Social Studies: AP US History: Progressive Era and WWI Worksheet

Question 1

Explain how muckrakers contributed to Progressive Era reforms. Use one specific example.

Accepted Answer

Muckrakers exposed problems in business, government, and society, which helped create public support for reform. For example, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle revealed unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry and helped lead to the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906.

Question 2

Compare Theodore Roosevelt's New Nationalism with Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom. Identify one similarity and one difference.

Accepted Answer

Both New Nationalism and New Freedom supported reforming the economy and limiting the power of large corporations. Roosevelt's New Nationalism accepted some large corporations if they were regulated by the federal government, while Wilson's New Freedom focused more on restoring competition by breaking up monopolies and lowering tariffs.

Question 3

A political cartoon shows a giant octopus labeled Monopoly wrapping its arms around railroads, banks, factories, and the Capitol. Explain the cartoon's likely Progressive Era message.

Accepted Answer

The cartoon likely argues that monopolies had too much control over the economy and government. This message reflects Progressive concerns that trusts could influence politics, limit competition, and harm workers and consumers.

Question 4

Choose two of the following amendments and explain how each reflected Progressive Era reform goals: 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Amendments.

Accepted Answer

The 17th Amendment reflected Progressive goals by allowing voters to directly elect senators, which reduced the influence of political machines and state legislatures. The 19th Amendment reflected reform goals by expanding democracy through women's suffrage.

Question 5

Explain the role of settlement houses, such as Hull House, in Progressive Era urban reform.

Accepted Answer

Settlement houses provided services such as education, child care, job training, and health support to immigrants and the urban poor. They also helped reformers study urban problems and push for better housing, labor protections, and public health measures.

Question 6

How did Progressive Era conservation differ from preservation? Use Theodore Roosevelt or Gifford Pinchot in your answer.

Accepted Answer

Conservation focused on the planned and responsible use of natural resources, while preservation focused on protecting wilderness from development. Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot supported conservation by expanding federal management of forests, parks, and resources for long-term public use.

Question 7

Explain one major limitation of the Progressive Era reform movement related to race or civil rights.

Accepted Answer

A major limitation was that many Progressive reformers ignored or accepted racial segregation and discrimination. During this period, Jim Crow laws, disfranchisement, and racial violence continued, and some reforms mainly benefited white middle-class Americans rather than all groups equally.

Question 8

Explain how the Roosevelt Corollary changed the role of the United States in Latin America.

Accepted Answer

The Roosevelt Corollary expanded the Monroe Doctrine by claiming that the United States had the right to intervene in Latin American countries to maintain stability and prevent European involvement. This increased American policing power in the Caribbean and Central America.

Question 9

Identify two reasons the United States moved from neutrality to entering World War I in 1917.

Accepted Answer

The United States entered World War I partly because Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, which threatened American ships and trade. Another reason was the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany encouraged Mexico to join a war against the United States.

Question 10

Explain the main goal of Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points and why many European Allied leaders resisted parts of the plan.

Accepted Answer

The main goal of the Fourteen Points was to create a fair and lasting peace based on open diplomacy, self-determination, free trade, and a League of Nations. Many European Allied leaders resisted parts of the plan because they wanted to punish Germany, gain territory, and protect their own national interests.

Question 11

Explain how the Espionage Act, the Sedition Act, and the Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States reflected tensions between civil liberties and national security during World War I.

Accepted Answer

These laws and the Schenck decision showed that the federal government limited some speech during wartime in the name of national security. In Schenck v. United States, the Supreme Court upheld restrictions on speech that created a clear and present danger, which demonstrated a wartime narrowing of civil liberties.

Question 12

Explain one way World War I changed the American home front for women or African Americans.

Accepted Answer

World War I opened new job opportunities because wartime production increased and many men entered the military. For African Americans, the war helped accelerate the Great Migration to northern cities, where industrial jobs were more available, although discrimination continued.

Question 13

A graph shows federal spending rising sharply from 1916 to 1918 and then falling after 1919. Explain what this pattern suggests about the impact of World War I on the federal government.

Accepted Answer

The pattern suggests that World War I greatly expanded the role and spending power of the federal government. The government spent heavily on mobilization, military needs, wartime agencies, and economic management, then reduced spending after the war ended.

Question 14

Write a defensible thesis for this prompt: Evaluate the extent to which the Progressive Era expanded democracy in the United States from 1890 to 1920.

Accepted Answer

A defensible thesis could state that the Progressive Era significantly expanded democracy through reforms such as the direct election of senators, initiative and referendum, and women's suffrage, but its democratic gains were limited because many African Americans, immigrants, and poor citizens still faced discrimination, disfranchisement, and unequal access to political power.

Question 15

Explain one continuity and one change in the role of the federal government from the Progressive Era through World War I.

Accepted Answer

One continuity was that the federal government continued to take a more active role in regulating the economy and addressing national problems. One change was that World War I dramatically expanded federal power through military mobilization, wartime agencies, propaganda, and restrictions on dissent.

Social Studies: AP US History: Progressive Era and WWI

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