This eventually lead to the implement of child labor laws due to unfit and harsh
Pickering, Philip. Jacob Riis in the Progressive Era. 2012. Print. Most of these poor people had to have their children working in factories to try and help pay for their homes and food. Like in document 2 it dealt with child labor.
They limited the hours of work for children, of certain ages, children from 9 – 13 were only allowed to work 8 hours a day, those who were 14 – 18 could only work 12 hours a day, and the children under 9 were not allowed to work at all. The government made sure of that the act was carried out. After a while in the 20 century the government went further to protect the children’s rights, the labour unions did not want children to work in the factories anymore due to danger being involved. In 1850 the government made the hours increase the women and children worked to 10 and a half hours a day, but not allowed to work before 6am or after 6pm. Plus in 1874 the government made the another labour rule for all women, children, and men that no worker was allowed to work more than 56.5 hours per week.
The popularity of the Progressive movement in the early 1900's was due to several social and cultural changes in the United States. In the wake of chaotic reorganizations of the country after industrialization and urbanization, as well as the influences of earlier ideological movements such as Populism and Pragmatism, the Progressives sought to bring order and progress to society through central planning, social reform, and even social control. The intellectuals were understood to have the best interests of the people in mind, and therefore had the responsibility to intervene in society through the means of the state. These areas of intervention included sanitation, inculcation of certain moral and behavioral habits, environmental conservation,
As Adams noticed, in order to gain enough income to support their families, children at a young age were often forced to work full day as adults under terrible working conditions, operating unguarded machines. Although former acts banning or restricting child labor had been passed, they were usually not enforced or simply ignored until 7 years later, when Keating-Owen Child Labor Bill was passed. The act banned any products from companies that employed children under the age of 14. Although this first child labor bill was short-living, it did alert the people and drew attention to the national issue of child labor. The demand of women’s suffrage caused yet another major movement during the era.
Did you know that children were forced to work in factories? Child labor is very cruel to children. Instead of enjoying their lives, they were forced to work in factories. Since children were having to act like adults, people worked to change this. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, kids were forced to work long hours, but many people worked to reform it.
To continue, the experiences that also led workers to the Progressive Movement in Industrial America were because of the dangerous working conditions that workers faced and a big issue called child labor. For example, in Document 1, the author states that “young boys” were working “near coal mines” and “breathing in coal dust”. They were “two beaker boys of 15 years” (Document 1). One was “badly burned and the other smothered to death”, and they were just children working in dangerous conditions (Document 1). Also, in document 4, the author states that the building in which the workers were working has been reported as “unsafe in account of the insufficiency of its exits.”
These problems were quickly addressed because the majority of the progressive movement was behind such reforms. This is very similar to the American opinion during the build up to and following the Second World War where public opinion of Fascism had grown to near taboo levels where even mentioning the word caused a major scandal over its context. This parallels with the progressive era with their problems before the movements, the fear of oppression and losing their democracy, their spread of information in the media to expose these problems, a new type of muckraking and warmonger media aimed at Nazism, and their coming together in order to solve their problems, the consolidation of power and popular support to declare war after Pearl Harbor and hearing of the lack of success by the Allies. While both of these periods feature change and a unifying cause that brought the divided nation of America back together, there is only one era when such a large amount of change and reform was enacted, whether it be Trust-Busting, Conservation, or the municipal reforms that took place on the lower levels, the Progressive Era is the only time period to pass so many reforms that it was named after its efforts to change despite hugely important events were happening
Stated in The Factory Act of 1833, they say, “ The factory act of 1833 was a major accomplishment for the proper rights of child workers. With this act, children who worked in factories would now be given more safe regulations. Some of the new laws that would focus on the youth in the factories were no child workers under the age of nine, children are not to work at night, two hours schooling each day…” (Weebly). In other words, Factory Acts allowed rights to child workers and it limited their work hours.
The Progressive Movement was an effort to cure the many ailments that plagued American society. The frontier had been tamed, great cities and businesses developed, and territories across the globe had been conquered, but not all citizens shared in this new found wealth, prestige, and optimism. With the great spurt of industrial growth in the last quarter of the 19th century, agriculture was not the great driving force it once was for the American economy. This alienated a vast majority of the midwestern towns, which could include Spoon River, whose livelihood would have likely been depended on the cultivation of crops. In an attempt to try and recapture the pureness of simpler times many turned to religion.
Workers felt unappreciated and that without rising up against their employers, they would be left starving,homeless, or dead. Workers wanted more money, an eight hour workday, safe working conditions, and protection against wage cutting. A couple of reformers during the Progressive Era were Jane Addams and Jacob Riis. Both worked toward helping the immigrants, women, children, and the poor working class. Jane Addams was a reformer who opened a settlement house to help the less fortunate.
The Progressive Movement, occurring between the 1890s-1920s, arose to ameliorate the deficiencies of the Gilded Age. Although the Gilded Age was a prosperous time for the U.S. economy, the wealth was not distributed evenly. Yes, the Progressive Movement failed to address racial equality, but there were milestones in remedying political corruption, making the free market less monopolized, and improving the quality of life for the population which made the progressive movement overall-effective. Prior to the Progressive Movement, during the Gilded Age, the U.S. was plagued with corrupt politicians.
After the Civil War, our country was battered and beaten, but it rebuilt itself over time and spread its policies, as well as manufacturing practices, throughout our country. Early in the 20th century, members of our nation started to look at some of these practices and policies and began to question their merit and whether they assisted our population or not. Many people were involved in the progressive movement in America from the presidents to a slew of popular authors and photographers. The one thing that they had in common was that they saw problems with how various industries in our nation performed that they knew needed to be fixed. They did not always agree on everything, such as immigration, but they always had the nation’s best interest at heart.
The Progressive Era was a time in the United States in which advancements and reforms were being made to create a better future for this country. Many reformers, people helping to institute change, focused on areas they wanted to improve and set goals to succeed. These goals included anywhere from improving sanitation in cities to giving the people more voting and political control. While every goal set was not reached, each helped get the United States closer than it had been before. Throughout the Progressive Era, ending child labor, improving sanitation in cities, and gaining women and African rights were all goals set by reformers.
Some of these advancements included urban problems such as working conditions, slums, and poverty, political corruption, economic problems, injustice and social issues affecting people, and the morality of Americans (Fagnilli 26). The major goals in the Progressive Era were protecting social welfare, promoting moral
