Preview

Ten Leading Reform Movements: The Progressive Movement

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1125 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ten Leading Reform Movements: The Progressive Movement
The Progressive Era, which lasted from 1900 to 1918, was a time in which the American government and its people aimed to improve their economic status and to correct injustices of their country. Here are the ten leading reform movements:
1. Civil Rights
After the Civil War, some would have expected that racism would have stopped but unfortunately, that didn’t happened. Racism still existed in the American society in the stated era therefore civil rights organizations, most made for African-Americans and Women (which would be furtherly discussed later), were founded. This is an example of the organizations: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The NAACP was founded by the Niagara Movement (another organization
…show more content…
Conservation
In the late 19th century, Americans paid little attention on how the importance of their environment. Lumber companies would cut trees and never replaced them; people would dump their wastes into rivers, poisoning it.
Fortunately, Roosevelt noticed the importance of their land and reserved forests and bodies of water by the influence of John Muir and Gifford Pinchot. John Muir persuaded Roosevelt that he should set aside 148 million acres of land and explained the importance of it, therefore Roosevelt then kept 1.5 million acres of water-power sites and another 80 million acres of land for mineral and water resources and also established 50 wildlife sanctuaries and several national parks.
By Gifford Pinchot’s words, The Newlands Act was established to make the federal government in charge of water resources of the west.

3. Socialism
The Socialist Party was formed in 1900. In 1912, Eugene Debs received 900,000 votes, which was six percent of the presidential votes cast that year. Debs attracted blue collar workers’ craving for better working conditions and higher wages. The party dealt with the country’s problems while having the views of the citizens.
4. Government
…show more content…
5. Health and Medicine
“The Jungle”, which is Upton Sinclair’s book, portrayed the disgusting conditions in the industry. After reading it, Roosevelt immediately went into action and ordered the commission to have an investigation in the meatpacking industry and therefore the Meat Inspection Act, which stated that there would be strict cleanliness policies for meatpacking businesses.
Also, through the findings of Dr. Harvey Washington, it was proved that there were harmful preservatives in foods and medicines and it alarmed the public. Therefore the Pure Food and Drug Act was formed; it basically prevented the contamination of foods and medicines and false advertising.

6. Labor Reform
One of the most concerning issues back in the progressive era was Child Labor. In 1890 to 1910, it was revealed there were two million children that had experience of working in America. Industries would hire children to work eighteen to twenty hours a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In contrast to 1910, ask any American today if they would like our national forests to be…

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gasoline are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation.” (Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation,…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    We must explore every aspect of the party to discover what it truly believes. The Socialist Party was founded as the Social Democratic party in 1898 by Eugene V. Debs and Victor Berger. A few years later in 1901 Eugene V. Debs ran for president of the country by uniting with Socialist Labor Party who was run by Morris…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Life before the Progressive Era consisted of a more industrialized America. Along with this came poverty, violence, and greed. The Progressive Era was an attempt to address these issues that came with the rapid industrialization in the U.S. The people that supported this thought that the problem could be resolved by providing the population with a better education, ensuring a safer work environment, and a more productive workplace. The Progressive Era changed society by causing more people to move from rural areas to inner-city locations in search for better jobs and education.…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    the reform movement

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages

    4. How did the “corrupt bargain” of 1824 and Adams’ unpopular presidency set the stage for Jackson’s election in 1828?…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Progressive Era Dbq

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages

    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 from the year 1900 to 1920, Progressive Era reformers were successful in bringing about reform to the United States.…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The time period from the latter parts of the 19th century and into the first couple decades of the 20th century there was a reform movement. This movement was centered on addressing different political, economic, and cultural questions that were brought forth by the rapid ascent in changes that were the product of the Industrial Revolution. Capitalism was also a concern as this experienced a dramatic growth in America that was not seen before. What started out as a social movement, turned into a political movement. This rapid change brought out the best and the worst of people and thoughts of how to fix, or reform the problems in a way that was the most beneficial. According to Theodore Roosevelt describing the Progressive movement and what they embody, “the movement which concerns itself with the rights of all women and men, especially with the welfare of all who toil.” This is what the Progressive movement was all about. There were changes in the culture, makeup, understanding, and direction the country was heading in that was causing alarm and the need for change was being called for.…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Progressive Era was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States, from the 1890s to 1920s. The main objective of the Progressive movement was eliminating corruption in government. The movement primarily targeted political machines and their bosses. By taking down these corrupt representatives in office a further means of direct democracy would be established. They also sought regulation of monopolies and corporations through antitrust laws. These antitrust laws were seen as a way to promote equal competition for the advantage of consumers. Many progressives supported Prohibition in the United States in order to destroy the political power of local bosses based in saloons. Disturbed by the waste,…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    The Progressive Era was a mixed bag of democratic and anti-democratic acts that conflicted themselves, the government had infringed on Americans freedom of speech by censoring certain things in the media, it also was responsible in aiding the creation of unions that represented the blue color worker of middle to lower class America. It’s involvement in society was missed due to its lack of appearance in the Gilded Age, but its inability to protect the basic rights that every man, woman, and child are born with contradicted what America was and still…

    • 1235 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the civil war, the US was facing many problems. These problems put the American public at risk and offended others. Something had to be done. This period in US history was called the Progressive era. Labor laws, women’s suffrage, and the US government were all reformed during the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s. The Progressives, middle class reformers, believed in abolishing all the harsh treatment and abuses that came with the growth of businesses.…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Progressivism Dbq

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Progressive Era was a time of huge advances and reform by the federal government and reformers that led the way to where America is today. The battle for women’s rights had been going on for many years but seriously picked up wind during this time period and finally reached some long sought after goals. With industry booming, labor conditions were in desperate need of change and caught the eye of both reformers and the federal government. Even though much time had passed since the Civil War, race relations were still strained and many African-Americans joined the crusade for equal rights and made it a major issue of the time. During the Progressive Era, reformers made many advances in women’s rights, labor conditions, race relations, and big business and trusts but faced challenging limitations on the way to their goals, and therefore turned to the federal government, who although effective in many reforms also failed in certain areas.…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The turning point in the Progressive Era I found to be important was the Women’s right movement. Women were citizens of the US, but were denied their right to vote. During this movement women tried to assert themselves as equal to men. Women wanted to have the same value in society that a man would receive. They were mainly rejected because of the typical gender roles where women are said to belong in a home.…

    • 226 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although the Progressive movement is usually seen as a great achievement in the history of American development, some feel that the Progressives failed to comply with the standards of equality and justice they had set out to create. The Progressive movement was instigated as a reaction to the political and corporate abuses created by the Industrial Revolution,. Religious groups, members of the press, and radical political groups had all been hungering for reform, with solutions ranging from subtle changes in the capitalist economy, to a call for the establishment of a socialist government. Reforms were initiated by individuals, and at the city, state, and national levels of the government.…

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Progressive Era was an important time in U.S history. During the Progressive Era many people were treated unfairly. For example there was child labor, discrimination against African Americans, and women suffrage during this era. This led too much rebellion across the United States.…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Progressive Reform

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages

    reform, passing child labor laws and worker reform laws that made the work place a more…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays