Preview

Progressives In The 1800s

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
739 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Progressives In The 1800s
Riley Mangieri 12-19-15 Mr. Rauschenbach Grade 8 Progressives in the late 1800’s-1900’s
Our nation lost its way during the Gilded Age (1870s-1920s). The Gilded Age was a term made up by Mark Twain due to him having a book called the Gilded Age, which satirized American society in the late 1800s. It was a time of government corruption, poverty, and awful labor conditions but it being covered up by big businesses, or “gilded”. Progressives were people who were advocating social reforms such as the prohibition of alcohol sales,the riddance of the spoils system, and women’s suffrage. Examples of these Progressives included Progressives took it upon themselves to better the nation and live up to America being a free and opportunistic country.
One of the goals of Progressives was temperance, or not consuming alcohol. In the mid-1800s, alcohol was commonly blamed for violent family problems or criminal acts. In 1874, women Progressives from many different background made a union called the WCTU, or the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. They fought for state laws that would restrict to ban alcohol. Frances Willard was the leader of the union and created over 10,000 branches and forced 1,000 saloons to shut down. Carry Nation had a more violent way of carrying on the movement.
…show more content…
It was a time in which the government was “gilded”. There were many problems, some of these including the spoils system, violence issues being caused by alcohol, and women not having the right to vote. These problems were also solved throughout this period through protesting and fighting for the morals of this country. Overall, his time period showed the worst of our country and how we fixed these issues and once again began to live up to the morals we were formed

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Progressives vs. Today The Progressive Era was a time of reform taking place from the 1890s to the 1920s. During the Progressive Era, women's rights, African American's rights, and child labor were key issues dealt with. This Era had an overall attitude of toughness, and a parent might tell their child something along the lines of, "Man up and deal with it." But how would someone from the Progressives view our society today?…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the early 1900’s alcohol was blamed for many of society’s social reform issues. The drinking of alcohol was thought to be holding back immigrants and poor citizens from advancing into a higher social class. When the man of the family spent money on alcohol, the money he spent was often needed to provide for his family. Many people abused alcohol, causing problems for their communities and the families in them. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union was very strong for the prohibition of alcohol. Founded in 1873. Frances Willard, known for being a key reformist for the prohibition, was the second president of the WCTU. She led women to saloons trying to convince owners not to sale alcohol my singing and praying. In 1919 the Volstead Act was passed which said, "No person shall manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, furnish or possess any intoxicating liquor.” The combination of that act and the 18th…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Between the 1890s and World War One, reform efforts started taking place by the progressives. The progressives were not a single unified group and even had some contradicting goals. They were middle class urban dwellers and some were women. The progressives wanted to end prostitution, Americanize immigrants, antitrust legislation created, women’s suffrage, and the start of prohibition. An example of a group of progressive women who wanted to start prohibition is The Women’s Christian Temperance Union. This group was lead by Francis Willard. The goals of the Women’s Christian Temperance union were to lobby for federal aid for education, free school lunches, unions for workers, an eight-hour workday, work relief for the poor, municipal sanitation and boards of health, national transportation, strong anti-rape laws, protections against child abuse and of course prohibition. The root of Willard's argument for female suffrage was based on the platform of "Home Protection", which Willard described as "the movement...the object of which is to secure for all women above the age of twenty-one years the ballot as one means for the protection of their homes from the devastation caused by the legalized traffic in strong drink."[1] These "devastations" were the violent acts against women committed by…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before the Progressive Era women found themselves in traditional roles raising the family and keeping the families moral compass pointing in the proper manner. Many of them never considered life outside of them home, as this was how they were raised. In the advent of the beginning years of the Progressive Era with many of the largest companies controlling the largest chunks of America’s financial interests these same women were looking outside. By this I mean, the very important job they had raising the family was getting increasingly more difficult as many families were forced into tenement situations. The unbidden squalor of the tenement with its poor sanitation, substandard water, as well as increasingly poor education were directly affecting the home.…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era were 50 years in which a large wealth gap between the rich and poor increased dramatically and needed a solution, similar to our nation’s situation today. Big corporations in major cities were able to take advantage of a surplus of those in the working class and technological advancements, leading to a select few holding the majority of fortune. There were many resolutions to this gap in wealth coming from powerful people, like Andrew Carnegie, William Sumner, and progressive reformers like Alva Belmont, yet even with successes by the progressive trade unionists and socialists, the end result was inadequate. Due to corruption within the political system and disconnect between those trying to help and those…

    • 1613 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Social Welfare/ Roosevelt

