The Progressive Movement, lasting from 1901-1920, was a time of great change in America. Originating as a response to corporate and political corruption at the turn of the century, progressives emphasized improving American society by taming capitalism. However, with this political and economic reform came social injustice. While America made great strides towards new and more efficient business, banking, and politics, the early twentieth century showed conservative approaches to issues like racial, ethnic, and religious equality. Throughout the Progressive Era, the Federal Government passed a great deal of legislation in efforts to ensure a safer and more efficient nation. The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 modified and strengthened previous policies passed in the Sherman …show more content…
Antitrust Act. Put in place to promote further business competition in the nation, these revisions outlawed the formation of monopolies and price discrimination, and legalized peaceful strikes and unions. Progressives also hoped to increase business competition by lowering the tariff. With a lower tariff, U.S. prices would go down and in return help the consumer. This pattern of consumer aid could be seen in other aspects of life as well. After outrage broke out about Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, which shed light on the unsanitary practices and dangerous working conditions in the meat-packing industry, both the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act were passed. These required inspections in factories to ensure the distribution of healthy meat, confirm sanitary procedures, and demanded ingredient lists on all processed food products. The banking system was also revolutionized through the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act. This created the central bank of the United States or the Federal Reserve and provided the nation with a more reliable and stable financial system. The Federal Reserve Act separated the country into 12 district Federal Reserve Banks that could each loan small banks funds and issue currency at amazing new speeds. On the city and state levels, changes emerged as well. In many cases, on a smaller scale, these reforms were more direct and successful. During this time, the ideas of initiative (the power of voters to petition state legislatures to consider bills proposed by citizens), referendum (the power of voters to decide if proposed legislation should be passed), and recall (the power of voters to petition to have an elected representative removed from office before the completion of their term), were passed. In addition to these reforms, direct primaries ensured that members of a party could nominate candidates by their own direct votes. Arguably the most important advancements towards modern America, beyond the plethora of Acts passed by the government, were the four amendments made to The Constitution. The sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth amendments were ratified, introducing graduated income tax, direct election of senators, prohibition, and women’s suffrage, respectively. Yet, besides the success of granting women with the right to vote, social reform took a turn towards tradition. Progressives failed to reach racial, ethnic, and religious equality because of traditional American values which interrupted any possible advancements. Visions of assimilation and Americanization, leading back to the 1887 Dawes Act, were seen as progressive. Unlike modern day America, where diversity is encouraged, new waves of immigration from Europe and Asia were sent to ‘Americanization’ schools to learn the American language and culture. The anti-foreign feeling was strong. As in the previous passage of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, many ‘progressives’ wanted to try to prevent immigration completely , in order to prevent employment opportunities from being taken from native-born Americans. More radical ideas of assimilation were also coined during the Progressive Era, including eugenics or the science of improving the population through controlled breeding.
Thankfully that did not appeal to a wide enough audience. Not only did immigration scare some conservative progressives, but the fear of Catholics was very prevalent in the early twentieth century. American’s, a mostly protestant population up to this point, feared that if a Catholic were ever to serve as president, the Pope would be able to make decisions for the country, which would violate the separation of church and state. This was caused by the popular belief of Protestant supremacy. Shifting focus from religeon to segregation, the court decision of ‘'separate but equal' in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), had allowed segregation to thrive. The only racial progress made, was by African-Americans themselves, known as accommodationists. The basis of their idea was to advance through work and eventually the white man would come to accept the need for change. Yet, racial tensions were no longer limited to the South. In their attempts to find work in the North, the constant American phobia of job competition led to even greater social
instability. While the Progressive Era moved many economic and political aspects of American life in new directions, Progressives failed to successfully address social reform. Conservative viewpoints longed to restore society to how it once had been. Our steps towards modernization were counteracted by the efforts for tradition, and with great progress came regression.
Cities and industry grew in growth on the first of January in 1900 which created an influx of the high classes. Andrew Carnegie is a factory owner who was about to sell his steel company, but ended up becoming one of the richest man in the world. However, there was an underside of this whole excitement to earn money and the hope of the American dream. Average earnings were less than $500 a year, but in the unskilled southern workers earned an average of $300 a year. The work hours were 60 hours a week, wages were strained, and horrible child labor. The question is what was the most important problems in America during the early 1900s that needed to be addressed by The Progressive Movement. There are three main reasons: the struggling child labor, women’s voting rights, and
The term Progressivism implies a philosophy that promotes change/reform in the current political, economic, and social aspects of society while conservatism stresses gradual change in society but promotes tradition rather than change. The Progressive movement from 1901 to 1917 worked to improve aspects of society that grew out of problems which occurred during the Industrial Age. The goals of the "Progressives" were to stop monopolies, corruption, inefficiency and social injustices. Both progressive acts and amendments were being passed to deal with social ills, corruption in politics and corporate America. The period from 1901-1917 was more a victory for liberalism, mainly "modern liberalism", than a triumph of conservatism due to the fact that multiple reform movements were occurring in this era changing political, economic, and social aspects in society to protect the rights of the common man.
The Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) ‘equal but separate’ decision robbed it of its meaning and confirmed this wasn’t the case as the court indicated this ruling did not violate black citizenship and did not imply superior and inferior treatment ,but it indeed did as it openly permitted racial discrimination in a landmark decision of a 8-1 majority ruling, it being said was controversial, as white schools and facilities received near to more than double funding than black facilities negatively contradicted the movement previous efforts on equality and maintaining that oppression on
In the beginning of the twentieth century, the economy was booming, new technology flourished. The rapid industrialization brought achievement to the United States, however, it also caused several social problems. Wealth and power were concentrated in the hands of a few, and poverty and political corruption were widespread. As people became aware of these problems, a new reform group was created. Unlike populism, which had been a group of farmers grown desperate as the economy submerged into depression, the new reform movement arose from the educated middle class. These people were known as the progressives. The Progressive Movement was a movement that aimed at solving political, economic, and social problems. The Progressives were people from the middle class who had confidence that they could achieve social progress through political reform. The Progressives sought after changes and improvements in the society through laws and other federal actions.
