Category: Progressive Era

Efforts to create a responsible government in the United States began in the 1890s during the progressive era. The era was a period of social and political activism in America. It was characterized by government purification, modernization, improvement of education, and womens suffrage. One of the most significant progressive interventions was the Nineteenth Amendment, through which American women got the right to vote. The paper seeks to explain why this amendment is considered the most significant outcome of the progressive era.

The Nineteenth Amendment marked a political change for women as it granted them equal vocal power as men on political grounds. Before the amendment, only men were allowed to participate in the voting exercise during elections (Joseph & Ben, 2019). Women were voiceless and were forced to submit to laws and policies made by men. After the amendment, all Americans, irrespective of their gender, gained the right to participate in politics and vote (Joseph & Ben, 2019). Such an achievement is significant as it was the beginning of womens empowerment which granted women a voice equal to mens in the governing laws and politics.

Besides, the right to vote guaranteed by the Nineteenth Amendment changed the social life of American women. Before the amendment, women lived miserably as they were not free to work and earn income. Those who worked were exposed to risky environments and were prone to harm. For instance, many women who worked in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory were killed in a fire outbreak due to unsafe working conditions (Joseph & Ben, 2019). Reforms brought about by the Nineteenth Amendment increased the number of women in the working class (Joseph & Ben, 2019). The reforms also enabled women to do unprecedented things like attending speakeasies.

In summation, the Nineteenth Amendment of the American constitution was the most significant progressive intervention. It is because it marked the beginning of the political and social changes for American women. Through the amendment, women gained the right to vote, which evened the political grounds. They had a voice equal to men in the governing laws and politics, which minimized womens oppression in the country.

Reference

Joseph, L., & Ben, W. (2019). The American Yawp: Vol 2 [eBook edition]. Stanford University Press. Web.

The Progressive Era was marked by numerous advances in social, political and business spheres of the American life. The period between 1890s and 1920s was the time when Americans adopted progressive ideas and methods, which had a significant impact on development of the USA. It is possible to single out a number of persons who can be regarded as symbols of the Progressive Era, symbols that contributed into development of particular areas in the US society.

For instance, Susan B. Anthony can be seen as a symbol of the movement for womens rights. She was one of womens rights leaders and she believed that the coalition of clergy persons, women, and politicians could help females gain more rights (Graves 46). Andrew Carnegie was a successful businessman who is also seen as a founder of the steel industry in the USA. Carnegie opened up new horizons in the business world and became a philanthropist who contributed greatly to development of various social projects (Gould 26). Theodore Roosevelt was an inspiring leader and politician who managed to diminish corruption in the political arena and he also contributed greatly to development of the US society as he saw the executive power as the steward of the public welfare (Gould 57). John R. Mott was inspirational in another sphere of Americans life. He was a spiritual leader who galvanized worldwide mission, ecumenism, and evangelism (Pope-Levison 194). Mott was a devout evangelist who managed to unite people and promote Christian values.

On balance, it is possible to state that each of the individuals mentioned above had a great effect on development of different spheres of the American society. These peoples activities were aimed at improving welfare of Americans and they managed to reach their goals as they started a new era in the countrys development.

Works Cited

Gould, Lewis L. America in the Progressive Era, 1890-1914. New York, NY: Routledge, 2014. Print.

Graves, Karen. Girls Schooling during the Progressive Era: From Female Scholar to Domesticated Citizen. New York, NY: Routledge, 2014. Print.

Pope-Levison, Priscilla. Building the Old Time Religion: Women Evangelists in the Progressive Era. New York, NY: NYU Press, 2013. Print.

