Reform, Expansion, and War€¦ · accepted kickbacks. Akickback is an arrange-ment in which contractors padded the amount of their bill for city work and paid, or “kicked back,”

CHAPTER XX Chapter Title606

Why It Matters

Reform, Expansion,

and War1865–1920

Yosemite Valleyby Ansel Adams

As you study Unit 8, you will learnthat progressive reforms affected

many areas of American life duringthis era. You will also learn why the

United States took a more active rolein international affairs. The following

resources offer more informationabout this period in American history.

Primary Sources LibrarySee pages 972–973 for primary source

readings to accompany Unit 8. Use the American history

Primary Source Document LibraryCD-ROM to find additional primary

sources about reform, expansion, andWorld War I.

World War I enlistment poster

“Suffrage is thepivotal right.”

—Susan B. Anthony, 1897

608

ProgressiveReforms

1877–1920

1887• Interstate Commerce

Commission formed

1879• British win

Zulu War

1893• New Zealand

grants women suffrage

1889• Brazil becomes

a republic

1897• First World Zionist

Congress convenes

Hayes1877–1881

1901• President McKinley

assassinated

CHAPTER 21 Progressive Reforms

1880 1890 1900

Arthur1881–1885

Cleveland1885–1889

B. Harrison1889–1893

Cleveland1893–1897

McKinley1897–1901

Garfield1881

Why It MattersThe spirit of reform gained strength in the late 1800s and thrived during the early

1900s. The reformers, called progressives, were confident in their ability to improvegovernment and the quality of life.

The Impact TodayProgressive reforms affected many areas of American life. Among these are govern-

ment, consumers’ rights, and education.

The American Journey Video The chapter 21 video “The ProgressiveMovement,” studies the movement and how it gained strength over time.

609

1920• Nineteenth Amendment

grants woman suffrage

1905• Einstein announces

theory of relativity

1911• Rutherford discovers

structure of atom

HISTORY

Chapter OverviewVisit taj.glencoe.com andclick on Chapter 21—Chapter Overviews to pre-view chapter information.

The Lone Tenement by George Bellows, 1909 Bellows’s favoritethemes, which include city scenes and athletic events, mark him asa uniquely American painter.


1910 1920

1906• Sinclair’s The Jungle

published

1909• The NAACP

is formed

1919• Eighteenth

Amendment prohibits alcohol

Roosevelt1901–1909

Taft1909–1913

Wilson1913–1921

12

12

Step 1 Fold a sheet of paper in half from side toside, leaving a inch tab along the side.

Step 2 Turn the paper and fold into fourths.

Step 3 Unfold and cut up along the three foldlines.

Step 4 Label your foldable as shown.

Fold in half,then fold inhalf again.

Make fourtabs.

Analyzing Information Study FoldableMake this foldable to help you analyzeinformation about the Progressive movement.

Reading and Writing As you read, find andwrite answers to the four questions under theappropriate tab of your foldable.

Leave inch tab

here.

WHATwas the

Progressivemovement?

HOW didit changethe roles

of women?

WHOwere the

Progressivepresidents?

WHY weresome groups

excludedfrom

reform?

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/taj2003/content.php4/280/1

1887Interstate Commerce Commission is established

1890Congress passes ShermanAntitrust Act

1906Upton Sinclairwrites The Jungle

1912Congress passesthe SeventeenthAmendment

Main IdeaMany men and women became partof a widespread movement to bringabout reform.

Key Termspolitical machine, patronage, civilservice, trust, muckraker, primary, initiative, referendum, recall

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information As you readSection 1, re-create the diagrambelow and list two or more reformsfor each category.

Read to Learn• how journalists helped shape the

reform movement.• how cities, states, and Congress

answered the call for reform of thegovernment.

Section ThemeGovernment and Democracy Ameri-cans took action against corruption inbusiness and government.

The ProgressiveMovement

Newspaper reporter Jacob Riis shocked Americans in 1890 with his book How theOther Half Lives. With words and powerful photographs, Riis vividly portrayed immi-grant life in New York City’s crowded tenements. Said Riis: “We used to go in the smallhours of the morning into the worst tenements to count noses and see if the lawagainst overcrowding was violated and the sights I saw there gripped my heart until Ifelt that I must tell of them, or burst.”

Fighting CorruptionMany Americans called for reform in the late 1800s. The reformers had many

different goals. Progressive reformers focused on urban problems, government,and business. They claimed that government and big business were takingadvantage of the American people rather than serving them.

Political machines—powerful organizations linked to political parties—con-trolled local government in many cities. In each ward, or political district withina city, a machine representative controlled jobs and services. This representative

How the Other HalfLives by Jacob Riis

610 CHAPTER 21 Progressive Reforms

Preview of Events

Guide to Reading

✦ 1885 ✦ 1895 ✦ 1905 ✦ 1915

Reforms

Government Business Voting

611CHAPTER 21 Progressive Reforms

was the political boss. The bosses gained votesfor their parties by doing favors for people, suchas offering turkey dinners and summer boat rides,providing jobs for immigrants, and helping needyfamilies. A political boss was often a citizen’s clos-est link to local government. Although they didhelp people, many bosses were dishonest.

Corrupt politicians found numerous ways tomake money. They accepted bribes from tene-ment landlords in return for overlooking viola-tions of city housing codes. They receivedcampaign contributions from contractors hop-ing to do business with the city. They alsoaccepted kickbacks. A kickback is an arrange-ment in which contractors padded the amountof their bill for city work and paid, or “kickedback,” a percentage of that amount to the bosses.

Some politicians used their knowledge of citybusiness for personal profit. A person who knewwhere the city planned to build a road could buyland there before the route became publicknowledge. Later the land could be sold for ahuge profit.

One of the most corrupt city bosses, WilliamM. Tweed, known as Boss Tweed, headed NewYork City’s Democratic political machine in the1860s and 1870s. Tweed and a network of city

The Tweed Ring Boss Tweed and NewYork City officials are shown pointing toone another in response to the question“Who stole the people’s money?” OnTweed’s right a man holds a hat labeled“Chairs,” a reference to the $179,000 NewYork City paid for 40 chairs and threetables. Other contractors and cheats—theirnames on their coats—complete the “ring.”How did political bosses gain votesfor their parties?

Analyzing Political Cartoons

B Peter SweenyA Boss Tweed C Richard Connelly D Mayor A. Oakey Hall

officials—the Tweed ring—controlled the police,the courts, and some newspapers. They collectedmillions of dollars in illegal payments from com-panies doing business with the city. Political car-toonist Thomas Nast exposed the Tweed ring’soperations in his cartoons for Harper’s Weekly.Tweed was convicted and sentenced to prison.

CitizenshipNew Ways to Govern Cities

To break the power of political bosses, reform-ers founded organizations such as the NationalMunicipal League in Philadelphia. These groupsworked to make city governments more honestand efficient.

Cities troubled by poor management or cor-ruption tried new forms of government. After atidal wave devastated Galveston, Texas, in 1900,the task of rebuilding the city overwhelmed themayor and city council. Galveston’s citizens per-suaded the Texas state legislature to approve a new charter that placed the city government in the hands of five commissioners. The new commission efficiently rebuilt the city. By 1917

BAC D

commissions governednearly 400 cities. Manyother cities, mostly smallones, hired professionalcity managers.

One successful civicreformer was Tom John-son, mayor of Cleve-land, Ohio, from 1901 to

1909. He battled corporations and party bossesto lower streetcar fares, improve food inspec-tions, and build parks. Because of Johnson’sreforms, Cleveland became known as the best-governed city in the United States.

