Progressive American Women

I feel most significant transformation in domestic American society since the end of the Civil War was the Progressive Era. This era was initiated as a response to political and corporate abuses at the turn of the Twentieth Century. It was believed that the new industrial age was in need of a new order.
Women and Economics
During the progressive era the working woman became a symbol of emancipation. More and more young women were now in pursuit of a lifelong career. The spirit of personal independence ignited a transformation of both economic and family life.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote a book entitled Women and Economics in 1898. She states that women worked longer and harder than most men, and not just because they are raising the children. It is the wife and mother that carries all the burdens of the
All that they have - food and clothing and all the luxuries – depend upon how much their husband has, and how much he is willing to give her. That is a sad state of affairs, and it still rings true today for many women. Women who are satisfied to stay home and raise the children and not have a career face the realization that they could never survive financially on their own. The divorce rate was low back in the years following the Civil War. Women had not gained their “emancipation”. Gilman’s book had a strong impact on first generation feminists.
A Living Wage
John Ryan was a Catholic priest that was one of the Progressive Era’s foremost advocates of social justice. Industrial freedom and industrial democracy with the center of political discussion. There was a need to improve the general standard of living and work conditions.
Ryan presented a moral argument for a living wage, which led to minimum wage campaigns.
He went straight to the heart of the matter. Human dignity and the right to earn a living and provide for your family were decent rights that everyone should