Progressive era

The progressive era in several ways failed to protect American workers, exclusively women and children which led to mass number of deaths that were unjust and unconstitutional. The focus of the Progressive era was to elimination in the government. However, this goal was met, but not until many deaths. As a whole, American workers in this era suffered greatly through hardships such as having extensive hours, not enough pay, and poor treatment. Analyzing document #2, it follows a young woman recording the dark experience in a cloth factory and the events that took place that day. As the recording begins, she explains how much she enjoyed her job as a sewing machine operator and her days with her colleagues despite the low wage and poor conditions. Her pay was twelve dollars a week, she clocked in half past eight and leaving at four o’ clock. They had never gone out through the front door because a man locked it, in caution that workers would steal things. As she was leaving, suddenly a worker shouted “ c’mon lets run!”. She left all her personal belongings and noticed the work area being set ablaze, one by one the women piled up by the locked door attempting to break through meanwhile others avoided the efforts and plummeted out the window to their deaths. This poor woman was one of many, that were on the faulty side of the Progressive era and had to forego such events. Only nineteen years old, as she finishes the entry exclaiming how the women who didn’t jump eventually escaped to safety and what a shame it was that the others felt that they had to jump. This only one story of many, and the amount of anxiety that is built up from this story is unbelievable lasting from 1820 all the way until 1920. Women’s suffrage played a massive role during this time period, as previously stated this young girls story is only one of many. Forward to Document #6, women began protesting outside of the white house uproaring a feminist movement. Women had still just beginning to be recognized as human beings and not objects. Womens affairs were never an actual topic brought to society until they began to conduct illegal activity to protest and denying orders from tyrant male political and citizen figures. America couldn’t have been a true democracy without the input and views of women who had been abused and put into far more unjust situations than a working male had been. Gender roles played a significant part for women, as on of the views not shared by many men at the time such as child labor and it’s tolls it had taken on not just the children but the mother of those children. Women are seen as nurturers and caretakers as their movements began to disperse into the factor of fighting for themselves and their children. Document #3, covers this topic by discussing young boys working as miners. This job for a child had been taking on strains that even the modern man could not nearly handle. “The coal is hard and accidents to the hands, such as cut, broken, or crushed fingers, are common among the boys. Sometimes there is a worse accident: a terrified shriek is heard, and a boy is mangled and torn in the machinery or disappears in the chute to be picked out later smothered and dead.” Children as young as twelve were eligible to take up a job like this in the eyes of corrupt business owners. Characterized by loose and contradictory goals, children were brutally killed by conditions that no child should have to go through. Days of a mining boy were described as dark, as they stayed and would often get caved in by boulders. By the very early time, a boy went into the mines, they saw nothing but darkness going home very late at night. Instances like these, women had been taking the stand that children could not. The voices of women and children were taken as minorities and not seen fit to initiate the real success of the Progressive era. In Doc. 3, a reporter attempts to take on the task of a miner boy and could barely stand it for half an hour. Low wages also applied to children earning under 50 cents a day. Education had been prioritized last on a child’s agenda, working for ten hours. Of course, night school was an option, but working for so long, children wouldn’t even have enough energy to eat dinner.

In conclusion, the Progressive era failed to protect women and children exclusively as proven, it wasn’t until 1920 that success from the Progressive era would soon to take effect and eventually lead to the nineteenth amendment of women being able to vote. Soon enough child labor was also prohibited as well never on record be utilized.

The period in United States history from the 1890s to the 1920s is usually looked at as the “Progressive Era”, which happens to be an era of crucial social and political reform aimed at making progress toward a better society for America. Progressive Era reformers thought to grasp the power of the U.S. federal government to eliminate unethical and unfair business practices, reduce corruption of the nation, and counteract the negative social effects of industrialization.

In the 1900s, the progressive era began during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt and continued until Woodrow Wilson. During the progressive era, it was a full time of several reforms, as it focused on the lower classes as they try and improve wages and working conditions. The new deal came during 1933 at the time of the great depression as the economy of the United States failed as a result of the stock market crash. The new deal began and ended during Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidency. “The new deal was a plan to try and revive the United States economy and create more jobs”.[footnoteRef:1] [1: David Justice Lecture, March 28.]

The new deal and the progressive era were similar, in which they improved the working conditions and set minimum wages, and set actual working times. This can be seen as one of the main agendas and goals of the progressive movement as many of the union members wanted to have an increase in their wages as life because working in the factory was so tough that it was almost to the point of exploitation. The wages were very low that sometimes they would have to make their wife and children work in other factories as one job wouldn’t be enough to provide. Also, they wanted fewer working hours and sometimes laborers would work more than 8 hours. Finally, workers also wanted better working conditions. This was a result of the triangle shirtwaist fire that caused the deaths of many workers and this led to improvements to the working environments. “The factory occupied the top three floors of a ten-story building in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Here some 500 workers, mostly young Jewish and Italian immigrant women, toiled at sewing machines producing ladies’ blouses, some earning as little as three dollars per week”.[footnoteRef:2] This can be seen in the NRA of the new deal, as it reduced hours a person can work in a day. It also set a fair level of minimum wage for everyone and is completely fair given that these women and children working in scolding hot factories all day was brutal work, especially for only getting paid for an all-time low minimum wage of three dollars. The way some of these people went out is just so sad, especially most of them being girls. Knowing this, however, it had to of been very bad for a girl to want to jump out of a building in only hopes of living. “More than a third of those who lost their lives did so in jumping from windows. The firemen who answered the first of the four alarms turned in found 30 bodies on the pavements of Washington Place and Greene Street. Almost all of these were girls, as were the great majority of them all. . . .”[footnoteRef:3]