Fighting the Spoils SystemThe spoils system—rewarding political sup-

porters with jobs and favors—had been com-mon practice since the time of Andrew Jackson.Whenever a new president came to power, jobseekers flooded the nation’s capital.

The spoils system—also called patronage—existed at all levels of government and led tonumerous abuses. Many who received govern-ment jobs were not qualified. Some were dishonest.

Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes (1877–1881)and James Garfield (1881) wanted to change thespoils system. Hayes tried to do this by reformingthe civil service—the body of nonelected govern-ment workers—but neither the Democratic northe Republican Party supported his efforts.

Garfield also hoped to reform the civil service.He believed that people should be appointed togovernment jobs not as a reward for political sup-port but because of their qualifications. Garfieldtook office in 1881 but was assassinated by anunsuccessful office seeker before he could launchhis reforms.

When Vice President Chester A. Arthur suc-ceeded Garfield, he tried to end the spoils system.In 1883 Congress passed the Pendleton Act,which established the Civil Service Commissionto set up competitive examinations for federaljobs. Applicants had to demonstrate their abilitiesin this examination. By 1900 the commission con-trolled the hiring of many federal employees.

Explaining Whom did the spoilssystem reward?

Economics

Controlling BusinessDuring the late 1800s, many Americans came

to believe that trusts, or combinations of compa-nies, were becoming too large. They believedthese trusts had too much control over the econ-omy and the government. This public concernled to new laws regulating big business.

In 1890 Congress passed the ShermanAntitrust Act, the first federal law to controltrusts and monopolies. Supporters of the lawhoped it would keep trusts from limiting com-petition. During the 1890s, however, the gov-ernment rarely used the Sherman Act to curbbusiness. Instead, it applied the act againstlabor unions, claiming that union strikes inter-fered with trade. Not until the early 1900s didthe government win cases against trusts byusing the Sherman Act.

Reining in the RailroadsThe railroads functioned as an oligopoly—a

market structure in which a few large compa-nies control the prices of the industry. Reformerscalled for regulations on railroad rates, but theSupreme Court ruled that only Congress couldenact legislation to regulate commerce thatcrossed state lines.

So in 1887 Congress passed the InterstateCommerce Act, which required railroads tocharge “reasonable and just” rates and to publishthose rates. The act also created the InterstateCommerce Commission (ICC) to supervise therailroad industry and, later, the trucking industry.

Lowering TariffsReformers also wanted to lower tariffs.

Many people believed that high tariffs led tohigher prices for goods. In 1890 the Republi-cans raised tariffs sharply to protect Americanbusinesses from international competition. Vot-ers showed their opposition to high tariffs bysending many Democrats to Congress. GroverCleveland, who became president in 1893, alsosupported lower tariffs.

Explaining Why did many peoplewant lower tariffs?

$


HISTORY

Student Web ActivityVisit taj.glencoe.com andclick on Chapter 21—Student Web Activitiesfor an activity on the Pro-gressive movement.

http://www.glencoe.com/qe/qe37.php?&st=280&pt=2&bk=13


The New ReformersIn the early 1900s, new ideas for correcting

injustice and solving social problems emergedamong American reformers. Socialism and pro-gressivism were two such ideas.

Socialists believed a nation’s resources andmajor industries should be owned and operatedby the government on behalf of all the people—not by individuals and private companies fortheir own profit. Eugene V. Debs helped foundthe American Socialist Party in 1898. UnderDebs’s leadership the party won some supportin the early 1900s. Debs ran for president fivetimes but never received more than 6 percent ofthe popular vote.

During the same period, progressivesbrought new energy to the reform movement.Like the socialists, many progressives werealarmed by the concentration of wealth andpower in the hands of a few. Progressivesrejected the socialist idea of government owner-ship of industries. Instead, they supported gov-ernment efforts to regulate industry.

They also sought to reform government, tomake it more efficient and better able to resistthe influence of powerful business interests.Progressives also believed that society had anobligation to protect and help all its members.Many progressive reforms aimed to help thosewho lacked wealth and influence.

Muckrakers Expose ProblemsJournalists aided the reformers by exposing

injustices and corruption. Investigative reporterswrote newspaper and magazine stories thatbrought problems to the attention of the public—and gained readers. These journalists were calledmuckrakers because they “raked” (brought tolight) the “muck” (dirt and corruption) underly-ing society.

One of the most effective muckrakers, Lincoln Steffens, reported for McClure’s Maga-zine. Steffens exposed corrupt machine politicsin New York, Chicago, and other cities. Hisarticles, collected in a book called The Shame ofthe Cities (1904), strengthened the demand forurban reform.

Ida Tarbell, also writing for McClure’s,described the unfair practices of the oil trust.Her articles led to public pressure for more gov-ernment control over big business. In her 1904book, The History of the Standard Oil Company,she warned of the giant corporation’s power.

In his novel The Jungle (1906), Upton Sinclairdescribed the horrors of the meatpacking indus-try in Chicago. Although Sinclair’s aim was toarouse sympathy for the workers, his vividdescriptions shocked Americans. The uproarcaused by Sinclair’s book helped persuade Con-gress to pass the Meat Inspection Act in 1906.That same year Congress also passed the PureFood and Drug Act, requiring accurate labelingof food and medicine and banning the sale ofharmful food.

Identifying Who wrote about unfairpractices in the oil industry?

Citizenship

Expanding DemocracyIn the early 1900s, progressives backed a

number of reforms designed to increase the peo-ple’s direct control of the government. RobertLa Follette led Wisconsin’s reform-mindedRepublicans. “Fighting Bob,” as he was called,won the support of farmers and workers withhis fiery attacks on big business and the rail-roads. While governor, La Follette brought

“It is the dutyof the public to know.”—Ida Tarbell, 1905

Checking for Understanding1. Key Terms Use each of these terms

in a complete sentence that will helpexplain its meaning: politicalmachine, patronage, civil service,trust, muckraker, primary, initia-tive, referendum, recall.

2. Reviewing Facts Explain how theCivil Service Commission helped toeliminate the spoils system.

Reviewing Themes3. Government and Democracy Iden-

tify and describe three reforms thatgave the American people moredirect control of the government.

Critical Thinking4. Comparing Compare socialist and

progressive views on industry.5. Organizing Information Re-create

the diagram below and show howthe Seventeenth Amendmentreformed the political process.

Analyzing Visuals6. Analyzing Political Cartoons Exam-

ine the political cartoon on page 611.Why are the individuals pointing tosomeone else? What statement iscartoonist Thomas Nast makingabout the extent of political corrup-tion in New York City?

about reforms such as improving the civil serv-ice. His greatest achievement, however, wasreforming the state electoral system. Candidatesfor general elections in Wisconsin had been cho-sen at state conventions run by party bosses. LaFollette introduced a direct primary election,allowing the state’s voters to choose theirparty’s candidates. Reformers in other statescopied this “Wisconsin idea.”

The Oregon SystemThe state of Oregon also made important

changes in the political process to give votersmore power and to limit the influence of political

parties. The reforms in Oregon included a directprimary election and the initiative, the referen-dum, and the recall.

The initiative allowed citizens to place a meas-ure or issue on the ballot in a state election. Thereferendum gave voters the opportunity toaccept or reject measures that the state legislatureenacted. The recall enabled voters to removeunsatisfactory elected officials from their jobs.These reforms were called the Oregon System.Other western states soon adopted the reforms.

