The Progressive Movement During The Gilded Age

Towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, America had experienced booming industrialization, urbanization and economic growth which brought about many technological advancements; this era was known as the Gilded age. Despite the technological accomplishments and economic success during the Gilded age, the wealth gained by industries was do to the unfair treatment of workers, by giving them long hours and paying them low wages, employers and owners kept most of the profit while workers suffered. As European immigrants began flooding the United States, in search for opportunity and to live the American dream, they settled in cities in search for jobs and communities to raise their families in but were faced with

Progressivism is a movement towards increasing democracy in America by returning control of the government to the people and out of the hands of corrupt politicians and corporations; through organization, journalistic exposure, and political activism, reforms were made to improve the conditions of American society and the efficiency of the government. While using primary and secondary sources concerning the progressive era, I will provide the goals of the movement, present the major contributors to the movement, and finally explain the movement’s achievements and failures. Upton Sinclaire’s novel “The jungle” reveals the horrible conditions immigrant workers are forced to live and work in, he also reveals dirty secrets of meat packing industries, and shows how the American dream is a nightmare for the working class. Samuel P Hays’s “Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency” it offers the history of the conservation movements efforts to preserve the environment from economic

By removing corrupt politicians from office, it would put democracy back in the American people’s hands, they would be allowed to have a say in their government. Even though tackling corrupt political practices was the main goal during the progressive movement, there were many other goals the movement set. Progressivism is more of an umbrella term that encompassed multiple areas of society that need improvement, the progressive era focused on aspects in American society: Living and working conditions, public health and safety, conservation of natural resources, education reform, and of course, eradicating corruption in all levels of government. In Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” his goal was to reveal the struggles immigrants face when trying to build a life in America, especially in industrialized cities, from their horrible living and working conditions to being exploited by employers and politicians. By writing about their conditions he revealed even more than just working class poverty, he revealed the horrors and unsanitary conditions of the meat packing industry, which effected society even more than the morbid life of immigrants, but none the less brought attention to multiple issues. Written in 1906, “The Jungle” tells the story of Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant who moved to Chicago with his family and settled in an area known