In addition to both the progressive era and the new deal, their stance on African American civil rights were ignored by the government. During the progressive era, it was thought to be a time for reform so African Americans tried to get their rights protected and lynching parties were common, but they were not protected. As a reaction, African Americans joined together to form the NAACP, which was their form to protest these lynching’s hoping the government would notice their problems. There was also the Niagara movement, which both the Niagara and the NAACP were headed by W.E.B. DuBois. Unfortunately for the African American people, there was no reaction from the government. In the new deal, conditions did not get any better during The Great Depression of the 1930s. The economy worsened then already before and endangered the black economic situation of African Americans. African Americans were the first people to be fired from their jobs as they suffered from an unemployment rate two to three times that of whites. In early public assistance programs, blacks often received substantially less aid than whites, and some charitable organizations even excluded blacks from their soup kitchens. It was an extremely poor and desperate time for most African Americans. [2: Eric Foner, Page 547.] [3: Norton Mix, The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, Page 1082.]

However, in contrast, the progressive era was during a time of economic stability as the economy was not failing compared to the time period of the new deal. During the progressive era, there was a rising middle class that would lead to reforms, as these people would approach the government for reform. In this time, the people would go to the government for change rather than during the new deal. The government was trying to get jobs for the people, rather than the people being more involved in jobs. Reforms in both the progressive era and the new deal had some similarities. For example, in both of the times, they had reforms for workers, as well as the industries, and workers had received better conditions, better pay, and better hours. Both of these periods’ stances on African American civil rights were passive and ignored their needs. They differed, however, on activity where the people were more active in the progressive era than the government and vice versa for the new deal. “Yet although the New Deal significantly expanded the meaning of freedom, it did not erase freedom’s boundaries. Its benefits flowed to industrial workers but not tenant farmers, to men far more fully than women, and to white Americans more than blacks, who, in the South, still were deprived of the basic rights of citizenship”.[footnoteRef:4] This was true until the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King. The civil rights activist would be heard in the 1960s as Martin Luther King will successfully end all segregations between African Americans and whites. [4: Eric Foner, Page 645.]

Works Cited

1. Foner Eric, Give Me Liberty! Fifth Brief Edition, “THE PROGRESSIVE ERA 1900-1916”, Pg. 546-577.
2. Justice David, “THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE NEW DEAL 1890-1930”, March 28, 2019.
3. New York World, “THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FIRE (MARCH 26,1911)”, Pg. 1081-1085.
4. Foner Eric, Give Me Liberty!, Fifth Brief Edition, “THE NEW DEAL 1932-1940”, Pg. 643-675.

From the 1890s to the 1920s, America experienced a time called Progressivism. During this era, a group of reformers called the Progressives wanted to improve and industrialize the economy for the better. Progressives were against many factors in everyday life. These factors included monopolies, corruption, inefficiency, and social injustice. Their battle cry was to strengthen the city and make society better. Because the economy was advancing, immigrants from all over the world decided to come to America and make a living. These immigrants wanted freedom and immigration during this time was ideal because of industrialization and the decrease in agriculture. In addition, it was more normal for women to work during this time. Gender roles changed greatly and now women were allowed to work for wages. Working women became a symbol of freedom for all women. And thanks to people like Henry Ford, workers got paid more than usual. Ford paid everyone $5 a day so that his workers would be able to afford his cars. As a result of everyone getting equal pay, the ‘American way of life’ had a positive impact on everyone. As more people demanded goods, workers joined labor unions and fought for higher pay.

Reformers during this time attempted to tackle the power of the federal government to eliminate unfair business practices, as well as reducing corruption. Politics during the Progressive era were changed in many ways. The Progressives believed that in order for America to prosper, the political rules must change. Therefore, states and governments began to take control during this era. Democracy was called for by the people. Those who wanted to strengthen democracy did it by putting the power of the politics back to the citizens for their benefit. This would create peace in the divided classes. The major theme of a progressive society was efficiency and good management. In other words, a ‘master’ was needed to solve the problems in society. Therefore, in order to solve those problems, two goals were made where government power had to control the trusts. The other goal was to stem the rise of socialism by improving a lot of the classes.

Progressive reformers at this time were praised by the lower class and immigrants. What was special about these reformers was that a majority of them were women. And by reforming, they stood up for the democratic side of progress. These ‘new women’ were educated, were part of the middle class, and wanted to do some good in their society. Some famous reformers were Jane Addams and Ida Tarbell. Jane Adams was the founder of the Hull House in Chicago. This house was to help immigrants get used to the American way of life. Similarly, was Ida Tarbell. She was a ‘muckraker’, who exposed the corrupt business practices of the oil company. Therefore, after that conflict, President Wilson and Roosevelt decided to enlarge the power of the federal government to establish regulations on private businesses and companies. Also, they added more protections for the workers, consumers, and the environment.

