Why and How the Progressive Movement Emerged

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Why and How the Progressive Movement Emerged The Progressive movement was one which called for the greater regulation of businesses and the safeguarding of safety and rights for workers. Much of the reform called for was a direct response to the conditions and injustices created by the rapid, unregulated growth of the Gilded Age. Early progressives rejected the Social Darwinism philosophy. In other words, they were people who believed that the problems society faced could best be addressed by providing good education, a safe environment, and an efficient workplace. Much of the Progressive movement occurred coincidentally due to Immigration, Industrialization, and Urbanization. Fewer moments are marked by individuals such as Teddy Roosevelt and other progressive social reformers. The United States was primarily a farming country up to the Industrial Revolution. With industrialization came a total switch in the types of jobs people performed, from working on a farm to working in a factory or an office. To fit the population, dumbbell tenements and settlement houses were formed as a part of the progressive reformist social movement. Dumbbell tenements were cheap housing units created when cities became packed with people during the industrial revolution. They were called dumbbell tenements because the design of the building, which looked like a dumbbell, had many housing units sharing a corridor. Jane Addams responded to urban conditions by working to establish settlement houses that provided assistance to the poor. Jane Addams worked to aid the new immigrants in adjusting to American society by way of settlement houses, such as her Hull House in Chicago. With all the new factory jobs being created, the need for cheap almost expendable labor was required. Industries knew this and encouraged immigration, such that immigrants knew this and flocked to America to
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