Within the period of 1900-1920, many national reforms were rising to the top as Progressive Era reformers and the federal government heard the voices of the people. The effectiveness of Progressivism is a controversial subject for some, but the future was changed through the events of any actions a president made, the rights of people, and unfair treatment and conditions. This era brings changes to our society that also changes the future of it. These two decades brought forth successful times in bettering America.
In order to have a better America, The Progressive Era was a time where activist and reformers from various backgrounds, had various agendas and reacting to challenges which faced the country. These challenges were rapid urban sprawl, immigration, corruption, industrial working conditions, growth of large corporations, women’s rights, surging anti-black violence and white supremacy (KKK) in the South. Some positive results of progressive movement were for women given the right to vote, to remove alcohol from communities and the establishment of the democratic voting process. In addition, Progressive activist took up a cause for legislation to address some of the troubling industries in America such as child labor, anti-trust, big business break ups and health and
After looking closely at all four documents, the Progressive Era ended child labor, improved working conditions, and brought victory to women suffrage. Goals of the movement and people who took part in it have also been highlighted. It is concluded that Progressivism movement was effective and changing American values and lifestyles.
In an era of addressing social issues and inequality, many African Americans were segregated and divided; they fought for justice but racial tensions still formed. The Progressive Era: a time of major movements of the American population. During the decades between the 1890s and 1920, Americans were faced with many challenges and in turn, they entered a modern era of change. The states and cities were experiencing a newly diverse and urban society. There were new technological advances and industrial economics were growing rapidly since the Civil War. Although, not all innovations made during this time were beneficial. With the large innovations in society and the progressive mindsets, the lives of African Americans dramatically changed. The
The Progressive Era is defined as the period of social activism and political reform in the United States that took place from the 1890s to the 1920s. Historians George Mowry, Gabriel Kolko, and Joseph Huthmacher all have different opinions and reasons as to whom the most influential Progressives were and what they reformed. Mowry does an excellent job explaining how the “solid middle-class” was the most impactful Progressives and how they reformed in attempt to create a classless society. Kolko expressed some good points as to why the big businesses were the majority Progressives, but only focused on business-government relations and didn’t look into social-justice. Huthmacher thoroughly explained why the urban lower class was the main Progressives and made good points on the “Bread-and-butter” issues.
The turn of the century was marked by a movement known as the Progressive Era, during which many groups sought to reshape the nation's government and society in response to the pressure of urbanization and industrialization. Progressives were mainly members of the Post-Civil War generation that made an attempt to master a world much different then that of their parents.
The Progressive movement of the 1900’s was the most important event to occur in the United States during the twentieth century. Progressives at first concentrated on improving the lives of those living in slums and in getting rid of corruption in government. The goal was to make working conditions better for the workers. True reform needed to happen. The workers of America believed this to be the best nation with opportunities for all people. Reform started with industrialization. Workers needed healthy and safe places to work, especially for women and children who were considered vulnerable and weak during that time period. Women and children over 14 worked at meat trimming sausage making and canning. “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair in one example in which the appalling working conditions in the meat-packing industry was exposed. His description of the filth that was so apparent which shocked the public and led to new federal food safety laws now known as the Food and Drug Administration. Progressives had started to attack huge corporations like the Armour meat-packing company for their unjust practices such as workers treated as “wage slaves”. Workers earned just pennies on the hour and worked ten hour days, six days a week. The unskilled workers are the ones who made and worked these long laborious hours. Therefore, unskilled immigrant men did the backbreaking and dangerous work, often in dark, unventilated rooms which were hot in summer and cold in with no heat in the winter. Many stood for hours on floors which were covered with blood and scraps of meat.
The progressive era was a time period that opened the eyes of Americans. Rapid growth and industrialization caused huge strains on the labor force and government intervention was needed. There were key moments that pushed the American people into a progressive state and key moments that spoke measures of the success they had. The progressive era was just the beginning of the movement and set the bar for the rest of the twentieth century on what was expected from the government and our presidents. Through the 20th century we have seen presidents that have come from opposite sides of the spectrum
Bounded by the end of the nineteenth century and the American entry into World War I, the Progressive Era brought dramatic changes to the nation’s economic, political, and social sectors. Progressives included both men and women from various ethnic groups, classes, and occupations who challenged traditional attitudes about the American way of life. The roots of Progressivism date back to the mid to late 1800s, when angry farmers and small business owners formed the Grange and later the Populist Party to confront unfair practices of big business. Progressivism appealed to middle and lower-class Americans who felt helpless against industrial giants like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, whose increasing power influenced politicians and the laws and regulations they sanctioned.
The progressives where middle class people that where mostly composed of young people who wanted things to change, they believed that educating people was the best way to overcome a problem. They formed volunteer organizations that people would come to and they would educate them on what they thought the problem was with something. Some of the organizations I found where: (American Bar Association, U.S Chamber of Commerce, National Association for the advancement of Colored People, and many others. I think that they did this to increase the awareness of a problem and try to fight that problem with strength in numbers and educations, both are very strong weapons when tackling a problem.
During the Progressive Era in the United states, congress passed many legislative laws in order to address important social and economic issues. Due to urbanization in the big cities many health issues occurred especially in meat being sold to Two specifc ones are the Sherman Anti Trust and the Meat Inspection act.