The Progressive Era

The Progressive Era

1. Woman's Rights

   • The fight for woman's rights had been in action since 1848 but had shifted into high gear during this time period.Many of the protests were for equal pay, better work conditions, and a more well respected role in society.Organizations such as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, were created in order to organize and unite the woman in order to fight against social injustice.Another part of this fight was the National American Suffrage Association.The NWSA fought for women’s right to vote and to run for office.

2. Big Buissiness

   • During the rise of the Industrial revolution, Big Business received an incredible rise in demand and had to hire many workers in order to meet it.During this time environmental regulations had not been placed and many factories harmed the environment.Also, many of the factory owners treated workers horribly and overworked them causing strikes to occur.

3. Enviromentalism

   • As industries began to rise so did the concern of the future of the enviroment.Many people began to protest the ways that factories were disposing thier waste, and the fuels that they were using during their production.

4. Immigrant living Conditions

   • Many of the immigrants during this time came to America in order to start a new, better life.However, once they reached the United States their hardships only continued.Many of them faced discrimination at the workplace, and lived in cramped housing conditions that often caused them to have diseases.

5. Racial Discrimination

   • Even though many employers were eager to hire workers, many still maintained their racial prejudices.People were often hired based on their racial background, which caused many minorities at the time to be excluded from jobs that they qualified for.

6. Jane Addams

   • Jane Addams was a very influential, and proud women's right activist.She was very dedicated to helping immigrants and worked hard to give them a good start in America.In 1889 she opened the Hull house in Chicago to help the poor and immigrants in that area.Due to her great actions, she was named a co-winner of the Nobel Peace prize in 1931.

7. Booker T. Washington

   • Booker T. Washington was a very hard working man, that believed in the further education of African Americans.in 1881 he was nominated to be the Principal of the newly founded Tuskegee Institute which was created to cater solely to African Americans and to give them a higher education.Until his death Booker was a very progressive man for African American Rights.

8. Alice Paul

   • Alice Paul was a very important figure during the time that woman were fighting for their rights.She was one of the main activists that were fighting for the approval of the nineteenth amendment.This would stop states from being able to discriminate certain genders from being able to vote.

9. Jacob Riis

   • Jacob Riis was a very influential journalist, that was called by some during his time as "Muckcracking". His book "How the Other Half Lives" showed the terrible conditions that immigrants had to live in during the time.In many of his photos he also used a flash lamp in order to increase the effect his images had on viewers.

10. Sherman Antitrust

    • The sherman antitrust was the first attempt by congress to limit businesses from becoming a monopoly.Many parts of the law stopped companies from being able to prohibit the commerce and competition in their area.

11. John Muir

    • John muir was a very important environmentalist and writer that was very well respected for his work.He was also a wilderness explorer and his work helped to aid the creation of parks such as Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, etc.

12. Theodore Roosevelt

    • Theodore Roosevelt was the president from 1901 to 1909, and accomplished many great feats during his presidency.One of his most well known achievements was the panama canal.The purpose of the canal was to shorten the distances between the Atlantic and Pacific to decrease the time it took to transport goods.

13. Glifford Pinchot

    • Glifford was a very conservative man and worked to preserve the national forests.He often stressed the importance of using the forest in an efficent profitable manner.

14. Pure food and Drug Act

    • This act was created in order to ensure that food providers did not endanger the consumers by preventing harmful chemicals or practices from being used on their food.

15. Meat inspection Act

    • This act was create to ensure that all meat met a certain standard.This act also made sure that it was kept in sanitary conditions and that the animals were slaughtered in a humane way.

16. William Howard Taft

    • William was the only person to serve as both a U.S chief of Justice and the president. He was also handpicked by theodore to be his sucessor.

17. Clayton Antitrust Act

    • This act was to further disband buisnesses from being able to monopolize themselves.This act sought to end unfair competitive practicies before they started.

18. 19th Amendment

    • In 1920 the nineteenth amendment was created in order to prohibit states to exclude voters based on gender.

19. Upton Sinclair

    • Sinclair was an American writer that was very famous for his works of literature.His most controversial work however, was "The Jungle". The purpose of this book was to expose the meat industry and its horrible work conditons, appaling animal treatment, and selling contanimated or rotten meat to the public.His work eventually led to new meat regulations and caused public outrage at the newly exposed inner workings of the meat industry.