Chapter 19
The Progressive Era: 1890–1917
By Boundless
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The Progressive Era was a period of social activism and political reform in the United States that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s.
Progressive-Era reformers sought to use the federal government to make sweeping changes in politics, education, economics, and society.
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The Social Gospel movement applied Christian ethics to social problems.
The end of the Gilded Age witnessed rising levels of social criticism from a new kind of investigative journalist called a "muckraker."
Early efforts in urban reform were driven by poor conditions exposed by tragedies such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
The Settlement House movement was a reform that intended for the rich and the poor to live together in interdependent communities.
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Maternalist reforms provided assistance for mothers and children, expanding the American welfare state.
Progressives sought to enable the citizenry to rule more directly.
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Progressive reformers tried to apply scientific principles and rational problem-solving to social problems.
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Progressive reformers regarded regulation as a cure for all sorts of socioeconomic and political problems.
Prohibition was a major reform movement from the 1840s into the 1920s. Its goal was to prohibit the manufacture or sale of alcohol.
The term "first-wave feminism" describes the women's movements during the Gilded Age, which primarily focused on women's suffrage.
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The movement for women's suffrage gained new vitality during the Progressive Era.
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After attaining suffrage, women extended their activism to focus on contraception, sexual autonomy, and economic rights.
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Theodore Roosevelt's presidency was a driving force for the Progressive movement in the United States in the early twentieth century.
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A major part of Roosevelt's legacy is his conception of the executive branch as a source of regulatory powers for the "good" of the nation.
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Roosevelt's Square Deal focused on conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection.
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Roosevelt's big-stick diplomacy refers to negotiating peacefully with other nations while simultaneously displaying military might.
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In 1904, Theodore Roosevelt won a landslide victory for his re-election, enabling him to pursue a number of bold Progressive reforms.
Theodore Roosevelt embraced legislation aimed at conserving the natural environment.
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In 1908, Theodore Roosevelt persuaded the Republican Party to nominate William Howard Taft to run against Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan.
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In 1908, Republicans promised to lower unpopular tariffs on U.S. imports, but the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act further divided Republicans.
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The Pinchot-Ballinger Controversy was a dispute between U.S. Forest Service Chief Gifford Pinchot and Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger.
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Defeating Theodore Roosevelt's third-party "Bull Moose" candidacy in 1912, Wilson went on to enact sweeping Progressive reforms of his own.
During his first term as President, Wilson focused on three types of reform: Tariff Reform, Banking Reform, and Business Reform.
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Although the Progressive Era was a period of social progress, it also had multiple, contradictory goals that impeded reform efforts.
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African-Americans, immigrants from Asia, and Native Americans were largely excluded from the focus of Progressive reform.