Progressivism During The Progressive Era

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The Progressive Era was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States, from the 1890s to 1920s. The main objective of the Progressive movement was eliminating corruption in government, primarily targeting political machines and their bosses. Progressivism began as a social movement and grew into a political movement. The early progressives rejected Social Darwinism, as they were people who believed that the problems society faced such as poverty, violence, greed, racism, and class warfare, could best be addressed by providing good education, a safe environment, and an efficient workplace.
The Progressive Era was the response of different groups to the problems that were caused by the rapid industrialization …show more content…
Through their writing, muckrakers brought light to horrible conditions such as child labor, poverty, and very dangerous working conditions in the industries. The Muckrakers noticeably lessened corruption in many aspects of American life. Many works by muckrakers brought to light a variety of issues in America during the progressive era. These writers focused on a wide range of issues, including the monopoly of standard oil, cattle processing and meat packing, patent medicines, child labor, and wages, labor, and working conditions in industry and agriculture. Lincoln Steffens became one of the most famous Muckrakers after he exposed several city officials in St. Louis who were working with big business and stealing from the public treasury. Public outcry soon saw numerous reforms forced upon local government officials. Other famous Muckrakers include Ida Tarbell, who tackled the oil industry, as well as the business practices of the oil magnate John Rockefeller and Thomas Lawson, who focused on the stock market. In a number of instances, the revelations of muckraking journalists led to public outcry, governmental and legal investigations, and, in some cases, legislation was enacted to address the issues the writers' identified, such as harmful social conditions, pollution, food and product safety standards, unfair labor practices, fraud, and other matters. The work of the muckrakers in the early years, and those today, span a wide array of legal, social, ethical and public policy concerns which have greatly affected
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