The Gilded Age

Industrial Growth in America-

late 1800’s to early 1900’s

Westward Expansion, The

Transcontinental Railway, and

Native Americans

Civil War and the

Transcontinental Railroad

Government turned towards National

Transportation

Kansas-Nebraska Act (what did it do?)

proposed to open up Nebraska to development

and the building of railway lines

What political party controlled the national

government during the Civil War and

immediately after the Civil War? Republicans:

Free from State’s Rights Southern Democrats, began passing legislation that would promote the Transcontinental Railway Subsidies (grant of money to help

investors build the railways cheaply) and Western land grants to Railway developers (Pacific Railway Act)

Sold land to gain money to purchase tracks

Promoted Westward Expansion through free land grants (Homestead Act) gaining support and need for national transportation

Republicans

and the

Railroads

Effect of Transcontinental

Railroad Created a national

market and economy, linking the East and West Farmers and Ranchers

could sell their products to the large markets of the East without spoilage

Easter Industries could easily get cheap natural resources from the West

Increased migration to the West Immigrants such as Irish

and Chinese moved to work on the railway lines

Effects on Chinese

Chinese Exclusion Act Many Chinese had migrated

for the gold rush then took up

working to complete the

Transcontinental Railway

Discriminated but tolerated

In 1882 after the completion

of the Railway passed laws to

stop Chinese immigration

Law made it almost impossible

for new Chinese to come to

America and made current

Chinese no longer citizens Families were permanently split,

unable to reunite after the law

Effects on Native Americans

Killing of the Buffalo Buffalo continuously slaughtered for their hides to

clear land for cattle ranchers

Killed because they often destroyed railway tracks

By 1889 population of buffalo dropped to only

1000

Effect of Buffalo Killing on

Plains Indians

Native American Tribes of the Plains relied

on the buffalo for food, clothing, and shelter Their slaughter left them unable to sustain

themselves

Indian Removal Continues

Much like the Trail of Tears, Federal Government continued this policy in the West

Tribes in the Plains were forced into smaller and smaller pieces of Indian Territory Lands prevented their

nomadic way of life Often forced to live

next to hostile tribes, leading to fighting between tribes

Don’t get too comfortable,

Removal Again

When valuable resources found on the land

granted to the Native Americans, they were

forced out again into the worst lands for

farming and survival

Indian Wars begin

Violent resistance by the Native Americans

became more and more common place Example: Cheyenne people had agreed to move to

reservations but became upset when their promised

land was again being taken

Sand Creek

Massacre

In response, US troops surprised 500 Cheyenne at Sand Creek

The Sand Creek Massacre left over 270 Native Americans – most of which were women and children dead

“Fingers and ears were cut off

the bodies for the jewelry they

carried. The body of White

Antelope, lying solitarily in the

creek bed, was a prime target.

Besides scalping him the soldiers

cut off his nose, ears, and

testicles-the last for a tobacco

pouch”

Custer’s Last Stand

Sioux outraged over treatment of

Cheyenne

Surrounded an outnumbered US

Calvary run by general Custer

Killed Custer and 200 soldiers

Became last victory for the Native

Americans

Eventually the Sioux and Cheyenne

were forced onto reservations in

the Dakotas and Oklahoma

Battle of

Wounded Knee

1890

In face of being forced

onto reservations, Native

Americans attempted to

hold onto their culture

and revitalize their morale Sioux, under Chief Sitting

Bull, began their

traditional Ghost Dance

Dance was believed to bring

back the buffalo, restore their

native lands, and banish the

white men

US Calvary believes it is an

act of Rebellion

Battle of Wounded Knee 1890

Soldiers attempt to arrest

Chief Sitting Bull resulting

in a gunfight and the

death of 14 people as well

as Chief Sitting Bull

Sioux under Chief Bigfoot

Flee but are pursued by

the soldiers to Wounded

Knee Creek

Battle of

Wounded

Knee 1890

A shot is fired, and soldiers just open fire on the tribe

At the end 150 Native Americans, 25 soldiers dead

Wounded Knee ends the Indian Wars and begins a

new era of US Native American relations

Dawes Severalty Act

Americans begin criticizing

treatment of Native Americans

(specifically removal from

promised reservations)

