Populists and Progressives: what reformers changed
Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
What reformers changed, from Oregon to the Constitution
Columns Problem | Who pushed for change | Law or result | Date. Row 1: Laws hard for citizens to propose or check | Direct Legislation League and Oregon voters | Initiative and referendum added to Oregon's constitution | 1902. Row 2: Party leaders choosing candidates | Direct Legislation League and Oregon voters | Direct primary law in Oregon | 1904. Row 3: Officials hard to remove between elections | Direct Legislation League and Oregon voters | Recall added to Oregon's constitution | 1908. Row 4: No federal income tax after the Court struck one down | Farm groups, the People's Party and progressives in Congress | The 16th Amendment | February 3, 1913. Row 5: Senators chosen by state legislatures | Oregon System states and reformers in Congress | The 17th Amendment | April 8, 1913. Data: Oregon Secretary of State Blue Book, National Archives, US Senate Historical Office. Source card "Why the 17th Amendment passed, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Before 1913 state legislatures chose senators. In some states the legislatures deadlocked and left Senate seats empty for months or years, and in some places powerful interests or party machines dominated the legislature. Oregon developed a method in which a state primary showed the voters' choice and candidates for the legislature promised to honor it. In 1910 and 1911 the House passed versions of the amendment with a race rider meant to bar federal action against racial discrimination among voters. Supporters said the rider protected state sovereignty; opponents said it was a way around the 15th Amendment's protection of Black voters. Senator Joseph L. Bristow of Kansas offered a version without the rider. When Connecticut approved on April 8, 1913, three-fourths of the states had ratified the amendment. The next year, 1914, was the first time all Senate elections were held by popular vote. Data card "Choosing senators before 1913". Columns: What was counted; Count. Deadlocks in state legislatures, 1891 to 1905: 45 deadlocks in 20 states. Bribery cases brought before the Senate, 1866 to 1906: 9. States electing senators by party primary or general election, by 1912: as many as 29. Data: US Senate Historical Office, the Seventeenth Amendment. Arizona became the 48th state on February 14, 1912.
Jun weighs why the 17th Amendment passed. Which explanation do the cards support best?
- Bribery of legislators was the main cause, since nine cases reached the Senate between 1866 and 1906
- The race rider was the main cause, since the House added it in 1910 and 1911 to win votes
- The Oregon System was the main cause, since it showed that popular choice could work in a state
- Several pressures worked together: deadlocks, machine control, the Oregon model and wide state use
How the 19th Amendment won, in brief
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Woman suffrage supporters used several strategies. Some won state laws: nine western states had woman suffrage by 1912. In November 1912 Arizona's male voters approved the vote for women by a direct vote, and Arizona became the tenth state to give women full voting rights. By 1916 most large suffrage groups had united behind an amendment to the Constitution. New York gave women the vote in 1917, and in 1918 President Wilson switched to support a national amendment. The House passed the amendment on May 21, 1919, and the Senate followed two weeks later. Arizona ratified on February 12, 1920, and Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify, on August 18, 1920.
Pia weighs why the 19th Amendment passed in 1919. Which explanation does the card support best?
