Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Chapter 17, Lesson 2: Progressive Reform (pp. 507-512)
I. State Government Reform
B. Robert M. La Follette, governor of Wisconsin, was a Progressive leader who pushed through state laws to regulate business and give voters more power.
C. During this time, voters gained more influence in the government through policies like the secret ballot, the initiative, the referendum, and the recall.
II. The Federal Government Responds
B. Roosevelt's policies included breaking up trusts and conserving natural resources by setting up national parks and forests.
C. The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments aided reform by creating the federal income tax and establishing the direct election of U.S. senators by voters.
B. In 1912 Roosevelt created a third party, the Bull Moose Party, and split Republican votes with Taft, so that Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson won the election.
B.Wilson's reforms included a lower tariff, the Federal Reserve Bank system, the Clayton Antitrust act, and the Federal Trade Commission which regulated business practices.
C. Wilson failed as a reformer by allowing racial segregation in the federal government and by withholding support for women's suffrage.
Lesson at a Glance Outline
A. Progressives won control of many state governments, which allowed them to carry out their reform programs.
A. President Theodore Roosevelt encouraged many Progressive reforms to protect people from unfair business practices.
III. The Bull Moose Party
A. Although William Howard Taft continued some Progressive reforms when he succeeded Roosevelt as President, Roosevelt thought Taft was too conservative.
IV. Wilson Continues Reform Efforts
A. President Wilson's New Freedom reform plan was designed to protect individuals' rights from powerful banks and businesses.
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