Government takes a new

approach of assimilation

(attempt to Americanize and

incorporate the Native

Americans into US culture)

Parts of the Dawes Severalty Act

Abolished Tribal Lands Broke land into individual plots

of land granted to Native American families to be farmed rather than communal land

25 years later could become citizens

Effect: On worst land of the west and did not know how to farm, completely against their belief in communal land ownership

Effect: many ended up losing their farms and forced to sell to whites

Parts of the Dawes Severalty Act

Carlisle Indian School Took Native American Children to boarding

schools in the East

Forced them to become “white”- taught English,

forced to dress as White Americans and reject their

entire culture

Overall Effect on Native

Americans

Poverty Stricken Worst land, little economic

opportunities

Cultural Destruction Forced out of their native

ways of life

No voice in American

Democracy No citizenship or voting

rights until 1924 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfRHqWCz

3Zw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioAzggmes

8c

Government Promotes

Industrial Development

American Post

Civil War

Industrialization- To

develop industry, on the rise

Urbanization-The process

by which cities grow or by

which societies become

more urban.

Agriculture- on the decline

Government Policies

promoting Industrialization

National Bank Republicans, free from Southern Democrats for farming, created

policies favoring industrial development of the North

Bank provides loans (capital) to Industrial investors

Government Policies

promoting Industrialization

Westward Expansion Access to abundant

resources

New land for development

Removal/control of

Native Americans

attempting to stop the

access to these resources

Government Policies

promoting Industrialization

New Laws upheld by the

Supreme Court Laws protecting contracts (people

were now held to written contracts

for labor, investment, etc)

Created the US Patent Laws:

protected the new inventions of

people to ensure their personal

success

Government can regulate

interstate commerce (trade)

Open Immigration Provided a plethora of

cheap labor for

industries

Government

Policies

promoting

Industrialization

Government Policies

promoting Industrialization

Protective Tariffs New American

industries free from

foreign competition

were able to take

control of their

markets

Effects of these

Policies

Promoted “Big Business” Policies helped Industrial owners

become more and more successful

Took advantage of workers Workers forced into harmful

conditions at low pay with no government protections

Took advantage of consumers Tariffs meant little competition

and high prices on products

Industrial Surplus Began producing more than

Americans could consume leading to new international trade and international influence

Post Civil War Technologies

Promoting Development

Telegraph and Telephone

Samuel B Morse (Morse Code) invents the telegraph

Alexander Graham Bell the telephone

Effect: Individual and business communication easier spreading trade of goods and ideas wider

Light Bulb

Thomas Edison

George Westinghouse-electricity

Effect: Factories could be

located anywhere not just near

water for hydroelectric power or

coal power

Factories could run for longer

hours of the day

Steam

Engine

Made the Steam ship possible (5mph at first! Woo hoo!!!)

Eventually lead to steam powered trains

Oil-new source of power lead to combustion engine and the automobiles

The Captains of Industry

The Gilded

Age

Pretty on the outside, ugly on the inside

The period from 1877 until the early 1900s came to be called the Gilded Age

The phrase comes from the writer Mark Twain, and refers to a time in which it appeared that a thin layer of prosperity was covering the poverty and corruption that existed in much of society

Beliefs of the Gilded Age

Capitalism: economic system where

businesses are owned by private

individuals or corporations (stock

holders)

Laissez-faire: Government does not

interfere with the economy or businesses

Beliefs of the Gilded Age

Social Darwinism: some people, groups, or businesses are more

naturally “fit” or talented/stronger, so they are the ones that survive

becoming rich and powerful

Law of Supply and Demand: Businesses will naturally adjust supply

to meet the demands of the public without government interference.

