The Progressive Era

The Progressive Era

1. Working Conditions

   • Upton Sinclair
     • Upton Sinclair's greatest work that affected Progressive Era issues was The Jungle. In The Jungle, Sinclair exposed the true processes behind the meat packing industries, including the exploitation of immigrants and unsanitary and unsafe conditions. After this, many process and regulations were put in place to protect the workers and eliminate many of the inhumane acts these companies were employing.

2. Immigrant Living Conditions

   • Hull House
     • Hull House was established as a settlement house for immigrants in Chicago. A nursery and kindergarten were provided for immigrant children, and the settlement house model spread to New York. Hull House eventually began to expose other dangerous conditions many immigrants lived through on a day to day basis, such as sweatshop conditions and child labor.
   • Jane Addams
     • Addams was one of the leading women reformers of her time. She founded Hull House to aid immigrant families. She later expanded her social concerns to a global scale, receiving the Nobel Peace Price in 1931. Addams work drastically changed immigrant lives and helped set a system that would be used for many of the unfortunate and downtrodden citizens in America's future.
   • Jacob Riis
     • A New York City journalist, Jacob Riis wrote How the Other Half Lives in 1890. This book exposed the squalid living conditions many immigrants found themselves. He even provided photographic evidence of the extreme poverty the working class lived, making the situation extremely real to the public. Riis's work lead to many housing reforms in New York City and helped bring about the idea that society is somewhat responsible for alleviating poverty.

3. Big Business

   • Meat Inspection Act; Pure Food and Drug Act
     • Passed to protect the public's health and welfare, these acts regulated the food industries and prevented the cut corners and unethical workings that had been previously employed. These acts enforced sanitary conditions and curbed some of Big Business' exploitation of the industry and immigrant workers.
   • Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890
     • One of the first federal movements to regulate monopolies and trusts, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act declared monopolies were illegal only if they restricted free trade. The main goal of the Act was to limit the anti-competitive practices between cartels and monopolies that had developed alongside the trusts.
     • Clayton Anti-Trust Act
       • In response to the loopholes found in the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Congress passed the Clayton Anti-Trust Act to further restrict monopolies. The acts main purpose was to clarify what was considered unfair business practices (such as price fixing), and keep big business from controlling an entire industry.
   • Theodore Roosevelt
     • Theodore Roosevelt considered his role as President to be a mediator between the corporations and the working class. He was very anti-trust, yet, at the same time he was a proponent for business. Roosevelt is recognized as the first major national politician to go after corrupt trusts and monopolies. Through his administration, several large trusts were disbanded; however, Roosevelt was more concerned with regulating trust rather than breaking them apart. He signed the Hepburn Act in 1906 to regulate the railroad monopolies.
   • William Howard Taft
     • In contrast to Roosevelt, Taft was a big proponent of disbanding large trusts and monopolies. His most notable work in this area was when he attacked Carnegie's U.S. Steel. His main work against big business was to make all trusts and monopolies illegal.
   • Act Woodrow Wilson
     • Woodrow Wilson took a different course from both Roosevelt and Taft. Instead of advocating big business or attacking large trusts and corporations, Wilson pushed small business incentives. However, Wilson supported Roosevelt's view more than Taft's, signing the Clayton Anti-Trust Act.

4. Environmentalism

   • National Wildlife Refuges
     • An example of women's growing influence,national wildlife refuges were created at the beginning of the 20th century after the pressure women's societies put on the government. These refuges were created to protect America's fish, wildlife, and plants and to preserve them for future generations. These designated sections were protected by the government, providing areas where the land could exist in its natural state.
   • John Muir
     • A naturalist and writer, John Muir was the founder of the Sierra Club, an environmental organization. He called for the preservation of America's natural land formations and declared that humans needed natural beauty not marred by modern day structures. Muir worked alongside Roosevelt to establish multiple state parks.
   • Gifford Pinchot
     • In contrast to John Muir, Gifford Pinchot advocated conservation of land, meaning to use the resources of the land without wasting any thing or taking more than necessary. Pinchot is considered to be the father of American forestry, and he worked in federal management of national forests.

5. Women's Rights

   • National American Suffrage Association
     • The National American Suffrage Association was the leading organization for women's rights in the early 20th century. Comprised mostly of middle and upper-class women, the Association focused on passing state voting right laws and on the ratification of an Amendment to the Constitution giving women suffrage. The Association even participated in marches, protests, and picketings of the White House until they were recognized.
   • 19th Amendment
     • The 19th Amendment marks an incredible milestone in women's rights as this amendment stated women's right to vote. Women from all walks of life utilized their right to voice their beliefs for the first time.
   • Alice Paul
     • Alice Paul was the leader of the National American Suffrage Association. She actively worked to organize the Association into marches and protests, mobilizing thousands of women. She worked tirelessly to bring women's rights to the public's and government's attention.

6. Racial Discrimination

   • NAACP
     • The NAACP is the oldest recognized civil rights movement in the United States. The main goal of this organization was to find ways to develop social equality. The NAACP did this by exposing racial discrimination against African Americans to the rest of the nation through the written word. An example of this was their newsletter, The Crisis. Through the NAACP's work, many racial "sins" were exposed to the nation and more legal and social work was accomplished to attack racial discrimination.
   • Tuskegee Institute
     • A southern institution situated in Tuskegee, Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute was one of the first black colleges. The goal of Tuskegee Institute was to provide industrial education and vocational training to the southern African American population that would not have been available to them otherwise. African Americans would be able to break with racial stereotypes by becoming economically independent and well educated.
   • Booker T. Washington
     • A leading spokesperson for the African Americans of his day, Booker T. Washington was the founder of the Tuskegee Institute. He advocated compromise under white supremacy by African Americans improving their lives while submitting to white superiority. At the same time, Washington assisted African Americans in the legal and economic quest for racial equality.