Name: _______________________________________________ Date: ______________________ Period______
U.S. HISTORY - CHAPTER 15 - Study Guide
Political Reform & the Progressive Era C15S1 – The Gilded Age and Progressive Reform p. 518-522
Reform in the Gilded Age – What does “gilded” mean and what does it suggest about America?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________.
The “________________” System had grown and become more corrupt since the Age of Jackson. Civil Service is
_____________________________________________________________________________. The Civil Service
Commission awarded federal jobs based on ______________________. To lessen the power of Big Business,
Americans demanded that federal government limit the power of the railroads and other ____________________
President Cleveland signed the _______________________ _________________________ ____________in 1887.
This was FIGHTING CORUPTION on a national level. There was also corruption in cities. Political ______________
took bribes from big business. The most infamous of these was William “Boss” ____________________ who stole
over $_________________ from the city of New York before being exposed by a
__________________________.
Progressives and Political Reform – The Wisconsin Idea: Governor
Robert ______________________ introduced these reforms:
1) __________________________2) ______________________________________
3) __________________________ 4) ____________________________ . They were
designed to give more power to ____________________. Progressives also supported
the 16th Amendment and graduated income tax, which is: ________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
and the 17th Amendment, which requires direct election of ______________________________.
The Muckrakers were __________________________________________________________________.
They included _______________________________________ who targeted Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company,
__________________________________ whose photographs of city slums shocked America, and Upton Sinclair
whose book ____________________________________ exposed grisly details of the meat-packing industry.
15.1 Section Focus Question: How did reformers try to end government corruption and limit the influence of big
business? ____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
p. 1
Boss Tweed
C15S2 – The Progressive Presidents p. 523-529
The First Progressive President was Theodore _______________________. He became president when
William ___________________ was assassinated. Known as “___.___.”, he became a ________________ -
person that works to destroy the power of monopolies & trusts. T.R. thought the government should
_________________________ good trusts and ________________________ bad trusts. He used the Sherman
_______________________ Act to sue and break apart the Northern Securities Company and other trusts. He
also sided with ______________________ during the Pennsylvania ___________ Strike in 1902.
The Square Deal - T.R. won a huge victory in 1904 by promising a “___________________ Deal”. This
meant that everyone from farmers to consumers to workers to owners should have an equal _________________
to succeed. TR also proposed the Antiquities Act which promoted _____________________________- protection
of natural resources. This led to the creation of __________________________ __________________- natural
areas protected and managed by the federal government. Another Progressive accomplishment designed to
protect consumers was the creation of the Pure Food and _________________ ___________ in 1906 which
required food & drug manufacturers to list all _____________________________on the package.
Taft and Wilson- TR’s successor was _______________________ ____________________ ___________.
Taft supported most Progressives Reforms. He even broke up more __________________ than TR did. However,
disagreements with certain policies caused TR to oppose Taft in the 1912 election. Taft won the ______________
nomination, so TR joined the Progressive “Bull ___________________” Party. The result was a split of the
Republican vote which allowed the Democrat, Woodrow ______________________________ to win the
presidency. Wilson’s “New _______________________” program attempted to ensure fair competition among
corporations. He got Congress to create the ____________________________ _______________________
__________________________ or FTC, the Clayton _________________________ Act, and the Federal
___________________________ Act in 1913 which gave the federal government control of __________________
rates and the money supply.
p. 2 Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft Woodrow Wilson
Name: _______________________________________________ Date: ______________________ Period______
CHAPTER 15 - Study Guide – Political Reform & the Progressive Era (Continued)
C15S3 - The Rights of Women p. 530-533
Women Win the Vote – The ______________________ _________________ Convention began the
women’s rights movement in 1848. The early leaders were Susan B. _________________________ and Elizabeth
Cady ________________________. Pioneer women helped win the vote in ________________________ states
first. A new generation of leaders included Carrie _____________________ ____________ who devised a
detailed plan for suffragists - ___________________________________________________________________.
Alice ___________ met with President ____________________________ in 1913, gaining his ________________
to women’s suffrage, but it wasn’t until 1920 that women finally won the right to _______________ with passage
of the 19th ______________________________.
New Opportunities for Women - Women began to make major advances in _________________________.
By the end of the 1800s there were 1000s of female _______________________ and _______________________.
Florence __________________ investigated working conditions in ________________________________. Her
main concern was ____________________ _____________________.
The Crusade Against Alcohol was led by women, including Frances ____________________________, the
1st president of the Women’s Christian _______________________________ Union (WCTU). But Carrie
________________ was more radical, using violence to promote ______________________________ - a
___________ on the sale, transportation, or consumption of alcohol. Their efforts led to the passing of the
_______th Amendment. It was passed by Congress in 1917 and ratified in 1919. Prohibition failed however, and
was repealed in 1933 by the ______st Amendment.
15.3 Section Focus Question: How did women gain new rights?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
p. 3
IMPORTANT WOMEN’S RIGHTS LEADERS & SUFFRAGISTS
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON SUSAN B. ANTHONY CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT ALICE PAUL .
C15S4 – Struggles for Justice p. 534-539
African Americans – faced discrimination in the North as well as in the South. Prominent leader Booker T.
______________________________ urged blacks to get ___________________________ & gradually move up in
society. Washington also advised presidents and helped found the _____________________________ Institute in
Alabama. W.E.B. ____________________ was the 1st African American to earn a PhD from Harvard. He wanted
blacks to fight ___________________________________ and helped found the National Association for the
________________________________ of Colored People (NAACP). Ida B. ___________________ was a journalist
who protested lynchings -____________________________________________________________. Some
African Americans succeeded despite segregation and other obstacles. Scientist George Washington
__________________ discovered 100s of new uses for peanuts and some black-owned businesses thrived.
Mexican Americans - also faced discrimination and ____________________________. Famine and a failed
____________________________ caused many Mexicans to immigrate to the U.S. Most were only hired as
________________________ laborers, finding work as field hands, factory workers, and digging irrigation ditches.
Many settled in ______________________ - ethnic neighborhoods to preserve language, history and culture.
Some formed ________________________________ - people pool money to pay for things like insurance, legal
advice, and care for the needy.
Asian Americans – after the Chinese _________________________________ Act of 1892, over 100,000 new
immigrants came from _________________________. Prejudice against Asians was high, leading to the
“Gentlemen’s ____________________________” in 1907. This halted the Immigration of Japanese working men.
Religious Minorities - ______________________________ groups worked to limit opportunities for
Catholics and __________________. Catholics started their own ______________________ schools – schools
sponsored by a Church. There was a rise in ___________-_______________________ - prejudice against Jews.
Leo ____________________ was a Jewish man falsely convicted of murder in Georgia. Frank was
_____________________ by a mob in 1915. American Jews founded the Anti-_________________________
League to promote understanding and fight prejudice.
15.4 Section Focus Question: What challenges did minority groups face and how did they respond to the
challenges? __________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
p. 4
Name: _______________________________________________ Date: ______________________ Period______
CHAPTER 14 - Study Guide – Political Reform & the Progressive Era (Continued)
p. 5
Use your knowledge, study guide, and textbook to complete the following:
p. 6