Progressive Era DBQ Essay By the time period of 1900-1920 America was almost fully industrialized. At this time, America was going through a Gilded Age where everything looked good on the outer perspective however on the inside, there were many issues within society. The Progressive Era consisted of people who wanted to reform society politically, socially, and economically. Progressive reformers and the federal government were successful in bringing about reform at the national level by gaining some women's rights as well as African Americans trying to better their reputation in society, improving working conditions, and fixing the American economy. Women and African American citizens were always treated unequally compared to white men. …show more content…
Since women now had the right to vote, they wanted to expand the ideas of democracy by wanting a direct vote to select members of congress. Theodore Roosevelt supported the idea that members of congress should be selected by a direct vote. As a response to that, congress ratified the 17th amendment which would allow the people to select members of congress by the popular vote. (Doc D). Southerners would try and prevent African American males from voting in these elections. Southern states would allow Jim Crow laws which helped segregate African Americans. The supreme court case of Plessy v. Ferguson supported these Jim Crow laws by stating that African Americans should be segregated but viewed equal. There were many African American individuals who wanted to get better treatment in society such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois. These individuals wanted the same thing but had different methods of receiving those things. Booker T. Washington wanted to take things slow and have peaceful strikes but W.E.B. Dubois …show more content…
One way they tried to better the economy was eliminating monopolies. Monopolies were companies that took control over small businesses which would decrease competition and that would harm consumers because they did not have a variety of companies and usually the prices would be very high. Some famous monopolies were Rockefeller's oil company, J.P. Morgan’s railroad company, and Carnegie’s steel company. These monopolies would limit competition meaning consumers were stuck on purchasing goods from them. Usually these individuals would lower prices to attract customers but once they had a lot of customers they would raise prices. Theodore Roosevelt was against bad trusts because he believed that they would harm the economy by raising prices for consumers but he favored the good trusts because he was able to regulate them and allowed them to have low prices (Doc A). The Sherman Antitrust Act was created to try and eliminate monopolies however, these monopolies did not respect the Sherman Antitrust Act because the supreme court said that the act only applied to commerce not manufacturing. When president Woodrow Wilson was in office, the Sherman Antitrust Act was later more clarified by the Clayton Antitrust Act. The Clayton Antitrust Act made it “unlawful for any person engaged in commerce, in the course of such commerce, either directly or indirectly to discriminate in price between different purchasers of
As the Reconstruction Era ended, the United States became the up and coming world power. The Spanish-American war was in full swing, and the First World War was well on its way. As a result of the open-door policy, England, Germany, France, Russia, and eventually Japan experienced rapid industrial growth; the United States decided to pursue a foreign policy because of both self- interest and idealism. According to the documents, Economic self- interest, rather than idealism was more significant in driving American foreign policy from 1895 to 1920 because the United States wanted to protect their foreign trade, property and their access to recourses. While the documents also show that Nationalistic thought (idealism) was also crucial in driving American foreign policy, economic Self- interest prevailed.
Groups of people soon received new rights. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. It gave black Americans full citizenship and guaranteed them equal treatment. Also, it passed the Fourteenth Amendment to make sure that the Supreme Court couldn’t declare the Civil Rights Act unconstitutional. The amendment made blacks citizens of the United States and the states in which they lived. Also, states were forbidden to deprive blacks of life, liberty, or property without due process. Additionally, blacks could not be discriminated by the law. If a state would deprive blacks of their rights as citizens, it’s number of congressional representatives would be reduced. The Civil Rights Act as well as the Fourteenth Amendment affected both the North and the South.
In the colonization period, the urge to conquer foreign territories was strong, and many lands in the Western Hemisphere were conquered. With the colonization of these areas, a mercantilist relationship was formed between the conquered civilization and the maternal country. A major part of this was the restriction of exportation of native resources only to the mother country as well as the banning of trading with colonies of other countries. In turn, there was an increasing in the number of smuggling activities during the time. According to a British sailor named William Taggart in 1760, the illegal smuggling of goods into these areas had a positive impact because it brought prosperity to the people in Monte Christi, as there were only one hundred poor families. Likewise, Dominica governor John Orde praised the trading because it created prices much lower than with its maternal country. However, British admiral David Tyrell, Roger Elletson, Dominica governor John Orde, and a 1790 Bahaman newspaper report all had similar views on the harmful effects and corruptness present in smuggling. Despite this, physician George Lipscomb and British Lieutenant Governor Thomas Bruce had neutral opinions on the matter, and only stated what they witnessed in the process.
Roosevelt and Wilson were both strong believers in Progressivism. The Progressive movement was time of eliminating corruption and reform. Roosevelt wanted a stronger central government to help the people. He used his position as president as a “bully pulpit”, in that he would influence public opinion through his popularity. Roosevelt often took a more aggressive approach to domestic policy in that he would go against the Old Guard Republicans, whereas Wilson was one to speak directly in front of congress in order to gain their support. Roosevelt became president towards the beginning of the progressive movement, and so he had a harder time trying make reforms than Wilson did. Also, by telling the public that he was only going to run one term, his chances of running for a second term was greatly diminished, which is one of the reasons why Wilson came ahead in the election of 1912. Roosevelt promoted New Nationalism, while Wilson promoted New Freedom. They were very popular presidents in the eyes of the American people. Especially Roosevelt, who liked to vocalize his opinions and open up his private life to them. Throughout the early 1900s, Roosevelt and Wilson both were leaders in the progressive movement, with their own spin on how it should be done. The two presidents altered labor and large businesses, civil rights, and ultimately the role of the federal government.