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages

    2. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), founded in Cleveland in 1874 lead the crusade for prohibition. Members advanced their cause by entering saloons, praying, singing and urging saloon keepers to stop selling alcohol.…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Walter Nugent’s book Progressivism: A Very Short Introduction, he claims Progressivism emerged as a response to the Gilded Age, an unfortunate era that left the average working Americans poor while a new class of wealthier people started to rise. Nugent explains to us the breakdown of Progressivism and what occurred when it struck our nation. Progressivism began to come together in the end of the 1800s due to the ills of American Society that had developed during the great spurt of industrial growth. It shaped and progressed from 1900 to 1917 and finally started to disappear from 1917 to the early 1920s. Nugent claims Progressivism emerged as a response to the Gilded Age, an unfortunate era that left the average working Americans poor while a new class of wealthier people started to rise. For once, Americans sensed change in their society. Some change for the good but most of it for the worse. Nugent talks about how cities began growing up faster than the blink of an eye. The railroad companies started to turn into monopolies. Unfortunately, more problems started to rise in America other than this one. The rich became wealthier and the poor became poorer. The nation had also previously faced a serious recession from 1893-1896, and recovery did not actually really begin until 1897. Other factors that occurred during the progressive era: prostitution and alcohol abuse, the great railroad strike of 1877, and the Homestead Strike.…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In a time when women were ignored and downtrodden by the male-dominant society, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union arose in 1874 to fight against the culture of alcohol that threatened the lives and livelihoods of women and families. Among these was a woman named Carry Nation, a radical fighter in the temperance movement who caused the destruction of bars in protest of the state of Kansas’ failure to enforce a ban on the production of alcohol.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the Progressive Era from 1900 to1920, the reformers and the federal government were very successful in bringing reform at a…

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union to not only reform social and political change for women, but to teach women how to conduct themselves in the new society. She often referred to these teachings and trainings as the “WCTUniversity” where women learned how to think on their feet, speak in public places, and run an organization. However, their main objective for organizing the union was to ban the consumption and sale of alcohol. The union believed alcohol was one of the leading, contributing factor to moral and social degeneration. As the motivation force behind the organization, Willard created recognition for the needed reform in areas outside of women’s rights and focused on social reformation. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union used their Christian faith to promote equality among all American citizens. Their efforts called for the promotion of positive local citizenship and aiding the poor, the homeless, and those suffering from alcoholism. Frances Willard would soon be known as a celebrity in her exertions to reform the political and social order of the late nineteenth century.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Historians write of a “progressive movement.” (Nash 613) However, there were in fact numerous movements, “all focusing on the problems created by a rapidly expanding urban and industrial world.” (Nash 613) “Given their faith in the reforming potential of healthy and educated citizens, it was logical that most social justice progressives opposed the sale of alcohol.” (Nash 623) Most of these people in which participated in these reforms favored prohibition for pragmatic…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    WCTU And Prohibition

    • 1428 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was devoted to bringing prohibition to the United States in order to protect the women and children of America from the repercussions of alcohol. The WCTU was conceived in November of 1874 due to the newly established habits of the men of America (Woman’s). Having the capable leadership of the founders, the WCTU spread quickly. In a miniscule span of time, the women made a significant impact which pressed the borders of their home country, threatening to bubble over to those countries which faced like oppression. The lasting effects of their efforts still linger in the present society in which the conflicts dealt with by these women are prominently evident today.…

    • 1428 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gaining its origins in the late nineteenth century, pro-abolition activists and anti-prostitution feminists opposed The Progressive Era was an important time for social purist reformers, who followed the moral framework developed in the Jacksonian era of a “civilized society.” The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was founded by social purist reformers during the temperance movement. They claimed that alcohol contributed to violence against women. Therefore, prostitution was in danger of such violence and was an uncivilized act in which women subjected themselves to the desires of men.…

    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Progressive Era was a time of responses to the economic, social problems, and rapid industrialization introduced to America. Progressivism began as a social movement and grew into a political movement. The early progressives were people who believed that the problems society faced (poverty, violence, and greed, racism, and class warfare) could best be addressed by providing good education, a safe environment, and an efficient workplace. Progressives lived mainly in the cities, were college educated, and believed that government could be a tool for change. The progress came from a long tradition of middle-class elites possessing a strong sense of social duty to the poor. The social hierarchy wherein blue-blooded, native stock was at the top and the poor along with “dark-skinned were at the bottom, were accepted by the elite. But inherent in their role as privileged members of society was a certain degree of responsibility for the less fortunate. As members of the middle class, many Progressives had money, time, and resources to devote to the cause of reform.…

    • 1473 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Those who were in favor of alcohol proposed to only get rid of the hard liquor. They believed that beer was the working man’s beverage and to prohibit that was a stab at the workers, while the wealthy got to keep their expensive wine and hard liquor. Those who were against alcohol voiced their opinion that it led to corruption, prostitution, spousal abuse and other criminal activities (WCTU). The Women’s Christian Temperance…

    • 2120 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays