American History: The Progressive Movement

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The Progressive Era The decades between 1890 and 1920 was a period of vital reform activity that historians have called, The Progressive Era. In this era millions of Americans organized in voluntary associations to come up with solutions to the many problems. Industrialization, with all its increase in productivity and the number of consumer goods, created unemployment and labor unrest, wasteful use of natural resources and abuses of corporate power. Growing cities added to the problems of African Americans versus The Social Sciences American segregation was a bitter part of American history. Even worse, though, are the securing reasons for the need of segregation and the defense of the institution. I ... poverty, disease, crime and corruption.…show more content…
Efforts to pass further national legislation met with the same fate. Even though the reformers lost at the national level, reformers succeeded in forcing legislation banning child labor and setting maximum hours in nearly every state. By 1920, the number of child laborers was nearly cut in half from what it had been in 1910. Most states passed minimum working age laws Progressive Era 2 The Progressive Era The progressive movement began to emerge in the late 1800 s. It was a time for change in America as well as a time for reform. ... and prohibited children from working more than 10 hours per day, but enforcement was difficult to achieve. 18th Amendment prohibited the use of alcohol. During this time period the saloons were a business with many business operating under their roof. Saloons would serve inexpensive meals, cash paychecks, and rent rooms. Prohibitionist felt that the mixture of foreign cultures, alcohol and machine politics would undermine American culture and democracy. They felt that if saloons were closed Origins of Progressivism I. The Origins of Progressivism A. A Spirit of Reform in the late 1800’s…show more content…
Frances Willard, changed the WCTU from a small mid-wester religious group into a powerful national organization with a variety of reformist goals. In 1911, with 245,000 members, the WCTU became the largest women's group in the nation's history. Under Willard's skillful leadership, the group opened kindergartens for immigrants, visited inmates in prisons and asylums, and they worked for suffrage. Their Progressivism Movements I. The Origins of Progressivism A. A Spirit of Reform in the late 1800’s 1. Henry George believed that poverty could be eliminated by using land productively by everyone. Also ... most important reform was prohibition. They fought alcoholism on the state level through laws, and on the national level with the 18th Amendment which prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of liquor. 19th Amendment women's suffrage. One of the more interesting facts of the Progressive Era was the participation of American Women. Denied the right to vote for most of this period, women used what they saw as their rights as citizens to shape public policy and 20Th Century Reform DBQ By the beginning of the 20th Century, the US was realizing the dire need for reform. With all the quick expanding and the industrializing of America, many of
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