Transcript Progressive Era

The Progressives!
Unit 3 Lecture: Chapter 4
Lecture Review Questions
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What was the Book the Jungle about & why was
the book important?
What types of services did the settlement
houses offer?
What role did the journalists and other
writers play in the progressive movement?
Why did some people resist Progressive
Reforms?
The definition of Progress:
to move forward, to develop, to advance, to evolve, or to
improve.
Who are the Progressives? People who were
up for taking on problems that came from
Mass Immigration and Industrialization from
1890-1920
Which urban problems led to the Progressive
Movement?
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What’s wrong with America?
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As farm life gave way to city life more people means
more problems!
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Unsafe Working Conditions in Factories
No Child Labor Laws
Women had NO Rights
No Public Education
No Public Health Care
No Public Sanitation
What did the Progressives want?
Governments should be:
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More accountable to its citizens.
End political corruption from big business owners.
Become more active in improving the lives of its citizens.
Become more efficient and less corrupt.
What was the period of the late 1800s called?
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Industrialization
1890-1920
brought about
economic
prosperity in
America
But at the cost
to the people
working in the
factories:
Immigrants.
What were the major problems people
faced living in the cities?
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Workers had low wages,
Lived in crowded
unclean conditions
Often they had did not
have enough money for:
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food
clothes
shelter
medical care
In the early 1900s what were 4 factors that negatively
affected worker’s lives?
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Hazardous fumes
& Poor ventilation
Long hours & little
pay
Unsafe machinery
Fast pace &
unrealistic
production quotas
What was life like for children in the early 1900s
Extremely Dangerous and
Difficult:
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most had no choice but to
work and help support their
families
Most lived in poverty and
had little to no education
Factory owners argued that child
labor was good for the economy
and helped build children's
characters
Factory Act of 1833: limited
child labor and the number of
hours children could work in
textile mills
How did the Progressives attempt to improve
the lives of the poor people in the cities?
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Lobby for the Government to take a more
active roll in people’s everyday life!
It’s the government’s job to clean up this
unorganized mess!
How were the Progressives going to fix
everything?
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Step One: EDUCATE!
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People didn’t know how bad things were.
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Journalists and Writers played a big part in
educating the public and forming public
opinion.
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Muckrakers- were Artists, Photographers, and
Journalists who used their work to alert the
American public to any wrongdoing in politics and
business.
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Example: Upton Sinclair-The meat Packing industry
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Jacob Riis’ photographs of American poverty.
How did a book change things?
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The unsanitary conditions in
the meatpacking industry and
corruption in American big
business.
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Novel about a naïve immigrant who
comes to America and is grateful to
get work in a meat packing plant.
But throughout the story readers
learn that the meat America is
eating is disgusting and unsanitary.
It was important because it is this
novel was a major factor in getting
people upset enough to push the
government for change.
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How were the Progressives going to fix
everything?
STEP 2 DON’T WAIT TAKE ACTION!
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JANE ADDAMS STARTED:
Settlement Houses
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Places like today’s community centers or shelters, operated by
volunteers
Teaching immigrants English
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Classes in Child Care
Theater, Art, and Dance classes
How did Progressives Reform Organizations?
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Progressives helped people form
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Labor Unions: Groups of factory workers
who negotiated with owners so they could
get better working conditions and wages.
New Political Parties:
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Socialists: Wanted to END capitalism and
distribute wealth more equally and have
government ownership of American
Industries. They wanted to change society
through voting NOT revolution.
Who Resisted Progressive Reforms?
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Sometimes the very people Progressives
were trying to help, (Poor Industrial workers)
resisted the changes that meant MORE
government control over their lives.
Example: Child Labor Laws. Poor families
could not survive without the money their
children brought in.