Module 3 Study Guide
US History, Part 2
These notes will help you prepare for quizzes and exams.
Lesson 1: Social Reforms During the Progressive Era
Social Reforms
1. What was the Social Gospel Movement? How did it differ from other
reform efforts? (Explain in 3-4 sentences.)
The Social Gospel Movement was a religious reform movement in the late
1800s and early 1900s that argued Christians had a moral duty to address
social problems like poverty, poor working conditions, and urban slums, not
just focus on personal salvation. Leaders like Washington Gladden and
Walter Rauschenbusch preached that true faith required actively improving
society and helping the poor, rather than simply waiting for reward in the
afterlife. This differed from many earlier reform efforts, which were often
driven by secular political or economic arguments, since the Social Gospel
framed social reform as a fundamentally religious obligation. The movement
inspired the creation of settlement houses, charities, and other institutions
meant to directly improve the lives of the urban poor.
2. What is a muckraker? (Explain in 2-3 sentences.)
A muckraker was a journalist or writer who investigated and exposed
corruption, corporate abuse, and social problems in American society
during the Progressive Era, often through detailed, sensational articles or
books. The name came from a description Theodore Roosevelt used
somewhat critically, comparing these writers to a man so busy raking up
muck that he couldn't look up to see anything positive. Despite the
somewhat negative origin of the term, muckrakers played a major role in
exposing issues like unsafe food production, child labor, and political
corruption, which helped drive public support for Progressive reforms.
3. For each person listed below, write a 2-3 sentence description of their
focus area and the reforms they helped to achieve.
Upton Sinclair Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle in 1906, a novel
exposing horrific, unsanitary conditions in the
meatpacking industry, which shocked the public and
led directly to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug
Act and the Meat Inspection Act that same year. His
work is a classic example of muckraking journalism
driving concrete government reform.
Module 3 Study Guide
US History, Part 2
Ida Tarbell Ida Tarbell investigated and exposed the ruthless
business practices of Standard Oil and John D.
Rockefeller through a detailed series of articles,
revealing how the company crushed competitors and
built its monopoly. Her investigative work helped build
public and political support for stronger antitrust
enforcement against powerful corporations.
Jacob Riis Jacob Riis was a photojournalist who documented the
horrific living conditions of the urban poor in New York
City tenements in his book How the Other Half Lives,
using photography to make poverty impossible to
ignore. His work helped spur housing reforms and
increased public awareness of the struggles faced by
immigrant and working-class city residents.
Jane Addams Jane Addams co-founded Hull House in Chicago, one
of the first and most influential settlement houses,
which provided education, childcare, and other social
services to poor immigrant families in the city. Her
work helped establish the field of social work and
inspired the broader settlement house movement
across the country.
Lewis Hine Lewis Hine was a photographer who documented the
harsh realities of child labor in factories and mines,
using his powerful images to build public support for
laws restricting or banning the practice. His
photography played a major role in bringing about
child labor reform legislation in the early 1900s.
4. What methods did reformers use to bring about change, and why
were they effective? (Explain in 2-3 sentences.)
Reformers used investigative journalism, photography, public speeches, and
organized political pressure to expose social problems and push lawmakers
toward action. These methods were effective because they made abstract
problems, like unsafe food or child labor, vivid and undeniable to ordinary
citizens, building public outrage that politicians couldn't easily ignore.
Module 3 Study Guide
US History, Part 2
Lesson 2: Government Reforms During the Progressive
Era
Education, Temperance, and Women’s Suffrage
5. How did Progressives increase democratic participation through
reforms like the secret ballot, direct elections, recalls, referendums,
and initiatives? (Explain in 4-5 sentences.)
Progressives pushed for the secret ballot to prevent voter intimidation and
bribery, since voting had previously often been done publicly or through
party-printed ballots that made it easy to pressure or bribe voters. Direct
election of senators, established by the 17th Amendment, took the power to
choose senators away from state legislatures, which were often controlled
by corrupt political machines, and gave that power directly to voters
instead. Recall elections let voters remove corrupt or unpopular officials
from office before their term ended, adding real accountability between
elections. Referendums allowed citizens to vote directly on proposed laws,
while initiatives let citizens propose new laws themselves, bypassing
legislatures that might otherwise ignore public opinion. Together, these
reforms were meant to weaken the grip of political machines and corporate
influence over government, putting more direct power in the hands of
ordinary voters.
6. Please explain each Progressive Era reform listed below. (Explain in 3-5
sentences each.)
