Problems Of The Progressive Era
The industrial era was a time of great change, but there were numerous problems that needed to be resolved, the progressive era was a result of this and fixed many of these issues.
One complication that the progressive era solved is the rapid urbanisation and industrialisation of cities. Often overcrowded because of immigration, cities had very low standards of living, people couldn't sustain themselves; one man named Jacob Riis even photographed the poor and published his book “How The Other Half Lives” to get the attention of people. The result of this was the formation of the Salvation Army and the YMCA. These organisations opened schools, soup kitchens, gymnasiums, and pools for poor children. This increased the morale of mostly immigrant …show more content…
families who originally came here for their children to receive better education, but had to work to sustain themselves and their families.
In the early 20th century working conditions were also terrible. 14 hour working days with no breaks, no minimum wage, and child labor, are just a few of the conditions of the average factory worker. Labor unions were made to combat this. The first national union was the AFL led by Samuel Gompers. Labor unions passed numerous laws making better conditions for workers, especially children. Furthermore, factories made one person do one job very well. Although, the disadvantage to this was that workers would stop paying attention to their jobs and get hurt. Unions additionally raised pay, pushed a national minimum wage, shortened working days adding breaks, giving job security to the workers etc.
The political corruption in cities, especially New York, was in the form of political machines.
Politicians like boss tweed ran as city officials and used those positions for their own gain. They also paid for immigrants services like sewage and for their food so they would vote for them. Because there was no security at the voting stations, people were forced to vote for one politician. Also, political machines made them vote twice because there was no identification that could be used so if you change their appearance there is no way to know if someone voted beforehand. Women had no right to vote and alcoholism was a major problem. New laws fixed most of these problems like the secret ballot, which gave voters security, new city officials were also elected to stop corruption, and the 7th amendment gave people direct power over the senators being elected. The women's suffragist movement led by Alice paul passed the 19th amendment which allowed women to vote. And the temperance movement passed a law that prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol. The temperance movement aldo gave credibility to the women's suffragist movement since it's main figures, like carrie nation who smashed bottles and kegs of alcohol so it would be wasted, were
women.
In conclusion the progressive era aimed and often succeeded to fix society's problems caused by the industrial era for the future of the United States.
One complication that the progressive era solved is the rapid urbanisation and industrialisation of cities. Often overcrowded because of immigration, cities had very low standards of living, people couldn't sustain themselves; one man named Jacob Riis even photographed the poor and published his book “How The Other Half Lives” to get the attention of people. The result of this was the formation of the Salvation Army and the YMCA. These organisations opened schools, soup kitchens, gymnasiums, and pools for poor children. This increased the morale of mostly immigrant …show more content…
families who originally came here for their children to receive better education, but had to work to sustain themselves and their families.
In the early 20th century working conditions were also terrible. 14 hour working days with no breaks, no minimum wage, and child labor, are just a few of the conditions of the average factory worker. Labor unions were made to combat this. The first national union was the AFL led by Samuel Gompers. Labor unions passed numerous laws making better conditions for workers, especially children. Furthermore, factories made one person do one job very well. Although, the disadvantage to this was that workers would stop paying attention to their jobs and get hurt. Unions additionally raised pay, pushed a national minimum wage, shortened working days adding breaks, giving job security to the workers etc.
The political corruption in cities, especially New York, was in the form of political machines.
Politicians like boss tweed ran as city officials and used those positions for their own gain. They also paid for immigrants services like sewage and for their food so they would vote for them. Because there was no security at the voting stations, people were forced to vote for one politician. Also, political machines made them vote twice because there was no identification that could be used so if you change their appearance there is no way to know if someone voted beforehand. Women had no right to vote and alcoholism was a major problem. New laws fixed most of these problems like the secret ballot, which gave voters security, new city officials were also elected to stop corruption, and the 7th amendment gave people direct power over the senators being elected. The women's suffragist movement led by Alice paul passed the 19th amendment which allowed women to vote. And the temperance movement passed a law that prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol. The temperance movement aldo gave credibility to the women's suffragist movement since it's main figures, like carrie nation who smashed bottles and kegs of alcohol so it would be wasted, were
women.
In conclusion the progressive era aimed and often succeeded to fix society's problems caused by the industrial era for the future of the United States.