The Progressive Era

The Progressive Era

1. Immigrant- During the 1900-1915 more than 15 million immigrants arrived in the United States due to the boom in industrialization. As a result of the multitude of immigrants cities became extremely overcrowded which led to a deterioration in living conditions.

   • Living Conditions- Living conditions were overall terrible for the working class, but varied between immigrant workers and american workers. Immigrant workers would live in housing that was called tenements which would house up to 18 people at once, resulting in unsanitary and overall unsafe conditions.
     • Jacob Riis was a social reformer and newspaper reporter. He wrote a book titled "How the Other Half Lives" in 1890 that exposed and depicted the conditions of the New York Slums that we a result of the overcrowded population.
     • National Refugee- An act that was created for the purpose of providing proper admission into the United States so the immigrants could be properly resettled.

2. Working Conditions- Working conditions during the early 1900's were unpleasant to say the least. Not only did workers work 14 hour days getting paid little to nothing but they were subjected to dirty, unsafe conditions.

   • Upton Sinclair- An advocate for proper working and factory conditions who wrote a book called the Jungle in 1906 that depicted the unsanitary working conditions in which meat was processed in. This book lead to a new outlook on factory conditions and changed the way meat was processed.
     • Meat Inspection Act- Enacted in 1906, a law that made it illegal fro meat to be misbranded and called for a set of sanitation rules within factories and the meat processing buisness.
     • Pure Food and Drug Act- An act enacted in 1906, was the first of many acts that stated there should be no unlawful distribution of food or drug products. This act led to a multitude of laws that helped the process of food and drugs become more sanitary and trustworthy.

3. Environmentalism- During the progressive era a concern grew for the earth as industrialization was expanding. As it was expanding more land was being uprooted and not only water was being polluted, but the air also.

   • John Muir- An environmental activist that co-founded the Sierra Club, a club speaking against pollution that has founded several national parks, and helped shaped the way conservation policies were made.
   • Theodore Roosevelt- The 26th president of the United States that served a big role in conserving the natural land. He not only contributed to the conservation movement himself, but he also let Gifford Pitchot obtain a lot of power to help the earth in general.
   • Gifford Pinchot- Was the first chief of the United States forest service who heavily advacated for the earths natural conservation and attributed by tripling the amount of national forest reserves.

4. Big Businesses- When industrialization occurred so did the corruption of big businesses, which eventually led to the corruption of the government. One of the main objectives during the progressive era was to eliminate corruption big businesses and their monopolies.

   • Sherman Antitrust Act- A law passed in 1880 that outlawed monopolies, trust, and cartels in hopes that it would call for a more competitive business enviornment.
   • Clayton Antitrust Act- A piece of legislature passed by the United States congress in 1914 that is a far more extensive version of the statement act. It clearly states unethical business practices such as monopoly.
   • Act Woodrow Wilson- Was the 28th president of the united States and passed several acts to help restrict big businesses. One of the several acts he passed was the Revenue Act of 1913 which lowered tariffs and implemented a federal income tax.

5. Women's Rights- Women's rights became a big issue around 1880 as they were holding positions within the government and apart of the working class, but still were not given basics= rights such as voting. IT was an era of new begginings for women as they found their voice and obtained rights for not only themselves, but children too.

   • 19th Amendment- An admendment ratified on August 18, 1920 stating that it was prohibited to deny the right of voting based on the bias of gender.
     • Hull House- A house co founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Star that's purpose was to educate women or poorer statues in a multitude of things ranging from how to obtain citizenship to child labor laws.
     • Jane Adams- Significant leader in the women's suffrage movementd as she founded the Hull House, a house that was dedicated to educating women of poorer status. Adams also played a big role in stopping child labor.
     • Alice Paul- A 20th century women's suffrage advocate that led a miliant movement, which led to the ratification of the 19th admendment.
     • National American Suffrage Association- Founded in May of 1869 by Susan Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton for the reason of the beilef that women should be included in the 15th amendment, which garunteed suffrage rights to all male citizens, and prusued this belief on a federal level.

6. Racial Discrimination- The progressive era called attention to a multitude of issues, one being racism. Racism was not only shown within the blantant disregard for African American rights, but also the total disregard for european migrants.

   • NAACP- The National Association for Colored People was founded by W.E.B. Bios for the purpose of securing political, social, economical, etc. rights without the racial bias attached to them. The NAACP played an important role throughout the progressive era as it opposed systamatic oppression by boycotting things and presenting legal challenges.
   • Tuskegee Institution- An institution founded in 1881 by Booker T. Washington's with the purpose of educating black teachers. It was the first place i America that offered higher education for African Americans.
   • Booker T. Washington- Born a slave, he eventually became a leading African American spokesmen and did a lot for the black community including founding the tuskegee institution and the NNBL .