The Progressive Era Essay

The Progressive Era

The Progressive Era, which began in the late 19th century and ended in the early 20th century, was the period of time when the United States (U.S.) was becoming more stable after all of the immigration, industrialization, and urbanization it was going through. Progressives aimed to address those aspects of society in order for all Americans to benefit from social justice, which is the belief that everyone deserves equal political, economic, and social opportunities (The Progressive Era). This was the most influential time period in developing the U.S. because it promoted social welfare, encouraged necessary political reform, and helped to restore the economy.

Social Welfare refers to the assistance of people in need, and

Woman's Suffrage). In that speech, Talbert talks about how black women had the powers of observation and judgment, and that these observations should be used to help find solutions for issues that colored women are facing. As a result, gender equality, daycares for working mothers, facilities for children in need, and even the safety measures that are set for workplaces were able to happen because of the groups of women who pushed for it (Paul). Laborers, too, began advocating for their rights, one of them being better working conditions. These poor standards were commonly written about by muckrakers, journalists that exposed the problems affecting America, and laws were passed in order to prevent these issues from continuing (Progressive Era Investigations). One of these laws, the Fair Labor Standards Act of

A big issue that needed to be resolved within politics was corruption, which stemmed from city officials who ignored their citizens’ interests and did not take their interests into consideration (The Progressives). Many individuals would have ideas on how to improve opportunities for people like farmers, factory workers, and small businessmen, but they would go ignored by the political machines that were taking over at local and state levels. The only way to get rid of these political machines was to vote them out, and that is exactly what people began to do with the use of direct primaries. Direct primaries was a way for voters to choose who they want representing their party in elections instead of the previous methods of choosing candidates like closed-door meetings (Direct Primaries). Along with that, there was also the recall referendum, which gave voters the power to remove officials from office before their term is over if they were dissatisfied with that official’s choices (Beech November 2022). By allowing voters more freedom with the referendums and direct primaries, they could choose wisely on who they wanted in office, and had the option of removing them from office if they were not benefiting the people of the country. Women’s Suffrage was also heavily prioritized in the Progressive Era, and major organizations like the National American Woman Suffrage