The PROGRESSIVE Era [APUSH Unit 7 Topic 4] Period 7: 1898-1945

The Progressive Era

The Progressive Era was a response to the laissez-faire policies and social problems of the Gilded Age. Progressives came from varied backgrounds and often disagreed about priorities, but they shared the belief that society was deteriorating and that meaningful reform required active government intervention.

Major goals and reform efforts

• Expose social and economic abuses: Investigative journalists—nicknamed “muckrakers” by President Theodore Roosevelt—publicized corruption and harmful conditions in business and society.

  • Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle exposed unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry.
  • Ida Tarbell investigated the practices of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil.
  • Jacob Riis’s How the Other Half Lives documented poverty and unhealthy conditions in New York City tenements.
  • These accounts aimed to inform the public and build pressure for reform.

• Expand democracy and limit political-machine power:

  • The secret ballot helped protect voters from political bosses who could monitor how people voted.
  • The 17th Amendment (1913) established the direct election of senators, replacing election by state legislatures.
  • Initiative: Voters could require legislators to consider a proposed bill.
  • Referendum: Voters could decide whether to adopt a proposed law.
  • Recall: Voters could remove an elected official before the official’s term ended.
  • The 19th Amendment (1920) recognized women’s right to vote.

• Prohibit alcohol: Temperance advocates, including many women, supported the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol. Progressives hoped this would reduce social problems.

• Improve efficiency: Frederick Taylor’s idea of scientific management applied timed observation and expert recommendations to make factory work more efficient. Some Progressives thought similar expert-led methods could reduce waste in government.

• Address racial injustice: Black Progressives challenged segregation and racial violence, including lynching.

  • W.E.B. DuBois helped lead the Niagara Movement, which organized protests and other efforts to secure Black Americans’ rights.
  • The NAACP sought to end segregation and expand educational opportunities for Black children.
  • Despite this activism, Black Americans’ concerns received limited attention from the broader Progressive movement.

Theodore Roosevelt and national reform

Theodore Roosevelt brought Progressivism onto the national stage through his Square Deal, which aimed to treat the public, workers, and businesses fairly.

• During the anthracite coal strike, Roosevelt brought miners and business leaders together and sought a settlement rather than automatically siding with either group.
• As a trust-buster, he enforced the Sherman Antitrust Act against some monopolies, distinguishing between trusts he considered legitimate and those he considered abusive.
• In response to public outrage over food production, he supported:
  • The Pure Food and Drug Act, intended to protect consumers.
  • The Meat Inspection Act, which required meatpacking plants to meet basic sanitation standards.
• He promoted conservation, using the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 to set aside 150 million acres of land.

Central lesson

Progressivism marked a shift from the Gilded Age’s limited-government approach toward the idea that government should actively address economic, political, and social problems. Reform achieved important changes, but it did not address every injustice equally—particularly racial inequality.

Speakers and sources featured

• Speaker: Heimler, the video’s narrator.
• People referenced: Theodore Roosevelt, Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell, Jacob Riis, John D. Rockefeller, Frederick Taylor, W.E.B. DuBois, William McKinley, and John Bunyan.
• Works referenced: The Jungle; How the Other Half Lives; Ida Tarbell’s exposé of Standard Oil; and Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.
• Organizations and institutions referenced: The Niagara Movement, the NAACP, the Anti-Saloon League, the American Temperance Society, Tammany Hall, Congress, and the Supreme Court.
• Laws, amendments, and cases referenced: The Sherman Antitrust Act; the Pure Food and Drug Act; the Meat Inspection Act; the Forest Reserve Act of 1891; the 17th, 18th, and 19th Amendments; and Plessy v. Ferguson.