Temperance/18th The temperance movement pushed to ban alcohol,
Amendment blaming it for domestic abuse, poverty, and social
disorder, and its efforts culminated in the 18th
Amendment in 1919, which prohibited the
manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol
nationwide. This ushered in the era of Prohibition,
though it proved difficult to enforce and led to
widespread illegal alcohol production and organized
crime, eventually resulting in its repeal in 1933.
16th Amendment The 16th Amendment, ratified in 1913, gave Congress
the power to levy a federal income tax, providing the
government a stable and significant source of revenue
that didn't depend solely on tariffs. This allowed the
federal government to fund the growing array of
Progressive reforms and public programs being
proposed at the time.
Module 3 Study Guide
US History, Part 2
17th Amendment The 17th Amendment, ratified in 1913, changed how
US senators were chosen, shifting from selection by
state legislatures to direct election by the voters of
each state. This reform reduced the influence of
corrupt political machines and wealthy special
interests that had previously controlled many state
legislatures.
19th Amendment The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, granted
women the right to vote nationwide, the culmination
of decades of organizing and activism by the women's
suffrage movement. It marked one of the most
significant expansions of democratic participation in
American history.
7. Explain the process of Women’s Suffrage. (Explain in 2-3 sentences.)
The women's suffrage movement built momentum over decades, starting
with the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and continuing through organized
campaigns, protests, and lobbying led by figures like Susan B. Anthony,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and later Alice Paul. Suffragists used tactics ranging
from state-by-state campaigns to win voting rights locally, to national
marches, picketing the White House, and hunger strikes, which built enough
political pressure to finally get the 19th Amendment passed and ratified in
1920.
Lesson 3: Limits of Progressivism
Progressive Presidents, Segregation, and Discrimination
8. What laws and legal decisions allowed segregation and discrimination
against African Americans, and how did they work? (Explain in 4-5
sentences.)
Module 3 Study Guide
US History, Part 2
After Reconstruction ended, Southern states passed a wave of Jim Crow
laws that mandated racial segregation in schools, transportation,
restaurants, and nearly every other public space. The Supreme Court
upheld this system in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, ruling that "separate but
equal" facilities for Black and white Americans were constitutional, even
though facilities for Black Americans were almost always dramatically
inferior in practice. States also used tools like poll taxes, literacy tests, and
grandfather clauses to prevent Black citizens from voting, effectively
disenfranchising most Black voters despite the 15th Amendment's
protections. These laws were enforced not just through the legal system but
through intimidation and violence, including lynching, which discouraged
Black Americans from challenging the system. Together, this combination of
law and violence created a rigid system of racial control that lasted for
decades into the 1900s.
9. How did the goals of the Progressive presidents conflict with the
experiences of African Americans? (Explain in 3-4 sentences.)
While Progressive presidents like Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson
pushed reforms aimed at improving democracy, regulating business, and
helping ordinary citizens, these reforms largely ignored or even actively
harmed African Americans. Woodrow Wilson, in particular, allowed and even
encouraged the segregation of federal government offices, reversing some
of the small gains Black federal workers had previously made. Progressive
reforms like direct democracy and voter registration requirements were
sometimes used in the South specifically to further exclude Black voters
rather than expand their participation. This meant the Progressive Era's
promises of democratic reform and improved living conditions were, in
practice, largely reserved for white Americans.
10. Explain each of the following people’s opinions on combatting
racial segregation and discrimination. (Explain in 2-3 sentences each.)
Brooker T. Booker T. Washington believed African Americans
Washington should focus on gaining economic self-sufficiency and
vocational skills first, arguing that political and social
equality would gradually follow once Black Americans
proved their economic value through hard work and
skilled trades. His approach, sometimes called
accommodationism, avoided directly challenging
segregation laws, which some criticized as too passive
given the severity of discrimination at the time.
Module 3 Study Guide
US History, Part 2
W.E.B. Du Bois W.E.B. Du Bois argued for immediate and full civil
rights, political power, and higher education for
African Americans, rejecting the idea of gradual
progress through vocational training alone. He helped
found the Niagara Movement and later the NAACP,
pushing for direct legal and political challenges to
segregation and discrimination rather than
accommodation.
11. What was the NAACP, and how did it impact civil rights for
African Americans? (Explain in 3-4 sentences.)
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
was founded in 1909 by a group of Black and white activists, including
W.E.B. Du Bois, in response to ongoing violence and discrimination against
African Americans. It focused on using legal challenges, lobbying, and
public advocacy to fight segregation, disenfranchisement, and racial
violence like lynching. Over the following decades, the NAACP won a series
of important legal victories, and its litigation strategy eventually helped
bring about landmark rulings like Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. It
remains one of the most influential and longest-running civil rights
organizations in American history.