Gilded Age To The Progressive Era

The Progressive Era was a period that changed America greatly due to political reforms and social activism. This era brought forth many changes in America and almost all Americans were involved in this movement somehow. This period began in the late 1800s and lasted until the mid-1900s. The Progressive Era was one of the biggest movements in America. The main point of this movement was to purify the government. Several historians have wrote excerpts on their perspective of the Progressive Era. George Mowry, Joseph Huthmacher, and Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore are three key Progressive historians. In their writings, each of the historians explain who the Progressives were, who was affected during this time, events that took place in the community and government, and other topics.

Between 1865 and 1920, industrialization caused significant changes in many people’s lives. First, the development of a new railroad system help settle the west and made it more accessible to people. Second, public transit systems in big cities provided an outlet from congested cities. Last, the discovery of a method for transmitting electricity helped to light up our daily lives. I feel that these are three of the most important changes in people’s lives caused by industrialization.

During the nineteenth century, there was a time of critical social problems we now know

From 1870 to 1900 era was called the Gilded Age, a time of immense growth in the United States in transportation, especially in railroads, American workers were paid higher wages than their peers in Europe. In this thirty year span the United States saw twelve million immigrants pass through her golden doors, 70% of these immigrants were English, Irish, and German. Crop failures (potato famine in Ireland), job shortages, and religious freedom were the motivations behind many immigrating to America. Newly arrived immigrants faced a harsh reality in America, employers took advantage of them, the men were often paid less than other native born men and the women were paid even less. Immigrants suffered verbal and physical abuse from employers and other employees because they were different. While researching my Italian heritage I learned that Italians, especially southern Italians were not treated well because they were hired as strikebreakers or scabs by mining and railroading companies. They were called derogatory names such as "dagoes or guineas". Newspapers of the time said the southern Italians were "intellectually inferior and having criminal tendencies" (Laura Teddy Turner, Demand Media n.d.) http://www.emmigration.info/us-immigration-tv

* The Great RR Strike of 1877 shut down railroads from WV to CA & resulted in hundreds of deaths

From the ashes of the American Civil War period, the Gilded Age movement emerged into rapid economic growth. From the end of reconstruction in 1877 to the panic of 1893, the American economy nearly doubled in size. The expansion of Industrialization led to growing wages and the urge to work. As new machinery developed, so did the urgency for rapid production of manufactured goods. In this period, new ideas of time being money emerged. Big business men controlled the Gildan age instead of political leaders. Out of the rapid need to gain money and work harder, negative effects such as child labor, women labor, and unfair working conditions appear. In response, the progressivism era emerged. The Progressive movement arose as a response to negative effects of industrialization such as child labor and unemployment. Reformers longed to regulate private and large industries to strengthen working conditions for both employers and consumers Progressivism was an important political and social reformation from 1890-1920 that aimed to make major political and social reforms in effort to progress society after the negative outcomes of industrialization.

During the Progressive Era, which was known as a large reform movement, there was a widespread across the United States of political reform and social activism. The main focus and goal of the Progressives and their movement was lowering government involvement and eliminating corruption in the government. Progressives reacted to problems caused by large factories and cities. Furthermore, they attacked big corporations, such as the Armour meat-packing company and others, for how harsh their practices were. The progressives exposed these companies and how they treated workers, removed competitors, and set high prices. The meatpacking industry capitalized when the growth of livestock farming in the Midwest started to grow rapidly. Meatpacking companies and industries, such as the Armour meat-packing company, handle the slaughtering, processing, and distribution of animals including cattle and pigs. Although the meatpacking industry created a lot of jobs, working in a meatpacking company was not luxurious because the factories were unsanitary, unregulated, and tremendously dangerous.

The Gilded Age was characterized by rapid industrialization, reconstruction, ruthless pursuit of profit, government, corruption, and vulgarity (Cashman 1). After the Civil War, America was beginning to regroup as a nation. There were many other changes developing in the country. Industrialization was taking over the formerly agricultural country. The nation’s government was also in great conflict (Foner 20). Many changes occurred during the Gilded Age. These changes affected farmers, labor, business, and politics.

     Although the gap between rich and poor during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was unquestionably large, the nation was also prospering through large economic gains. Although it may have seemed like a nation in which the rich were detached from the poor, the US was actually harvesting a new breed of self-accomplishing individuals. With the end of free labor, the US had sought a new ideology, and found it in Adam

Industrialization changed the lives of the people of this nation. By the late nineteenth century, with advances in technology, communication, and transportation, a new type of industrialization was formed, a global one.

The Gilded Age was the last three decades of the nineteenth century, when America’s industrial economy exploded generating opportunities for individuals but also left many workers struggling for survival. With the many immigrants, skilled and unskilled, coming to America the labor system is becoming flooded with new employees. During this period, the immigrants, including the Italians, were unskilled and the skilled workers were usually American-born. There was also a divide in the workers and the robber barons. Robber barons were American capitalist who acquired great fortunes in the last nineteenth century, usually ruthlessly. There was much turmoil throughout the business and labor community. Two major organizations, the Knights of

Throughout the history of the United States, the Gilded Age is regarded as a period that spanned the last three decades of the 19th century. This period starts from the Civil War came to an end in the 1865 up to 1900. The term Gilded Age was formulated by writers Charles Warner and Mark Twain in The Gilded Age: A Tale of Toady in 1873. They did this since they believed it to be an era that would be characterized by a variety of severe social problems that were camouflaged by a minute gold gilding.

The American Industrial Revolution, also known as the Gilded Age that took place from the 1870s to the very early 1900s. The Gilded Age is defined as, “A period of enormous economic growth and ostentatious displays of wealth during the last quarter of the nineteenth century” (Roark, p. 479). Over the years of the American Industrial Revolution, there have been an enormous amounts of new technology and innovation throughout this time period that have brought many exceptional advances to the revolution. But there are three particular technological advances that noticeably affected America’s Industrial Revolution. These three technological advances include, steel, automobile and electricity that substantially improved the Gilded Age.

The Industrial Revolution was the advancement of transportation, manufacturing, and communication. The Progressive Era was dedicated to fixing the problems left over from the Industrial Revolution. Industrialization developed as technology developed. Loads of natural resources and workers caused industrialization to spread rapidly. In the” Industrial Revolution In the United States” (N/D) article it states that The Industrial Revolution brought about steamboats, sewing machines, and telephones. It started the transition from a rural society to an urban society in the U.S. as industrialization started in the cities and many flocked to those cities in search of employment. While the Industrial Revolution brought advantages, it also brought up problems along with it. There was overcrowded housing due to an increase in population by way of immigration which led to higher risks of disease.

Industrialization brought machines to the forefront of efficiency and profit for many new entrepreneurs, and many technological advancement such as the telegraph and the transcontinental railroad radically improved communication and transportation. With such advancements to society, social and economical changes occurred where more people moved from an agrarian society to an urban society, and during this transition, the conditions of life grew worse as the wealth gap increased from working in factories. Although the wealth of some Americans contributed to the growth of the American economy, industrialization took a toll on much of the society because working conditions were horrific, living conditions in cities were far from sanitary, and