Too much supply leads to low prices and too much demand leads to

high prices

Effects of these Beliefs

Robber Barons formed: owners of large industries who used “questionable” tactics such as bribery/threats to form monopolies or trusts (which are?)

Monopolies limited competition causing prices of products to rise, hurting consumers

Effects of these Beliefs

Robber Barons subjected workers to long hours, poor

working conditions, and low wages to make a large profit

Off and on Depressions from bankrupting companies

Examples of Robber Barons

Boom Towns

Towns along the Transcontinental Railway

boomed (Chicago)

Industries such as lumber (to build wooden

tracks and railway cars), steel to build tracks and

trains, meat packing (ship meat without

spoilage), oil and coal (for fuel) boomed to

support the railways

Industrial giants within these cities and

industries developed

Andrew Carnegie

Steel Tycoon

2 methods to form his

monopoly on Steel Bessemer Process: makes the

processing of steel quicker and less

expensive increasing his

production

Vertical Integration: (controlling

all levels of a business from raw

materials to selling the final

product) Controlled not only the

steel mills but also the coal and

iron mines for raw materials (Kept

costs low could force his

competitors out of business)

John D. Rockefeller

Oil Tycoon (Standard Oil Company)

Used Vertical Integration and “Horizontal Integration:” (buying up all your competitors to form a monopoly) Got railway companies to give him rebates and bribed stores into only carrying his products no other company’s oil, driving down his costs and forcing his competitors out of business. Then bought these companies for cheap, driving up oil prices afterwards

Overview of Additional

Robber Barons

Cornelius Vanderbilt (Railroad

tycoon-died worth what would

be about $143 billion today)

JP Morgan (banking tycoon)-

bought up stocks in businesses

($22 billion)

The Positive

Images of Robber

Barons

Rags to Riches stories Most Robber Barons

began with nothing, some as poor immigrants

Author Horatio Alger’s book will inspire the idea of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.” that anyone can come from nothing and become rich

The Positive Images of Robber

Barons

Carnegie’s The Gospel of

Wealth Belief that God had given

these men the ability to

make more and more

money so it was their

responsibility to use that

money for the good of

others (ie give to charity) Believe Carnegie donated ½ of

his earnings to charitable

organizations

Mixed Feelings towards this era

Mass production of these products will create overall cheaper

products and a higher standard of living for the middle class

Women will be welcomed into the workforce within textile mills

Others begin to question the methods by which these men got rich

and thought the government protected them too much

Sherman Anti-

Trust Act

Business owners and managers

used the government to pass

Tariffs limiting competition and

to protect them from rebellious

laborers

1890 Government makes the first

attempt to limit the power of

Business Owners through the

Sherman Anti-Trust Act Made monopolies illegal

Supreme Court passes measures to

make it difficult to use the

Sherman Anti-Trust Act though

Also used by anti-union movement

to break up unions saying they

were a monopoly

The Populist Movement of the 1890’s

Agricultural Mechanization

Many farmers moved out West for cheap land

Farmers began relying on the latest technology (reapers,

steel plows) to increase production

Effects: Less farmers were needed so many moved to cities to get

industrial jobs

Agricultural production boomed but the supply was higher than

demand meaning what happened to the price?

Who’s to Blame?

Blamed politicians and big business

Formed cooperatives (farmers working together) to protect their interests

Got politicians elected to pass Grange Laws Passed laws that limited how

much railways could charge farmers to ship their products

Overthrown by the Supreme Court

Congress passes the Interstate Commerce Act instead: Allowing federal government to regulate these rates and set a precedent that the government can regulate business despite laissez-faire.