The Seventeenth AmendmentProgressives also changed the way United

States senators are elected. The Constitution hadgiven state legislatures the responsibility forchoosing senators, but party bosses and businessinterests often controlled the selection process.Progressives wanted to give the people an oppor-tunity to vote for their senators directly. Supportfor this idea grew. In 1912 Congress passed theSeventeenth Amendment to the Constitution toprovide for the direct election of senators. Rati-fied in 1913, the amendment gave the people avoice in selecting their representatives. ; (See page

248 for the text of the Seventeenth Amendment.)

Identifying What reform allowedvoters to place a measure on the ballot?


Civics Citizens must prepare tovote. Create a pamphlet describingthe kinds of things voters shouldknow in order to make their ballotsmeaningful.

Seventh Amendment

Policy before Policy after

Debs ran for president while in prison. Eugene Debswas the candidate of the Socialist Party for president in1904, 1908, and 1912. For his opposition to the entry ofthe United States into World War I, Debs was convicted in1918 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. While in prisonin 1920 he ran again for president on the Socialist ticketand received almost 1 million votes—about 3.5 percentof the total. His sentence was commuted in 1921.

Presidential Elections

615

1890National AmericanWoman Suffrage Association emerges

1896National Associationof Colored Women isformed

1919The EighteenthAmendment is ratified

1920The Nineteenth Amendment is ratified

Main IdeaWomen worked for the right to vote,for improved working conditions, andfor temperance.

Key Termssuffragist, prohibition

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information As you readthe section, re-create the diagrambelow and describe the role of eachindividual.

Read to Learn• how the role of American women

changed during the Progressive Era.• how women fought for the right

to vote.

Section ThemeGroups and Institutions Manywomen worked for a constitutionalamendment to gain suffrage.

Women and Progressives


Nurse Lillian Wald followed a young girl up a rickety staircase in a filthy tenementhouse on New York City’s Lower East Side. The girl had begged Wald to help hermother who had just given birth to a baby. A doctor had refused to treat the girl’smother because she could not pay his fee. The sight of the desperate mother and herbaby was a turning point in Wald’s life. Wald dedicated herself to helping poor peopleand educating them about health care. Eventually Wald became a national reformleader who was known to say, “The whole world is my neighborhood.”

Women’s Roles ChangeMany leaders of the urban reform movement, including Lillian Wald, were

middle-class women. The situation of middle-class women changed during thelate 1800s. Their responsibilities at home lessened as families became smaller,more children spent the day at school, and men worked away from home.Women also gained more free time as technology made housework easier.

Lillian D. Wald

Individual Role in Progressive movement

Mary Church Terrell

Susan B. Anthony

Frances WillardPreview of Events

Guide to Reading

✦ 1890 ✦ 1900 ✦ 1910 ✦ 1920

Many more middle-class women were gain-ing higher education. About 40 percent of all col-lege students in 1910 were women. Women werealso starting professional careers—mostly inteaching but also in nursing, medicine, andother fields. Between 1890 and 1910, the numberof women working outside the home increasedfrom 4 million to nearly 7.5 million.

These changes created the “new woman”—apopular term for educated, up-to-date womenwho pursued interests outside their homes.Many such women became role models.

As you read in Chapter 20, Jane Addamsestablished Hull House, a settlement house, inChicago. Working there gave Addams an outletfor her energy and intelligence, as well as asense of satisfaction with helping poor people.; (See page 972 for an account of settlement houses.)

Settlement workers such as Addams gainednotice as writers, public speakers, fund-raisers,and reformers. Many young women followedthe example of these talented public figures.Others found inspiration in the life of MotherCabrini, an Italian nun who came to the UnitedStates to work with the poor.

Women’s ClubsWomen found another outlet for their talent

and energy in women’s clubs, which rapidlyincreased in number. At first the clubs focusedon such cultural activities as music and paint-ing. Many clubs gradually became more con-cerned with social problems.

When some clubs refused to admit AfricanAmericans, African American women estab-lished their own network of clubs. Clubs such as the Phyllis WheatleyClub of New Orleansorganized classes,recreational activi-ties, and social serv-ices. In 1896 womenfrom these clubsformed the NationalAssociation of Col-ored Women. Its firstpresident, Mary ChurchTerrell, was an active

leader for women’s rights. The associationestablished homes for orphans, founded hospi-tals, and worked for woman suffrage, fulfillingits motto “Lifting As We Climb.”

Identifying Who was Mary ChurchTerrell?

The Fight for SuffrageAt the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848,

women had called for the right to vote. After theCivil War, Congress passed the Fifteenth Amend-ment, giving voting rights to freed men—but notto women. Some leading abolitionists becamesuffragists, men and women who fought forwoman suffrage, or women’s right to vote.

Like other reformers, the suffragists formedorganizations to promote their cause. ElizabethCady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony foundedthe National Woman Suffrage Association,which called for a constitutional amendmentallowing women to vote in national elections. Asecond organization, the American Woman Suf-frage Association, focused on winning womansuffrage in state elections.

In 1890 the two groups merged to form theNational American Woman Suffrage Association.Led by Anna Howard Shaw, a minister and doc-tor, and Carrie Chapman Catt, an educator andnewspaper editor, this organization grew to morethan two million members by 1917. In a speech tothe association in 1902, Catt declared:

“The whole aim of the [women’s] movementhas been to destroy the idea that obedience isnecessary to women; to train women to such self-respect that they would not grant obedience andto train men to such comprehension of equity[fairness] they would not exact [demand] it.”

Opposition to Woman SuffrageGroups formed to protest the idea of giving

women the vote. These organizations—sup-ported by some women as well as by men—claimed that woman suffrage would upsetsociety’s “natural” balance and lead to divorceand neglected children.


Mary Church Terrell

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The suffragists won their early victories in theWest. First as a territory in 1869 and then as astate in 1890, Wyoming led the nation in givingwomen the vote. Between 1910 and 1913, fiveother states adopted woman suffrage. By 1919women could vote in at least some elections inmost of the 48 states.

Continuing the FightIn the meantime suffragists continued their

struggle to win the vote everywhere. Alice Paul,a Quaker who founded the National Woman’sParty in 1916, was a forceful leader of the suffra-gist movement. She sought greater economic andlegal equality as well as suffrage for women.

During a visit to Great Britain, Paul saw suf-fragists use protest marches and hunger strikes

By 1919 a total of 15 states allowed women to vote in all elections.1. Place Where were women first granted equal suffrage?2. Comparing What was the status of woman suffrage in

your state by 1919?

Voting Rights for Women, 1919

Equal suffrage, date effective

Partial suffrage

No statewide suffrage

The suffrage movement gained strength,however, when respected public figures such asJane Addams spoke out in support of the votefor women. Alice Duer Miller brought humor tothe struggle for the right to vote:

“Said Mr. Jones in 1910:‘Women, subject yourselves to men.’Nineteen-Eleven heard him quote:‘They rule the world without the vote.’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .By Nineteen-Thirteen, looking glum,He said that it was bound to come.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .By Nineteen-Fifteen, he’ll insistHe’s always been a suffragist.”

to call attention to their cause. When shereturned to the United States, she, too, usedthese methods in the fight for suffrage.

In 1917 Alice Paul met with PresidentWoodrow Wilson but failed to win his supportfor woman suffrage. Paul responded by leadingwomen protestors in front of the White House.Day after day they marched carrying bannersdemanding votes for women. When Paul andother protestors were arrested for blocking thesidewalk, they started a much-publicizedhunger strike. Alva Belmont, one of the protes-tors, proudly declared that all the women haddone was to stand there “quietly, peacefully,lawfully, and gloriously.”

