Progressive Era

Prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of adulterated or misbranded food and drugs in interstate commerce. Inspired partly by Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, it required accurate labeling of ingredients.

Created the foundation for the FDA and modern food and drug safety regulation.

Authorized Congress to levy a federal income tax without apportioning it among the states based on population. Overturned Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895).

Enabled the modern federal tax system and transformed government revenue collection.

Created the Federal Reserve System as the central bank of the United States, establishing 12 regional reserve banks and a Board of Governors. Gave the Fed power to issue currency and regulate the money supply.

Established the monetary policy framework that governs the American economy to this day.

Created the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prevent unfair methods of competition and deceptive business practices. Established an independent regulatory agency with quasi-judicial enforcement powers.

Created the primary federal consumer protection and competition enforcement agency.

Strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act by defining specific prohibited practices including price discrimination, exclusive dealing, and interlocking directorates. Exempted labor unions from antitrust prosecution.

Clarified antitrust law and protected the right of workers to organize.

Prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors. Enforced by the Volstead Act, it proved widely unpopular and unenforceable, leading to organized crime and speakeasy culture.

The only constitutional amendment to be fully repealed, demonstrating the limits of legislating morality.

Provided the enforcement mechanism for the Eighteenth Amendment by defining 'intoxicating liquor' as any beverage containing more than 0.5% alcohol. Created penalties for manufacture and sale of alcohol.

Defined the regulatory framework for Prohibition that proved impossible to enforce effectively.

Prohibited the federal and state governments from denying the right to vote on the basis of sex. The culmination of a decades-long suffrage movement that began at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848.

Doubled the eligible voting population and secured women's suffrage as a constitutional right.

Established national origins quotas that severely restricted immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe and effectively banned immigration from Asia. Set total annual immigration at 165,000.

Shaped American demographics for four decades until replaced by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.