Progressive Era Dbq

The Progressive Era was a political, social, and economic movement during the 1870s to 1920s. Activists called Progressives wanted to address many problems that the industrialization had created including making America’s economic and political systems more equal. There were three main areas they focused on: improving working conditions, improving health and opening more health services, and reforming the government. Although there were many attempts at making progress, there were many areas where they were unsuccessful. Progressives from 1870 to 1920 were not successful in making the United States a freer and more humane society due to the fact that the wait time for laws to be created and ratified was too long, and laws were not clear, and

even today, minority groups are still treated unequally and are faced with posing threats. Some people may argue and say the Progressive Era reformers were successful in making the United States a freer and more humane society because there was affordable housing for people to live.
Reformers were not successful in making the United States a freer and more humane society because the wait time for the government to take action, create, and ratify the law took a lot longer than it was needed. In 1912, women were still fighting for equal rights and equality. In a poster made by the National American Women Suffrage Association called Votes for Women state all the reasons for why women should be able to vote. The poster says, “Women are citizens of the government of the people, by the people and FOR the people, and WOMEN ARE PEOPLE. They should vote equally with men.” In all of the reasons, there is a repeating line called, “They should vote equally with men.” Women were banned from many things including getting an education and having a voice in politics like voting. The National American Women Suffrage Association was established on February 18, 1890. Women have been fighting for their right to vote and have a voice for many decades and finally decided to protest and created the NAWSA in 1890. Women’s right to vote was finally ratified in 1920. It took 30 years for the government to finally take action and decided that women were able to have the right to vote since the NAWSA was created. Thirty years was an extremely long time and so much could have happened in those decades. In three decades, a baby is already grown up. This suggests that reformers were not very successful in making American more freer and humane since the process took longer than it was needed to. The process took longer because the government did not listen and pay attention to women. It took a long time for the 19th amendment to be constructed and ratified by Congress.
Another reason why reformers were not successful in making the United States a freer and more humane society is because once laws and acts were achieved, they were not clear and had many loopholes. Upton Sinclair, writer of The Jungle, explains more about the meat industry and its rules, “...these hundred and sixty-three inspectors had been selected at the request of the packing company and that they were paid by the United States government ensured that all the diseased meat was kept in state. They had no authority beyond that…” This quote suggests that although inspectors had been paid to make sure the diseased and infected meat did not go out of state, the meat could have still been marketed in the state since their authority and power did not go past that. This indicated that it caused a huge population to become sick and possibly die, thus making the health of the community go down. Infected meat with the disease was not allowed to go out of state but what about the meat in the state? There was no clear law that declared for all the diseased meat to be restrained from being sold out of the state. Unquestionably, this shows that Progressives were not successful in improving conditions for a better society because the laws made were just for the public eye to see that the government is doing something and quiet the protests down but they are not doing enough for the safety and health of everyone since the laws were not set strong, clear, and concrete.
Even after establishing so many laws and the fight for equality, in the past and even today, minority groups are still treated unequally, dealt with police brutality, and faced with America’s restricted immigrant laws.

There was a United States Immigration Law that increased the restrictions for immigrants. The excerpt from the federal law about immigration says, “all idiots, imbeciles, epileptics … anarchists… polygamists…all aliens over 16 years, physically capable of reading, who cannot read the English language…All aliens over 16 years, physically capable of reading, who cannot read the English language (shall also be excluded from admission). This quote describes all the restrictions immigrants had while trying to move and settle in the US, making the process of becoming an American citizen very difficult and long. There were many checkpoints and factors in order to be admitted to the United States. America has a reputation where it is welcoming to everyone who desires “the American Dream”, but in reality, its process is limited and controlled very strictly. Lynching was also a big problem, yet no action was taken for the minority groups who were constantly terrorized by mobs and often resulted in thousands of deaths. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a journalist and advocate, states, “Thousands of American citizens have been put to death and no president has yet raised his hand ineffective protest…” This quote implies that many deaths were caused by mob lynching but yet, no

action or law was created. Clearly, this shows that reformers were not successful since the fight for equality is still going. Today, there are large numbers of police brutality rates on minority groups mostly including African American males. They are invariably stopped by police due to “suspicious activity” such as having a hood on or walking through the streets a certain way.
Some may argue that the reformers were successful in making the society more freer and more humane because there was affordable housing and people had a roof on top of their heads.

Jacob Riis was a photographer who took photos of the houses and tenements in New York. Tenements were created for incoming immigrants or other people who needed cheap housing. On the other hand, reformers were not successful in making the society more humane because even though the people had cheap housing and a place to stay, the living conditions were wretched and foul. It was very overpopulated which lead to unhealthy and unsanitary living environments for families. In the photo shown from How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements Of New York, it showed a tenement where there were no windows and one room was filled with more people than the room was meant for. The landlords did not care about the health of the tenants, they just wanted to make sure the families were paying their rent on time. This insinuates that there was a big health issue with the living conditions and reformers were not successful. The horrible conditions showed how poverty affected the well-being of the people. The rooms were unsanitary and people often slept and sat very close to each other. Although a spot to sleep was affordable and inexpensive, it was noxious and filthy hence causing health problems and leading to early

deaths.
In conclusion, the Progressives were not successful in making society freer and more humane. The government was not efficient in making laws to protect the public and the people. It took a lot longer than necessary to make acts and laws needed to improve the nation. Although there were laws that were created, it was often not clear, thus creating loopholes for people to go through. Unclear regulations lead to many problems which prompt people to still keep fighting for equality today.