Women Vote NationallyBy 1917 the national tide was turning in favor

of woman suffrage. New York and, a year later,South Dakota and Oklahoma granted equal suf-frage. Meanwhile Congress began debating theissue, and President Wilson agreed to supportan amendment to the Constitution.

In 1919 the Senate voted in favor of the Nine-teenth Amendment, which allowed woman suf-frage. The amendment was ratified in 1920, intime for women to vote in that year’s presidentialelection. For the first time, American womenwere able to participate in the election of theirnational leaders.

Identifying What state was the firstto give women the right to vote?

Women and Social ReformDuring the Progressive Era, women involved

themselves in many reform movements besideswoman suffrage. In 1912, for example, pressurefrom women’s clubs helped persuade Congressto create the Children’s Bureau in the LaborDepartment. The bureau’s task was to developfederal policies that would protect children.

Working for a Better LifeWhile they struggled to gain rights for them-

selves, many middle-class women also worked toimprove the lives of working-class people, immi-grants, and society as a whole. They supportedand staffed libraries, schools, and settlementhouses and raised money for charities.

Some women promoted other causes. Theychallenged business interests by sponsoringlaws to regulate the labor of women and chil-dren and to require government inspection ofworkplaces. Women also played an importantrole in the movement to reform and regulate thefood and medicine industries.

In many states across the country, womenpressured state legislatures to provide pensionsfor widows and abandoned mothers with chil-dren. These pensions later became part of theSocial Security system.

Labor MovementReform efforts brought upper-class women

reformers into alliance with working women. In1903 women’s groups joined with working-classunion women to form the Women’s TradeUnion League (WTUL).

The WTUL encouraged working women toform women’s labor unions. It also supportedlaws to protect the rights of women factoryworkers. WTUL members raised money to helpstriking workers and to pay bail for women whowere arrested for participating in strikes.


Alice Paul sews a star on the flag of the NationalWoman’s Party in celebration of the ratification of theNineteenth Amendment in 1920. What did thisamendment achieve?

History

Checking for Understanding1. Key Terms Use each of these terms

in a complete sentence that will helpexplain its meaning: suffragist, pro-hibition.

2. Reviewing Facts What did the Nine-teenth Amendment provide?

Reviewing Themes3. Groups and Institutions How did

women’s clubs help to change therole of women?

Critical Thinking4. Drawing Conclusions Why do you

think the right to vote was importantto women?

5. Sequencing Information Re-createthe time line below and identify theevents regarding woman suffragethat happened in these years.

Analyzing Visuals6. Geography Skills Examine the

map on page 617. Which regions of the country provided no statewidesuffrage?

CHAPTER 21 Progressive Reforms 619

Expository Writing Find a news-paper article that deals with therole of women today. Rewrite thearticle to reflect how this informa-tion might have been presented inthe late 1800s and early 1900s.

1848 1869 1896 1920

Carry Nation wentfrom praying outsidetaverns to destroyingthem with a hatchet.

Temperance poster

The Temperance CrusadeA crusade against the use of alcohol had

begun in New England and the Midwest in theearly 1800s. The movement continued through-out the late 1800s. Protestant churches stronglysupported the anti-alcohol movement.

Two driving forces in the crusade were theWoman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU),established in 1874, and the Anti-Saloon League,founded 20 years later. They called for temper-ance, urging individuals to stop drinking, andprohibition, the passing of laws to prohibit themaking or selling of alcohol.

In 1879 Frances Willard became head of theWCTU. Willard led a campaign to educate thepublic about the links between alcohol abuseand violence, poverty, and unemployment. Sheturned the WCTU into a powerful organizationwith chapters in every state.

The WCTU’s main goal was prohibition.However, the WCTU also supported othercauses, including prison reform, woman suf-frage, improved working conditions, andworld peace. Through WCTU chapters, thou-sands of women combined their traditional roleas guardians of the family and home withsocial activism.

Carry Nation was an especially colorful cru-sader for temperance. Her most dramaticprotests occurred when she pushed her way intosaloons and broke bottles and kegs with an ax.

The Prohibition AmendmentThe anti-alcohol movement grew during the

early 1900s. Progressive reformers who wanted toban alcohol for social reasons were joined byAmericans who opposed alcohol for religious ormoral reasons. In 1917 they persuaded Congressto pass a constitutional amendment making itillegal to make, transport, or sell alcohol in theUnited States. The Eighteenth Amendment,known as the Prohibition Law, was ratified in1919. ; (See page 249 for the text of the Eighteenth Amendment.)

Describing What was the goal ofthe temperance movement?

1901President McKinleyis assassinated

1905Roosevelt proposes theU.S. Forest Service

1913Federal Reserve Act creates12 regional banks

1914Congress establishes theFederal Trade Commission

Main IdeaPresidents during the Progressive Eraworked to control big business and todeal with labor problems.

Key Termstrustbuster, arbitration, squaredeal, laissez-faire, conservation

Reading StrategyTaking Notes As you read Section 3,re-create the diagram below andexplain why each of these acts of legislation is important.

Read to Learn• how President Theodore Roosevelt

took on big business.• why the progressives formed their

own political party.

Section ThemeEconomic Factors Government triedvarious means to regulate big business.

Progressive Presidents

“We were still under a heavy fire and I got together a mixed lot of men and pushedon from the trenches and ranch houses which we had just taken, driving the Spaniardsthrough a line of palm-trees, and over the crest of a chain of hills. . . .” With thesewords, a young lieutenant colonel named Theodore Roosevelt described his militaryadventures in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Known for his vigor, enthusi-asm, and a colorful personality, Roosevelt became president in 1901 upon the assassi-nation of President William McKinley.

Theodore Roosevelt When Theodore Roosevelt received the Republican vice-presidential nomi-

nation in 1900, the powerful Republican leader Mark Hanna warned that therewould be only one life between “that cowboy” and the White House. When theelection resulted in a Republican victory, Hanna turned to McKinley and said, “Now it is up to you to live.” Less than a year later, President McKinley was

Theodore Rooseveltboard game


Legislation Importance

Sixteenth Amendment

Pure Food and Drug Act

Federal Reserve Act

Preview of Events

Guide to Reading

✦ 1900 ✦ 1910 ✦ 1920

assassinated. Suddenly, 42-year-old TheodoreRoosevelt became president—the youngestpresident in the nation’s history. When Roose-velt moved into the White House in 1901, hebrought progressivism with him.

The “Trustbuster”President McKinley had favored big business,

but President Roosevelt was known to supportbusiness regulation and other progressivereforms. In 1902 Roosevelt ordered the JusticeDepartment to take legal action against certaintrusts that had violated the Sherman AntitrustAct. His first target was the Northern SecuritiesCompany, a railroad monopoly formed by fin-anciers J.P. Morgan and James J. Hill to controltransportation in the Northwest. Northern Secu-rities fought the government’s accusations ofillegal activity all the way to the Supreme Court.Finally, in 1904 the Justice Department won itscase. The Supreme Court decided that NorthernSecurities had illegally limited trade andordered the trust to be taken apart.

During the rest of Roosevelt’s term as presi-dent, he obtained a total of 25 indictments (legalcharges) against trusts in the beef, oil, andtobacco industries. Although hailed as a trust-buster, Roosevelt did not want to break up alltrusts. As he saw it, trusts should be regulated,not destroyed. He distinguished between “goodtrusts,” which were concerned with public wel-fare, and “bad trusts,” which were not.

Labor CrisisIn 1902 Roosevelt faced a major labor crisis.