- Wilson's switch in 1918, since Congress passed the amendment within a year of it
- The nine western states, since they showed that women's voting could work before 1919
- State victories, the unity of suffrage groups by 1916, and Wilson's switch in 1918
- Tennessee's ratification in 1920, which supplied the thirty-sixth state and settled the matter
What reformers changed, from railroads to the right to vote
Columns Problem | Who pushed for change | Law or result | Date. Row 1: Railroad rates across state lines | Farmers and shippers, after years of public demand | Interstate Commerce Act and the Interstate Commerce Commission | February 4, 1887. Row 2: Trusts that controlled whole industries | Reformers in Congress, with Senator John Sherman | Sherman Antitrust Act | July 2, 1890. Row 3: Standard Oil's secret railroad rebates | Ida Tarbell's series in McClure's Magazine | The Supreme Court ordered the Standard Oil Trust broken up | 1911. Row 4: Drinking blamed for harm to families | Temperance groups, including the Anti-Saloon League | The 18th Amendment, enforced by the Volstead Act of October 28, 1919 | January 16, 1919. Row 5: Women denied the vote on account of sex | The woman suffrage movement | The 19th Amendment | August 18, 1920. Data: National Archives, Yale energy history project, Allegheny College, US House of Representatives history pages. The date for the Standard Oil row is the year of the Court's order. Source card "The Sherman Antitrust Act, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: A trust gathers the shares of stockholders in several companies under one group of trustees. The Standard Oil Trust was formed on January 2, 1882. The Sherman Antitrust Act, approved on July 2, 1890, was the first federal law to outlaw monopolistic business practices. It passed the Senate 51 to 1 and the House 242 to 0. Source card "The federal suit against Standard Oil, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In 1906 the federal government sued the Standard Oil Company under the Sherman Act. In 1911 the Supreme Court ordered the Standard Oil Trust dissolved. Ida Tarbell's series ran in McClure's Magazine from November 1902 to October 1904, and a federal report of 1906 blamed Standard Oil's dominance on secret rebates from railroads.
Bo weighs why the Supreme Court ordered Standard Oil broken up in 1911. Which statement do the cards support best?
- Law, suit and public exposure all came first, but the cards do not give the Court's reasons
- The 1906 federal report ordered the break-up, since it found rebates had built the Trust
- The Sherman Act ended the Trust in 1890, and the 1911 order only confirmed that result
- Tarbell's series caused the order, since public anger by 1904 pushed the government to sue
What reformers changed, from the farm to the ballot box
Columns Problem | Who pushed for change | Law or result | Date. Row 1: Railroad rates farmers paid | National Grange, with state legislatures | Granger laws, upheld in Munn v. Illinois (1877) | 1870s. Row 2: Falling crop prices and costly credit | Farmers' Alliances, then the People's Party | The Omaha Platform | July 4, 1892. Row 3: Impure food and drugs | Muckraking writers and President Roosevelt | Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act | June 30, 1906. Row 4: Public voting with party tickets | Reformers in cities and states | The Australian (secret) ballot | 1889 to 1900. Data: Minnesota Historical Society, National Archives, Texas State Historical Association, FSIS and House of Representatives history pages, UVA First Vote project. Source card "Muckrakers, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: A muckraker was a writer who investigated and exposed wrongdoing in business and government. President Theodore Roosevelt used the word in a speech on April 14, 1906, and he meant it as a criticism, not as praise. Ida Tarbell's 19-part series on the Standard Oil Company ran in McClure's Magazine from November 1902 to October 1904. Upton Sinclair published his novel The Jungle in 1906. Source card "The Jungle as a source, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906) is a novel. The House of Representatives history site describes it as a made-up version of seven weeks that Sinclair himself spent living and working in the Chicago stockyards. President Roosevelt had a report made on the stockyards and sent it to Congress on June 4, 1906, as House Document 873.
Milo notes that Roosevelt called some writers muckrakers in April 1906, then sent the stockyards report to Congress in June. What does this best show?
- A leader can criticize writers' methods and still act on the problems their reports exposed
- He had the report written to answer the novel, so the writers and he were working together
- He changed his mind about the writers between April and June, which the signing of the laws shows
- He meant the word as praise, since he acted on the findings and signed the laws in June
The Jungle on speeding up, 1906
Who made it: Upton Sinclair, novelist. When: 1906. Where: New York. For whom: general readers. Why: to tell a made-up story of immigrant workers in a Chicago meatpacking district. Excerpt (Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, chapter 5; p. 67; checked word for word against three printed editions): "Jurgis saw how they managed it; there were portions of the work which determined the pace of the rest, and for these they had picked men whom they paid high wages, and whom they changed frequently. You might easily pick out these pace-makers, for they worked under the eye of the bosses, and they worked like men possessed. This was called "speeding up the gang," and if any man could not keep up with the pace, there were hundreds outside begging to try." Source card "The Jungle as a source, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906) is a novel. The House of Representatives history site describes it as a made-up version of seven weeks that Sinclair himself spent living and working in the Chicago stockyards. President Roosevelt had a report made on the stockyards and sent it to Congress on June 4, 1906, as House Document 873. Source card "Muckrakers, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: A muckraker was a writer who investigated and exposed wrongdoing in business and government. President Theodore Roosevelt used the word in a speech on April 14, 1906, and he meant it as a criticism, not as praise. Ida Tarbell's 19-part series on the Standard Oil Company ran in McClure's Magazine from November 1902 to October 1904. Upton Sinclair published his novel The Jungle in 1906.
