1. Reforms
& the 20th Century

2. Populism
a political movement of the common people that resulted in the formation of the People’s Party
Problem: No support for farmers. Farmers and ranchers felt that their problems were being ignored by the government as they fell into ruins
Significant people/places: Governor Hogg
Outcome: Formation of the Farmer’s Alliance, People’s Party and more government regulation of businesses that were necessary for the general public

3. Progressivism improving society through the power of government
Progressivism pushes for social, economic and political reforms
Problem: In Texas: Galveston Hurricane
Significant people/places: Isaac Cline
Outcome: Improved economy, reduction of waste and corruption
Improvements to the city of Galveston; raised elevation; built seawall

4. Labor Reform
An organized attempt by workers to improve their status (work conditions)
Problem: Unfair and unsafe treatment in the workplace
Significant people/places: Knights of Labor, Jay Gould
Outcome: Formation of Labor Unions who helped workers receive better wages, set work hours and work conditions

5. Temperance Movement The avoidance of alcohol
Problem:Alcohol’s negative effect on society. Alcoholism, abuse, abandonment
Significant people/places: All over the U.S.
In Texas Women created groups or organizations such as the United Friends of Temperance or the Women’s Christian Temperance Union
Outcome: The Temperance Movement lead to Prohibition, the 18th Amendment, which forbade the manufacture, sale, transportation and use of alcohol.

6. Women’s Suffrage Women’s right to vote
Problem: Women did not have the right to vote
Significant people/places: The women’s fight for their right to vote goes back to the 1830’s. It took almost 100 years for this reform to achieve it’s goal. Women held conventions (meetings such as Seneca Falls), marches, and demonstrations. Some of the most well known activists were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Outcome: Women gained the right to vote through the 19th amendment, which officially went into effect in 1920

7. Child labor Reform To restrict child labor and promote education
Problem: Children working in factories and coal mines for little pay, overworked, abused
Significant people/places: Horace Mann
Outcome: Laws limiting the number of hours children can work and mandatory attendance for schools

8. Improve social, economic and political equality for African Americans
Freedmen to Civil Right Movement
Improve social, economic and political equality for African Americans
Problem: After Civil War, African Americans still did not have equal rights due to racism and legal segregation (laws such as the Jim Crow Law
Significant people/places: Freedman’s Bureau Martin Luther King
Outcome: 1954 landmark decision Brown vs. Board of Education
Civil Rights marches (peaceful demonstrations) in the 1960’s

9. The discovery of oil and how it transformed the Texas Economy
The Oil Boom in Texas
The discovery of oil and how it transformed the Texas Economy
Event: 1901 the world's largest oil deposit was discovered under Spindletop Hill outside of Beaumont, Texas
Significant people/places: Padillo Higgins, Anthony Lucas
Outcome: creation of boom towns (towns that had a large increase in population virtually overnight)
Long ranging effects: Oil could now be refined and used as fuel and other industries and products were created, such as plastics, rubber, and other synthetics

10. World War I - The Great War
Cause: Assassination of ArchDuke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
U.S. involvement: President Wilson wanted to stay out of the war, but 2 events lead them into war:
Germany sank the British Ship Lusitania with many Americans on board
German foreign minister Zimmerman sent a telegram to Mexico offering help to get land back from the U.S.
This war had many new technological advancements and weapons such as poisonous gas, tanks, machine guns
TEXAS: Texas was used as a training ground for troops
Outcome: The U.S. and its allies defeated Germany

11. The Great Depression A time of great dispair and poverty in the U.S.
Problem: The Stock Market Crash of 1929 started the Great Depression. Many lost their jobs and their homes
Significant people/places: Great Plains Region. A drought had also hit the country hard, at a time when over use of the land/farming had now turned farmland into a desert. Large dust storms covered ranches and towns in dust. People, as well as animals had trouble just breathing.
Outcome: Huge amount of poverty and hunger. Although it did not hit people in the south as hard, as they had little to begin with.
TEXAS: Much devastation and hunger in Panhandle. People had to leave

12. World War II Cause: Germany invaded Poland
U.S. got involved when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Significant people/places: Adolf Hitler, Mussolini, Winston Churchill,
TEXANS: Chester Nimitz, Audie Murphy
Outcome: Hitler killed millions of Jews in concentration camps, was ultimately defeated by the Allied forces