More than 100,000 Pennsylvania coal miners,members of the United Mine Workers, wenton strike. They demanded better pay, an eight-hour workday, and recognition of the union’sright to represent its members in discussionswith mine owners.

The mine owners refused to negotiate with theworkers. The coal strike dragged on for months.As winter approached, coal supplies dwindled.Public opinion began to turn against the owners.As public pressure mounted, Roosevelt invitedrepresentatives of the owners and miners to a meeting at the White House. Roosevelt was

outraged when the owners refused to negotiate.He threatened to send federal troops to work inthe mines and produce the coal. The ownersfinally agreed to arbitration—settling the disputeby agreeing to accept the decision of an impartialoutsider. Mine workers won a pay increase and areduction in hours, but they did not gain recogni-tion for the union.

Roosevelt’s action marked a departure fromnormal patterns of labor relations at the time.Earlier presidents had used troops against strik-ers, but Roosevelt had used the power of thefederal government to force the company own-ers to negotiate. In other labor actions, however,Roosevelt supported employers in disputeswith workers.

Square DealRoosevelt ran for the presidency in 1904,

promising the people a square deal—fair andequal treatment for all. He was elected withmore than 57 percent of the popular vote.

Roosevelt’s “square deal” called for a consid-erable amount of government regulation ofbusiness. This contrasted with an attitudetoward business that dated back to the presi-dency of Thomas Jefferson, which was summedup in the phrase laissez-faire (LEH•say FEHR).This French term generally means, “let peopledo as they choose.”

McKinley/Rooseveltglass canteen, 1900


Roosevelt introduced a new era of govern-ment regulation. He supported the MeatInspection and Pure Food and Drug Acts; theseacts gave the Department of Agriculture and theFood and Drug Administration the power tovisit businesses and inspect their products.

Conserving the WildernessRoosevelt held a lifelong enthusiasm for the

great outdoors and the wilderness. He believedin the need for conservation, the protection andpreservation of natural resources.

As president, Roosevelt took steps to con-serve the country’s forests, mineral deposits,and water resources. In 1905 he proposed theU.S. Forest Service. He pressured Congress toset aside millions of acres of national forests andcreated the nation’s first wildlife sanctuaries.Roosevelt also formed the National Conserva-tion Commission, which produced the first sur-vey of the country’s natural resources.

Roosevelt has been called America’s firstenvironmental president. While he made con-servation an important public issue, Rooseveltalso recognized the need for economic growthand development. He tried to strike a balancebetween business interests and conservation.

Describing What is conservation?

William Howard Taft No president before had ever served more

than two terms. In keeping with that tradition,Roosevelt decided not to run for reelection in1908. Instead Roosevelt chose William HowardTaft, an experienced diplomat, to run for presi-dent. In the election of 1908, Taft easily defeatedDemocrat William Jennings Bryan.

Although he had none of Roosevelt’s flair, Taftcarried out—and went beyond—many of Roose-velt’s policies. The Taft administration won moreantitrust cases in four years than Roosevelt hadwon in seven. Taft also favored the introductionof safety standards for mines and railroads.

Taft supported the Sixteenth Amendment,which gave Congress the power to tax people’sincomes to generate revenue for the federal

government. Progressiveshoped the income tax would enable thegovernment to lower tariffs. In their view hightariffs led to higher prices for goods, whichcaused hardship for the poor. Progressivesbelieved that taxes based on income werefairer. The Sixteenth Amendment, added to theConstitution in 1913, did not specify howincome would be taxed. Congress passed addi-tional laws so that higher incomes were taxedat a higher rate than lower incomes.

Despite his progressive reforms, President Taftdisappointed progressives in two importantareas—tariffs and conservation. He failed to fightfor a lower tariff, and he modified some conser-vation policies so that they favored businesses.


The Influence of

Minor Political Parties

Minor Political Parties The Republican and Demo-cratic parties dominate the nation’s two-party system. Yetthe United States has a long history of other political par-ties that have risen to challenge the major parties. Minorparties pushed for an end to slavery, and supported votingrights for women, and child and labor regulation longbefore the major parties did.

Populist proposals that are ineffect today include the fed-eral income tax, the secretballot, and the initiative andreferendum.


Roosevelt Challenges TaftBy 1912 Roosevelt had become completely

disappointed in Taft. With a new presidentialelection on the horizon, Roosevelt decided tochallenge Taft for the Republican presidentialnomination. Roosevelt claimed that Taft had“completely twisted around” his own policies.

The showdown between Roosevelt and Taftcame at the Republican national convention inChicago in June. Although Roosevelt won everyprimary and had many supporters, Taft had thebacking of Republican Party leaders and influen-tial business interests who controlled the partymachinery. When Taft received the nominationon the first ballot, Roosevelt charged the Repub-lican party leaders with stealing the presidentialnomination from him.

A fiery Roosevelt led his supporters out of theconvention hall. He and his followers formed anew party, the Progressive Party. In August theProgressives held their own convention inChicago and nominated Roosevelt for president.

When a reporter asked Roosevelt about hishealth, the candidate thumped himself on thechest and declared, “I feel as strong as a bullmoose!” From then on, the Progressive Partywas known as the Bull Moose Party.

The Election of 1912The split in the Republican Party hurt both

Taft and Roosevelt. While Republicans and Pro-gressives battled each other at the polls, Demo-crat Woodrow Wilson gathered enough supportto defeat them in the election. Wilson had

Former President Theodore Rooseveltleft the Republican Party to form theProgressive, or “Bull Moose,” Party.

Some third parties have presented a strong challenge to the majorparties. The Republican Party was itself a third party in 1856. Fouryears later it captured the White House.

1848 Martin Van Buren, Free Soil 10.1 0

1856 John C. Fremont, Republican 33.1 114

1892 James Weaver, Populist 8.5 22

1912 Theodore Roosevelt, Progressive 27.4 88

1924 Robert La Follette, Progressive 16.6 13

1948 Strom Thurmond, States Rights 2.4 39

1968 George Wallace, Am. Independent 13.5 46

1992 Ross Perot, Reform 19.0 0

2000 Ralph Nader, Green 2.7 0

PresidentialElection

YearResults:

Candidate/party % of popular vote Electoral votes

Third-Party Results

Checking for Understanding1. Key Terms Write a paragraph in

which you use all of the followingkey terms: trustbuster, arbitration,laissez-faire.

2. Reviewing Facts What candidatewon the presidential election of1912?

Reviewing Themes3. Economic Factors Why did progres-

sives support an income tax?

Critical Thinking4. Analyzing Information Explain why

Roosevelt preferred regulation totrustbusting.

5. Determining Cause and EffectRe-create the diagram below andexplain the reasons for, and the out-come of, the 1902 coal strike.

Analyzing Visuals6. Chart Skills Study the chart on

page 623 that shows third-partyresults. What party did JamesWeaver represent? What third partyreceived the largest percentage of the popular vote? The largestnumber of electoral votes?

acquired a reputation as a progressive reformerwhile serving as president of Princeton Univer-sity and governor of New Jersey.

Wilson gained only 42 percent of the popularvote, with Roosevelt receiving 27 percent andTaft 23 percent. However, Wilson won the presi-dency by the largest electoral majority up to thattime, sweeping 435 of the 531 electoral votes.

Wilson in the White HouseDuring his campaign Woodrow Wilson had

criticized big government as well as big business.Wilson called his program the “New Freedom.”

