Changes In The Progressive Era

America experienced many changes in the mid-1800s. Immigrants poured into the country at exponential rates to find jobs made by the growth of industry. As more and more immigrants came into large cities to find jobs, factories became very crowded and political machines took advantage of the new immigrants’ political power. The Progressive Era was a social movement motivated by muckrakers in the middle and upper class who sought to find and expose corruption in society. Rapid urbanization led to a corrupt political system and horrid industrial conditions that only wholesale progressive reforms could begin to improve.
In the late 19th century, political machines controlled much of the government by using the spoils system. William M. Tweed was the party boss of Tammany Hall, a powerful political machine in New York City. Boss Tweed would give jobs to any new immigrant who voted for his party. Voting booths during that time period were open so that members of the political machines could ensure that people voted for their party. In order to fix the corruption of political machines, progressive
Prior to the Progressive Era, state senators were chosen by the legislators of their particular state. However, with the passing of the 17th Amendment senators were elected by the citizens of their state. The direct primary was established so that presidential candidates were chosen by the citizens rather than the Party Boss. The passage of the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. This was the greatest extension of democratic suffrage in American history. Finally, initiatives, referendums and recalls gave citizens the ability to petition for new laws to be put on the ballot. These laws could then be voted on by the citizens of a state and approved or declined. The aforementioned reforms were the first steps of giving more power to people and lessening the power of political