DBQ - Progressive Era
...ans read The Jungle, they were very upset about what went into their meat. In response, Congress passed the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. This act forced factory owners to let inspectors into their factories. Congress also passed the Pure Food and Drug Act. This act required food and drug makers to list all ingredients on their packages. It also tried to end false advertising and ban the use of impure ingredients. The environment was another problem. To fuel the nation’s industrial growth, lumber companies were cutting down whole forests. Miners were taking iron and coal from the earth and leaving gaping holes. Theodore Roosevelt loved the environment. To fix it, Roosevelt wanted to control mining. He wanted lumber companies to replace the trees they cut down. He also believed in conservation, and set aside land for national and state parks. Conservation is illustrated in Document 2, a map of the United States, that shows where Roosevelt preserved forests, national parks and monuments, and bird reservations. Progressives also fixed many economical problems, such as railroads and trusts. Big railroads secretly offered rebates to their biggest customers. This forced small railroads out of business. Railroad companies also set up pools, where several railroad companies agreed to divide up business in an area and then fix their prices at a high level. This hurt small farmers in the South and West, who used railroads to ship their products. Railroads kept prices high for small farmers. When the government passed laws regulating railroads, railroad barons paid large bribes to officials to keep laws from being enforced. When Congress realized these laws had done little to end rebates and other abuses, they passed the Elkins Act in 1903. This act outlawed rebates. In 1906, Congress also passed the Hepburn Act. It gave the Interstate Commerce Commission greater power, including the right to set railroad rates. Trusts were another economic problem. Roosevelt thought that there were good trusts and bad trusts. Good trusts were fair and efficient. The government should leave them alone. Bad trusts hurt workers and consumers. The government should either control them or break them up. Roosevelt decided to break up bad trusts. This is shown in Document 3, where Roosevelt is shown hunting down bad trusts, but leaving the good trusts alone. The first trust he broke up was Northern Securities, which was put together by J.P. Morgan. He argued that Northern Securities used unfair business practices in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. When the Northern Securities case reached the Supreme Court in 1904, the Court found that Northern Securities had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by limiting trade. It ordered the trust to be broken up. Roosevelt also filed suit against other trusts that had broken the law, such as Standard Oil and the American Tobacco Company. The courts ordered both trusts to be broken up. Political problems such as the spoils system, women’s’ suffrage, and corruption were also fixed by Progressives. The spoils system had grown since the days of Andrew Johnson. The spoils system existed at national, state, and local levels. When a new President took office, thousands of job seekers sought government jobs as a reward for their political support. By giving jobs to loyal supporters, politicians cemented ties with their supporters, and increased their control of government. However, jobs were sometimes given to people who did not have the skills for that job. To ensure that jobs were given to...