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Lesson

The Rise of Reform Politics

Duration
70 min
Published
Nov 5, 2020
Interior view of a legislative chamber with rows of empty chairs arranged around a central podium.
Between 1870 and 1920, the American government grew exponentially in its power and reach. At the beginning of the era, the federal government was small and citizens generally governed themselves at the state and local level with little oversight from the federal government. However, towards the end of the era, the federal government would employ ten times the number of workers and exercise much greater regulatory power. Many progressives sought to secure greater power for the federal government to attempt to provide solutions to the challenges of industrialization, immigration, and urbanization. During this time, progressives would also advocate for many democratic reforms that would give citizens new ways to participate in government: initiatives, referendum, recall, party primaries, secret ballots, and the direct election of U.S. Senators through the Seventeenth Amendment. Overall, based on the belief that the American principles of limited government and limited power were outdated concepts, progressives would lay the foundations of a much larger and stronger national government that they believed could solve the problems of the twentieth century.

Founding Principles

Federalism, Limited Government, Separation of Powers

Objectives

  • Students will examine the problems associated with the political machines that controlled many urban areas during the late nineteenth century.
  • Students will understand the vast array of reforms that took place between 1870 and 1920 that granted expanding power to the federal government and challenged the constitutional principles of the American Founding.
  • Students will identify several progressive reforms and analyze the impact that each reform had on the lives of American citizens.
  • Students will explore the debates on civil service reform and analyze primary sources to better understand the motivations of reformers in the early twentieth century.

Materials

Lesson Components

ActivityHandout A: Background Essay: The Rise of Reform Politics
ActivityHandout B: Debating Tammany Hall and Civil Service Reform
ActivityHandout C: Thomas Nast Cartoons on Boss Tweed
ActivityHandout D: The New Nationalism and the New Freedom
ActivityHandout E: Comparing the New Nationalism and the New Freedom
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Lesson plan

70 minClick a phase to open it

Key Terms

Urbanization
Machine politics
Boss
Boss Tweed
Tammany Hall

Standards

Advanced Placement

  • National

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