U.S. history concepts · AP U.S. History
Progressive Era
Progressive Era: A period of reform from roughly the 1890s to 1920 that sought to address the problems of industrialization, urbanization and political corruption.
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What it means
Progressives, many of them middle-class, used journalism, social science and government action to regulate business, protect consumers and workers, clean up city politics and expand democracy. Federal reforms included antitrust enforcement, the Pure Food and Drug Act, the Federal Reserve and amendments establishing the income tax, direct election of senators and women's suffrage.
Progressivism had limits: many reforms did little for Black Americans, and some reformers supported immigration restriction.
Example
Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906) exposed conditions in meatpacking and helped build support for the Meat Inspection Act.
On the exam
The Progressive Era is a frequent LEQ and DBQ topic in Period 7, especially on the expanding role of the federal government.
Lessons and practice questions
Related terms
- Populism (People's Party)A late nineteenth-century political movement of farmers and workers that challenged the power of railroads, banks and corporations.
- New DealFranklin D. Roosevelt's programs in the 1930s to provide relief, recovery and reform during the Great Depression.
- Gilded AgeThe late nineteenth century in the United States, marked by rapid industrial growth, great fortunes, political corruption and deep inequality.