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The Progressive Era Essay

Decent Essays

Progressive Era reformers such as Theodore Roosevelt, Jane Addams, and W.E.B Dubois were largely successful in prompting national reform in issues regarding direct democracy, social equality, and economic regulations through the use of political power, public pressure/opinion, and muckraking however, the progressive change was not met without resistance as multiple political and social belief obstacles prevented such progress, but the overall impact of the Progressive Era was its lasting success.
In the early 20th century, progressive reformers noticed the senators representing them in congress tended to be of the rich and influential businessmen of the time, so they used political power to direct the the public pressure to their government …show more content…

Woman activists such as Jane Addams was one of many to arise from the Progressive Era due to the settlement house movement which offered a door to public life, exposing the middle class woman to poverty, corruption, child labor and many other problems plaguing American cities. After witnessing factories using child labor, Jane Addams, wrote The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets to expose child labor in modern industry and raise awareness to the general public, as well as call out political leaders for not acting on child labor (C). This muckraking, paired with others, eventually caused enough public pressure that the Child Labor Act was enacted in 1916 which prohibited products made by children to traded across state borders. Unfortunately, this national law was deemed unconstitutional in court case Hammer v. Dagenhart, 1918 showing that not all progressive reforms were completely successful (G). Another focus of female activism was woman suffrage which a grand amount of resistance especially by President Wilson. Public pressure in the form of protests, marches, and parades used WWI to expose Wilson’s inconsistencies of sympathizing with non-self-governed Germans and not sympathizing with

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