Zee wants to check the novel's picture of stockyard conditions. Which source would check it best?
- A newspaper cartoon of 1906 mocking the packers, since many people saw it
- Another chapter of The Jungle, since Sinclair saw the stockyards for himself
- The 1906 stockyards report, made apart from Sinclair and sent to Congress
- Roosevelt's speech of April 1906, since it came from the President who ordered the inquiry
A resolution on electing senators, 1892
Who made it: the People's Party, in its first national convention. When: July 1892. Where: Omaha, Nebraska. For whom: the voters of the country. Why: to say what the delegates favored, apart from the platform. Excerpt (The People's Party platform, Omaha, July 1892, supplementary resolutions; p. 82; checked word for word against two printed editions): "Resolved, That we favor a Constitutional provision limiting the office of President and Vice-President to one term, and providing for the election of … Senators … by a direct vote of the people." Source card "How the convention adopted these lines, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The People's Party convention adopted its platform and then separately adopted a list of resolutions. The compilers of 1896 and 1900 both print the resolutions after the platform and describe them as expressing the sentiment of the convention, apart from the platform itself. Source card "The People's Party on income, 1892". Who made it: the People's Party, in its first national convention. When: July 1892. Where: Omaha, Nebraska. For whom: the voters of the country. Why: to state one of the party's demands. Excerpt (The People's Party platform, Omaha, July 1892, Finance; p. 169; checked word for word against two printed editions): "We demand a graduated income tax."
A note says the Omaha platform demanded direct election of senators. Kira reads the cards. What should the note say?
- The convention favored it in a resolution adopted apart from the platform
- It is right as written, since the convention adopted the resolutions and the platform together
- It is wrong, since the platform's income-tax plank was the sole change it proposed to the Constitution
- It is wrong, since the idea reached the People's Party from the Oregon System, which began in 1902
What reformers changed, from Oregon to the Constitution
Columns Problem | Who pushed for change | Law or result | Date. Row 1: Laws hard for citizens to propose or check | Direct Legislation League and Oregon voters | Initiative and referendum added to Oregon's constitution | 1902. Row 2: Party leaders choosing candidates | Direct Legislation League and Oregon voters | Direct primary law in Oregon | 1904. Row 3: Officials hard to remove between elections | Direct Legislation League and Oregon voters | Recall added to Oregon's constitution | 1908. Row 4: No federal income tax after the Court struck one down | Farm groups, the People's Party and progressives in Congress | The 16th Amendment | February 3, 1913. Row 5: Senators chosen by state legislatures | Oregon System states and reformers in Congress | The 17th Amendment | April 8, 1913. Data: Oregon Secretary of State Blue Book, National Archives, US Senate Historical Office. Data card "The election of 1892". Columns: Candidate; Party; Electoral votes; Popular votes. Grover Cleveland: Democratic: 277: 5,554,617. Benjamin Harrison: Republican: 145: 5,186,793. James B. Weaver: People's: 22: 1,029,357. Data: National Archives, 1892 Electoral College results (444 electoral votes in all, 223 needed to win); American Presidency Project, University of California, Santa Barbara, popular votes Source card "The People's Party on income, 1892". Who made it: the People's Party, in its first national convention. When: July 1892. Where: Omaha, Nebraska. For whom: the voters of the country. Why: to state one of the party's demands. Excerpt (The People's Party platform, Omaha, July 1892, Finance; p. 169; checked word for word against two printed editions): "We demand a graduated income tax." Source card "The 16th Amendment". Who made it: Congress, then the states. When: ratified February 3, 1913. Where: Washington. For whom: the nation. Why: to change the Constitution. Excerpt (The 16th Amendment to the Constitution; Article XVI; checked word for word against three printed editions): "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."