Furthermore, the Progressives were able to positively impact city management as well as education. Despite, the progressives wanting to have more interferent in local affairs, they mostly focused on reforming the state government to create better ways to arrange services as cities get more populated. As a result, the ‘municipal admin’ was created in order to effectively manage legal processes and contracts in businesses. In addition, was education. One progressive reformer named John Dewey argued that education was very important. And if the public weren’t educated, then democracy wouldn’t be successful. Therefore, he made sure that education would be expanded and advocated to be improved at all levels. In 1917, two outcomes were made in the U.S. constitution. These were the 18th Amendment and the 19th Amendment which were important during the Progressive Era. The 18th outlawed the manufacturing, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages, while the 19th gave women the right to vote.

By looking at women activists during the Progressive Era we can discern both the problems of the period and the different roles that began to emerge for women. Reform, combined with a wider job market and changing lifestyles, gave rise to a new women’s movement. Up-and-coming big businesses created new job opportunities for women; women were now able to become saleswomen and clerks, as well as factory workers. However, women still found that society was fully male-dominated and that these men still held a Victorian-era view towards the role of women. For example, in most states, women were not allowed to vote and could not sign contracts without the consent of their husbands. Women tried to address these social problems, yet they were continually faced with the sexist view of women being intellectually and emotionally inferior to men.

Jane Addams founded Chicago’s Hull House in an effort to to help immigrant women adjust to American life while preserving their own cultures. Many women had the opportunity to work at Hull House. Similar communities like Hull House, ran mostly by women, soon emerged all over the United States. Because these communities were urban and contained many immigrants, these women came to the realization that these communities dealt with much more complex problems that required more assistance than in ‘normal’ communities. These women became social reformers and supported legislation; i.e. they wanted to end child labor, improve working conditions, and enforce more support for immigrants. Hull House became a place where radicals ideas were discussed amongst its inhabitants, making Hull House one of the most intellectual centers during the Progressive Era.

Many women of the Progressive Era began to reexamine society’s customs and attitudes towards women. Women believed that the family structure, for example, suppressed a woman’s freedom and independence. Margaret Sanger was an early advocate of women’s rights to limit the number of children she wanted to have. Sanger was a strong believer that women “are determined to decide for themselves whether they shall become mothers, under what conditions, and when”. Sanger worked as a nurse in the Lower East Side of New York and witnessed the pain of mishandled abortions and the sufferings of unwanted pregnancies. This led Sanger to open up a birth-control clinic in New York in 1916. This however led to her arrest, but Sanger was able to appeal in 1918. Sanger continued her fight, and in 1921 she helped organized the American Birth Control League (ABCL), which would later become the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Prohibition prohibited the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol. This amendment would not have passed without the persistence of the women involved in the temperance movement, which began in the 19th century. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was an organization that heavily favored Prohibition. Women had been involved in mainly social clubs and charities, but the temperance movement allowed them to participate in national politics. Women tended to favor prohibition because their husbands were the main source of financial support for the family. Husbands who remained alcoholics were more likely to remain unemployed. Additionally, alcoholic husbands become abusive towards their wives.

This summarization of women in the Progressive Era provides only a glimpse at how women attempted to reform society while also changing ideas about the role of women of the time.

The beginning of the twentieth century was a time of great social change and economic growth in the United States. The Progressive Era was a time in which Americans were innovating in social welfare. The Progressive Era had major reform and change in the United States which began from 1890 to 1920. Progressivism was a group of different ideas concerning how to fix the problem that affected the American society. The major goals of the progressives were to promote the ideas of morality, economic reform, efficiency, and social welfare. The Progressives had many different methods and ideas on how to solve social problems. The Progressives in the Progressive Era were very successful in creating lasting changes for the American society.

To start, a Progressive is “a person who is interested in change and progress”. For example, you’re a progressive thinker if you like to think up new ways of doing things and you’re open to change. You have a progressive attitude if you try to challenge current stereotypes like how someone is dressed. This word applies to lots of things that slowly increase or keep making progress. The Muckrakers were “a group of people that informed about wrongdoings in the face of society”. The most important Muckrakers were Upton Sinclair and Jacob Riis, which were writers who exposed the corrupt politicians and also pressured them into introducing new reforms. Some of the differences that the Progressive Era had was that they wanted the government to become more efficient by applying many basic principles of the scientific management methods. Many others wanted much more democracy in society. One man named Robert M. La Follette, the governor of Wisconsin, was one of the most influential politicians that wanted more democracy, and he also stated the requirement of political parties to hold a direct primary.

