Progressive Era 1901–1914
U.S. History 1865–2004
Progressive Era 1901–1914
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Progressives agitate for far-reaching reform in politics, business, poverty relief, and conservation
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United States implements aggressive foreign policy through both military actions and corporate investment
| 1901 | Anarchist Leon Czolgosz assassinates McKinley; Vice President Teddy Roosevelt becomes 26th president | |
| Platt Amendment effectively turns Cuba into U.S. dependency | ||
| Spindle top oil field discovered in Beaumont, Texas; oil exploration rush begins | ||
| J. P. Morgan buys out Andrew Carnegie’s steel holdings, creating virtual monopoly in U.S. steel industry and leading to establishment of U.S. Steel, world’s first billion-dollar company | ||
| 1902 | Newlands Reclamation Act allots proceeds from public land sales toward construction of dams and reservoirs in arid West | |
| 1903 | Elkins Act outlaws railroad favoritism and price-gouging | |
| Henry Ford founds Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan | ||
| Panama declares independence from Colombia at urging of United States | ||
| W. E. B. Du Bois publishes social treatiseThe Souls of Black Folk | ||
| 1904 | Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine increases U.S. military presence in Latin America | |
| Supreme Court orders dissolution of J. P. Morgan’s Northern Securities Company; first in series of trust-busting cases brought against corporations | ||
| 1905 | U.S. Forest Service takes possession of federal forest reserves | |
| Roosevelt helps negotiate end to Russo-Japanese War, wins Nobel Peace Prize | ||
| In Taft-Katsura Agreement, U.S. grants Japan dominion over Korea in order to secure U.S. dominion in Philippines | ||
| U.S. begins financial supervision of the Dominican Republic | ||
| 1906 | San Francisco begins to segregate Asian-American schoolchildren | |
| San Francisco earthquake causes catastrophic damage, leaves 250,000 homeless | ||
| Roosevelt coins word muckraker to describe writers, such as Ida Tarbell, whose investigative pieces expose corporate immorality and political corruption | ||
| Upton Sinclair publishes novel The Jungle | ||
| Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act set food quality standards | ||
| Hepburn Act strengthens Interstate Commerce Commission | ||
| Construction on Panama Canal begins, made possible by Panama’s revolt from Colombia; United States gains unlimited lease on canal | ||
| United States invades Cuba to quash rebellion | ||
| 1907 | Oklahoma admitted to Union as 46th state | |
| Agreement with Japan puts unofficial restrictions on Japanese, Korean immigration | ||
| United States’ Great White Fleet embarks on a world tour in order to assert U.S. supremacy over Japanese navy | ||
| 1908 | Root-Takahira Agreement firms up U.S., Japanese spheres of influence in Pacific | |
| Roosevelt creates National Conservation Commission | ||
| William Howard Taft elected 27th president | ||
| Henry Ford introduces Model T automobile and installs first assembly line | ||
| 1909 | W. E. B. Du Bois, other black leaders, and concerned whites found National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) | |
| Payne-Aldrich Tariff maintains status quo on import duties | ||
| Dawes Act opens 700,000 acres of native land in Idaho, Montana, and Washington to white settlement | ||
| 1910 | Mann Act and Mann-Elkins Act regulate employment and commerce practices | |
| 1912 | Woodrow Wilson elected 28th president; third-party candidate Teddy Roosevelt (from Progressive Party, nicknamed Bull Moose Party) becomes most successful third-party candidate ever, with 27% of popular vote | |
| New Mexico and Arizona admitted to Union as 47th and 48th states, completing admission of 48 contiguous states | ||
| United States occupies Nicaragua in support of conservative government | ||
| 1913 | 16th Amendment allows for establishment of income tax | |
| 17th Amendment allows for direct elections of senators | ||
| California’s Alien Land Law constricts right of Japanese to own U.S. land | ||
| Underwood Tariff sharply reduces duties on foreign trade | ||
| Federal Reserve Act creates central banking system and Federal Reserve Board to regulate interbank interest rates | ||
| 1914 | Panama Canal opens | |
| Clayton Antitrust Act extends parameters of Sherman Antitrust Act | ||
| Women’s activist Margaret Sanger found guilty of obscenity for sending mailings promoting use of contraception; charges dropped in 1916 | ||
| Federal Trade Commission created to regulate commerce | ||
| World War I begins in Europe |