Luz judges whether the People's Party succeeded. Which conclusion do the cards support best?
- Its 1892 candidate lost, but it helped push for the income tax the 16th Amendment later allowed
- It failed, since Weaver's 22 electoral votes show that voters rejected its program in 1892
- It succeeded, since the 16th Amendment gave it the graduated tax that its platform demanded
- It cannot be judged, since a party that lost the election left no results that can be traced
The election of 1892
Columns: Candidate; Party; Electoral votes; Popular votes. Grover Cleveland: Democratic: 277: 5,554,617. Benjamin Harrison: Republican: 145: 5,186,793. James B. Weaver: People's: 22: 1,029,357. Data: National Archives, 1892 Electoral College results (444 electoral votes in all, 223 needed to win); American Presidency Project, University of California, Santa Barbara, popular votes Source card "How electoral votes were won in 1892". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In most states in 1892 the candidate who came first in the state won all of that state's electoral votes. A candidate who came second in a state won none of them.
Noah's note says Weaver's 22 electoral votes show he had 22 percent support. What should the note say?
- 22 is a count of electoral votes; his support was about 9 percent of the popular vote
- His support was about 15 percent, because 22 votes is compared with Harrison's 145
- His support was about 5 percent, the same as his popular share of the three-way vote
- 22 is a share, and it matches his support once the votes are weighted by state
Arizona and the recall of judges, 1911 to 1912
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Arizona's draft state constitution let voters recall judges. On August 15, 1911, President Taft vetoed the resolution admitting Arizona and New Mexico because he objected to that provision. Congress then passed another resolution, which Taft approved on August 21, 1911, admitting both territories on the condition that Arizona voters adopt an amendment removing the judicial recall provision. The voters of the territory did so in December 1911. New Mexico became the 47th state on January 6, 1912, and Arizona the 48th on February 14, 1912. After admission, Arizona voters reinstated the provision.
Esme's note says Taft vetoed Arizona's admission over the recall of judges, so judges could never be recalled there. What should the note say?
- The note is right, since Arizona's voters accepted the condition and kept the provision out
- Arizona was admitted in August 1911, right after the veto, with the provision removed
- Congress removed the provision from Arizona's constitution itself, then admitted the state
- Arizona's voters removed the provision in December 1911 to be admitted, then restored it
The 19th Amendment
Who made it: Congress, then the states. When: ratified August 18, 1920. Where: Washington. For whom: the nation. Why: to change the Constitution. Excerpt (The 19th Amendment to the Constitution; Article XIX; checked word for word against two printed editions): "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." Source card "What the 19th Amendment left unsettled, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The National Archives says ratification of the 19th Amendment did not ensure full enfranchisement. Discriminatory state voting laws kept many African American women and other minority women from voting long into the twentieth century. Source card "How the 19th Amendment won, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Woman suffrage supporters used several strategies. Some won state laws: nine western states had woman suffrage by 1912. In November 1912 Arizona's male voters approved the vote for women by a direct vote, and Arizona became the tenth state to give women full voting rights. By 1916 most large suffrage groups had united behind an amendment to the Constitution. New York gave women the vote in 1917, and in 1918 President Wilson switched to support a national amendment. The House passed the amendment on May 21, 1919, and the Senate followed two weeks later. Arizona ratified on February 12, 1920, and Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify, on August 18, 1920.
Ari's note says the 19th Amendment gave all American women the vote in 1920. What should the note say?
- It gave the vote to women in states that had not yet allowed it, since nine had already done so
- It barred denial on account of sex, but state laws kept many minority women from voting
- It gave women the vote everywhere, and laws kept some from voting by breaking it
- It barred denial on account of race as well as sex, ending state barriers in 1920