Transcript Slide 1

The Progressive
Reform Era
1890 - 1920
What were the goals of
the Progressives?
1. To meet the challenges presented by
industrialization and urbanization
2. To break up the monopolies and restore
competition
3. To break the power of political
machines and improve democracy
4. To improve the quality of life for the
people of the United States
What were the characteristics of the
Progressives? Who were they?
 Urban, middle class
 Men and women
 Democrats and
Republicans
 Well educated
 Believers in
capitalism (not
socialism)
 Pragmatic – simple
solutions to complex
problems
 All levels of
government
 Attempted a variety
of reforms
 Optimistic
Muckrakers
 Journalists who attempted to expose the
evils of big business and corrupt
government
 The purpose of their reports was to
educate the people about a problem and
to encourage them to take action
 They were not in the business of
“sensationalizing” the news
Upton Sinclair
was a Socialist;
who said that he “aimed at the country’s heart, but instead, hit
them in the stomach”
The Jungle
 Exposed the evils in
the meatpacking
industry
 Resulted in the
passage of the Meat
Inspection Act and
the Pure Food and
Drug Act
Ida Tarbell – A History of
Standard Oil
 to expose the ruthless practices of John Rockefeller
Jacob Riis – A Muckraking
Photojournalist
 Immigrant from
Denmark
 Worked as a police
reporter and
photographer
 Most famous work:
How the Other Half
Lives
Five Cents Lodging
Children Sleeping in
Mulberry
Street
Girls on a Stoop
Home of an Italian Rag
Picker
Tenement Yard
Room in a Tenement Flat
Cityscape
A New York City Peddler
A Ludlow Street
Sweatshop
Bandit’s Roost
59 ½ Mulberry Street
Men’s Lodging Room in
th
West 47 Street Station
Women’s Lodging Room in
th
West 47 Street Station
Lincoln Steffens – The
Shame of the Cities
 Told of the political corruption in Philadelphia
Frank Norris – The
Octopus
 told of the struggle against the railroad
monopolies