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Robert La Follette
Robert La Follette, more truly a Progressive than Theodore Roosevelt, begins the first of three terms as a reform governor of Wisconsin. He fights for legislation to regulate corporations for the public good, provide for conservation of natural resources, and governance uncorrupted by business influence. -
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt became president in September 14, 1901. He became president after President McKinley died after being shot on September 6, 1901. President Theodore Roosevelt was an important person when it came to the Progressive Era. -
Women in the Progressive Movement
In 1904, female journalist Ida Tarbell exposed the unfair business practices of the Standard Oil Company. As a result of her expose, the government prosecuted the company under anti-trust legislation. -
Muckrakers
Writers whose exposés of corruption in business and government aroused public opinion and helped spur Progressive-Era reforms. Theodore Roosevelt popularized the term in his speech. He compared muckrakers to the Man with the Muck-rake in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, who remained so intent on raking the filth at his feet that he failed to look up and behold the celestial crown. -
Fire Ignites Public
A fire breaks out in the supposedly Asch building where Triangle Waist Company occupied the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors. The shirtwaists that hang on lines above the workers' heads and the shirtwaist cuttings that litter the floors quickly ignite, allowing the blaze to spread rapidly. The workers are locked inside the factory; some jump to their deaths to avoid burning alive. In all, 146 people die in the blaze, all within half an hour. -
La Follette Collapses
During a campaign speech in Philadelphia, Senator Robert M. La Follette suffers a breakdown and collapses. La Follette has been the leading Progressive candidate to challenge President Taft for the Republican nomination. His setback turns out to be temporary, but it is enough for Roosevelt supporters to make their candidate the front-runner for the Progressive Party nomination within two weeks. -
The Sixteenth Amendment
The Sixteenth Amendment is ratified, empowering Congress to levy income taxes. This amendment exempted income taxes from the constitutional requirements regarding direct taxes, after income taxes on rents, dividends, and interest were ruled to be direct taxes -
The Seventeenth Amendment
The 17th amendment established direct election of United States Senators by popular vote. The amendment supersedes Article 1 & 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, under which senators were elected by state legislatures. -
Sedition Act
Congress passes the Sedition Act, an even more repressive measure than the Espionage Act. Along with the Sabotage Act of 20 April, it expands the penalties of the Espionage Act to apply to anyone who discourages military recruiting, interferes with government bond sales, or criticizes the government, the Constitution, service uniforms, the flag, or the war or even wartime production levels.
