1883.

  • Antiquities Act

    After a generation-long effort, on June 8, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act into law, thus establishing the first general legal protection of cultural and natural resources in the United States.

  • Meat Inspection Act

    The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 (FMIA) is an American law that makes it a crime to adulterate or misbrand meat and meat products being sold as food, and ensures that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions.
    The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 came about largely due to the conditions in the meat packing industry that were detailed in great depth in Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel, "The Jungle."

  • Pure Food and Drug Act

    Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) For preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for regulating traffic therein, and for other purposes. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was a key piece of Progressive Era legislation, signed by President Theodore Roosevelt on the same day as the Federal Meat Inspection Act.

  • 16th Amendment

    The Sixteenth Amendment (Amendment XVI) to the United States Constitution allows the Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states or basing it on the United States Census.
    This is the centennial year of the 16th Amendment—the income tax amendment—which was ratified in 1913. While often associated with the growth in government spending, its biggest effect has been to shift the balance of power toward the federal government and away from the states.

  • 17th Amendment

    Passed by Congress May 13, 1912, and ratified April 8, 1913, the 17th amendment modified Article I, section 3, of the Constitution by allowing voters to cast direct votes for U.S. Senators. Prior to its passage, Senators were chosen by state legislatures.17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators. Americans did not directly vote for senators for the first 125 years of the Federal Government. The Constitution, as it was adopted in 1788.

  • Clayton Anti-Trust Act

    Clayton Antitrust Act, law enacted in 1914 by the United States Congress to clarify and strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890). The Clayton Act and other antitrust and consumer protection regulations are enforced by the Federal Trade Commission.

  • Keating -Owen Child Labor Act

    After more than 10 years, Congress passed the Keating-Owens Act barring child labor for interstate businesses. However, the Supreme Court found the Act unconstitutional in 1918. While progress continued on the state level, federal child labor laws wouldn't be successful until 1938.In 1906, Senator Albert Beveridge of Indiana introduced the first federal legislation to regulate child labor, and in 1912 the first federal agency expressly devoted to the welfare of children was created.

  • 18th Amendment

    The Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII) of the United States Constitution effectively established the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States by declaring the production, transport, and sale of alcohol (though not the consumption or private possession) illegal.The 18th amendment is the only amendment to be repealed from the constitution. This unpopular amendment banned the sale and drinking of alcohol in the United States. This amendment took effect in 1919.

  • 19th Amendment

    The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Basically it made it so women had the right to vote.