The Progressive Era Began In The 1890's

The Progressive Era began in the 1890’s. The Progressive Era was a period of social and political reform in the US. Progressivism is the term applied to a variety of responses to the economic and social problems rapid industrialization introduced to America.
People in the United States had long been displeased with the unsafe conditions, political corruption and social injustice of the industrial age; it was not until the late 19th century that the accumulation of cheap newspapers and magazines publicized these issues. Writers directed their writings against the trusts (oil, beef and tobacco), and exploitation of natural resources, the insurance industry, pension practices and food processing, and many others.
President Theodore Roosevelt
Phillips graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) in 1887. He worked as a news reporter for Cincinnati Times-Star shortly after graduating before moving to New York in 1890. Phillips’ “Treason to the Senate” was a collection of articles explaining the political corruption taking place. This eventually led to the adoption of the 17th Amendment. The 17th amendment states:
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
Lincoln Steffens was born April 6, 1866 in San Francisco, California. Steffens received his first degree from Berkley and went on to continue his education in Germany and France. Steffens received a letter from his father containing one-hundred dollars and the words “Stay in New York and hustle”. The 26-year-old then began working for The New York Evening Post as a reporter. Within 9 years, he became the managing editor of McClure’s magazine, one of the most popular magazines in the country. Steffens wrote a series of articles which were turned into a book entitled “The Shame of the Cities” in 1904. The goal was to bring attention to corruption in both state and municipal governments (Brinkley
The Declaration of Independence was literature, but the New England Courant talked trash. The Constitution of the United States was philosophy; the Boston Gazette slung mud. The Gazette of the United States and the National Gazette were conceived as weapons, not chronicles of daily events, and as soon as the latter came into being, the two of them stood masthead to masthead and fired at each other without either ceasing or blinking or acknowledging the limitations of veracity. There were, of course, exceptions. Some journalism of the era was cordial: Benjamin Franklin's pieces, especially in the Pennsylvania Gazette, were witty and insightful and, more often than not, absent of malice in any form. Some journalism was thoughtful: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay collaborated on The Federalist Papers, first published in New York's Independent Journal, and they were as scholarly a collection of essays as have ever appeared in an American newspaper