Rise of the Populists

or the People’s Party

Political Party favoring the needs of farmers seeing it as the backbone of America

Later would also favor the working classes of the Northeast

Appealed to the “Common Man”

Wanted Blacks and Whites to unite in order to overcome oppression and corrupt politicians

What the Populists Wanted:

1. Regulate rail and banks to support cheap transportation of goods and cheap loans to expand businesses

2. Bimetallism: wanted the dollar bill to be backed by both Gold and Silver This would flood the market with

“Greenbacks” or paper money, leading to inflation, and higher farm prices

What the Populists Wanted:

3. Increase government

regulation of businesses

4. Supported an 8 hour work

day and limited immigration

for industrial workers to gain

their support as well

5. Wanted a graduated income

tax (tax for businesses and

individuals that increases with

the amount of money you

make)

What the Populists Wanted:

6. Direct election of

Senators instead of them

being elected by State

legislatures to increase

the power of the people

7. Secret Ballots to avoid

political intimidation

Election of 1896

Conditions not favorable for reelection of

Republican President McKinley Middle of an economic depression from farmers

and bankrupted businesses

Had backed the Gold Standard (backed American

money only by gold not silver)

Election of 1896

Main Issue: “Soft Money”- Greenbacks or Dollar Bills versus “Hard Money”- Gold and Silver

Question: Would dollars be backed by the Gold Standard or Bimetallism (gold and silver) Gold Standard favored by Bankers and Businesses Bimetallism by farmers and laborers

Election of 1896

Democrats are split but

ultimately nominate a

Populist leaning

candidate William

Jennings Bryan Meaning he supported

Gold Standard or

Bimetallism_______?

Election of 1896

William Jennings Bryan

makes a famous speech the

“Cross of Gold Speech” at

the Democratic Convention In it he stated, “You shall not

press down upon the brow of

labor this crown of thorns,

you shall not crucify mankind

on a cross of gold” Meaning?

Election of 1896

McKinley Responds with the

“Front Porch Campaign” Rather than campaigning around

the country, pays for and invites

people to his home where he

speaks individually

Gains trust

Promises industrial workers “full

dinner pail” believing big

business and gold was the key

to continued prosperity

Election of 1896

Big Business of the

Northeast assured

McKinley's victory

Populist party dies

but its ideas would

be adopted by the

Progressive party in

years to come

Urbanization of the Late

19th Century

Urbanization

The growth of cities Cities first became trading centers

Railway gave rise to new cities as transportation

centers (Chicago)

Electricity turned them into Industrial Centers

Inventions Grow Cities Up and

Out

Elevators and Steel

girders (beams) lead

buildings to get taller

and taller First McNally

Building in Chicago

First “Skyscraper”-

10 stories high!

Inventions Grow Cities Up and

Out Suspension

Bridges, Electric Trolley Cars, and elevated tracks (els) grew cities outwards (suburbs), because transportation to the central city easier

Populations of Cities Explode

Though most people will continue to live in

rural areas until 1920, the population of cities

begins to explode for several reasons: Mechanization meant less farmers were able to

make a living, leading many to move to the cities

for factory jobs

Populations of Cities Explode

African Americans of the

South: Most will stay in the South

until the early 20th Century

but many begin migrating

northward during the

Gilded Age for 4 reasons: 1. Cotton yields and prices fell

2. Could not get jobs in

Southern textile mills

3. Jim Crow Laws

4. Constant threat of lynchings

Still discriminated against

“last hired first fired” and

still segregated in the North

Populations of Cities Explode

Increased Immigration Massive migration of Southern and

Eastern Europeans in the late 19th

century: Jews, Poles, Italians, and

Russians Escaping famine, political persecution, and

overpopulation

By 1880’s 80% of New Yorkers are foreign

born

Most stay in these port cities because they

have little money to move across country

Less accepted because they were of a

different religion (Catholic, Jewish,

Orthodox) and had a somewhat darker

complexion

Replaced former immigration from

Northern and Western Europe

Ellis Island To handle this large number

of people arriving in the country, the federal government opened up Ellis Island in 1892

