The Progressive Era was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States from the 1890s to the 1920s. Some key goals of the Progressive movement included eliminating problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and political corruption. Progressives pushed for reforms at all levels of government to improve living conditions, expand democracy, regulate big business, protect consumers, and promote social justice.
To help you learn more about this important period in American history, here are 55 riddles about key events, people, and themes of the Progressive Era along with their answers. Test your knowledge of this reform-filled age by seeing if you can solve all 55!
Progressive Era Riddles
Big Business & Labor Reforms
1. I broke up monopolies into smaller companies to encourage competition. The Sherman Act first took aim at my work. Who am I?
Answer: John D. Rockefeller & Standard Oil
2. Henry Ford paid his workers this much per day in 1914, doubling the average factory wage with his “five-dollar day.”
Answer: $5
3. We reformed child labor laws, limited work hours, and pushed for improved worker conditions. Who are we?
Answer: Labor unions
4. I wrote The Jungle, a novel exposing unsanitary meatpacking conditions that spurred food safety laws. Who am I?
Answer: Upton Sinclair
Urban & Immigrant Reforms
5. Born Jane Addams, I opened settlement houses offering services for the poor immigrant residents of Chicago.
Answer: Jane Addams
6. We campaigned to end racial segregation and inequality. Who are we?
Answer: NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
7. I supervised assimilation classes for immigrants at settlement houses. Who am I?
Answer: Frances Kellor
8. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire killed 146 workers in 1911, spurring this woman and others to push for improved worker safety laws. Who is she?
Answer: Frances Perkins
Women’s Rights Reforms
9. We pushed for voting rights and advocated greater roles for women outside the home. Who are we?
Answer: Suffragists/suffragettes
10. Born Carrie Chapman Catt, I revived the women’s suffrage movement and finally achieved voting rights for women in 1920. Who am I?
Answer: Carrie Chapman Catt
11. I opposed women’s suffrage and campaigned against the 19th Amendment. Who am I?
Answer: Carrie Chapman Catt
12. These two sisters from Tennessee conducted voting drives across the South to register African American women after the 19th Amendment passed. Who are they?
Answer: Sue Shelton White and Lottie Moon
Environmental Reforms
13. I pushed Presidents to protect wildlife habitats and helped establish the U.S. Forest Service. Who am I?
Answer: Gifford Pinchot
14. Known as the “prophet of conservation,” I sound warnings about resource scarcity and damage to ecosystems. Who am I?
Answer: John Muir
15. We preserved over 230 million acres of public lands for parks and wildlife refuges. Who are we?
Answer: conservationists
Food & Drug Safety Reforms
16. My Division of Chemistry investigated food and drug safety, leading Congress to pass the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. What government agency did I head?
Answer: Bureau of Chemistry (USDA)
17. He invented a process using heat and pressure to make canned goods safer, helping spur food safety reforms. Who is he?
Answer: Clarence Birdseye
18. My famous exposé, The Poison Squad, publicized the need for food and drug regulations. I fed unsafe products to volunteers and observed the effects. Who am I?
Answer: Harvey Washington Wiley
Political Corruption Reforms
19. Which U.S. President oversaw aggressive trust-busting reforms during the Progressive Era?
Answer: Theodore Roosevelt
20. Muckrakers like Ida Tarbell and I exposed unethical business practices and political corruption in best-selling books. Who am I?
Answer: Upton Sinclair
21. As Governor of New York, I tackled utility companies and passed extensive progressive reforms. Who am I?
Answer: Charles Evans Hughes
22. Backed by journalists and photographers, I documented child labor conditions at the turn of the 20th century. Who am I?
Answer: Lewis Hine
Tax & Government Reforms
23. We allow for citizens to draft and pass laws themselves, bypassing non-responsive legislatures. Who are we?
Answer: ballot initiatives/referendums
24. The wealthiest Americans bitterly opposed me when I was added to the U.S. Constitution in 1913. Who am I?
Answer: federal income tax
25. Which constitutional amendment enabled the federal income tax, creating a revenue stream to fund new programs?
Answer: 16th Amendment
Democracy Reforms
26. We greatly expanded American democracy during the Progressive Era by allowing all citizens to directly vote for us instead of state legislatures. Who are we?
Answer: U.S. Senators
27. Bans on me were slowly lifted by states before the 19th Amendment finally prohibited voter discrimination based on this attribute in 1920. What am I?
Answer: gender/sex
28. Poll taxes, extra tests, intimidation, and grandfather clauses were tactics used, especially in the South, to suppress access to voting among this group. Who are we?
