The Progressive Era was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States from the 1890s to the 1920s. The main objectives of the Progressive movement were addressing problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and political corruption. Some of the major accomplishments of the era included antitrust laws, improved labor conditions, women’s suffrage, and prohibition.
To help understand this important period in history, here are 45 riddles about the Progressive Era along with their answers:
Leaders of the Progressive Movement
Theodore Roosevelt
Riddle: I was a Rough Rider turned President, a trust buster taking on big business. I supported regulation of railroad rates and pure food and drugs. Who am I?
Answer: Theodore Roosevelt
Riddle: I was the 26th President, known as a progressive reformer. I pushed for conservation and corporate regulation. “Speak softly and carry a big stick” is my famous phrase. Who am I?
Answer: Theodore Roosevelt
Riddle: I served as President from 1901 to 1909. I supported the Square Deal domestic program. I oversaw the creation of the Panama Canal. Who am I?
Answer: Theodore Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
Riddle: I was the 28th President, known as a Progressive leader. I passed antitrust legislation and created the Federal Reserve. I led the US into World War I. Who am I?
Answer: Woodrow Wilson
Riddle: I served as President from 1913 to 1921. I pushed the Clayton Antitrust Act and Federal Trade Commission Act. I advocated for the League of Nations after the war. Who am I?
Answer: Woodrow Wilson
Riddle: As President, I passed laws against child labor and to lower tariffs. I signed the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Who am I?
Answer: Woodrow Wilson
Robert La Follette
Riddle: I was a Republican Governor of Wisconsin who ran for President under the Progressive Party. I advocated policies to limit monopolies and corruption. Who am I?
Answer: Robert La Follette
Riddle: I pushed progressive reforms in Wisconsin like primaries, workers’ compensation, tax revisions, and railroad regulation. I co-founded the national Progressive Party in 1912. Who am I?
Answer: Robert La Follette
Riddle: I served as a Congressman and Senator from Wisconsin. I was an outspoken advocate for progressive reforms and ran for President in 1924. Who am I?
Answer: Robert La Follette
Ida Tarbell
Riddle: I was an investigative journalist who exposed the monopolistic practices of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. My work helped lead to the breakup of trusts. Who am I?
Answer: Ida Tarbell
Riddle: Through my “The History of the Standard Oil Company” articles, I shed light on the corrupt and illegal business practices of a major oil monopoly. Who am I?
Answer: Ida Tarbell
Riddle: I am known as one of the leading muckraking journalists of the Progressive Era. My reporting led to public outrage against large oil and railroad trusts. Who am I?
Answer: Ida Tarbell
Labor Reforms
Riddle: We were a series of laws passed in the early 1900s protecting child workers. We helped limit their working hours and banned them from dangerous jobs. What are we?
Answer: Child labor laws
Riddle: I’m an 1864 organization of skilled craft workers that grew rapidly in the late 1800s. I pushed for 8-hour work days and better wages and working conditions. Who am I?
Answer: American Federation of Labor
Riddle: We were goons hired by corporations to violently stop strikes. Our tactics included threats, assaults, and even murder against union leaders and striking workers. Who are we?
Answer: Strikebreakers / Pinkertons
Significant Strikes
Riddle: I was an 1892 strike at a Carnegie Steel plant that ended with the state militia killing several striking workers. I demonstrated the power of corporations over workers. What strike was I?
Answer: Homestead Strike
Riddle: We were a series of massive strikes in 1894 that struck railroads, steel mills, mines, and other sites across the US. We demonstrated the growing labor unrest over poor conditions and the need for reform. What strikes were we?
Answer: Pullman railroad strikes
Riddle: I was a 1919 strike of nearly 250,000 steelworkers demanding union recognition, better pay and hours. I demonstrated labor’s post-WWI unrest and the limits of the Progressive Era reforms. What strike was I?
Answer: Great Steel Strike of 1919
Political Reforms
Riddle: We were state-level initiatives adopted in the early 1900s allowing voters to propose and enact laws directly. We arose from Progressive efforts against corruption and monopolies. What are we?
Answer: Direct democracy reforms (referendums, initiatives, recalls)
Riddle: We were primaries introduced during the Progressive Era allowing voters to choose party nominees directly, taking power away from party bosses and machines. What are we?
Answer: Direct primaries
Riddle: We were the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Constitutional Amendments, passed between 1913 and 1920 under Progressive pressure. We expanded democracy, banned alcohol, and gave women the right to vote. What amendments were we?
Answer: Progressive Era Amendments
Consumer Protection
Riddle: I was an act passed in 1906 mandating inspection of meat products and forbidding unhealthy additives. I aimed to protect consumers from unsafe, contaminated foods. What act was I?
Answer: Meat Inspection Act
Riddle: We were two acts passed in 1906 to ban false advertising and require testing and disclosure of ingredients in certain foods and drugs. We aimed to protect consumers from dangerous products. What two acts were we?
Answer: Pure Food and Drug Act and Federal Meat Inspection Act
Riddle: I was a 1913 law establishing the Federal Reserve as the centralized banking system. I gave the government greater control over the financial system. What law was I?
Answer: Federal Reserve Act
Trust Busting
Riddle: I was an 1890 law that made monopolies and trusts illegal, though initially not strongly enforced. I laid the groundwork for later antitrust efforts. What law was I?
