16 th amendment

16th Amendment

Gave Congress the power to levy an income tax.– Allowed government to raise more revenue

from wealthy people’s incomes and less from tariffs that hurt the working poor.

17th Amendment

Provides for the direct election of senators.– By taking the election of senators out of the

hands of the legislature, voters were able to play a more direct role in the government.

18th Amendment

Prohibition of Intoxicating Liquor– Americans could not make, sell, or import

liquor. It was later repealed in 1933.

Goals of the Reform Minded People Who were the Reformers?

– Socialist– Union Members– Municipal (City) Reformers

• Types of people– Professionals– College educated – Well to do

Socialist’s Goal

To distribute wealth more equally To end capitalism To nationalize the industries

Union Member’s Goals

To improve hours and wages To improve working conditions

Municipal Reformer’s Goal

To end influence of political bosses To establish honest cost efficient

government To exercise home rule

– Cities would get more power for self governing

All 3 Groups worked for progress regarding their concerns so we call them the PROGRESSIVES

Progressives Goals– Increase government regulations of

economic activity• Regulate prices

Progressives’ Goals cont.

To develop social welfare programs– Unemployment– Worker’s

compensation

To protect workers in the workplaces– Safety– Child labor

Several different methods were used to achieve these goals– Investigate issues of

concern– Publicize results

• Newspapers, magazines

– Put pressure on legislatures to get laws passed

Progressive Reformers

Lincoln Steffens– Exposed political

corruption in St. Louis

Ida Tarbell– Wrote about the

abuses taken by Standard Oil Trust

– (Will study more later)

Florence Kelly– Worked for women,

children, and families– Investigated labor

conditions – Helped pass laws

against child labor and long work hours

– Use “White List”

Progressive Reformer Critics

Muckrakers– Given the name by Theodore Roosevelt– Used to describe writers of the era who

“earned their livelihood by telling scandalous falsehoods about honest men”.

Progressive Legislation

Local Changes– Registering voters– Improved city services– Established public health programs– Enforced tenement codes– Gain control over public utilities– Established public parks, bath houses, etc.


State Changes– New York Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

prompts change– Robert LaFollette

• Battling Bob• Introduced direct primary: an election in which

voters cast ballots to select nominees for upcoming elections. Gave voting control to the public

State Changes cont.

Workers’ accident insurance and compensation system

Improve unsafe working conditions Set wages for women and children Abolish child labor for those under 14

and restrict work hours for women

State Voting Changes

Referendum– The placing of a

measure up to the voters for approval or acceptance

Initiative– Voters use petitions

to gather support and force the placement of a measure on the ballot for voters.

Recall– Put into place to

counteract misdoings of politicians.

– Voters can circulate a petition to have a re-election so that they may remove a politician from office.

• Governor Gray Davis (CA)


Federal Changes– Regulation of big business, commerce,

preservation of the environment, and social change.

• United Mine Workers Strike 1902– Theodore Roosevelt intervenes– Arbitration: a process in which an impartial third party

decided on a legally binding solution,» Judge Judy» Known as the Square Deal

Federal Changes Cont.

Regulate railroads, foods, & drugs– Pure Food & Drug Act (1906)– Meat Inspection Act

• Requires accurate labeling, strict sanitary conditions, rating system for meat

– Anti-Trust action suits• T. Roosevelt broke up 42 monopolies including:

beef trust, Standard Oil, and American Tobacco Company

Minorities Fight for Change

Several minority groups worked for reform in this era.– Chinese Americans

• Formed neighborhoods to help prevent discrimination from white Americans

• Had worked on the railroads and in gold mines• Majority of immigrants were on the west coast


Native Americans– Attempted to adopt

beliefs and practices of the larger American society in order to gain citizenship.

– Wanted to slow down the allotment process and allow people to remain on the reservations.

Mexican Americans– Wanted to cross the

border into the United States to work for higher wages

– Moved to area that were previously part of Mexico

– Worked in factories and in agriculture


African American– NAACP– Founded by W.E.B.Dubois in 1909– Worked to bring racial inequality to the

attention of white America– Wanted to stop racial riots against African

Americans


Ida B. Wells Bartlett– Worked to bring

attention to the lynchings in the South

– Est. 1200 African Americans were lynched between 1882-1892

– Very few were ever prosecuted for the crime

Booker T. Washington– Founded several African

American universities and colleges

– Tuskagee Institute which focused on training young black men in agriculture and trades

– Read pages 573-575

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court upheld many Jim Crow laws– 1896 Homer Plessy argued that his right to equal

protection of the laws had been violated when a Louisiana Law required separate seating on public railroads.

– Court held that segregation was legal as long as the separate facilities were equal.

– Separate but equal was in itself a contradiction and very difficult to attain.

– Across the south Jim Crow is legalized

Women in the Progressive Era

Women begin to break through barriers from the past.– Women earn property rights for married

women – Access to higher education

• Women’s colleges filled to capacity• Many state colleges become co-ed


Political bosses worried that women would clean up politics.

Businessmen/Voters disagreed with women on many issues including child labor laws.

Many felt women belonged at home taking care of the family.

Many Americans both men and women felt it would demoralize men and their role in life.


National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA)– Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony– Established the right to vote in 1890 in WY– Carrie Chapman Catt becomes president in 1900. – Over 1 million supporters– Used speeches and campaigns to gain support– Some people felt these methods took too long


National Women’s Party (NWP)– Established by Alice Paul in 1913 to break

away from NAWSA– More aggressive in their tactics

• Hunger strikes• Protests (picketing)• Rallies and parades• Civil disobedience

– Several members arrested


In 1920, the 19th amendment was officially passed giving women the right to vote.

Both organizations continue to work for women’s rights and encourage women to educate themselves, vote and support reform.

16 th amendment

Documents