Answer: African Americans
Municipal Reforms
29. Backed by journalists and photographers, I documented child labor conditions at the turn of the 20th century. Who am I?
Answer: Lewis Hine
30. We professionalized police forces during the Progressive Era through better training, organization, and technology like call boxes and patrol cars. Who are we?
Answer: municipal/city governments
31. City bosses and their corrupt political machines were top targets of our municipal reform efforts. Who are we?
Answer: progressives
32. As commissioner of New York City’s police force from 1895-1897, I rooted out entrenched corruption through tough reforms. Who am I?
Answer: Theodore Roosevelt
Presidencies
33. I was President during the majority of the Progressive Era, overseeing high levels of reform. Who am I?
Answer: Theodore Roosevelt
34. Teddy believed I was not progressive enough when he tried replacing me as Republican nominee in the 1912 election with a failed third party bid. Who am I?
Answer: William Howard Taft
35. I ran as a progressive Democrat against Taft and Roosevelt in 1912, with my victory marking an expansion of progressive reforms on the federal level. Who am I?
Answer: Woodrow Wilson
Temperance Reforms
36. I led the temperance movement which achieved nationwide alcohol bans through state laws and later the 18th Amendment. Who am I?
Answer: Carrie Nation
37. We banned the production and sale of alcohol nationwide from 1920-1933. Who are we?
Answer: Prohibition/18th Amendment
Direct Democracy Reforms
38. State-level initiatives let citizens do this to laws they opposed without going through their legislature. What is it?
Answer: vote laws down/veto laws
39. Building on Populist ideas from prior decades, we greatly increased direct democracy through citizen-initiated measures. Who are we?
Answer: progressives
40. Wisconsin pioneered governmental use of me under Governor Robert La Follette, allowing voters far more input on policymaking. What am I?
Answer: the recall
Muckrakers
41. We were investigative journalists who exposed corruption and injustice. Teddy Roosevelt nicknamed us this in 1906. What was our nickname?
Answer: muckrakers
42. My 1904 book The Shame of the Cities exposed municipal corruption through extensive research into documents and committee records. Who am I?
Answer: Lincoln Steffens
43. Through photographic exposés in McClure’s Magazine, I highlighted many Progressive Era issues like child labor, immigration, urban life, and monopolies. Who am I?
Answer: Jacob Riis
Prominent People
44. I used my wealth and newspapers to promote progressive causes like corporate regulations, food safety laws, and women’s right to vote. Who am I?
Answer: E.W. Scripps
45. Which famous industrialist opened settlement houses for his factory workers and funded progressive reforms at local libraries, schools, theaters and more?
Answer: Andrew Carnegie
46. Known as the “father” of social work, I did statistical studies of poverty that spurred public welfare reforms. Who am I?
Answer: Jane Addams
47. This leading suffragette co-founded the NAACP, campaigned globally for women’s rights, and pushed the U.S. to aid vulnerable groups during World War 1. Who is she?
Answer: Alice Paul
Historical Context
48. Mass urbanization and industrial growth after this transformative war sparked Progressive Era reforms. Which war was it?
Answer: Civil War
49. Companies like mine spurred public cries for stronger business regulations after cutting prices sharply through monopolistic tactics. What company?
Answer: Standard Oil
50. The closing of this Western frontier in 1890 contributed to the burst of reforms focused internally on domestic issues. Which frontier?
Answer: American Frontier
Effects & Legacy
51. Progressive Era reforms helped me greatly by restricting child labor, improving schools, and establishing juvenile courts focused on rehabilitation. Who am I?
Answer: children
52. Food safety laws, truth-in-advertising rules, improved living conditions, conservation policies…reforms passed during this era still benefit all of us today! Who are we?
Answer: average Americans/U.S. public
53. While progress was made, voting rights for minorities were still suppressed after this era, spurring later 20th century civil rights activism. Which groups?
Answer: African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans
Final Questions
54. This constitutional amendment prohibited alcohol nationwide from 1920 to 1933. Which amendment?
Answer: 18th amendment
55. Name one positive effect AND one negative effect from prohibiting alcohol sales in the U.S. during this 13-year period.
Answer: Positive – Less alcoholism/drunk driving; Negative – Growth of organized crime/bootlegging
Conclusion
And those are 55 riddles about the Progressive Era along with their answers covering this period’s major events, themes, reforms, people, context, effects and legacy. How many riddles could you solve correctly about America’s vibrant drive for reforms from the 1890s to the 1920s? Test your knowledge and that of friends to see who can get the highest score!
