Synthesis Essay: What Was The Progressive Era?

In the United States there were countless reform movements that took place to help shape our very own United States. One of the most influential times of reform would have been considered the Progressive Era. Progressivism is put forth by many different historians, considered to be a movement created by various groups of people, in effort to boost their everyday lives by being more efficient and discard corruption. Historians like George Mowery “Progressivism:Middle Class Disillusionment” and Robert H. Wiebe “Progressivism Arrives” introduce us to these reformers as wealthier and higher class citizens in America. While Joseph Huthmacher brings up that the urban lower class are the people who stood up and provided the force for the reform.

Luckily, the movement of progressivism swept across America in a hurry. Progressives had an ultimate goal, to improve society. Homes and factories were filthy, deforestation was rising, and most people were working in horrible conditions. Using the examples of sanitation, wildlife, and the workplace; I can choose where to put my money. If I had one million dollars to spend on society improvements in the early 1900’s, I would spend $500,000 on factories and labor, $300,000 on sanitation and $200,000 on wildlife.

The Progressives tried to cope with the end of the accumulation of wealth

Many historians thought that the progressives came from the middle class. George Mowry asserted that the progressives were “self made men” mostly coming from wealthy families. A group of wealthy families helped make up the millionaires reform movement. Although, he thought reforms from the middle class made up the majority.

The Progressive Era from the 1890s to 1920s was a period that experienced extensive social activism and political reforms across the United States. This movement was spurred by the heightened level of corruption and injustice of large corporations and in government at that time. The movement primarily comprised of “liberals who wanted to reform and regulate their capitalist society and not destroy it. " There were several pushes to make the political process more open and transparent. One of which was the adaptation of the direct primary elections and to grant the Presidents more powers to regulate new laws.

Change in inevitable. Change often takes time, but it will happen. The Progressives of the 1890s through the 1920 were people in the United States of America that pushed change and reform to make life better. They wanted to bring change and reform to the United States by creating acts and fixing problems through the government. Progressives were successful in bringing reform at the federal level with the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the Keating-Owen act of 1916.

The progressive reformers were mostly middle class families during the early 19 hundreds. These reformers believed that every kid had the right to childhood so that they could develop into well rounded functioning adults. The middle class focused mostly on the poor who tended to be immigrants whose kids did not get to live in ideal situations. During this time the middle class had less kids which gave the kids more space in a figurative and literal sense and allowed them to have more resources from their parents and more time to pursue their interests. The poor classes did not have less kids, and they were forced to live in small apartments that were crowded and had poor air ventilation and septic system that lead to an increase in disease.

From 1896 to 1924, America went through a period known as progressivism in which people of all walks of life banded together to oppose conservatism and reform society. Progressives generally believed that government is necessary for change, however; it had to more significantly embody the ideals of democracy. Some of the specific changes that progressives wanted were regulating railroads, a direct election of senators, graduated income tax, limited immigration and eight-hour workdays. By supporting these changes, the progressives hoped to promote and expand democracy and thus give the people more power.

The early 1900s were a time of widespread social and political change in America. During this time, many Americans adopted new, more modern ideas about labor, cultural diversity and city life. Some of these Progressive ideas were brought about by the need for reform in the workplace due to the grown of large companies and rapid industrialization. Not everyone supported the ideas of the Progressive Movement, however. Anti-Progressives, especially in the South, preferred traditional, rural lifestyles, and a slower, simpler way of living.

The progressives were working class people, especially lower-class workers. The author states that “the urban lower class provided an active, numerically strong, and politically necessary force for reform” (Huthmacher 11). The lower-class workers had just as much as an impact as middle-class workers. They consisted of liberals that wanted to stop corrupt bosses who were obstructing the possibility of a great government system. They knew the harsh realities first hand and wanted to do something about it.

Forces such as immigration, industrialization, and the populist party during the time e=were the foundations that led to the progressive era reforms which impacted the American Government greatly in its democracy and in its activeness and involvement in businesses an so on. The progressive era reforms is quite similar to the New deal era in the 1930s, they each produced a record amount of programs and policies that worked to change the status of Americans living in poverty, which included their working

Reforming the Government During the years 1890 to 1920, there was a group of people called the Progressives they identified many problems that they saw in the city at the time. The Progressives were a diverse group of people from every work of life for example: journalists, Democratic politicians, Republican politicians, industry leaders, and many more. They agreed to use scientific principles in order to identify problems, offer solutions, and then in a rational ways solve these problems. For example, a group of journalists who utilized the Progressive ideals were called, “ the Muckrakers,” which helped spread knowledge about political and social problems. The Progressive’s believed society had these problems because of industrialization and organization, however, that is not completely correct.

Question 1. The progressive period in US history started in the 1890s and remained current through the 1920s. Progressive leaders in the US include President Teddy Roosevelt, President William Howard Taft, and President Woodrow Willson. The main objective of progressives was to rid the government of corruption. These progressive leaders targeted political machines and worked to rid the country of monopolistic enterprises that were exploiting regular citizens.

Jane Addams The Progressive Era, 1890-1920, accomplished great change in the Unites States of America. Many reformers and activits demanded for change in education, food and drug policies, and most importantly the govermenet. The goal for the movement was the purify the nation. One of the main activits during this time was Jane Addams. Jane Addams is often refered to as a social and political pioneer.

During the Progressive Era there were multiple of changes occurring that people became overwhelmed. New resources in the oil market, industrialization, fights for equality. There were many factory jobs, however, no one to stand up for the workers. So of course people will turn to their government for help, the power house of the country. However, even the government was picky in what they helped with.