The Progressive Movement

             

          The areas that were most influenced by the Progressive Movement were working conditions,  and social issues. Working conditions were a huge issue during this time period. People often worked unreasonable hours in horrible conditions for very little pay. An example of this was the Triangle Shirt Waist factory. The women were given little pay for working in a factory where little safety measures were taking. All around the country factories were like this. Workers began to step up and protest the harsh conditions. This lead to reforms, which helped to create better working conditions. Eventually federal regulations were implemented. Another area that was a center of focus was Social Issue.  Women’s rights were also a major area that was focused on by progressive reformers. Women were mistreated, and people started to take action. Women's rights activist, like Florence Kelly, started to step up. Florence Kelly tried to help create better work conditions, while other reformers, Susan B. Anthony, worked toward getting women the right to vote. These activist led protests. The main issue that they tried to resolve was voting privileges. Suffrage became the center of their reform efforts. Eventually there ideas were granted in the 19th amendment, when the women were granted the right to vote. This accomplished the main social issue that these reformers were asking for. Social issues and working conditions were essential in the minds of the leaders of the progressive movement.

       I feel that big businesses were the reason for the creation of the progressive movement. These businesses tried to do everything as efficient as possible. They wasted little money on taking safety precautions for the workers. This means that the environment for the workers was often unsafe. The working conditions were harsh, and the workers did not receive large compensation for their efforts. This began progressive idea that focused working conditions and workers’ rights. Another thing that progressivist focused on was the idea of equaling out the money in the economy. The leaders of these big businesses made a lot of money and created a huge disparity of wealth within society. This led to an issue of economics because there was a huge problem with wealth. Some people in society had an abundance of money while others were very poor. Progressives tried to change this.  This connects to the populist because they both focus on the wellbeing of the people. Populist wanted to create a system that benefits the people, which was the main idea of the progressive movement at this time. We see the same populist ideas reappear in the progressive movement. The difference is that populism was much less broad than progressivism. The populist movement failed because it was much more focused, yet many of its ideas are seen within the progressive movement.