The Progressive Er Time Period From The 1890s To The 1920's

The Progressive Era was a time period lasting from the 1890s to the 1920s. The turn of the 20th century was an age of reform, America was experiencing rapid industrialization as well as urbanization, and a flood of immigrants began to arrive from other countries.The Progressive Era was a time of many social and political reforms. During this Era, there were three presidents who all implemented some sort of progressive reform. There was also three new amendments that were added to The Constitution. There were reforms in education, women’s rights, and in the workplace. The Progressive Era was one that was successful in several ways. Many laws were passed in order to protect people's health and welfare, laws were passed to prevent unfair business

One of these reforms was in education. A man named John Dewey believed in learning by doing activities rather than just reading or writing. He argued that the curriculum in schools must be relative to the student's lives or they would not be interested in it. He believed that learning by doing would help children acquire skills that were essential to learning and essential in life. Many believed that under Dewey’s system teachers would not have as much authority, or that students would not learn basic skills and knowledge. However, Dewey believed that a school was like a community and that everyone in the school was a member of that community. The school must train the students to have self-direction in order to become functioning members of that community. By doing this, the children would succeed. Another social reform that was evident during this time was the status of women. The status of women began to change rapidly during the Progressive Era. Many married women did not work, and most working women were single, young, women of color, divorced, widowed, or very poor. The Progressive Era brought new job opportunities for women. They began to find jobs in stores, or in offices as receptionists or typists. As a result of the growing number of jobs for women more began to graduate from college. However, women were still missing one important freedom, the right to vote. When the 15th amendment was passed, giving African American men the right to vote, women were outraged and suffrage became a right that many people would fight for. Many women protested and paraded for their right. The National Woman Suffrage Association was responsible for fighting for these rights. There were women who went on hunger strikes, and women who were arrested for picketing. However, all this hard fighting paid off in 1919 when the 19th amendment was passed, giving