Change In Populism During The Progressive Era

Before the 1900s, in the late 19th century Populism was ruling America but starting in the 20th century, the Progressive movement would make the reigns and start a new era, an era of reforms. While American society experienced change in the form of the identity of women, the power of Political Machines, and the control held by trusts, some aspects would remain the same. The identity of American society, especially that of women was going through constant changes. In the very early years of the 1900s, women were working harsh hours along with many other factory workers but the working hours of women changed when in the 1906 Supreme Court case Muller V. Oregon, the Supreme Court respected an Oregon Law and restricted the hours of women to only being 10 hours of work a day from the previous time where they would be working for much longer hours. Moving on, one thing that …show more content…
In 1900, Political Machines were running rampant with ones like New York City’s Tammany Hall displaying the amount of control they held through the act of bribery. In the Progressive Era, this power did not last very long. The power of Political Machines started declining when Robert La Follette introduced the Wisconsin Experiment. His experiment introduced a Direct Primary, initiative, referendum, and recall which all contributed to counteracting the corruption in the senate and the control held by trusts. It all started going downhill for Political Machines because other states’ governors’ like the ones in California, New York, and New Jersey followed the lead of Wisconsin. The nail in coffin would be set once the 17th Amendment was passed, causing a sudden change in how the people of America could vote for their respective Senators where as before the Senators were picked by the State Legislature which were often corrupted by the influence of Political Machines such as Boss