Answer: Sherman Antitrust Act
Riddle: We were two 1914 laws that banned unfair business practices and created the Federal Trade Commission for greater oversight and enforcement of antitrust laws. Who are we?
Answer: Clayton Antitrust Act and Federal Trade Commission Act
Riddle: I was a 1911 court case that led to the breakup of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil into multiple smaller companies. I demonstrated stronger antitrust enforcement. What case was I?
Answer: Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States
Conservation and the Environment
Riddle: I was an environmental organization founded in 1892 that lobbied for wilderness protection and wildlife conservation. Who am I?
Answer: Sierra Club
Riddle: We were large nature preserves set aside by Theodore Roosevelt through the Antiquities Act, preserving wild lands for future generations. What were we?
Answer: National parks
Riddle: I was the first regulatory agency created in 1890 to manage national forests and grasslands. I promoted sustainable use of natural resources on public lands. Who am I?
Answer: United States Forest Service
Urban Reforms
Riddle: We were settlement houses founded in poor city neighborhoods aiming to provide social services and community programs for immigrants and the urban poor. Who were we?
Answer: Settlement houses like Hull House
Riddle: I was an urban planning movement that worked to improve congested, unhealthy city living conditions through parks, sanitation, zoning, and civic beautification. What movement was I?
Answer: City Beautiful movement
Riddle: We were journalists who reported on political corruption, social injustice, corporate abuse, unsafe products, and other urban problems. Our work spurred outrage and reform. Who were we?
Answer: Muckrakers
Women’s Suffrage
Riddle: I was an 1848 convention demanding voting rights for women that launched the organized women’s rights movement. What convention was I?
Answer: Seneca Falls Convention
Riddle: We were two leading suffragists who founded women’s rights organizations and led the decades-long push for a Constitutional amendment. Who were we?
Answer: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Riddle: I was the 1920 Constitutional amendment finally granting American women the right to vote after decades of effort. What amendment was I?
Answer: 19th Amendment
Education Reforms
Riddle: I was an education philosopher who promoted hands-on learning, critical thinking, and problem solving in schools. My teachings underpinned many Progressive Era education reforms. Who was I?
Answer: John Dewey
Riddle: We were publicly-funded schools offering vocational and job training classes, aimed at improving skills for urban immigrants and the working class. What were we?
Answer: Vocational schools
Riddle: I was a Wisconsin city that pioneered the “Sewer Socialism” movement, using local government to provide public services and reform urban problems. Where was I?
Answer: Milwaukee
Prohibition
Riddle: We were late 1800s temperance organizations that lobbied to ban alcohol, believing it was damaging society. Our efforts led to nationwide Prohibition. Who were we?
Answer: Anti-saloon leagues
Riddle: I was a 1920s term for the illegal bars and nightclubs that flourished, serving alcohol in defiance of Prohibition laws. What was I?
Answer: Speakeasy
Riddle: I was the 1933 amendment that repealed Prohibition after over a decade, ending the controversial nationwide alcohol ban experiment. What amendment was I?
Answer: 21st Amendment
Immigration Reforms
Riddle: I was an 1891 federal facility opened on Ellis Island to inspect and process the huge wave of immigrants entering the US. What was I?
Answer: Ellis Island immigration station
Riddle: We were laws passed in 1921 and 1924 limiting immigration and favoring Northern and Western European immigrants over Southern and Eastern Europeans. What were we?
Answer: Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924
Riddle: I was a 1907 agreement with Japan limiting Japanese immigration to the US out of anti-Asian fears on the West Coast. What agreement was I?
Answer: Gentlemen’s Agreement
Progressivism Outside the US
Riddle: We were a series of social reforms enacted in Canada including old age pensions, wage protection laws, and investments in rural development. What were we?
Answer: Canadian welfare state reforms
Riddle: I governed Mexico as President from 1876 to 1911 and embarked on major modernization reforms. Though autocratic, I broke up large estates, improved infrastructure, and reduced church power. Who was I?
Answer: Porfirio Díaz
Riddle: I pioneered progressive reforms in New Zealand as Prime Minister from 1891 to 1912, including voting rights for women and controversial labor regulations. Who was I?
Answer: Richard Seddon
African Americans and the Progressive Era
Riddle: We were discriminatory state laws enacted across the South after Reconstruction, segregating public facilities and disenfranchising black voters. What were we?
Answer: Jim Crow laws
Riddle: I was an African American sociologist and civil rights activist who co-founded the NAACP in 1909. I played a key role in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Who was I?
Answer: W. E. B. Du Bois
Riddle: I was an African American scholar, author, and civil rights activist who opposed racial segregation and promoted nonviolent resistance. My 1903 book was seminal for advancing civil rights. Who was I?
Answer: W. E. B. Du Bois
Conclusion
The Progressive Era was a period of tremendous social, economic, and political changes aimed at addressing the negative impacts of industrialization and urbanization. While progress was made, the era’s reforms did not fully resolve the deep inequalities and challenges faced by marginalized groups like African Americans, immigrants, and the working class. The era’s legacy continues to shape American society today. Exploring the Progressive Era through these riddles and answers provides an engaging way to reflect on this important period and its many contradictions and achievements.
