Anti-Saloon League political interest group advocating prohibition, founded in 1895

Ash Can School New York artists of varying styles who shared a focus on urban life






Bull Moose Party popular name given to the Progressive Party in 1912 as a tribute to its presidential candidate, Theodore Roosevelt






Chautauqua traveling show offering educational, religious, and recreational activities, part of a nationwide movement of adult education that began in the town of Chautauqua, New York

city council body of representatives elected to govern a city

city planning the policy of planning urban development by regulating land use

city-manager plan system of city government in which a small council, chosen on a nonpartisan ballot, hires a city manager who exercises broad executive authority

Clayton Antitrust Act 1914 law banning monopolistic business practices such a price fixing and interlocking directorates; it also exempted farmers’ organizations and unions from prosecution under antitrust laws

commission system system of city government in which all executive and legislative power is vested in a small elective board, each member of which supervises some aspect of city government

constituents voters in the home district of a member of a legislature

credentials committee party convention committee that settles disputes arising when rival delegations from the same state demand to be seated

customs receivership an agreement whereby one nation takes over the collection of customs (taxes on imported goods) of another nation an exercises some control over that nation’s expenditures of customs receipts, thus limited the autonomy of the nation in receivership






depressive tending to lower a person’s spirits and to lessen activity

direct democracy provisions that permit voters to make political decisions directly; including the direct primary, initiative, referendum, and recall

direct primary primary election in which voters who identify with a specific party choose that party’s candidates to run in the general election against the candidates of other parties

dollar diplomacy name applied by critics to the Taft administration policy of supporting US investments abroad






Elkins Act 1903 law that supplemented the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 by penalizing railroads that paid rebates






Federal Reserve Act 1913 law establishing 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks to hold the case reserves of commercial banks and a Federal Reserve Board to regulate aspects of banking

Federal Trade Commission Act 1914 law that outlawed unfair methods of competition in interstate commerce and created a commission appointed by the president to investigate illegal business practices

feminism the conviction that women are and should be the social, political, and economic equals of men






gentleman’s agreement an agreement rather than a formal treaty; Japan agreed in 1907 to limit Japanese immigration to the US

Gifford Pinchot head of the Forestry Service from 1898 to 1910; he promoted conservation and urged careful planning in the use of natural resources






Hague Court body of delegates from about 50 member nations; created in 1899 for the purpose of peacefully resolving international conflicts; also known as the Permanent Court of Arbitration

Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty 1904 treaty with Panama that granted the US sovereignty over the Canal Zone in return for a $10 million payment plus an annual rent

Hay-Pauncefote Treaties two separate treaties (1900 and 1901) signed by the US and Britain and that gave the US the exclusive right to build, control, and fortify a canal through Central America

Hepburn Act 1906 law that authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to set maximum railroad rates and to regulate other forms of transportation

Hiram W. Johnson California governor who promoted a broad range of reforms, including regulation of railroads and measures to benefit labor

hookworm parasite, formerly common in the South, that causes loss of strength






Ida B. Wells reformer and journalist who crusaded against lynching and advocated racial justice and woman suffrage

Ida Tarbell Progressive-era journalist whose exposé revealed the ruthlessness of the Standard Oil Company

impressionism a style of painting that developed in France in the 1870s and emphasized the artist’s impression of a subject

initiative provision in a state or other political unit that permits voters to petition to place a proposed law on the ballot so that voters may accept or reject it; also called direct legislation

insane asylum in the 19th and early 20th centuries, an institution for the incarceration of people with mental disorders

interest group coalition of people identified with a particular cause, such as an industry or occupational group, a social group, or a policy objective

interlocking directorates situation in which the same individuals sit on the boards of directors of various companies in one industry






Jeannette Rankin Montana reformer and pacifist who in 1916 became the first woman elected to Congress; she worked to pass the woman suffrage amendment and to protect women in the workplace






Lincoln Steffens muckraking journalist and managing editor of McClure’s Magazine, best known for investigating political corruption in city governments

lobbyist person who tries to influence the opinions of legislators or other public officials for or against a specific cause

local option law a state law that permitted the residents of a town or city to decide, by an election, whether to ban liquor sales in their community

Louis Brandeis lawyer and reformer who opposed monopolies and defended individual rights; in 1916 he became the first Jewish justice on the Supreme Court






Manchuria region of northeast China that the Russians and Japanese fought to control in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

Mann Act 1910 law designed to suppress prostitution; it made transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes illegal

Margaret Sanger birth-control advocate who believed so strongly that information about birth control was essential to help women escape poverty that she disobeyed laws against its dissemination

Mark Twain pen name of Samuel Clemens, prominent American author of the late19th century; wrote many literary classics, including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Marxist believer in the ideas of Marx and Engels, who opposed private ownership of property and looked to a future in which workers would control the economy

Meat Inspection Act 1906 law requiring federal inspection of meatpacking

melodrama sensational or romantic stage play with exaggerated conflicts and stereotyped characters

migrant traveling from one area to another

money supply amount of money in the economy, such as cash and the contents of checking accounts

muckrakers Progressive-era journalists who wrote articles exposing corruption in city government, business and industry

Muller v. Oregon 1908 Supreme Court case upholding an Oregon law that limited the hours of employment for women

municipal reform political activity intended to bring about changes in the structure or function of city government






narcotic drug that reduces pain and induces sleep or stupor

National American Woman Suffrage Association organization formed in 1890 that united the two major women’s suffrage groups of that time

National Association for the Advanced of Colored People racially integrated civil rights organization founded in New York City in 1910

New Freedom Woodrow Wilson advocated this program of reforms in his 1912 presidential campaign, including reducing tariffs, revising the monetary system, and prosecuting trusts

New Nationalism Theodore Roosevelt advocated this program of labor and social reform before and during his successful bid to regain the presidency in 1912






old-stock characteristic of people whose families had been in the US for several generations

Oregon System name given to the initiative and referendum, first used widely in state politics in Oregon after 1902






Payne-Aldrich Tariff 1909 tariff; the original bill was a Republican attempt to reduce tariffs, but the final version retained high tariffs on most imports

Philippe Bunau-Varilla chief engineer of the French company that attempted to build a canal through the Panamanian isthmus, chief planner of the Panamanian revolt against Colombia, and later minister to the US from the new Republic of Panama

Progressive Era period of reform in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

Progressive Party political party formed in 1912 with Theodore Roosevelt as its candidate for presidents

Pure Food and Drug Act 1906 law forbidding the sale of impure and improperly labeled food and drugs






ragtime style of popular music characterized by a syncopated rhythm and a regularly accented beat; considered the immediate precursor of jazz

recall provision in a state or other political unit that permits voters, through the petition process, to hold a special election to remove an elected official from office

referendum provision in a state or other political unit that permits voters, through petitions, to place a law that has been approved by the legislature on the ballot so that voters can accept or reject it

Robert M. LaFollette Wisconsin governor who instituted reforms such as direct primaries, tax reform, and anticorruption measures in Wisconsin

Roosevelt Corollary extension of the 1823 Monroe Doctrine announced by Theodore Roosevelt in 1904; proclaimed the right of the US to police the Caribbean areas






school board local board of policymakers who oversee the public schools of a city or town

Seventeenth Amendment 1913 amendment that requires the election of US senators directly by the voters of each state, rather than by state legislatures

Sixteenth Amendment 1913 amendment that gives the federal government the authority to establish an income tax

slapstick rowdy form of comedy marked by crude practical jokes and physical humor, such as falls

Socialist Party of America political party formed in 1901 and committed to socialism (government ownership of most industries)

Square Deal Theodore Roosevelt’s term for his efforts to deal fairly with all as president

sweatshop shop or factory in which employees worked long hours at low wages under poor conditions






term limit limit on the number of times one person can be elected to the same political office

Treaty of Portsmouth 1905 treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War; negotiated by Theodore Roosevelt

trustbusting use of antitrust laws to prosecute or dissolve big businesses (“trusts”)

tuberculosis infectious disease that attacks the lungs; spread by unsanitary conditions and practices; it was common and often fatal in the 19th and early 20th centuries and is reappearing today






Underwood Act 1913 law that substantially reduced tariffs and made up for the lost revenue by providing for a small graduated income tax

Upton Sinclair socialist writer and reformer whose novel The Jungle exposed unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry and advocated socialism






W.E.B. DuBois African-American intellectual and civil rights leader, author of important works on black history and sociology; helped form and lead the NAACP

ward division of a city or town, especially an electoral district, for administrative representative purposes

Wisconsin idea program of political reforms sponsored by LaFollette; designed to decrease political corruption, foster direct democracy, and regulate corporations

workers’ compensation payments that employers are required by law to award to workers injured on the job