History: The Progressive Era

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The Progressive Era should be remembered by history as a period in our country when the people cried out for reforms and various responses were given. At the beginning of the Progressive Era, the United States was in a very bad state. Large corporations and companies ruled over the economy with an iron fist. The government paid very little attention to the needs and lives of the lower class, in fact, many people outside of the lower class were unaware of the conditions in which they lived. It took “muckrakers”, like Ida Tarbell, to uncover the truth and enlighten the eyes and minds of society. Tarbell exposed the dark, dirty secrets of large corporations. An example could be her report that was published in McClure’s Magazine, where she revealed …show more content…
Towards the end of the 1800s, the Progressive reformers supported the cause of working women and children. A progressive activist, Florence Kelley, assisted in the persuasion of the state of Illinois prohibiting child labor and limiting the number of hours women were forced to work. This led to the creation of the National Child Labor Committee in 1904. Even after these actions were taken, companies still hired children and forced women to work unearthly hours. Many states and groups tried their best to help push for the reforms that progressive activists supported. In Utah, there was a law passed that limited the workday of some Women’s professions to eight hours a day. Laws were also passed in some states to require businesses to abide by a minimum wage for their employees. This was to eliminate the countless workers suffering due to their low …show more content…
In 1911, there was a terrible fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. Unfortunately, due to the lack of proper working conditions and safety precautions, more than 140 young women died. The ladders from the fire department could not reach high enough to save the women through the windows, and because at the time it wasn’t illegal to lock your workers in the work room, the door was locked. This tragedy opened the eyes of the public and showed them why society needed reform.
Another period of great historical value within the Progressive Era were the various election reforms that were made. The progressives pushed for fairer elections, and the ability to make politicians more accountable to the people. Ratified in 1913, the seventeenth amendment gave voters, instead of state legislatures, the right to directly elect their U.S.
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