Progressive Era
American reform epoch
The Progressive Era is the period in American history from roughly the 1890s through the 1920s, marked by widespread social activism and political reform.
Progressives sought to address problems created by industrialization, urbanization, and corruption—championing causes like labor rights, women's suffrage, trust-busting, and government accountability.
Muckraking journalists were central figures of the Progressive Era.
Dissolving illegal monopolies
- muckrakersScandal-exposing reporters
- antitrustAgainst corporate market dominance
- regulationOfficial rules governing conduct
- Theodore RooseveltTwenty-sixth American president
Woodrow Wilson · Clayton Act · Federal Reserve · conservation · Upton Sinclair · Ida Tarbell · political machines · direct election
Overcrowded urban dwellings
- immigrationRelocating abroad permanently
- settlement housesCommunity aid organizations
- sanitationCleanliness for public health
- public healthCommunity-level disease prevention
slums · city planning · zoning · infrastructure · streetcars · subway · Americanization · ethnic neighborhoods
Joining into one
- strikeForceful impact or stoppage
- collective bargainingJoint worker-employer talks
- eight-hour dayRegulated daily labor period
- child labor lawsRegulations governing minor employment
workplace safety · minimum wage · sweatshops · worker's compensation · labor movement · picketing · industrial relations · Mother Jones
Authoritative legal ban
- Eighteenth AmendmentConstitutional alcohol ban
- WCTUTemperance advocacy abbreviation
- saloonDrinking establishment, often frontier
- teetotalismTotal sobriety as principle
abstinence · temperance movement · moral reform · alcohol ban · pledge · bootlegging · speakeasy · drys
Voting rights for females
- suffragistsVoting rights activists
- voting rightsEntitlement to elect officials
- Seneca FallsHistoric New York reform gathering
- paradesPublic celebratory processions
Susan B. Anthony · Elizabeth Cady Stanton · picketing · ratification · political equality · voter registration · ballot · suffrage movement
trust-busting
Dissolving illegal monopolies
- muckrakersScandal-exposing reporters
- antitrustAgainst corporate market dominance
- regulationOfficial rules governing conduct
Theodore Roosevelt · Woodrow Wilson · Clayton Act · Federal Reserve · conservation · Upton Sinclair · Ida Tarbell · political machines · direct election · initiative
tenements
Overcrowded urban dwellings
- immigrationRelocating abroad permanently
- settlement housesCommunity aid organizations
- sanitationCleanliness for public health
public health · slums · city planning · zoning · infrastructure · streetcars · subway · Americanization · ethnic neighborhoods · crowding
union
Joining into one
- strikeForceful impact or stoppage
- collective bargainingJoint worker-employer talks
- eight-hour dayRegulated daily labor period
child labor laws · workplace safety · minimum wage · sweatshops · worker's compensation · labor movement · picketing · industrial relations · Mother Jones · Samuel Gompers
prohibition
Authoritative legal ban
- Eighteenth AmendmentConstitutional alcohol ban
- WCTUTemperance advocacy abbreviation
- saloonDrinking establishment, often frontier
teetotalism · abstinence · temperance movement · moral reform · alcohol ban · pledge · bootlegging · speakeasy · drys · wets
women's suffrage
Voting rights for females
- suffragistsVoting rights activists
- voting rightsEntitlement to elect officials
- Seneca FallsHistoric New York reform gathering
Susan B. Anthony · Elizabeth Cady Stanton · parades · picketing · ratification · political equality · voter registration · ballot · suffrage movement · hunger strikes
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