In 1913 Wilson achieved a long-awaited pro-gressive goal—tariff reform. He persuaded theDemocrat-controlled Congress to adopt a lowertariff on imported goods such as sugar, wool,steel, and farm equipment. Wilson believedthat the pressure of foreign competition wouldlead American manufacturers to improve their

products and lower their prices. The govern-ment income lost by lowering tariffs would bereplaced by the new income tax.

That same year Congress also passed the Fed-eral Reserve Act to regulate banking. By creat-ing 12 regional banks supervised by a centralboard in Washington, D.C., the act gave the gov-ernment more control over banking activities.Banks that operated nationally were required tojoin the Federal Reserve System and abide by itsregulations.

Wilson also worked to strengthen govern-ment control over business. In 1914 Congressestablished the Federal Trade Commission(FTC) to investigate corporations for unfairtrade practices. Wilson also supported the Clay-ton Antitrust Act of 1914, which joined the Sher-man Antitrust Act as one of the government’schief weapons against trusts. The governmentalso tried to regulate child labor. The Keating-Owen Act of 1916 banned goods produced bychild labor from being sold in interstate com-merce. The act was struck down as unconstitu-tional just two years later.

By the end of Wilson’s first term, progressiveshad won many victories. The Progressive move-ment lost some of its momentum as Americansturned their attention to world affairs—especiallythe war that had broken out in Europe in 1914.

Analyzing How did Roosevelt’s runfor the presidency affect the election of 1912?


Art Draw a political cartoon thatsupports Theodore Roosevelt’sactions as a “trustbuster.”

1902 Coal

Strike

Twenty-fifth Flag, 1912 Statehood forArizona and New Mexico increased thenumber of stars to 48 in 1912. Thisflag served from 1912 to 1959, moreyears than any other flag.

America’s Flags

CHAPTER XX Chapter Title

Interpreting a Political CartoonWhy Learn This Skill?

You’ve probably heard thesaying, “A picture is worth athousand words.” For morethan 200 years, political car-toonists have drawn pictures topresent their opinions about aperson or event. Learning tointerpret political cartoons canhelp you understand issues ofboth the past and present.

Learning the SkillPolitical cartoons state opin-

ions about particular subjects.To illustrate those opinions,cartoonists provide clues, using several differenttechniques. They often exaggerate a person’s physicalfeatures or appearance in a special effect called“caricature.” A caricature can be positive or nega-tive, depending on the artist’s point of view.

Cartoonists also use symbols to represent some-thing else. The bald eagle is often shown in politicalcartoons as a symbol of the United States. Sometimescartoonists help readers interpret their message byadding labels or captions.

To interpret a political cartoon, follow these steps:

• Read the caption and any other words printed inthe cartoon.

• Analyze each element in the cartoon.

• Identify the clues: What is happening in the car-toon? Who or what is represented by each part ofthe drawing? What or whom do the figures repre-sent? To what do the symbols refer?

• Study all these elements to decide the point thecartoonist is making.

Practicing the SkillThe cartoon on this page shows Theodore Roose-velt looking in a window at President Taft. Ana-lyze the cartoon, and then answer the followingquestions.

1 What is going on in this picture?

2 What caricatures are included in this cartoon?

3 What symbols are shown in the cartoon? Whatdo these symbols represent?

4 What point is the cartoonist making?

Applying the SkillInterpreting a Political Cartoon Bring to classa copy of a political cartoon from a recent news-paper or magazine. Explain the cartoonist’s pointof view and the tools used to express it.

Glencoe’s Skillbuilder InteractiveWorkbook CD-ROM, Level 1, providesinstruction and practice in key social studies skills.

Social StudiesSocial Studies

625

Mt. Foraker17,400 ft. (5,303 m)

Avalanche Spire10,105 ft. (3,080 m)

K a h i l t n a G l a c i e r

1. Which peaks are higher than 15,000 feet?

2. How do you think attitudes toward wildernessareas have changed during the last century?

&GEOGRAPHY HISTORY

Yukon River

Denali National Parkand Preserve

A L A S K A CA

NA

DA

U.S

.

0

0

500 miles

500 kilometers

N

S

W

E

L E A R N I N G f r o m G E O G R A P H Y

626

WILD WONDERSGRIZZLY BEARS, WOLVES, MOOSE, CARIBOU,DALL’S SHEEP and many other animals roam Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve. Larger than Massachusetts, the six-million-acre park includes the highest mountain in North America.

The Alaskan wilderness area set aside as Mount McKinley National Park in 1917 was renamed Denali in 1980 when Congress tripled the size of the park.Denali was the peak’s Native American name, meaning “the High One.”

The idea of setting aside areas of natural beauty and historic importance for the benefit of the people dates back to the mid-1800s. Before then Americans had viewedwild places either as obstacles or as a source of naturalresources for people to use.

The conservation movement gained popularity in the early 1900s when President Theodore Roosevelt and other conservationists urged Americans to protect natural resources.

Today conservation continues to be an important issue. Although many of us enjoyvisiting national parks such as Denali, theparks also serve as refuges for wildlife.Scientists study the plants and animals so that they can protect them. With 430species of flowering plants, 37 species ofmammals, and 156 species of birds, Denalistands as one of America’s great areas ofunspoiled wilderness.

627

Mt. McKinley (Denali)20,320 ft. (6,194 m)

R u t hG l a c i e

r

To

ko

si t n

aG

l ac

i er

SheldonAmphitheater

BuckskinG

lac

ier

The Mooses Tooth10,335 ft. (3,150 m)

1872 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

50

0

100

150

200

250

300

350

Nu

mb

er o

f si

tes

/ par

ks

Yellowstone NP 1872

National Park Service Act 1916

National Forest Service 1905

Mt. McKinley National Park 1917

Historic Sites Act 1934

Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 1968

National Trails Systems Act 1968

Denali National Park 1980

National ParksOther sites managed by National Park Service

Growth of the National Park System

1887American Protective Associationtargets Catholics

1907Gentlemen’s Agreementrestricts Japanese immigration

1909W.E.B. Du Bois helpsform the NAACP

1915Ku Klux Klanreappears

Main IdeaProgressive reform did little to expandthe rights and opportunities forminorities.

Key Termsdiscrimination, barrio

Reading StrategyTaking Notes As you read Section 4,re-create the diagram below anddescribe each person’s accomplishments.

Read to Learn• why progressive reforms did not

include all Americans.• how minorities worked to move

toward greater equality.

Section ThemeCivic Rights and ResponsibilitiesMinorities discovered that progressivereforms often did not advance theirown rights and responsibilities.

Excluded from Reform

Like many seeking their fortunes, 16-year-old Lee Chew left his farm in China andbooked passage on a steamer. When he and other Chinese immigrants arrived in SanFrancisco, they confronted a great wave of anti-Asian feeling. In the city’s Chinese quarter, immigrants ran markets, laundries, and other small shops. Chew worked foran American family. “Chinese laundrymen [like me] were taught by American women,”he said. “There are no laundries in China.”

Prejudice and DiscriminationDuring the 1800s the overwhelming majority of Americans were white and

Protestant and had been born in the United States. Many Americans believedthat the United States should remain a white, Protestant nation. Nonwhite, non-Protestant, and non-native residents often faced discrimination—unequal treat-ment because of their race, religion, ethnic background, or place of birth. Thegovernment rarely interfered with this discrimination.

