Very brief overview and summary of the Populist and Progressive Movements of the Gilded Age.

1. Populism and Progressivism

2. Populist Party
• Wanted to bring changes to help
the average person, especially
farmers
• Wanted to give the people a bigger
voice in government
• This party advocated for (wanted)
a larger money supply and other
economic reforms

3. Farmers Problems
1. Low income (low prices for their food)
2. High Debt
3. Difficult to sell to other countries

4. Farmers Unite
The Patrons of Husbandry
• founded in 1867
• also known as the Grange
• overcome the isolations that farmers experienced
• the first national farm organization
• pressured state and national government to regulate railroads who
were charging farmers unfair shipping rates
• to prevent farmers from competing with each other, they organized
cooperatives to protect prices from falling too low
• was largely unsuccessful

5. Farmers Unite
Farmers’ Alliance
• founded in 1880 to replace the failing Patrons of Husbandry
• was unsuccessful due to the practices of wholesalers, railroads, and
banks that sought to make a profit off the farmers

6. William Jennings Bryan
• 1896 Democratic candidate for
President of the U.S.
• Lost the Election
• Was supported by Populists
• Best known for his “Cross of Gold”
speech.
• favored using both gold and silver as the
nation’s currency

7. Initiative
• People can propose a law if they can get enough
people to sign a petition
• A procedure by which a legislative measure (law) can
be started by the people rather than by lawmakers.

8. Referendum
• When the government has an idea for a law and has
the people vote on it
• A procedure by which a proposed legislative measure
(law) can be submitted to a vote of the people.

9. Recall
• A procedure for removing a
public official from office by a
vote of the people.

10. Muckrakers
• Journalists who searched for and
publicized (wrote about) real or
alleged acts of corruption of public
officials, businessmen.

11. Jacob Riis
• Used photography to illustrate (show)
the problems and evils of urban life in
the slums.
• Famous book: How the Other Half Lives

12. Upton Sinclair
• write The Jungle in 1906
• portrayed the disgusting
conditions of the Chicago
meatpacking industry
• led the passage of the 1906
Meat Inspection Act

13. Jane Addams’ Hull House, 1889
• worked to improve the lives of the working class
• the first private social welfare agency in the U.S.
• assisted the poor, combat juvenile delinquency and
help immigrants learn to speak English.

14. Frank Norris
• Famous Book: The Octopus
• described the unfair business
practices of the railroad industry
• Farmers needed the railroads to
ship the products
• Railroads charged farmers high
prices because farmers had no
other choice

15. Ida Tarbell
• wrote for McClure’s Magazine
• wrote article that exposed corruption and cut-throat
business practices of John D. Rockefeller and his
Standard Oil Company.

16. Thomas Nast
• Newspaper cartoonist
• produced satirical cartoons
• he invented "Uncle Sam“
• came up with the elephant and
the donkey for the political
parties
• His cartoons were important in
exposing Boss Tweed.

17. Progressives
Government must get involved in making sure that everybody gets a
chance at equal opportunities
• Limit the power and influence of big business

18. Progressive Presidents
Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt (26)
• Square Deal
• Trust Buster
• Meat Inspection
• Food & Drug Act

19. Progressive Presidents
Square Deal
• Made him popular with the
average person
“Three Cs”
• Greater control of corporations
• Enhanced conservation of
natural resources
• New regulations to protect
consumers against contaminated
food and medications

20. Trust Buster
Trust = monopoly
• Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt
was the Trust Buster (broke up
the monopolies)
• Was popular with the average
person because of his “Square
Deal” promising conservation of
natural resources and land,
consumer protection, and
controlling corporations

21. Progressive Presidents
William Howard Taft (27)
• Dollar Diplomacy (the US can
use trade to influence other
nations)

22. Progressive Presidents
Woodrow Wilson (28)
• New Freedom (reduce tariffs,
Federal Trade Commission,
Federal Reserve System)
• Fought the “Triple Wall of
Privilege”
• President during World War I

23. Triple Wall of Privilege
• all-out-war on what Wilson
named the “Triple Wall of
Privilege” — the tariff, the
banks, and the trusts.

24. Federal Reserve Act, 1913
• Regulated banking to help
small banks stay in business.
• A move away from laissez-
faire policies

25. Prohibition
• The banning of manufacture, sale, and possession of
alcoholic beverages

26. Women’s Christian Temperance Union
Temperance = avoidance of alcoholic
drink
• Founded in Chicago in 1873
• it promoted the goal of prohibition
• Members advanced their cause by
entering saloons singing, praying,
and encouraging saloon-keepers to
quit selling alcohol

27. 18th Amendment
• This addition to the U.S. Constitution, known as
“Prohibition”, banned the making, selling, or
transporting of alcoholic beverages in the U.S.