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Essay on The Progressive Era

Decent Essays

The Progressive Era

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.

With the rise of big business and industrialization came several problems associated with the economic boom. The rich were getting richer. The poor were getting poorer. The gap between the "haves" and the "have nots was widening. Working conditions were not regulated, and at the turn of the century, the United States had a terrible …show more content…

The novel and subsequent investigations led to the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. This is just a glimpse as to the key role that muckrakers had in the Progressive society. Another key element of the Progressive Era was the Social Gospel. The Social Gospel sought to bring religious ethics into industrial relations and everyday life. Several followers of the Social Gospel questioned the accuracy of the bible and instead focused more on the basic moral and ethical lessons it entailed.

As a result of the Social Gospel and the feelings that were engulfing the nation, Charles Sheldon, a Kansas minister wrote a book entitled In His Steps. The novel tells the story of upper class minister who challenges the members of his congregation to live their lives according to "what Jesus would do". Throughout the novel, many inferences are made and several parallels exist between the novel and the actual time period in which it was set.

The most obvious link between In His Steps and the actual Progressive Era is that the entire plot of the novel is based on the theory of the Social Gospel. The small town minister challenges a handful of willing congregates to base their every decision on what they feel Jesus would do in the situation. As a result, those who pledged to abide by the idea were then placed in the predicament of taking old fashion stances on modern issues, for Jesus was never confronted with

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