Transcript The Progressive Age 1876-1920

The Progressive Age
1876-1920
We should probably have called them “activists”
They argued that social evils will not remedy
themselves.
The Progressives felt it was wrong to sit by and
wait for time to take care of their problems.
The Progressives believed in ACTION!
What was life like at the time?
Life was changing quickly, all the new inventions
and as well as city life was creating many new
opportunities but also many problems.
Some people were living better then ever. They
weren’t rich or poor, they were the new middle class.
This new class enjoyed:
-Mass Produced goods
-Factory made clothes
-Appliances
Most importantly some people now had leisure time, or free time
instead of working all the time.
But what about the others?
As you’ve learned, life wasn’t as easy for the new
immigrants in the slums and tenement buildings.
The living conditions were awful, but the
Progressives wanted to do something about it!
The Progressives would work their best to remedy
some of the problems caused by industrialization
and urbanization.
Many writers were Progressives, they wrote about
what they saw in the cities which shocked many in
the middle class. They were called Muckrakers.
Upton Sinclair, a muckraker, wrote about
the horrors of the meat packing industry.
Once people read his book, they
demanded that the government make sure
their food was safe.
Jacob Riis, another muckraker showed the reality
of urban poverty.
His book How the Other Half Lives made many
middle class readers want to help the cause, and
become Progressives, working to better city living
conditions.
Fixing many of the problems were very hard
though. The powerful people who were responsible
for many social, economic, and political problems
wanted things to stay the way they were.
They didn’t want to help because they were profiting from the
cheap labor, and didn’t want new groups like immigrants and
women to have a say in how things should be run. They would
lose their power.
In the cities, political bosses would run almost
everything. In NYC, Boss Tweed ran government
dishonestly. He took bribes and stole money from
the people. He was hated by many Progressives
because of his actions.
Boss Tweed became infamous because he was constantly
being featured in political cartoons which were popular at
the time. Even if an immigrant couldn’t read, they could
understand the cartoon.
Why were political cartoons so important?
Progressives didn’t just want honest government,
they wanted fair business leaders too. They felt that
the trusts and monopolies were taking advantage of
people. Once again were can see this in political
cartoons of the era.
Many Progressives were women. They fought for
many issues that women were faced with. They
fought child labor, sweatshop conditions, and most
importantly they fought for SUFFRAGE.
-Suffrage means winning the right to vote.
CATT
STANTON
MOTT
Women’s Suffrage groups used many tactics to get
their message across.
With the 19th Amendment, women would win the
right to vote!
The progressive movement would shape
the country and change many attitudes
that people held. Even the 26th President
of the United States embraced the spirit
of the Progressive movement!