Another big movement during the Progressive Era was the women’s suffrage movement which began to get the attention of many people during the early 1900’s. “Women began protesting and also would go on long hunger strikes to be recognized by society”. Alice Paul, the leader of the National American Woman Suffrage (NAWSA), was one of the leaders of these types of protest. The senate finally took these women seriously by passing the 19th amendment on August 26, 1920, which guaranteed the ever wanted right to vote for women. Although the “cause of equal opportunity in the workplace was pushed back by the Progressive’s argument that women were weaker than men”, women finally did get the right to vote. The fact that women were able to get the right to vote was huge for them because it meant that there could be more than one kind of opinion from only men. This shows why more women vote in elections than men currently, they want to be able to have a say in a voting matter.

More movements that happened during the Progressive Era were the idea of social welfare. The people who agreed with this were “people who wanted to stop child labor and put major regulations on the big businesses”. A Temperance Act was also created during this time and many new laws were put into use to make sure that many of the social problems in the community were to be fixed. Women also helped enforce these laws after gaining their right to vote. It is good to see women enforcing these kinds of laws because it shows that women can have a say in the government like men do. Just because there are two different genders doesn’t mean that one should be treated more equally than the other.

Theodore Roosevelt was a big leader in the progressive movement. Roosevelt moved through offices very quickly because of his fame as a war hero and then moved into presidency after the assassination of President Mckinley in 1901. Roosevelt was really known for breaking up company trusts like Northern securities, which was a railroad trust. Roosevelt was known as the trust-buster among the business owners. In 1902 “a coal strike began with the United Mine Workers, which left the people of America cooked and desperate for the heat”. Roosevelt had intervened for the best of the American people and created federal arbitration between unions and the cooked employers. The book ‘The Jungle ” caused Roosevelt to push congress to pass many new reforms like the Meat Inspection Act, the Pure Food Act, Drug Act and they also created a new department of commission (ICC) and also the labor with a bureau of corporations that could investigate corporations. It’s great to see how some of the muckrakers were able to change how the conditions were and express their feelings during this time period just by writing a book. It shows that they really cared about other people and the conditions around them. Roosevelt also “conserved over 50 wildlife sanctuaries and parks that are still in use today”, he also set many new foreign acts. Roosevelt made the U.S the police of the Americas and made sure that no foreign countries would try to overrule or enforce any rules on any country of the Americas. Roosevelt also built the Panama Canal which made trade much easier to other countries and help the time travel. This was a good accomplishment because people were able to get their goods faster than ever before and they were able to transport more goods at one time. Faster transportation means more money for the businesses. These are some of the things made during the Progressive Era.

Lastly, Progressivism was a political philosophy that changed how the Progressive Era resulted. It was a reform movement that ran from the late 19th century through the first decades of the 20th century, during which leading intellectuals and social reformers in the United States sought to address certain questions. These questions were economic, political, and cultural that had risen in the context of the rapid changes brought with the Industrial Revolution and the growth of modern capitalism in America. The Progressives believed that these “changes marked the end of the old order and required the creation of a new order appropriate for the new industrial age”. We end up seeing these changes later in history and it plays a huge role in how the later years ended up.

As noted, the Progressive Era was essential for reform throughout American. The Progressive Era improved upon living conditions, safer working conditions, social problems, corruption of government, and workers rights. Many great individuals reformed and cleaned up the American economy and society. Without the changes in the Progressive Era, many American’s lives would not have improved. The changes and improvements throughout the Progressive Era could also be implemented today. These are the reasons as to why the Progressives were successful in creating lasting change in American society.

The progressive era was a time of wanting to improve life within the industrial age, by taking different actions within society. For instance, during this time there was a focus on building up society. They wanted to transition political and social personas to further improve government activity. While also, having a common interest in limiting businesses, and a hankering for improvement in democracy and the strength of social justice. To understand how they established this during the progressive era one must understand not only the origin of this matter but also the motives during this time.

Origin means the basis, the root of something, to begin looking into the origin one needs to under who and why. To begin, the progressive movement consisted of generally middle-class people within the United States, such as doctors, ministers, lawyers, etc…morally like your white-collar people. These people were morally taking on the task in the progressive era because they had the responsibility and strong guidance of multiple contributors. When I use to the word responsibility am using it in a looser stance as in kind of like a role model of society.