A tiny island near the Statue of Liberty, it became a well known reception center for immigrants arriving by ship

As more and more people immigrated to the US, the nation’s population became very diverse

Effects of

Increased

Immigration

Nativism Spreads: opposition to immigration, began anti-immigrant campaigns (unsuccessful at limited immigration until the 1920’s)

Immigrants faced violence and discrimination by these groups

Effects of Increased

Immigration

Melting Pot Myth: Diversity from immigrants gave

rise to the hope that all these

different groups would mix

together and assimilate into

American Culture

Reality: Ethnic Neighborhoods

formed (Little Italy, Chinatown,

Greektown), keeping traditional

businesses and education alive,

forming their own newspapers

and home away from home

Assassination of William

McKinley

1901

Murdered by

Polish immigrant

Leon Czolgosz

This will increase

Americans fear of

immigrants

Immigration gives rise to Ward

Bosses and Political Machines

“Ward bosses” (like a mob boss) controlled neighborhoods and politics Gained support of community by

helping new immigrants get jobs and cleaning up problems within the neighborhood

Elected to public office Politically, used their status to bribe

and extort business owners who might want to move into the neighborhood

Leader of Tammany Hall:

Democratic Political

Machine of NY.

Known for buying votes to stay

in power, bribing judges to

avoid charges and to get

opponents in trouble, stole

millions in tax money from

contracts and city funds

Ran from the law but caught in

Spain from someone

recognizing him from a

political cartoon in the

newspaper Harper’s Weekly.

NY Boss William

Tweed

The Rise of Labor Unions

Labor Unions

Unions develop: group of workers who join

together to protect the needs of its members

Why did they Develop?

Workers treated as

replaceable (profit above

people)

Influx of former farmers,

immigrants, women,

children, and African

Americans meant more

workers than jobs Effect: 55% of unskilled labor lived

below the poverty line

Unions began protesting-

working conditions, long

hours, low wages, and women

and children working

Example of Early Union

Knights of Labor: open to all people: men,

women, and African Americans (this openness

would be why they ended up falling apart)

Early Trade Unions (unskilled

laborers) Ineffective

Strikes at first were ineffective Too much labor meant

businesses would use “scabs”- new immigrants and African Americans who were hired to work during the strikes to keep business running

Tried to just use education, political pressure, and compromises with managers to get desires (few worked)

How Big Business Controlled

Unions at First

1. Yellow Dog Contracts: cannot join a union as part of their contract

2. Backlisting: Shared list of workers who joined unions or protested so no one would hire him

3. Threats: owned tenements (housing workers lived in) and stores where people bought their goods, threatened to lose home and necessities if protested

4. Turned to the Government to squash strikes

Examples of Government Protecting

Businesses above Workers

Haymarket Riot 1866 Chicago Union members

protesting the death of two laborers a few days earlier

Police sent to stop protest-bomb exploded on the policemen

Labeled unions as “anarchists”

Examples of Government Protecting

Businesses above Workers

Railroad Strike of

1877 Workers violently

protesting a 10% wage

decrease

Government will send

federal troops to help

the railroad owners

Shows government

willing to send troops

to protect businesses

over people

Examples of Government Protecting

Businesses above Workers

Pullman Strike Pullman Railway Company

decreased their wages but

kept rents on their

tenements the same

Union tries to negotiate but

Pullman just decided to

close the factory

Eugene Debs: leads union

calling for boycott and

strike of 120,000 workers

Examples of Government Protecting

Businesses above Workers

Federal Government

once again sends in

troops to crush the strike

President will use the

Sherman Anti-Trust act to

“break up the strike” as a

union that is a monopoly

Business owners know they

can go to the Federal

Government for help

1903 Children’s March

Organized by Mary

Jones=Mother Jones

Marches children of

textile industry to

Washington DC.

