Professional Documents
Culture Documents
History of USA
History of USA
Introduction
By the beginning of the twentieth century, muckraking journalists were calling attention
to the exploitation of child labor, corruption in city governments, the horror of lynching,
and the ruthless business practices employed by businessmen like John D. Rockefeller.
At the local level, many Progressives sought to suppress red-light districts, expand high
schools, construct playgrounds, and replace corrupt urban political machines with more
minimum wage laws for women workers, instituted industrial accident insurance,
At the national level, Congress passed laws establishing federal regulation of the meatpacking,
drug, and railroad industries, and strengthened anti-trust laws. It also lowered
the tariff, established federal control over the banking system, and enacted legislation to
improve working condition. Four constitutional amendments were adopted during the
Progressive era, which authorized an income tax, provided for the direct election of
senators, extended the vote to women, and prohibited the manufacture and sale of
alcoholic beverages.
Efforts to improve society were not new to the United States in the late 1800s. A major
push for change, the First Reform Era, occurred in the years before the Civil War and
included efforts of social activists to reform working conditions and humanize the
treatment of mentally ill people and prisoners. The second reform era began during
Reconstruction and lasted until the American entry into World War I.
The struggle for women's rights and the temperance movement were the initial issues
addressed. A farm movement also emerged to compensate for the declining importance of
rural areas in an increasingly urbanized America.
Chiefly the Middle class residents of US cities were the active member of this revolution.
It was a movement by the urban middle class apart from doctors, lawyers, ministers and
storekeepers there now were thousands of white collar office workers and middle class
managers employed in banks, firms and other businesses. They were disturbed about
Progressives Presidents
Racism
Women suffrage
Greater Democracy
Monopoly
Role of the Muckrakers
The need for reform was highlighted by a group of journalists and writers known as the
muckrakers, who made Americans aware of the serious failings in society and built
Lincoln Steffens ‗The Shame of the Cities (1904), an attack on municipal corruption
Ida Tarbell's History of the Standard Oil Company (1904), which chronicled ruthless business,
practices.
The muckrakers' impact could be powerful, as in the case of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
(1906), a book whose vivid descriptions of working and sanitary conditions in Chicago's
A. Political Reforms
B. Social Reforms
Child labor laws
Immigration Restriction
Success of Progressives
Successes were many, beginning with the Interstate Commerce Act (1887) and the
Sherman Antitrust Act (1890). Progressives never spoke with one mind and differed sharply
over the most effective means to deal with the ills generated by the trusts; some favored an
activist approach to trust-busting, others preferred a regulatory approach.
railroad legislation, and food and drug laws. The progressive spirit also was evident in
new amendments added to the Constitution (text), which provided for a new means to
elect senators, protect society through prohibition and extend suffrage to women.
Urban problems were addressed by professional social workers who operated settlement
houses as a means to protect and improve the prospects of the poor. However, efforts to
place limitations on child labor were routinely thwarted by the courts. The needs of
African Americans and Native Americans were poorly served or served not at all — a
Progressive reforms were carried out not only on the national level, but in states and
municipalities. Such reforms as the direct primary, secret ballot, and the initiative,
referendum, and recall were effected. Local governments were strengthened by the
widespread use of trained professionals, particularly with the city manager system
The Exploitation was labor was checked and working hours were decided
responsibility.
4. Clayton Anti Trust Act (Removed deficiencies in Sherman Anti Trust Act)
6. New York State Tenement House Act (Ban on Construction of dark and airless
buildings)
9. Federal Aid Road Act (Construction of road from federal funds money)
Discuss the progress of the Progressive Movement in the United States between 1900 to 1916. (CSS
2001)