During this time in the early 1890s, President Roosevelt being a middle-class reformer as well achieved a national momentum because of his dedication to change for this era, with Wilson and Traft along his side. Together Roosevelt and Taft were able to advocate on the square deal, meat inspection, and pure food and drug act. At this time, the square deal was a policy to promote an equal relationship amongst the companies and workers. Subsequently, the meat inspection act ensured that there was a standard of sanitation in meatpacking operations. Also, the pure food and drug act opposed to mislabeled foods and drugs. However, while obtaining all this President Wilson was able to create a regulation in the central banking system with the Federal Reserve Act, which presented a national banking system with 12 districts, and each had its own personal Federal Reserve Bank.

Understanding the who now helps emphasize the motives on exactly why the progressive era went this way and with these contributors. Although, as a society, there was awareness of the changes occurring around them within the country. The nation was coming more mixed in an ethnicity sense and income gaps were transitioning even creating a surprise within middle-class Americans. How the changes came about they have reveled in things like the women’s suffrage movement and muckrakers. The women’s suffrage movement was a fight for women to an equal opportunity at the same rights as compared to a man. Muckrakers were writers who were dedicated to reveling the uncovered misconduct within the politics and business realm. Altogether, as a society, they wanted to create a restraint on the powers of local political machines and essentially maintain an honest an efficient government.

All in all, the progressive era involved the people, many contributors to improve society. With a focus on ending corruption within politics, overlooking the government’s control, eliminating trust, and also any forms of any monopolies.

The United States once found itself entering a world of rapid economic and industrial growth. Technological advances came forth at a rapid rate in both the transportation and manufacturing industries. Along with such developments, a wave of transformation came over the country and multiple social reform movements came to fruition. The Women’s Suffrage Movement, Child Labor, Abolition, Temperance, Prison Reform, and Workplace Improvements were some of the unions formed during such a deceiving period. Such a prosperous era that bloomed during the 1870s was called the Gilded Age; a time of opulence for the wealthy. The “Gilded Age”, a term coined by Mark Twain who alluded to America being like gold- whose surface is dazzling and filled with promise, but at its core, the harsh reality of those who weren’t part of the 1% were suppressed underneath. Corruption was at its prime and thrived on the exploitation of the working class. Some notable figures from the fraudulent point in time were Susan B. Anthony, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Boss Tweed, Carrie Nation, and Charles Darwin. Monopoly and Trusts laws were set in place all while the abuse of workers, corrupted usage of political machines, and the imbalanced distribution of wealth raised in prevalence. The basis of progressivism derived from the populist movement of the Gilded Age; building upon their previous efforts and bringing their goals to realization. Progressive reformers and the federal government attacked the remaining prevailing issues during the 1880-1923 period with very distinct motives, and various favorable outcomes, predominantly aiming to break the stranglehold of monopolies, improve the deteriorating conditions of the poor, and help the marginalized groups achieve their particular objectives.

Then, the Populist Party was made up of mainly farmers and laborers who ultimately didn’t succeed in achieving their goals. However, the main ideology of this movement was what inspired the creation of the progressive era, which was the realization that “Corruption dominates the ballot box, the legislatures, the Congress, and even touches the ermine of the bench. The newspapers are largely subsidized or muzzled, public opinion silenced..labor impoverished” (doc 8). Both movements wanted to change the menacing grip corruption had on the US and allow the government to take proper action against the robber barons. Similarly, both movements were aware of the dire consequences it was having on the majority all while allowing rich white men to remain at the top of society. A reference to the 16:1 ratio of the Gilded Age was made when explaining how “Silver. has been demonetized to add to the purchasing power of gold by decreasing the value of all forms of property as well as human labor. If not met and overthrew at once it forebodes terrible convulsions, the destruction of civilization, or the establishment of an absolute despotism” (doc 8). Here the populist party takes the time to acknowledge the financial moves of the corrupt leaders and how it will lead to them having an excess amount of control over the rest of the population. There is genuine concern, especially for the working class and what will become of them once large businesses rule the nation and its government. The Progressive movement also called for the government to enforce its power and obliterate the corrupt companies who have too much power and influence in their hands. The main reason why the movement fell apart and nobody else paid much attention besides those affected was that the people from other social classes and parties were not willing to get themselves involved as it meant that they too would lose their outrageous wealth. The Progressive movement was made up of mostly middle-class citizens and was successful due to the support it received from almost every region. It is important to note that the progressive movement was not very inclusive in regards to ethnic minorities as they did not intend to help African Americans but they did help laborers, farmers, women, and the temperance movement. Their main goals were to get rid of bad trusts, end political machines, improve living conditions, conserve natural resources, stop corrupt election practices, improve working conditions, and reform banking, prohibition, and women’s suffrage. The intent with some of the reforms during the progressive movement had a sinister intent. White women tried to achieve their suffrage for themselves by telling the public that if they allowed white women to vote, they couldn’t drown out the power of black voters. Eugenics (birth control) was created to prevent the undesired population (black) from growing. The true reason behind temperance (banning drinking alcoholic beverages) was associated with immigration. Since it was widely known that certain immigrants had a heavy drinking culture and the white population wanted to regulate the number of immigrants coming into the US, temperance was the sure way to achieve exactly that. Some of the most influential figures of the progressive movement were the “muckrakers.” They are not to be confused with yellow journalists who would more likely than not exaggerate or fabricate some details of big scoop to gain massive amounts of traction for the controversy they are selling. Muckrakers would open the eyes of the audience by telling sensationalist stories of the truth, leaving the decision to the public of what type of action they’d like to take place. These journalists would expose the hidden evils of businesses and society to bring awareness to what was happening under the table. They achieved true success once they got the president to be willing to make changes and the middle class to have the veil lifted from their eyes for them to realize just how severe things truly were. Many reformers did not want to destroy capitalism but they did support communismsocialism (kept under wraps due to the possibility of losing support). Some of their goals were to tax the rich “generously” but were aware that some of these rich people were willing to help as long as they did not lose out on anything materialistic.

