The Issue; America Today
Work; Cited
- Resentment of wealth structure
- Monopolies not prevalent
- Occupy Wall Street
- Boyer, Paul S. "The Progressive Era." The Enduring Vision. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2009. 635-37. Print.
- "[Regents Prep U.S. History] Reform: Progressive Era Reform." [Regents Prep U.S. History] Reform: Progressive Era Reform. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
- "The Progressive Era (1890 - 1920)." The Progressive Era (1890 - 1920). N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
Important Leaders; Anti-Trust Movement
Success; How well Progressives addressed the problem
- Robert La Follette "Fighting Bob": Governor of Wisconsin, regulated railroads (Railroad regulation committee), mining, and business, created Legislative Reference Library
- Florence Kelley: Fought low wages, poor working conditions, and child labor
- Alice Hamilton: Fought for better working conditions
- Ida Tarbell: Wrote against practices of Standard Oil Company
Problem; Monopolies and Trusts on the Rise
- Rise of corporate leaders such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller
- Led to brutal competition in industries
- Wages were low, working conditions suffered
- Smaller companies couldn't succeed
- Earlier legislation against monopolies and trusts easy to circumvent
Who revealed the problem; Mukrakers
- Progressives achieved substantial success in limiting power of big business and improving conditions
- Clayton Anti-Trust Act filled holes missing in Sherman Anti-Trust Act to effectively restrict monopolies and trusts
- Sharp increase in lawsuits against large corporations
- Progressive campaigns led to creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission and Federal Trade Commission to regulate monopolies and trusts
Progressive Response; Legislation, etc.
- General anti-monopoly attitude among working class
- Frank Norris- "The Octopus" criticized railroad industry in CA
- Theodore Dreiser- "The Financier" illustrated big businesses without social consciences
- Mass magazines (McClure and Collier) - Worked to expose corporate corruption
- Sherman Anti-Trust Act- Prevented trusts and fixed monopolies, was ineffective in doing so
- Clayton Anti-Trust Act- Strengthened Sherman Anti-Trust Act with restrictions on local price cutting, sales contracts, rebates, and legalized labor strikes, led to many lawsuits against big companies