Chinese shopkeeper in California


Individual Accomplishments

Booker T. Washington

Ida Wells

W.E.B. Du Bois

Carlos Montezuma

Preview of Events

Guide to Reading

✦ 1880 ✦ 1900 ✦ 1920

Immigration

Percent Foreign Born byRegion of Birth: 1900

Percent Foreign Born byRegion of Birth: 2000

Percentage of U.S. Population That Is Foreign Born

EuropeAll otherLatin AmericaAsia

Latin AmericaAsiaEuropeAll other

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census.

Popu

latio

n Pe

rcen

tage

Year

84.9

12.6

1.31.2

51.0

25.5

15.3

8.2

13.614.7

13.211.6

8.86.9

5.4 4.76.2

8.0

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

4

8

12

16

0

10.4

In 1908 violence erupted in Springfield, Illinois, when a white woman claimed to havebeen attacked by an African American man.Authorities jailed the man, but by that time,white townspeople had formed an angry mob.

Armed with axes and guns, the mobstormed through African American neighbor-hoods, destroying businesses and driving peo-ple from their homes. Rioters lynched twoAfrican American men and injured dozensmore. Yet no one was ever punished for theseviolent crimes. Later, the woman who claimedshe was attacked admitted that her accusationwas untrue.

The Springfield riot shocked the nation andhighlighted the deep racial divisions in Ameri-can life. The riot took place in the hometown ofAbraham Lincoln, the president who signed theEmancipation Proclamation. African Americanswere no longer enslaved—but they were stillpursued by prejudice and racial hatred.

Anti-CatholicismSome Americans faced discrimination because

of their religion. America’s largely Protestantpopulation feared that Catholic immigrantsthreatened the “American” way of life. Anti-Catholic Iowans formed the American ProtectiveAssociation (APA) in 1887. By the mid-1890s, theAPA claimed a membership of two million acrossthe nation. Among other activities, the APAspread rumors that Catholics were preparing totake over the country.

Anti-SemitismMany Jewish immigrants came to the United

States to escape prejudice in their homelands.Some of them found the same anti-Semitic atti-tudes in America. Landlords, employers, andschools discriminated against Jews. Eastern Euro-pean Jews faced prejudice both as Jews and as east-ern Europeans, whom many Americans regardedas more “foreign” than western Europeans.

Immigration rose during the period of rapid industrialization at theturn of the century. Then, immigration decreased when Congressimposed immigration restrictions. Towards the end of the century, a dramatic increase took place after the restrictions were relaxed.


History

Anti-Asian PoliciesDiscrimination was also based on race. In

California and other western states, Asiansstruggled against prejudice and resentment.White Americans claimed that Chinese immi-grants, who worked for lower wages, took awayjobs. Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Actin 1882 to prevent Chinese immigrants fromentering the United States.

America’s westward expansion createdopportunities for thousands of Japanese immi-grants who came to the United States to work asrailroad or farm laborers. Like the Chinese beforethem, Japanese immigrants encountered preju-dice. California would not allow them to becomecitizens. In 1906 in San Francisco, the schoolboard tried to make Japanese children attend aseparate school for Asians until President Roose-velt stepped in to prevent such segregation.

Roosevelt yielded to a rising tide of anti-Japanese feeling, however, and authorized theGentlemen’s Agreement with Japan in 1907.This accord restricted Japanese immigration tothe United States, but it did not bring an end toanti-Japanese feeling. In 1913 California made itillegal for Japanese immigrants to buy land.Other Western states passed similar laws.

Discrimination Against African AmericansAfrican Americans faced discrimination in

both the North and the South. Although officiallyfree, African Americans were systematicallydenied basic rights and restricted to second-classcitizenship.

Four-fifths of the nation’s African Americanslived in the South. Most worked as rural share-croppers or in low-paying jobs in the cities. Theywere separated from white society in their ownneighborhoods, schools, parks, restaurants, the-aters, and even cemeteries. In 1896 the SupremeCourt legalized segregation in the case of Plessyv. Ferguson, which recognized “separate butequal” facilities.

The Ku Klux Klan, which had terrorizedAfrican Americans during Reconstruction, wasreborn in Georgia in 1915. The new Klan wantedto restore white, Protestant America. The Klanlashed out against minorities—Catholics, Jews,and immigrants, as well as African Americans.Calling for “100 percent Americanism,” the Klankept growing and claimed more than two mil-lion members by 1924, many of them in North-ern cities and towns.

A Ku Klux Klan pamphlet (right) promotes the Klan’s hate campaign. Meanwhile, opponents of lynching called for an end to racial murders. What two groups experienced the terror of lynching?


Racial ViolencePeople who lost their jobs during the economic

depressions of 1893 and 1907 sometimesunleashed their anger against African Americansand other minorities. More than 2,600 AfricanAmericans were lynched between 1886 and 1916,mostly in the South. Lynchings were also used toterrorize Chinese immigrants in the West.

Progressivism and PrejudiceIn the late 1800s and the early 1900s, many

Americans held biased views. They believedthat white, male, native-born Americans had theright to make decisions for all of society.

Most of the progressive reformers came fromthe middle and upper classes. They saw them-selves as moral leaders working to improve thelives of people less fortunate than themselves.Nevertheless, the reforms they supported oftendiscriminated against one group as they tried tohelp another group.

Trade unions often prohibited African Ameri-cans, women, and immigrants from joining.Skilled laborers, these unions argued, could obtain better working conditions for themselvesif they did not demand improved conditions forall workers.

Booker T. Washington (seated, second from left) foundedthe National Negro Business League. Why did Washing-ton stress economic power among African Americans?

History

Sometimes reforms instituted by the pro-gressives were efforts to control a particulargroup. The temperance movement, for exam-ple, was partly an attempt to control the behav-ior of Irish Catholic immigrants. Civil servicereforms required job applicants to be edu-cated—this reduced the political influence thatimmigrants had begun to have in some cities.In spite of their contradictions, progressivereforms did succeed in improving conditionsfor many Americans.

Identifying What Supreme Courtdecision legalized segregation?

Struggle for Equal OpportunityOften excluded from progressive organiza-

tions because of prejudice, minorities battled forjustice and opportunity on their own. AfricanAmericans, Hispanics, and Native Americanstook steps to improve their lives.

African Americans rose to the challenge ofachieving equality. Booker T. Washington, whohad been born enslaved and taught himself toread, founded the Tuskegee Institute in 1881.The institute taught African Americans farmingand industrial skills.

Washington believed that if African Americanshad more economic power they would be in abetter position to demand social equality andcivil rights. Washington founded the NationalNegro Business League to promote businessdevelopment among African Americans. InWashington’s autobiography, Up from Slavery, hecounseled African Americans to work patientlytoward equality. Washington argued that equal-ity would be achieved when African Americansgained the education and skills to become valu-able members of their community.

Some African Americans thought that theywould be better off in separate societies, eitherin the United States or in Africa. They foundedorganizations to establish African Americantowns and promoted a back-to-Africa move-ment. These movements were not popular, how-ever, and their goals gained few supporters.

African American Women Take ActionAfrican American women worked together

through groups such as the National Associa-tion of Colored Women to fight the practice oflynching and other forms of racial violence. IdaB. Wells, the editor of an African Americannewspaper in Memphis, Tennessee, was forced

to leave town after publishing the names of peo-ple involved in a lynching. The incident startedWells on a national crusade against the terriblepractice of lynching.

In her 1895 book, A Red Record, Wells showedthat lynching was used primarily against AfricanAmericans who had become prosperous or whocompeted with white businesses. “Can you remainsilent and inactive when such things are done inyour own community and country?” she asked.

