DBQ The progressive era was a time of great social, economic, and political change in the United States that marked major changes in the daily lives of Americans. Between 1870 and 1920, reform movements for almost all aspects of American life took place. Although these reform movements did not affect the upper class, they would shape the majority of society leading all the way up to World War I. Changes in Political initiative, economic policy, and the social environment shaped the time period. American Expansionism and Civil Service examinations changed the political scene while new economic policies like the antitrust acts and the creation of the federal reserve reformed the period’s economic system. On top of all of that was the major …show more content…
With the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890, the government set out to limit the power of large corporations who were monopolizing good and controlling the economy. Small businesses struggled to stay afloat in the midst of these economic superpowers. The aim of the Sherman Antitrust Act was to make monopolization illegal. This was significant because it made the American economy rich with competition and increased monetary circulation. This in turn made the economy more favorable for smaller businesses. Another economic change that marked the progressive era as a turning point in history is the creation of the Federal Banks with the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. This act spread out the federal banking system which made the economy more stable than it had ever been before. This new period of economic prosperity and stability had not been seen in the previous era, and was the one that president Roosevelt strove to emulate during and immediately following the Great …show more content…
La Follette, the republican governor of Wisconsin, women's rights activist, and United States senator, played a large role in advocating for women’s rights. During the progressive era there was a rise in the number of both men and women who are willing to advocate and fight for the women suffrage. La Follette believed that women were just as able as men to perform in high level jobs and political offices, an opinion that would have been harshly ridiculed in any previous era. This opinion, coming from a white republican male, shows the shifting mentality of the role of women in society and leads the the passing of the 19th amendment in 1919 which finally gave women the right to vote, shifting the role of women and their responsibilities drastically. A similar rise in the fight for African American rights was seen during the time period, although its effectiveness was to a somewhat lesser extent. In the previous time period, African Americans had just been freed from slavery and faced extreme racism and prejudice in both the north and south. However, with the beginning of the progressive era there was a rise in the number of people willing to speak up for African Americans as well. In the cartoon by John McCutcheon, it showed an evident disparity between the quality of the two train
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 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
In the Progressive Era, reformers sought change to many industries that didn’t provide protection to the consumer, as well as the way certain groups of people, such as women, were looked at in the views of society. During this period, progressive reformers had a major role in the protection of consumers and the breakup of monopolies to which they were widely successful.
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.
At the turn of the century America entered a new age that many historians call the Progressive Era. During this time period, the American Political system changed its view on how America should be brought about. It provided a purification of the American government through direct democracy. This era included many social and political reforms, which were brought about due to monopolies, and trust corporations.
President Theodore Roosevelt, a leader of progressivism was highly in favor for a reform at a national level. He believed it was the governments duty to regulated businesses and improve the life's of the people. While the second industrial revolution brought major industrial achievement it also gave corporate bosses excessive amount of power, which they used to bend political parties to their favor and progressives such as president Wilson hoped to rectify this(Document 2). During this progressive movement many Americans focused on reform the country in ways that would creating a limitation on major business, such as Rockefeller Standard Oil, that used a unfair monopoly system to build their empire, which was damaging the economy. Roosevelt being the first to take signification action on trust-busting, such as passing the Hepburn Act which was enacted in 1906 set a precedent for the power of the federal government. The Hepburn Act set a maximum price for the freight rates on the railroads and it extended the reach of the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulation of pipelines, freight companies, sleeping-car companies, bridges and ferries. During this period the federal government passed an incredible amount of legislation that mainly regulated the problems in the society to provide a greater sense of regulation and protection for the people. Problems such as overbearing freight prices, vile food preparation and inconsistent economic status were issues that needed to be amended. Roosevelt also focused of the conservation of natural resources to help further developed the nation land and it's usefulness(Document 6). Anti-trust acts, Federal Reserve Acts were also established to break trusts to help improve market rates and improve the quality of life for the working class through more regulations on businesses by the federal government. Roosevelt trust-busting helped
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 is an era of increased government involvement to protect the welfare of the people and this happened only because of the help of reformers during that time. The reformers had a lot of goals that they want to achieve, but their main goals were regulating child labor, improving working conditions and expanding democracy. And they were quite successful in their goals. The child labor was one of the biggest problem back there, and it was increasing rapidly.
During the Progressive Era from 1890-1920, America saw three new presidents: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. This period of time is known as the Progressive Era due to the political and social changes made to move away from a laissez-faire government to a more active government by the administrations of these presidents. Prior to this period, Americans had to suffer through poor working conditions, low wages, social and class inequality and become victims to large corporations that took advantage of the people. In particular, the administrations of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson established the key principles and ideas of economic reform and social reform, which would end up returning the power from the manipulative corporations back to the government, establishing a model for a more active role for the federal government, and improve the lives of Americans. However, even though Roosevelt and Wilson had similar intentions of reforming America, they both had different means of achieving it.
Progressive Eras Progressiveness In the Progressive Era, many people were trying to fix the awful things that were happening to people, however, the general theme is that the most change came about to people who had influence, and the least change came about to people who didn’t. This can be found in overall changes to the economy with the breaking of trusts and changes in the things people eat, and a few changes with child labour laws and minimum wages, and Women’s and African American’s rights. Before the Progressive Era was an age named for the many amazing things that happened, such as economic and industrial growth, but the awful things lurking beneath the surface of the looming beast. Known as the Gilded Age, there was a huge divide between the rich and the poor.
Basically the progressive era was the repair damage done by the industrialism era. At this time the government wa having some problems of its own like roosevelt did good in office but it was a struggle. Roosevelt was trying to have a big stick diplomacy which is extended american policies force in fluneg finance concerns of latin americans. But what hasn't made anything easier was yellow journalism which is a newspaper that didn't have to be correct they can tell you anything with some real facts and they can get away with it and they technically didn't do anything wrong they followed all laws but that had started a bunch of
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 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 beginning of the twentieth century was a time of great social change and economic growth in the United States. The progressive era was a time in which Americans were innovating in social welfare. In the progressive period the government needed to take action in the role of economy, regulating big business, immigration, and urban growth. Once the great depression happened in which America’s economy faltered people started to panic. For Americans the main issues asked were how to make society work more efficiently. The great society era was a time of optimism after the post-world war II occurred. The creations of new federal programs were developed for those who were in need due to poverty, being disabled or old age.
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.