Chapter 21 The Progressive Era Vocabulary

Gilded Age

the era from 1870–1890 that is considered the time of the greatest economic, territorial, industrial, and population expansion in American history. The term "gilded" connotes a gold-covered but still harsh reality. The Gilded Age saw a drastic increase in the diversity of the United States due to immigration, but accompanying this diversity came an increase in prejudice and racial discrimination, as well as political corruption and social injustices.

Muckrakers journalists who exposed corruption and social injustices in the late 1800’s-early 1900’s

Progressives Wealthy and educated Middle class Americans who sought legislation to broaden the state's power to curb the excesses of large ‐ scale corporate capitalism and to address the host of inequities that had resulted from rapid and unprecedented economic and social change

Political Machines a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a many supporters and businesses, who receive rewards for their efforts. The power of the machine is based on the ability of the workers to get out the vote for their candidates on election day.

Civil Service a system or method of appointing government employees on the basis of competitive exams, rather than by political pay back

Federal Trade Commission an independent agency of the U.S. government, established in Its principal mission is the promotion of consumer protection and the elimination and prevention of what regulators perceive to be harmfully anti-competitive business practices, such as monopoly and trust.

Federal Reserve Act (1913): law that set up a nationwide system of federal banks. This law gave the government the power to raise and lower interest rates and control the money supply

Recall process by which voters can remove an elected official from office

Primaries elections in which voters choose the dominate candidate for their political party and the general election

Initiative process by which voters can put a bill directly before the state legislatures by collecting signatures on a petition

16 th Amendment allows Congress to collect a federal income tax

17 th Amendment established direct election of senators, as well as a means of filling vacant Senate seats.

18 th Amendment prohibited the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages

19 th Amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote.

The Jungle 1906 novel written by journalist Upton Sinclair, portraying the life of the immigrant in the United States, but readers were more concerned with the large portion of the book pertaining to the corruption of the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century.

Pure Food and Drug Act law that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of altered products (impulse ingredients and false advertising)

Square Deal President Theodore Roosevelt's domestic program formed upon three basic ideas: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection.

NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination