CHAPTER REVIEW
Rapid Review Guide
To achieve the perfect 5, you should be able to explain the following:
• Political, economic, and social inequities and problems existed in America in the late 1890s, and the Progressive movement developed to attempt to address some of those problems.
• The Progressive movement did not have a unifying set of goals or leaders.
• Progressives shared some of the critiques of American society as the socialists, but wished to reform and not attack the American system.
• Progressive reformers were closely tied to the Social Gospel movement of the Protestant church; progressivism and religious fervor often marched hand in hand.
• Muckraking magazines and newspapers of the era oftentimes created and published the progressive agenda.
• Many progressives were determined to reform city government and the services provided by city government.
• Progressive political reforms included the initiative process, the referendum, recall, and the direct primary.
• Hull House was an example of a settlement house copied by reformers across the country.
• The presidency of Theodore Roosevelt was a high point of progressivism; Roosevelt’s “Square Deal” included many progressive measures.
• Progressive policies were sometimes challenged by Roosevelt’s successor, William Howard Taft; the advent of World War I blunted the progressive reform impulse for many.
• Progressivism succeeded in achieving some of its goals but fell short in aiding farmers and minorities in America.
Time Line
1879: Progress and Poverty by Henry George published
1888: Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy published
1889: Formation of National Consumer’s league
1890: National American Woman Suffrage Association founded
1901: Theodore Roosevelt becomes president after assassination of William McKinley
Progressive Robert La Follette elected as governor of Wisconsin
Progressive Tom Johnson elected as mayor of Cleveland, Ohio
1903: Founding of Women’s Trade Union League
1904: The Shame of the Cities by Lincoln Steffens published
1905: IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) established
Establishment of United States Forest Service
1906: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair published
Meat Inspection Act enacted
Pure Food and Drug Act enacted
1908: William Howard Taft elected president
1909: Foundation of the NAACP
1910: Ballinger-Pinchot controversy
1911: Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire
1912: Progressive party (“Bull Moose party”) founded by Theodore Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson elected president
Establishment of Industrial Relations Committee
1913: Establishment of Federal Reserve System
Ratification of Sixteenth Amendment, authorizing federal income tax
Ratification of Seventeenth Amendment, authorizing direct election of senators
1914: Clayton Antitrust Act ratified
Outbreak of World War I in Europe
1915: First showing of D. W. Griffith’s film Birth of a Nation
Review Questions
1. Successful reforms initiated by the progressives included all but which of the following:
A. Governments became more efficient in American cities such as Cleveland
B. Health and safety conditions improved in some large factories
C. The conditions of migrant farmers improved to some degree
D. Some state governments became more democratic with the introduction of measures such as referendum and recall
E. The federal government began to collect a national income tax.
(Correct Answer: C. Progressives did much less for workers in the agricultural sector than they did for factory workers.)
2. Theodore Roosevelt ran for president in 1912 because
A. the policies of William Howard Taft’s administration were almost exclusively antiprogressive
B. he desired to split the Republican party and give the election to the Democrats
C. he was appalled by the results of the Ballinger-Pinchot Affair
D. of the Taft administration's decision to apply the Sherman Antitrust Act to United States Steel
E. He felt that Taft was not adequately preparing America for potential war with Europe.
(Correct Answer: D. The Taft administration enacted many important progressive measures. Roosevelt considered the actions against United States Steel to be a personal affront to him.)
3. American blacks were discouraged by their lack of racial progress during the Wilson administration. Which of the following is not true.
A. The film Birth of a Nation presented a positive view of blacks in Reconstruction states after the Civil War.
B. Black and progressive leaders forged tight political bonds during the Wilson administration and battled for many of the same causes,
C. Springfield, Illinois, was one city that demonstrated positive relations between white citizens and newly arrived blacks.
D. Booker T. Washington and Theodore Roosevelt developed close political ties after their two meetings together.
E. All of the above.
(Correct Answer: E. D. W. Griffith’s film presented a very negative view of blacks during Reconstruction. Progressives and black leaders never worked closely together. Race riots were held in Springfield, Illinois, Theodore Roosevelt met twice with Booker T. Washington but did little to help the conditions of blacks.)
4. Many progressives agreed with socialists that
A. Capitalism had created massive inequality in America
B. the American factory system had to be fundamentally altered
C. labor unions were inherently evil
D. revolutionary tactics were needed to reform the economic and social systems
E. Factory owners were inherently greedy and could not be trusted
(Correct Answer: A. Progressives and socialists were both critical of the effects of capitalism in the United States. Progressives, however, were intent on reforming that system.)
5. Which of the following was least likely to be a progressive in this era?
A. A member of the Industrial Workers of the World
B. A member of the Protestant Social Gospel movement
C. A large stockholder in United States Steel
D. A follower of Eugene Debs
E. A member of the Bull Moose party
(Correct Answer: C. Progressives were insistent that corporations like U.S. Steel be made to reform. The IWW shared goals with progressives, as did members of the Social Gospel movement and socialist followers of Debs.)