The Progressive Era

Through a multitude of significant changes physically, conceptually, economically, and more, the societal reformation of cities in the Progressive Era had set themselves as the foundations of American civilization. The juxtaposition between the rich and poor statuses in these urban areas show the drastic separation within developing cities. Through this division caused a wide variety of living conditions, the majority of which held the overcrowded sections of cities where the population mostly stayed while the higher end communities had more luxurious lives. Through this success of entrepreneurship and economic growth from all aspects in cities, the entire landscape, both physically through innovative architecture and the perspectives outside rural and suburban areas had on them, had transformed for the better in these areas.

The progressive Era was times in History were local state and federal government took a leap forward in power and activism. In addition, the progressive era, was a time of development of new reforms and changes for America. Progressivism handles a wide range of problems and struggle for America. Such problems were created by unstructed industrialization, urbanization and immigration. As well as, the unfavorable distribution of power and wealth. Progressives believed strongly that problems such as these needed immediate action. Progressives existed in churches, organized labor, local political life, organizations and progressives of high education. Progressives wanted to make America better through inniatives, arranged action, idealism and social scientific research. Progressive had a tendency to expect the best possible outcome of situations. By, the 1920’s, progressives put in effect, changes of all aspects of society and government. Nevertheless, progressives had unhonorable qualities as well. They were biased of class and prejudiced against races.

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.

The Progressive Era was a time period between the years 1900-1920 and it marked a time in American history in which society was bursting with enthusiasm to improve life in the industrial age by making political and social changes through government action that ultimately led to a higher quality of life for American citizens. Progressives were known for their beliefs in limiting the power of big business, strengthening the power of the states, and were advocators against corruption and social injustice. These progressive reformers as well as the Federal Government successfully managed to improve the quality of life and establish a precedent for a move active government, although neither was completely successful in solving significant

The progressive movement is a middle class response to take on the problems that was caused by the industrialization in the rapid social change that took place during the civil war. It is a collection of reform movements. The progressive era was when reformers or activists who were working to solve the problems in the American society and the government were trying to end the laissez-faire. The root of progressive started during the glided age. This era started in 1890 and ended in 1920. A solution was needed to eliminate all the problems that was faced over the years. The fight for social justices include social reforms, women’s suffrage movement, and political reforms.

The progressive era from the 1890s to 1900s was the time where changes happened in the government in order to eliminate unfair business practices from big businesses corporations, exploitation of labor, and political corruptions. To begin with, many large businesses were corrupt; resulted in the formations of monopolies and trusts taking obscene amount of money. These businesses worked together to take control of the industry and charged unfair prices due to small quantity of competitions. To balance the economic power of these big businesses, the public demanded the government to take actions; the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed in order to “prohibit anti competitive practices and prevent unreasonable concentrations of economic power” (Encyclopedia).

In the period of time following the Reconstruction Era the Progressive era came about, presented with abundant opportunity but also hindered by significant economic, political, and social issues. America was pining for a leader who could provide solutions to all of these issues, caused by rapid industrialization. In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt emerged as a leader for the progressivism movement, which focused on reforming the major issues that society faced at that time such as fear of immigrants and corporate greed. Roosevelt was recognized as a friend to the common people as well as a trustbuster, and this furthered his reputation as being the savior of the issues of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s because he pushed to reform as many obstacles presented to him as he could. Even though he gained his presidential spot due to the assassination of President McKinley he still proved to be the most effective president in dealing with the issues of the late 1800s and the early 1900s.

The Progressive Era cannot be characterized by one single event or person, but it certainly experienced multiple events and people who swam with high velocity in the sea of reformation. People such as Jane Addams, Teddy Roosevelt, and W.E.B DuBois led the progressive movement with their outspoken ideas and impact on the era. Events and works such as The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Muller vs Oregon, and the Clayton Antitrust Act stand out as important and pivotal to the era. Between 1900 and 1920, many successful attempts at progressive legislature were led to enact overall moral and social reform throughout the United States, as evident in the growth of democracy, regulation of business, as well as the growth of women’s and worker’s rights. While many successful outcomes are believed to have come about during this era, the clear outlier is that of the livelihood of the African Americans, and how the government turned its back on an entire race for the better part of the 20th century.

During the Progressive Era, many citizens attempted to stop the racism within former confederate states by exposing the horrors of the wrongdoings, through speeches, protests, literature and other means of expression, who were known as progressives. One progressive, Ida B. Wells. helped to expose lynchings and racial discrimination through the use of bold and clear literature. Another, Booker T. Washington, believed that blacks should become more economically independent, so that discrimination will eventually cease. W.E.B. Dubois, another progressive, wanted and expressed instant racial equality through the use of forming groups and classic literature.

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.

There are many ways in which the progressive era saw expansion and restriction of political and economic freedoms. In the progressive era, the economy grew enormously. But because America was changing from a rural society to more of an urban scene, industrialization occurred. As a result, businesses were booming, which jump started the economy. This was the beginning of the uprising of America’s economy during the progressive era. Big business essentially became in control of the economy, and this is where we see those restrictions. Because big businesses were in control of the economy, greed became an epidemic among businesses and corporations which resulted in unfair working conditions and unsteady shifts for the working class. It also created a larger gab between the working class and the business owners in terms of wealth. However, this did not last long as reform came. These victories helped shape the expansion of the economy of the progressive era, which included a minimum wage, predictable 8-hour work shifts, and better working conditions. The economy thrived in which more people sought jobs and retention rates in jobs rose due to the better working conditions.

The Progressive Era was a term used to describe a time period that had numerous reforms to correct the problems of the country. The origins of this time period was created from the lower class aiming to, “eliminate corruption in government, regulate business practices, address health hazards, and improve working conditions.” Not only did the lower class support reform, but middle class workers too because they were in competition with immigrants for jobs or they were women struggling for the same rights that men had. Another reform Progressives wanted was the right to a direct say in the primaries of elections so the public had more control within government. With more control in the government, this would allow the power of big corporation to be limited and prevent future problems that the middle and lower classes could endure. These goals the reformers had in the Progressive Era, led to a plethora of movements and actions in

The root of the Progressive Era comes from the emergence of industrialism in the United States had created some terrible problems and they wanted to work together to change the U.S government. Therefore, address the problems that had come about from the Industrial Revolution. The progressive era was all about making advances in a better society, the feature of democracy during the progressive movement a lot of these progressive at local state levels started to focus on cleaning up the government, they believed that too many governments elected officials did the bidding of corporations rather

congress managed to limit the power of the speaker so more voices could be heard

Up until the 1920s, women’s struggle for their right to vote seemed to be a futile one. They had been fighting for their suffrage for a long time, starting numerous women's rights movements and abolitionist activists groups to achieve their goal. “The campaign for women’s suffrage began in earnest in the decades before the Civil War. During the 1820s and 30s, most states had enfranchised almost all white males (“The Fight for Women's Suffrage” ). This sparked women to play a more emphatic role in society. They began to participate in anti-slavery organizations, religious movements, and even meetings where they discussed that when the Constitution states "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain