Progressive Era

Possible essay question (part 1 discussed)

  • The progressive era spanned the first two decades of the twentieth century. Why didn’t it begin earlier? What caused the progressive era to develop? Why did it end in 1920? What lasting effects did the progressive era have on American society? 


  • Traction monster - image

    • Represents unregulated monopoly 

      • fuel 

      • Transportation 

      • Finance 

      • Political influence 

      • Insurance 

      • Construction

      • Communication 

      • Steel 

      • Manufacturing 

    • Monopolistic business practice controls everything!

  • From the Depths - image - william ballforde 

    • Represents lower and upper class clash


  • Why didn’t it begin earlier?

    • Stood in the way of reform (late 19th century concepts impeded reform)

      • Laissez-faire political economy 

        • Government responsibility not to involve itself in the economy = laissez-faire 

          • 18th century scottish adam smith 

          • Widely understood by business people (tradition?)

  • Social Darwinism - shape of society was ordained by nature 

  • Find his theory 

  • Applied his theory to society (we’re little cells)

  • Whatever shape our society takes is a natural phenomenon so no reason to change anything (upper class agreed bcs they’re already benefitting)

  • People realized that it was a choice of the employers to be cruel 

  • “Survival of the Fittest: Society is a struggle for existence where only the best-adapted individuals or groups survive and prosper.

  • Natural Hierarchy: Social inequality (poverty vs. wealth) is a natural, justified outcome of differences in inherent capability rather than systemic injustice.”

  • Political v. Social Equality 

    • One man one vote made sense in politicals 

    • Access to opportunity and wealth was not as clean 

    • Put social equality in the back 

  • Ends vs. Means of Progress

    • Ends of progress = more robust economy, taller skyscrapers, faster transportation (why do anything stand in the way?) 

    • Means of progress = child labor, worker exploitation, pollution 

    • People who trumpeted it as positive focused on ends of progress while the others (reformers) said can't we do that without the cons?

      • Can do spirit trumps should do spirit 

      • Everybody likes progress but does it have to happen now?

    • IMPORTANT - reform wasn’t needed, bought into by powerful people who can influence economy and society as a whole


  • What caused the progressive era to develop?

    • Too many triangle fire eras 

    • Mass amount of people fought back (for laws)

    • Mounting industrial accidents influenced public demand for change 

    • Triangle fire was not only or deadliest 

    • Iroquois theater, chicago, 1903 

      • Know more this (use as example in question)

    • Persistent labor unrest 

      • 100 people who died in the first wake of the railway strike 

      • Police and workers clashed 

      • If government sits on sidelines, then public will fight back 

    • Muckrakers exposed corruption, excesses of capitalism 

      • Journalists who talked about exploitation, corruption, and 

      • Fed into public demand, moved legislation 

      • Idea was that this writers wrote about all this 

      • Jacob Reese published a book, how the other half lives (1890) about how the working class lives and all

        • Includes photographs so pulls at their hearts

        • Even upper class people felt a bit bad 

        • Followed working class people and interviewed them at home (came home to tenement houses without lighting or adequate sewage and where many people lived in one)

        • Workers were all bug eyed (camera had a flash and pop of the bulb)

      • Ira Tarbell talked about john b rockefeller oil, standard oil (1904) 

        • Buys local companies and raises prices 

        • She tal

      • Steffens, shame of the cities (1904) Political corruption, politicians were taking money 

      • Sinclair, Jungle, 1906

        • Wanted to write about workers (talked about unsanitary conditions and illegal things)

        • Year it was published, government passed food act so that it was clean