Progressive Era Dbq

During the Progressive Era, pressure from labor, suffrage, and conservation movements profoundly changed the course of American history. Many of the reformers' ideas clashed with the male-dominated, capitalist economic structure present at the turn of the century. Some of the intended reforms opposed the current system, but the level of social unrest necessitated change. Businessmen and activists alike initiated the reforms during the Progressive Era. Government, due to the intention of calming the common man and quieting the seemingly more and more vocal middle class, supported them. In the final analysis, from the year 1900 to 1920, Progressive Era reformers were successful in bringing about reform to the United States.

The progressive era was a time period in America after reconstruction that took place from 1900 to 1920. The progressive era focused mainly on social and political reform, trying to fix America's economy by working towards equal conditions for individuals, stopping political corruption and increasing government intervention on social and economic issues. Progressivists were social activists and political reformers working to improve conditions and the treatment of the American people. They believed that the government could be a tool for change. Progressive reform started out as a social movement and later on took a more political stand. The progressive era was successful in the fight to reform the United States by improving industrialization, urbanization cities, and reforming America's social and gender classes.

One very famous muckraker was Upton Sinclair, who wrote The Jungle (1906), which exposed the meatpacking industry in America with images such as, meat scraps being shoveled off of the dirty floors into barrels and machines for chopping and in most cases the working area was damp, soggy, dark, and ill-ventilated, where ignorant employees spit on them, described even in The Neill-Reynolds Report (Document B). This book disgusted thousands of people all over the world, but it impacted President Roosevelt, which lead to the meat inspection act and the pure food and drug act. Also, in the category of working, about 2 million of those workers were America’s children ranging from ages 4 to 17. Jane Addams was one woman in particular who addressed this issue in 1909 in her book, The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets, questioning the people of America if we were, “so caught in admiration of the astonishing achievements of modern industry that they forget the children themselves?” (Document C). A major victory for workers in the U.S. was the Workingmen’s Compensation Act in 1916, which granted assistance for employees who were hurt or had passed away. Also, in 1916, was the Adamson Act, which established an eight hour work day with overtime pay. Two years later, a suit was brought addressing child labor once again in Hammer v. Dagenhart, which suggested that

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was written to expose the brutality faced by the workers in the meatpacking industry. Sinclair wanted to show people what was really going on in the factory because few people were informed about these companies work conditions. He wanted to show the public that meat was “ diseased, rotten, and contaminated” (Willie).” This revelation shocked the, public which later led to the creation of the federal laws on food and safety. Sinclair strongly shows the failure of capitalism in the meatpacking industry which he viewed as inhumane, destructive, unjust, brutal, and violent (Willie).”

Daniel Zheng APUSH Wells March 4th, 2016 APUSH DBQ: Evaluate the effectiveness of Progressive Era and the federal government in bringing about reforms at the national level… During the period of 1900-1920, which is now also known as the Progressive Era, the United States witnessed many beneficial changes in hopes of improving the American lifestyle hence labelling the era as progressive. Not only did the reformers and the federal government succeed in major changes such as woman suffrage, they also managed to regain control from corporate powers that had formed monopolies during the Gilded Age. Furthermore, with the influx of immigrants through Angel and Ellis islands, the increase of child labor became one of the most prominent issues within large corporations. Precautions for basic sanitary and safety needs were not met hence not

The working conditions of the new arrivals were hardly any better, as employees of factories were often overworked, underpaid, and penned up in dangerous conditions. Perhaps the horrors of these conditions can be highlighted by the devastating 1911 fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. Tragically, over one hundred young women lost their lives in the fire, as there was no way to get out, and the doors were locked, trapping the women inside. Safety was not the only problem, as workers initially were not given the right to organize into unions, essentially doomed to the repetitive motions of factory operation. This meant that they had no way to protest against child labor, wage slavery, and unhealthily long working hours. Eventually, with their growing clout and ever-present industrial dependence on their labor, workers organized and demanded reform along all aspects of hazardous working conditions.

The writing portray the harsh conditions and explored lives of immigrants in the United States and meat packing industry conditions. America's meat production has always been a large industry met with demands from those both inside and outside of the United States, which is why it is important to ensure its' stability and success. By the late 1800s meat was in high demand, so companies were producing at a faster rate than they were comfortable with and discrepancies were growing with it. Meatpacking factories used the most recent immigrants and migrants as strikebreakers in labor actions taken by other workers, also usually immigrants or early descendants. Workers working in the factory would easily be infected by diseases carried out by the dead meat and animals. In addition, risks of injuries were resulted by machinery work and rat foods mixed into the machine. Rats and insects were everywhere and they would often being mixed up into raw meats. However, most readers were more concerned with the exposure of health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meatpacking

The Effectiveness of Great Progressive Era Reformers Past history shows the build up to the Progressive Era from 1900-1920 Huge advance during the Industrial Revolution happened right before the Progressive Era. Railroads,mass production, and lot of workers grew and developed the United States during the time period. Monopolies former creating total control to business owners and quality of working conditions decreased. The Progressive Era started when Theodore Roosevelt became President. Up til 1920, many political, economic, and social changes had been made.

The progressive leaders led the reform process of the nation’s industrial economy in the early years of the 20th century. Through the antirust acts, inspection acts, and regulations on trading, progressive reformers reshaped the way the economy ran. In a political cartoon by the Washington Post in 1907, President Roosevelt is on a dead raccoon with the words “bad trust” shaved into it. The political cartoon does over exaggerate the effectiveness of Roosevelt’s policies regarding trusts, but it does represent the way Roosevelt started the new regulation policies. In his second presidency, he started the “square deal.” This deal first passed Hepburn Railroad Regulation Act of 1906 which put regulations on the industry.

I feel that they were both successful in their own ways. The progressive era was a time that reform took place. It was under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft & Woodrow Wilson. Not only were these political powers part of this era, other progressives included businessmen, educators, farmers and even women and black activist. Their goal was to understand and solve the economic, social and political problems that were being faced as the nation was growing and developing.

We tend to think of the Progressives as a group that was interested in making the United States more democratic, but this is not uniformly true. It is more accurate to say that most Progressives were mainly interested in increasing the amount of democracy available to middle class, native whites and were less interested in increasing democracy for the poor, for immigrants, and for non-whites.

The Progressive Era helped respond to the economic and social problems due to industrialization. This movement helped changed living conditions. The Progressive movement was socially and economically successful because it opened the eyes of the public and caused change.

Write a 200-word journal essay that contrasts that although women received the right to vote in 1920, the Progressive Era was not as positive for African-Americans and immigrants. Why not? The Progressive movement helped a lot of people including women, however it did nothing for minorities (African-Americans). The people involved in the Progressive movement wanted to promote the interests of the middle class but their vision of what they considered to be middle class Americans centered on whites.

Women and children were able to join the work force, but for little pay and long hours. Many were face with poor work conditions, hazardous health issues and short lunch breaks. The economic success was often left unchecked by authorities, who were not ready to deal with the consequences of these uncharted waters.

The public was outraged by the conditions of meat packing industries in The Jungle