Even though African Americans were now free and considered citizens thanks to the 13th and 14th amendments, they were still severely oppressed. While technically they had more rights and opportunities in the United Sates government than females, they did not truly receive them. As Frederick Douglass said over and over again in support of the 15th amendment, the abolishment of slavery did not eradicate racism. It was still a huge problem in America. Abolishment had been achieved in name and name only, because they were economically just as tyrannized as before. In the eyes of the feminists who supported the 15th amendment, they saw it as an opportunity for African American males to be able to make a bigger influence in American politics and hopefully lessen the iron fist they were under. With the ability to vote, the hope was that the rather large population of African American males would have the chance to make a real impact in
During the Progressive Era, pressure from labor, suffrage, and conservation movements profoundly changed the course of American history. Many of the reformers' ideas clashed with the male-dominated, capitalist economic structure present at the turn of the century. Some of the intended reforms opposed the current system, but the level of social unrest necessitated change. Businessmen and activists alike initiated the reforms during the Progressive Era. Government, due to the intention of calming the common man and quieting the seemingly more and more vocal middle class, supported them. In the final analysis, from the year 1900 to 1920, Progressive Era reformers were successful in bringing about reform to the United States.
Within the period of 1900-1920, many national reforms were rising to the top as Progressive Era reformers and the federal government heard the voices of the people. The effectiveness of Progressivism is a controversial subject for some, but the future was changed through the events of any actions a president made, the rights of people, and unfair treatment and conditions. This era brings changes to our society that also changes the future of it. These two decades brought forth successful times in bettering America.
In an era of addressing social issues and inequality, many African Americans were segregated and divided; they fought for justice but racial tensions still formed. The Progressive Era: a time of major movements of the American population. During the decades between the 1890s and 1920, Americans were faced with many challenges and in turn, they entered a modern era of change. The states and cities were experiencing a newly diverse and urban society. There were new technological advances and industrial economics were growing rapidly since the Civil War. Although, not all innovations made during this time were beneficial. With the large innovations in society and the progressive mindsets, the lives of African Americans dramatically changed. The
Reformers known as Progressives attempted to undo the problems caused by industrialization. The Progressive movement sought to end the influence of large corporations, provide more rights and benefits to workers, and end the control possessed by party leaders. At the national level, Progressivism centered on defeating the power of large businesses. The Progressive Era was a period in American history in which improving working conditions, exposing corruption, improving the way of life, expanding democracy, and making reforms were the objectives at hand. With the emergence of the Progressive Era, two important figures gradually emerged as well.
The turn of the century was marked by a movement known as the Progressive Era, during which many groups sought to reshape the nation's government and society in response to the pressure of urbanization and industrialization. Progressives were mainly members of the Post-Civil War generation that made an attempt to master a world much different then that of their parents.
During the Progressive Era there were two major factors that made this time unbearable which were Child Labor and unsafe working conditions. This time, The Progressive Era happened during 1890-1920. Many changes were made to the United States. Many people were apart of this movement like Andrew Carnegie and Upton Sinclair. Like many during this time they wanted improvement and that's what they achieved.
At the turn of the century America entered a new age that many historians call the Progressive Era. During this time period, the American Political system changed its view on how America should be brought about. It provided a purification of the American government through direct democracy. This era included many social and political reforms, which were brought about due to monopolies, and trust corporations.
The 19th amendment granted women the right to vote and was ratified in 1920 during Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat’s, presidency. Because of Jackson’s democratization of politics and his increasing want for more American citizens to be able to vote, women were finally granted this right less than a hundred years after his presidency. Jackson was determined to let his people help make government decisions and maintain their rights and this made the Jacksonian Era a democratization of politics because of the advancing opportunities to vote, the Indian removal, and being advantageous to the individual, middle and lower class people’s finances, wants, and
Due to the Jim Crow laws in the South, she completed limited schooling available for young black girls. During the period of Women's Suffrage in the early 1900s, sometimes black women were discriminated against from the end of the Civil War and onward. When the 19th amendment was passed in 1920, it enfranchised all women, white and black. Although within the few decades, state laws and vigilante practices, which would disenfranchise most black women in the South. It took a major movement- Civil Rights Movement to take effect in the 1960s for African Americans before black women in the South would have the right to vote effectively. (African American Women and Suffrage.
The Progressive Movement brought about many changes to improve the lives of American people in many ways especially during the years between 1900 and 1920. There were reforms and changes to housing and sanitation. Garbage pick-up and improvements to the sewer systems were made and then inspectors were hired to make sure the new reforms were kept. Many of the inspectors who were hired were women. Women began to make more of an impact in the workforce. Women were also allowed to start voting.