Other SuccessesDuring the early 1900s African Americans

achieved success in a variety of professions.Chemist George Washington Carver, directorof agricultural research at Tuskegee Institute,helped improve the economy of the Souththrough his discoveries of plant products. Mag-gie Lena founded the St. Luke Penny SavingsBank in Richmond, Virginia. She was the firstAmerican woman to serve as a bank president.

Native Americans Seek JusticeThe federal government’s efforts to assimilate

Native Americans into white society threatenedto break down traditional native cultures. In 1911 Native American leaders from around


W.E.B. Du Bois wasthe first African Americanto receive a doctoratedegree from Harvard. Asan educator he refused toaccept racial inequality.Du Bois helped start theNiagara Movement in1905 to fight againstracial discrimination anddemand full politicalrights and responsibilities

for African Americans.Later, Du Bois joined oth-ers to form the NationalAssociation for theAdvancement of ColoredPeople (NAACP). Thisgroup today remains aforce in the efforts to gainlegal and economic equal-ity for African Americans.

Du Bois rejectedBooker T. Washington’s

emphasis on job skillsand argued that the rightto vote was the way toend racial inequality, stoplynching, and gain betterschools. “The power ofthe ballot we need insheer self-defense,” hesaid, “else what shallsave us from a secondslavery?”

the country formed the Society of AmericanIndians to seek justice for Native Americans,to improve their living conditions, and to edu-cate white Americans about different NativeAmerican cultures.

One of the society’s founding memberswas Dr. Carlos Montezuma, an Apache whohad been raised by whites. Convinced thatfederal policies were hurting Native Ameri-cans, Montezuma became an activist, exposinggovernment abuse of Native American rights.Montezuma believed that Native Americansshould leave the reservations and make theirown way in white society.

Mexican Americans Work TogetherImmigrants from Mexico had long come to

the United States as laborers, especially in theWest and Southwest. Between 1900 and 1914,the Mexican American population grew dramat-ically as people crossed the border to escape rev-olution and economic troubles in Mexico.

Like the Japanese and other immigrantgroups, Mexican Americans encountered dis-crimination and violence. Relying on them-selves to solve their problems, they formedmutualistas—self-defense associations—to raisemoney for insurance and legal help. One of thefirst mutualistas was the Alianza Hispano Americo(Hispanic American Alliance), formed in Tuc-son, Arizona, in 1894. Another mutualista, the

Checking for Understanding1. Key Terms Define discrimination

and barrio.2. Reviewing Facts What were the

results of the Gentlemen’s Agreementwith Japan, authorized by TheodoreRoosevelt?

Reviewing Themes3. Civic Rights and Responsibilities

Give an example of a progressivereform that resulted in discrimination.

Critical Thinking4. Comparing How did the views of

Booker T. Washington differ fromthose of W.E.B. Du Bois?

5. Analyzing Information Re-createthe diagram below and list theactions these groups took to battleprejudice and discrimination.

Analyzing Visuals6. Graph Skills Examine the graphs on

page 629. What was the percentageof foreign-born people in 1900? In2000? Did Latin American peoplemake up a larger or smaller percent-age of the foreign-born population in2000 or in 1900? Explain.


Art Create a title and cover designfor a book about discriminationthat might have been written dur-ing this time.

“Is there no redress, no peace, no justice in this land for us?Tell the world the facts.”—Ida B. Wells

Groups Actions taken

Native Americans

Mexican Americans

African Americans

Orden Hijos de America (Order of Sons ofAmerica), formed in San Antonio, Texas, in 1921to work for equality and raise awareness ofMexican Americans' rights as U.S. citizens. Inlabor camps and Mexican neighborhoods calledbarrios, mutualistas organized self-help groupsto deal with overcrowding, poor sanitation, andinadequate public services.

Widespread prejudice excluded MexicanAmericans from many reform groups. Yet Mexi-can Americans produced dynamic leaders andcreated organizations to improve their circum-stances and fight for justice.

Describing Against what type ofviolence did Ida B. Wells speak out?

634

Reviewing Key TermsYou are a journalist writing about the impact of progres-sive reforms. Write an article in which you use at leastthree of the following key terms.1. political machine 4. referendum2. civil service 5. initiative3. primary 6. recall

Reviewing Key Facts7. How did corrupt political bosses get voters for their

parties?8. Why were journalists important to the reform

movement?9. What amendment provided for the direct election of

senators?10. What amendment provided for woman suffrage?11. What is arbitration?12. Why did progressives form their own political party?13. What was the purpose of the Federal Reserve Act?14. What is discrimination?15. What did Dr. Carlos Montezuma think about Native

American reservations?16. Why did Mexican Americans organize mutualistas?

Critical Thinking17. Analyzing Themes: Government and Democracy

How did the Seventeenth Amendment give people agreater voice in government?

18. Determining Cause and Effect Why was the railroadindustry subject to so many government regulations?

19. Analyzing Themes: Civic Rights and Responsibili-ties Re-create the diagram below and identify howthese laws promote justice and insure citizens’ rights.

Progressive Reforms

City Commissions

City Managers

Civic Service Commission

Civic Reform

ShermanAntitrust Act

Regulation/Trustbusting

ClaytonAntitrust Act

Interstate Commerce Act

Federal TradeCommission

Business Reform

Direct Primary Initiative Referendum

Political Reform

Suffragist movement

Labor movement

The NineteenthAmendment

Women’s Rights

The Seventeenth Amendment

Rights of Citizens

19th Amendment Recall

Initiative Referendum

Citizenship Cooperative Activity27. Consumer Rights Working with a partner, contact a

local consumer league to learn about consumer rights.Then prepare a pamphlet on consumer rights. List thevarious rights consumers have and provide the names,addresses, and phone numbers of consumer groups tocontact with problems. Distribute this pamphlet to peoplein your neighborhood.

Alternative Assessment 28. Portfolio Activity Scan the chapter and make a list of

the constitutional amendments that were passed duringthe Progressive Era. Make a cause-and-effect chart toshow what needs, actions, or abuses led to the passageof each. Save your work for your portfolio.

Self-Check QuizVisit taj.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 21—Self-Check Quizzes to prepare for the chapter test.

HISTORY


Directions: Choose the bestanswer to the following question.

The main goal of the Woman’s Christian Temper-ance Union was to pass laws to ban the making orselling of alcohol. Which of the following was a sec-ondary goal?

A prison reform B limit immigrationC promote the Square Deal D pass the Gentlemen’s Agreement

Test-Taking Tip

This question requires you to remember a fact about theWCTU. By reading the question carefully, you can find

clues about the organization. It worked for reform.Which answer fits best with this information?

Standardized Test Practice

Practicing SkillsInterpreting a Political Cartoon Study the cartoon on thispage; then answer the following questions.

20. Who are the people grouped on the left of the cartoon?21. What is the meaning of the comment made by the per-

son on the right?22. How does the cartoonist define “illegal immigrants?”

Geography and History ActivityExamine the map on voting rights for women on page 617and answer the questions that follow.23. Which state was the first to provide equal suffrage?24. By 1919 how many states allowed equal suffrage?25. Making Generalizations Why do you think the percent-

age of states allowing woman suffrage was much higherin the West than in the East?

Technology Activity26. Using E-Mail Research the names of five modern organi-

zations that have some of the same goals as the progres-sive reformers of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Chooseone organization that interests you and make contactthrough E-mail to get more information about the group.

http://www.glencoe.com/qe/qe37.php?&st=280&pt=3&bk=13

Documents

Reform, Expansion, and War€¦ · accepted kickbacks. Akickback is an arrange-ment in which contractors padded the amount of their bill for city work and paid, or “kicked back,”