Limited Success of Unions

Craft Unions (unions of

skilled laborers) bring some

success because there are not

many skilled laborers (not

replaceable)

Use Collective Bargaining:

employees negotiated for the

needs of a group rather an

individual needs

Reasons for Few Successes of Labor

Unions in the late 19th

Century

1. Public sees unions as violent and dangerous

2. Public sees them as anarchists, socialists,

and communists (wanting government

ownership of business)

3. Government support of big business owners

4. Nativists did not support labor unions

because of their immigrant membership

The Progressive Era

Life in the City

Challenges of Urban Life

Low wages meant

entire families had

to work to afford

basic necessities Men, women , and

children worked 12 or

more hours a day, 6

days a week (Sundays

off)

Working Conditions

Sweatshops were hazardous

Makeshift factories in small apartments or unused buildings

Poorly lit, poorly ventilated Unsafe

Working Conditions

Few breaks Children given the most

dangerous jobs and got little to no education Mills: cleaned thread spools

because their small fingers could fit between the spinning thread, often lead to lost fingers and hands

Coal Mines: sent into the smallest most dangerous mine shafts that could cave in at any moment

Children were frequently beaten if they fell asleep or didn’t work fast enough

Working Conditions

Women gained working opportunities but had no opportunity to advance, management was only for men Paid less Threatened and

taken advantage of by male managers

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

1911

Company located in

NYC.

Fire breaks out.

Emergency Exit doors

are locked trapping

workers inside.

146 dead.

Living Conditions

Cities unprepared for growth Pollution

“clouds of coal vapors,” noise from steam engines, trash, factory run-off dumped into water sources

No sanitary or building codes

Tenements: Large multi-story apartments for factory workers especially immigrants creating urban slums No running water, sewage,

trash thrown on to streets

Living Conditions Public Services Non-

existent: Little Police protection,

mob mentality,

Political Machines

controlling politics

through corruption

Uncontrollable disease

Cholera spread rapidly

due to water

contamination

Average life span half

that of rural working

class

People begin to want

the government to do

something about the

problems in the city

Living Conditions

Upper Class happy Lived in luxurious suburban homes

Growth of Middle Class Skilled workers, professionals, businesspeople, and

wealthy farmers

Had “New Money” Money from working not from inheritance

Problems in the City

lead to Progressive

Movement

Progressive Era: time period of political, social, and economic change in America beginning around the turn of the century (1900) Started by educated

growing middle class tired of paying taxes to corrupt political machines with nothing being done to clean up the city

Media Inspires the

Progressive Movement

Muckrakers: journalists

exposed the social evils of

society during the late 19th

century

First time they had Photography

to take pictures of the

conditions-Jocob Riis-How the

Other Half Lives

Most Famous: Upton Sinclair-

wrote “The Jungle” Exposed poor sanitation and

conditions of the meat industry

Eventually leads to government

inspection of meats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Q4z

PR4G7M

1:55 minute start

Female Progressives Promote

Social Reform

Jane Addams- creates the Hull House, settlement house in Chicago, IL

Settlement Houses: established in poor neighborhoods to help immigrants and urban poor with vocational training (meaning?), childcare, and other assistance

Called the mother of Social work

Women’s Suffrage Movement

Grows

Causes of the Stronger Push for

Women’s Rights and Suffrage

More women’s colleges Educated and skilled Growing Middle Class of

Women trying to improve their status and the conditions of the city

New working opportunities If we can work like men, we

can vote like men!

