This essay is about injustices during the progressive movements in the late 1800's, early 1900's.
During the late 1800's and early 1900's, there were a lot of injustices in the United States. The Progressive Movement, which began in the late 1800's attempted to bring about government reforms and correct injustices in America.
One example of the problem in the U.S. was over population of the American cities. More and more people began to move cities from rural areas for jobs. As you can see in Document I, the cities were overcrowded and the infrastructure could not hold up with the influx of people moving to urban areas. The people lived in overcrowded housing developments that were dirty and poor.
There was also abuse in industries. This was exposed by Upton Sinclair
(Document 2). One of his most well known novels was The Jungle, which showed the abuse in the meat packing industry. He uncovered how the people would take extremely spoiled meat and use it as sausage or put it in to a can. They also used all parts of the meat and even rats were found to be in the meat. By writing this book, Sinclair was able to expose the corruption in the industry of meat packing, and Congress passed the Meat Inspection Act.
A position change brought about the declining numbers of children between the ages of ten and fifteen who worked. In Document 3, you can see by the chart that the number of children working decreased by 6.8% from 1890 to 1920. Children were often used as cheap labor and were abused greatly. The government was able to reduce the number of working children under sixteen during this period of time because many states passed children labor laws.
Around this time, big businesses came to power. As shown in Document 4, there were many abuses in businesses. The people who ran and formed these industries/trusts/businesses, such as Andrew Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Henry Ford. They acted like the big bosses and held control of much of the U.S. industry. In Document 5, Teddy Roosevelt explained how he felt about how these big businesses (oil, steel, copper, etc.)
One example of the problem in the U.S. was over population of the American cities. More and more people began to move cities from rural areas for jobs. As you can see in Document I, the cities were overcrowded and the infrastructure could not hold up with the influx of people moving to urban areas. The people lived in overcrowded housing developments that were dirty and poor.
There was also abuse in industries. This was exposed by Upton Sinclair
(Document 2). One of his most well known novels was The Jungle, which showed the abuse in the meat packing industry. He uncovered how the people would take extremely spoiled meat and use it as sausage or put it in to a can. They also used all parts of the meat and even rats were found to be in the meat. By writing this book, Sinclair was able to expose the corruption in the industry of meat packing, and Congress passed the Meat Inspection Act.
A position change brought about the declining numbers of children between the ages of ten and fifteen who worked. In Document 3, you can see by the chart that the number of children working decreased by 6.8% from 1890 to 1920. Children were often used as cheap labor and were abused greatly. The government was able to reduce the number of working children under sixteen during this period of time because many states passed children labor laws.
Around this time, big businesses came to power. As shown in Document 4, there were many abuses in businesses. The people who ran and formed these industries/trusts/businesses, such as Andrew Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Henry Ford. They acted like the big bosses and held control of much of the U.S. industry. In Document 5, Teddy Roosevelt explained how he felt about how these big businesses (oil, steel, copper, etc.)