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The Progressive Era. What is a Progressive?. Someone who works to reform or change parts of society. Problems of the Progressive Era : political corruption, poor working and living conditions. ***Government intervention and programs were needed!!! Late 1800s-1920.
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What is a Progressive? • Someone who works to reform or change parts of society. • Problems of the Progressive Era: political corruption, poor working and living conditions. ***Government intervention and programs were needed!!! Late 1800s-1920
By the late 1800s • Laissez-faire-> Government had little concern for workers. • Many industrial workers made less than $500 per year. • At the same time-Rich were very rich -Who can we think of?
Key Players • Andrew Carnegie-Carnegie Steel Company -Growth of Skyscraper, Elevator helps this growth • John D. Rockefeller- Founder of Standard Oil Company -Emergence of trusts across states-Business men/companies that invest and support growth **Helps create Monopoly in the industry (lack of competition) • Cornelius Vanderbilt- Dominant the Steamboat industry -Second wealthiest man during time after Rockefeller
City Problems • Overcrowding in Tenements • Crime • Dirt/Disease from garbage
Tenements • A place where people of the same ethnicity, race, or religion live. • Families living in close proximity to one another.
Workplace Problems • Low Wages • Poor Work Conditions • Child Labor • Long Hours • Unsafe Example: • Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
Muckrakers • Authors, journalists, photographers and other artists that expose the problems and ills of society at this time. Help the public (Elite) become aware of these conditions. • Working • Living • Political Corruption
Legal Impacts • Sherman Anti-Trust Act 1890: restricts business practices that lead to monopolies; 1st federal law to limit monopolies • Pure Food & Drug Act 1906: 1st federal law regulating food & drugs; dangerous ingredients had to be listed on the label • Fair Labor Standards Act 1938: created min wage, max hour laws, and restricts child labor • Many other state laws regulating safety and workers’ rights were created in the early 1900s
Child Labor Reform • 1836- First state child labor law- Massachusetts- 15 and under working in factories must go to school for at least 3 months per year 1842 • 1842-States limit work day- Mass. limits work day to 10 hours (not always enforced) • 1881- State minimum age laws- AFL calls on states to ban full employment for under 14 • 1904- National Child Labor Committee forms- national campaign for federal child labor laws
Labor Unions Grow What do unions do?
PROTECTWorkers!!! • Worked 12 to 16 hr days • 6 days a week • Cheap pay • Unhealthy conditions • Dark • Dirty • No compensation for workplace injuries • No sick leave • No paid vacation
Knights of Labor • Accepted unskilled workers, women, African Americans. • Reach a high of 800,00 members in 1886.
American Federation of Labor • Started in 1886- primarily for skilled workers and mostly white men. • Wanted Increased Pay & Decrease in Hours • End Child Labor • Merged with CIO in 1955 to form the most powerful union in the USA.
International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) • Organized 2 major strikes in NYC: • 1910: The Uprising of the 20,000 • 1911: The Great Revolt (involved 60,000 workers)
Standard Oil v. New Jersey (1911) • By 1904, Standard Oil controlled 94% of all oil production in the USA • Ida Tarbell’s work brought attention to their dominance • The Supreme Court used the Sherman Anti-trust Act to break up the company into 34 independent companies (largest 2 became Exxon & Mobil) John D. Rockefeller
Effects of Progressivism… • Although progressives excluded large groups along the way, they did expand democracy, reform education, and improve the quality of life for millions of men, women, and especially children. • Progressivism officially ended in 1920 with the national right for women to vote.