Westward Expansion Pioneer women treated as

equals, leads to western States giving women the right to vote locally before the East and the federal government

3 Groups Rise for the Cause of

Women’s Suffrage

National Association of Colored Women: looking to improve civil rights and voting for African American women

3 Groups Rise for the Cause of

Women’s Suffrage

National Women’s Suffrage Association 1890 Looks to State

governments to persuade them to give women the right to vote

Started under Carrie Chapman Catt

3 Groups Rise for the Cause of

Women’s Suffrage

National Woman’s Party Wants a national

Constitutional amendment

not just agreement of State

governments

Wants to use more direct and

forceful methods

Will march and picket the

white house

Led by Alice Paul

Opposition to Women’s Rights

Political Machines and Liquor Industry fight against movement (because many of the Suffragettes support Prohibition and the Temperance Movement-ending the sale of alcohol)

Opposition to

Women’s Rights

Lack of support leads

women to more radical

moves Picketing women

arrested and jailed

In jail women turn to

Hunger Strikes-

refusing to eat until

they are released or

suffrage passed

Jails will force feed the

women, often leading

to infections, disease,

and death of the

women anyway

Progressive Era Presidents

Progressives Reach Political

Office

Began with State and Local Politics Progressives elected as

Mayors to Cities Progressives elected as

Governors of States

Eventually growing support of these politicians will lead to the first Progressive President in 1901

Theodore Roosevelt

William McKinley is

assassinated allows

Theodore Roosevelt to

become president.

Youngest man

inaugurated

Extremely Progressive

Theodore Roosevelt’s “Bully

Pulpit”

Used his office to

Bully and Breakdown

Big Business

Theodore Roosevelt’s

Progressive Reforms

1. Anthracite Coal Mine Strike 1902: Rather than sending troops

to help owners, Teddy sides with the workers and requires the owners to negotiate with the workers over shorter work days and better wages to stop the strike

2. Strengthened the Interstate Commerce Act Gained further control over

the railroads

Theodore Roosevelt’s

Progressive Reforms

3. Trust-Buster Used the Sherman

Anti Trust Act to finally break up and regulate monopolies

4. Founded Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Packing Inspection Act Protecting consumers

as a result of what book?

5. Conservationism-National Parks system began

Teddy’s Bull Moose Party 1912

After 4 years not in office, Theodore Roosevelt decides to run again

Splits the Republican Party between President Taft (more conservative then Teddy) Teddy decides to run because of

Taft’s conservatisms saying "I'm feeling like a bull moose“- ready to push through Taft’s politics

Leads to the victory of Democratic Candidate Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson

Progressive Governor, opposed Big Business and Big Government

Part of the Solid Democratic South-does nothing to improve African American conditions

Woodrow Wilson’s Progressive Reforms

1. Clayton Anti-Trust Act: Made Unions exempt from anti-trust laws called the “Magna Carta of Labor”-protecting laborers from owners

2. Protects an 8hour work day for some

3. Sets up some worker’s compensation

4. Passes Federal Child Labor Act to restrict hours that children can work Supreme Court rules it

unconstitutional so it is somewhat ineffective

Woodrow Wilson’s

Progressive Reforms 5. Federal Reserve Act:

creates an elastic

money supply (ie

makes it easier to

regulate how much

money is available) Helps Farmers get

loans

Created a safety net of

money if banks failed

Woodrow Wilson’s

Progressive Reforms 6. 16th Amendment:

Graduated or Progressive Income Tax Federal Government can

collect income taxes on individuals and businesses

The amount you pay will go up with the amount of money you make

7. 17th Amendment: Senators will be directly elected by the people rather than State Governments to increase power of the people

Effects of WWI

on Progressive

Era

1. 18th Amendment-Prohibition: Grain shortages and Anti-German Propaganda (portray them as beer makers) leads to Prohibition-illegal to sell alcohol

2. 19th Amendment- Women’s Right to Vote: women working in factories and their war effort will lead to women gaining suffrage Alice Paul (leader of what?) will

continue to fight for an equal rights amendment as well

Neither supported by Woodrow Wilson though passed during his presidency

Effects of WWI on Progressive

Era

3. Anti-Trust Acts will not be

enforced: Big Business had helped

with the war effort so government

began turning a blind’s eye

4. Regular Conservative Republican

elected in 1920 ending enforcement

of Progressive reforms Idea of government working for the

people will not be renewed until

Franklin D. Roosevelt ‘s New Deal

during the Great Depression