The Shocking Failure of Progressives The Progressive Era was a time period that spanned from the 1890s-1920s. During this time, Progressives focused on fixing the several problems caused by industrialization and urbanization. During Industrialization, the growing of businesses resulted in many problems including the use of child labor, monopolies, bad working conditions, and the need for Indian land among many others. Progressives tried to fix these problems by passing laws and raising awareness. However, the Progressives only made some improvements and overall failed to reach their unrealistic goals.
The Progressives’ failure can be seen through the overall bad conditions and life endured by the lower class. One example of the harsh life …show more content…
As a result, most Indians ended up failing at their job even though they were equally capable to white man that took their job from them. Finally, Progressives pushing for westward expansion resulted in harm to the Indians. Invasion of America is a map animation, by Claudio Saunt from the University of Georgia, which depicts the amount of land in America belonging to Indians. The animation shows the 1.5 billion acres of Indian land that were seized by whites from 1776-1887. The animation begins in the year 1776, and shows that all the land in the U.S. was either unclaimed or Indian territory. Then, slowly over time, the Indian territory was chipped away at and reservations popped up. By the end of the 19th century, the map showed that there was no original Indian territory left and the reservations were extremely small and limited in number (http://usg.maps.arcgis.com). The westward expansion demonstrated by this animation was highly promoted by Progressives. However, this ended up taking away Indian homelands and led to the Indian population dramatically decreasing.
Although the Progressives certainly did not make everything perfect, their actions made the problems slightly better. One example of this is what they argued to be done with Native Americans. Captain Richard H. Pratt on the Education of Native Americans …show more content…
That is, instead of killing Indians they only killed their identities. This was far from the best way the Indians could be treated, but at least they saved the Indians from being exterminated. Another example of the Progressives success were the improvements made on tenement housing. The Lower East Side Tenement Museum summarizes the 1901 Tenement House Act as it “banned the construction of tenements on 25-foot wide lots… requires improved light, ventilation and toilet facilities in new buildings” (Document #5). After this law was put in place, there was still a big gap between the small tenements and the mansions lived in by Industrialists, but it was still an improvement. Lastly, Progressives made women closer to gaining equality in society. After the Progressives urged Congress to allow women’s suffrage for a long time, Congress finally ratified the 19th amendment, which states “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” (United States History p. 561). Although this amendment gave women the right to vote, Progressives were still far from making women have full equality, but it was a step in the right
The Progressives’ failure can be seen through the overall bad conditions and life endured by the lower class. One example of the harsh life …show more content…
As a result, most Indians ended up failing at their job even though they were equally capable to white man that took their job from them. Finally, Progressives pushing for westward expansion resulted in harm to the Indians. Invasion of America is a map animation, by Claudio Saunt from the University of Georgia, which depicts the amount of land in America belonging to Indians. The animation shows the 1.5 billion acres of Indian land that were seized by whites from 1776-1887. The animation begins in the year 1776, and shows that all the land in the U.S. was either unclaimed or Indian territory. Then, slowly over time, the Indian territory was chipped away at and reservations popped up. By the end of the 19th century, the map showed that there was no original Indian territory left and the reservations were extremely small and limited in number (http://usg.maps.arcgis.com). The westward expansion demonstrated by this animation was highly promoted by Progressives. However, this ended up taking away Indian homelands and led to the Indian population dramatically decreasing.
Although the Progressives certainly did not make everything perfect, their actions made the problems slightly better. One example of this is what they argued to be done with Native Americans. Captain Richard H. Pratt on the Education of Native Americans …show more content…
That is, instead of killing Indians they only killed their identities. This was far from the best way the Indians could be treated, but at least they saved the Indians from being exterminated. Another example of the Progressives success were the improvements made on tenement housing. The Lower East Side Tenement Museum summarizes the 1901 Tenement House Act as it “banned the construction of tenements on 25-foot wide lots… requires improved light, ventilation and toilet facilities in new buildings” (Document #5). After this law was put in place, there was still a big gap between the small tenements and the mansions lived in by Industrialists, but it was still an improvement. Lastly, Progressives made women closer to gaining equality in society. After the Progressives urged Congress to allow women’s suffrage for a long time, Congress finally ratified the 19th amendment, which states “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” (United States History p. 561). Although this amendment gave women the right to vote, Progressives were still far from making women have full equality, but it was a step in the right