7.4 - The Progressive Era - Review

The Progressive Movement originated from all of the following EXCEPT:

• Union activists

• Social Darwinism

• Populist Movement

• Rapid transformation of the economy

Answer explanation

The rapid transformation of the economy led to many economic, political and social issues that then led to the rise of labor unions and the Populist movement. Their reforms and demand laid the foundation for the Progressive movememnt. Social Darwinism promoted "survival of the fittest", so government intervention in the economy under this philosophy would help the "unfit"

Theodore Roosevelt’s approach to the railroad industry included:

• Supported strengthening the regulatory powers of the ICC

• Considered the Northern Securities Company a “good” trust

• Providing more open federal land grants for railroads

• Sponsoring new anti-trust legislation

Answer explanation

The Elkins Act and Hepburn Act were passed by Congress under TR to strengthen the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate railroads and their rates. TR thought that the NSC was a bad trust and used the Sherman Anti Trust Act, not new anti-trust legislation, to prosecute. Providing land grants to RRs was done prior to the Progressive Era.

The Election of 1912 revealed all of the following EXCEPT:

• The re-election of Theodore Roosevelt

• The popularity of the Progressive agenda

• Split among Republican support

• The first Southerner in the White

Answer explanation

Taft's presidency led to fissures in the Republican Party - he fired the head of the U.S. Forest Service, raised the tariff, and supported conservatives for office. He won the Republican party nomination, and TR decided to run as his own party, the Progressive party. Wilson, a Southern Democrat Progressives won the most electoral votes because the Republican party was split.

All of the following political reforms sought to expand democracy EXCEPT:

• Secret ballot

• Manager-council plan

• Direct primaries

• Referendum

Answer explanation

Progressives were divided over how to best tackle political corruptions -- expand democracy or rely on experts? The secret ballot, direct primaries, and referendum all gave the electoral more of a say in the laws that effect them and the people that represent them. The manager council plan relied on hiring a city manager.

Woodrow Wilson continued the Progressive agenda in all of the following ways EXCEPT:

• Lowered the tariff

• Supported the creation of the Federal Reserve

• Oversaw increased anti-trust legislation

• Prosecuted U.S. Steel as a trust

Answer explanation

Taft's administration prosecuted U.S. Steel as a trust, which is what started a rift between he and TR, who considered U.S. Steel a "good" trust. Wilson oversaw Congress passing the Clayton Anti-Trust Act, lowered the tariff as soon as he got into office, and the Federal Reserve was created under him.

Progressives believed in the following EXCEPT:

• Government should expand its role in the economy

• Romanticism will lead us to an ideal society

• Political reform relies on more democracy or experts

• Scientific management

Answer explanation

Progressives believed in pragmatism -- the use of observation and science to determine if something is working or not.

All of the following were actions of Theodore Roosevelt with regards to conservation EXCEPT:

• Hosting a whitehouse conference with regards to state planning

• Supporting the Newlands Reclamation Act

• Setting aside 150 million acres of federal land as national reserves

• Appointing John Muir as the director of the U.S. Forest Service

Answer explanation

He appointed Gifford Pinchot, a conservationist who advocated for "wise use" of our natural resources to benefit society. John Muir was a preservationist, who believed nature should be safeguarded for its own sake.

 As Progressive reformers, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois disagreed over:

• Education for African-Americans at Tuskegee

• The constitutionality of Jim Crow laws in Southern States

• Whether African-American economic or political conditions should be of most concern

• The role of government as an agent of change

Answer explanation

BTW and WEB Dubois disagreed on whether activists should focus on ending segregation and political disenfranchisement now.

All of the following were published by muckrakers in this period EXCEPT:

• How the Other Half Lives, by Jacob Riis

• The Liberator, by William Lloyd Garrison

• History of the Standard Oil Company, by Ida Tarbell

• The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair

Answer explanation

The Liberator was an abolition newspaper published starting in the 1830s by WLG, a staunch moral abolitionist.

The women’s movement in this period diverged over all of the following EXCEPT:

• Support for the 19th amendment

• Different women’s suffrage organizations

• Emphasis on different levels of government

• Use of different tactics

Answer explanation

The American Women's Party, led by Alice Paul, had members who were younger and more militant than those in the NWSA, who focused on changing state laws. The AWP lobbied Congress.