Theodore Roosevelt was a progressive who wanted to assert the government’s power over businesses by taking the necessary measures to control trusts as shown in Document 1 (Washington Post, 1907). Roosevelt kept close to him the ideology that some trusts were necessary for the operation of the economy; solely weeding out the “bad” ones from the “good” ones was the rule of thumb he lived by as demonstrated in document one. The figure who had power over the bear-like creature decided to kill the “bad” trusts bear and spare the life of the “good” trusts bear just as Roosevelt did when implementing the trusts laws. Upton Sinclair was a prominent figure in the progressive movement known for shocking the public, nationally by publishing his novel The Jungle. Originally written with the intent to expose the plight and mistreatment of the factory workers, Sinclair captured the attention of his readers by painting elicit, vivid images of the unhygienic process of the meat-packing industry and the unsanitary conditions the Chicago slaughterhouses found themselves in. The Neill-Reynolds Report (doc.2) provides an analogous effect when describing the “damp and soggy” floors which were “in dark, ill-ventilated rooms”, most importantly emphasizing the condition of the meat that was “shoveled from filthy wooden floors..rarely washed..in rotten box carts..gathering dirt, splinters, and floor filth, and the expectoration of tuberculosis and other diseased workers” (doc 2) Due to supercilious factory owners not allowing their employees to take sick-leave, their workers often had to work while being in horrid conditions, exacerbating their well being. Similarly, Sinclair’s novel provided a superfluous amount of detail that the wealthy too were leery of the state of the food being provided by such disingenuous companies. Progressives were able to achieve sublime success when Theodore Roosevelt decided to pass the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food.

The United States once found itself entering a world of rapid economic and industrial growth. Technological advances came forth at a rapid rate in both the transportation and manufacturing industries. Along with such developments, a wave of transformation came over the country and multiple social reform movements came to fruition. The Women’s Suffrage Movement, Child Labor, Abolition, Temperance, Prison Reform, and Workplace Improvements were some of the unions formed during such a deceiving period. Such a prosperous era that bloomed during the 1870s was called the Gilded Age; a time of opulence for the wealthy. The “Gilded Age”, a term coined by Mark Twain who alluded to America being like gold- whose surface is dazzling and filled with promise, but at its core, the harsh reality of those who weren’t part of the 1% were suppressed underneath. Corruption was at its prime and thrived on the exploitation of the working class. Some notable figures from the fraudulent point in time were Susan B. Anthony, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Boss Tweed, Carrie Nation, and Charles Darwin. Monopoly and Trusts laws were set in place all while the abuse of workers, corrupted usage of political machines, and the imbalanced distribution of wealth raised in prevalence. The basis of progressivism derived from the populist movement of the Gilded Age; building upon their previous efforts and bringing their goals to realization. Progressive reformers and the federal government attacked the remaining prevailing issues during the 1880-1923 period with very distinct motives, and various favorable outcomes, predominantly aiming to break the stranglehold of monopolies, improve the deteriorating conditions of the poor, and help the marginalized groups achieve their particular objectives.

