Progressive Era

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Progressive Era The United States have passed through various pains to emerge as the world’s most powerful country in the 21st century. Independence, Reconstruction, Progressivism and Post war phase have dominant role in shaping the United States that we are proud of today. The progressive movement, which was the period of social activism and political reform changed the fate of the United States. The feministic views, the concern for consumer health, and the child rights and labor laws came into lime light and were modified according to the needs and changed social structure. The male dominated sphere did not give any space to the women and their sentiments before the progressive era. The women were not even given a basic right to vote before …show more content…

People became aware of their rights and their responsibilities. The world went through the devastating world war and lost a lot of male people, especially in Europe. Then the dominating sphere realized the importance of women, the power of women and more or less realized male and women are two side of the same coin. Voices of the women like Trabell started to be heard on the governmental level and the government also became lenient on solving the social issues which always pulled the women backward. The muckrakers of the progressive era not only satire the political wrongdoings but also rose a concern for consumer’s health. The publication of the jungle by Upton Sclair showed the reality of meat packing factory of Chicago. This caused the public outrage which soon caused the government to pass the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 (Pure Food). This step of regulating the food by act was remarkable in terms of consumer’s health. Till today the freshness of the food is maintained by this act and is an important achievement achieved during this …show more content…

The educated people were serious about the situation of children being forced to work however the voices against this was never risen. The industrial bosses isolated the workplace from the access of journalism and photographers, who they thought could possibly cover the issue in national media and the government would be forced to take the action against it. The image by Lewis Hine which displays the terrible situation of children standing over the functioning machine to get the work done is heartbreaking (The History). The picture is enough to say about the working condition and the safety measures of the contemporary situation. The children who worked on factories had to work 12-18 hours, six days a week for a dollar or often they need to work as long as work is not accomplished. In the meantime the triangle shirtwaist factory fire took the life of hundreds of people and had an estimated loss in millions, which distinctly showed the terrible workplace and the safety of the workers (The