Then, the Populist Party was made up of mainly farmers and laborers who ultimately didn’t succeed in achieving their goals. However, the main ideology of this movement was what inspired the creation of the progressive era, which was the realization that “Corruption dominates the ballot box, the legislatures, the Congress, and even touches the ermine of the bench. The newspapers are largely subsidized or muzzled, public opinion silenced..labor impoverished” (doc 8). Both movements wanted to change the menacing grip corruption had on the US and allow the government to take proper action against the robber barons. Similarly, both movements were aware of the dire consequences it was having on the majority all while allowing rich white men to remain at the top of society. A reference to the 16:1 ratio of the Gilded Age was made when explaining how “Silver. has been demonetized to add to the purchasing power of gold by decreasing the value of all forms of property as well as human labor. If not met and overthrew at once it forebodes terrible convulsions, the destruction of civilization, or the establishment of an absolute despotism” (doc 8). Here the populist party takes the time to acknowledge the financial moves of the corrupt leaders and how it will lead to them having an excess amount of control over the rest of the population. There is genuine concern, especially for the working class and what will become of them once large businesses rule the nation and its government. The Progressive movement also called for the government to enforce its power and obliterate the corrupt companies who have too much power and influence in their hands. The main reason why the movement fell apart and nobody else paid much attention besides those affected was that the people from other social classes and parties were not willing to get themselves involved as it meant that they too would lose their outrageous wealth. The Progressive movement was made up of mostly middle-class citizens and was successful due to the support it received from almost every region. It is important to note that the progressive movement was not very inclusive in regards to ethnic minorities as they did not intend to help African Americans but they did help laborers, farmers, women, and the temperance movement. Their main goals were to get rid of bad trusts, end political machines, improve living conditions, conserve natural resources, stop corrupt election practices, improve working conditions, and reform banking, prohibition, and women’s suffrage. The intent with some of the reforms during the progressive movement had a sinister intent. White women tried to achieve their suffrage for themselves by telling the public that if they allowed white women to vote, they couldn’t drown out the power of black voters. Eugenics (birth control) was created to prevent the undesired population (black) from growing. The true reason behind temperance (banning drinking alcoholic beverages) was associated with immigration. Since it was widely known that certain immigrants had a heavy drinking culture and the white population wanted to regulate the number of immigrants coming into the US, temperance was the sure way to achieve exactly that. Some of the most influential figures of the progressive movement were the “muckrakers.” They are not to be confused with yellow journalists who would more likely than not exaggerate or fabricate some details of big scoop to gain massive amounts of traction for the controversy they are selling. Muckrakers would open the eyes of the audience by telling sensationalist stories of the truth, leaving the decision to the public of what type of action they’d like to take place. These journalists would expose the hidden evils of businesses and society to bring awareness to what was happening under the table. They achieved true success once they got the president to be willing to make changes and the middle class to have the veil lifted from their eyes for them to realize just how severe things truly were. Many reformers did not want to destroy capitalism but they did support communismsocialism (kept under wraps due to the possibility of losing support). Some of their goals were to tax the rich “generously” but were aware that some of these rich people were willing to help as long as they did not lose out on anything materialistic.

Theodore Roosevelt was a progressive who wanted to assert the government’s power over businesses by taking the necessary measures to control trusts as shown in Document 1 (Washington Post, 1907). Roosevelt kept close to him the ideology that some trusts were necessary for the operation of the economy; solely weeding out the “bad” ones from the “good” ones was the rule of thumb he lived by as demonstrated in document one. The figure who had power over the bear-like creature decided to kill the “bad” trusts bear and spare the life of the “good” trusts bear just as Roosevelt did when implementing the trusts laws. Upton Sinclair was a prominent figure in the progressive movement known for shocking the public, nationally by publishing his novel The Jungle. Originally written with the intent to expose the plight and mistreatment of the factory workers, Sinclair captured the attention of his readers by painting elicit, vivid images of the unhygienic process of the meat-packing industry and the unsanitary conditions the Chicago slaughterhouses found themselves in. The Neill-Reynolds Report (doc.2) provides an analogous effect when describing the “damp and soggy” floors which were “in dark, ill-ventilated rooms”, most importantly emphasizing the condition of the meat that was “shoveled from filthy wooden floors..rarely washed..in rotten box carts..gathering dirt, splinters, and floor filth, and the expectoration of tuberculosis and other diseased workers” (doc 2) Due to supercilious factory owners not allowing their employees to take sick-leave, their workers often had to work while being in horrid conditions, exacerbating their well being. Similarly, Sinclair’s novel provided a superfluous amount of detail that the wealthy too were leery of the state of the food being provided by such disingenuous companies. Progressives were able to achieve sublime success when Theodore Roosevelt decided to pass the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food.