Dbq On The Progressive Era

Robin Sharma once said, “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” The Progressive Era was a period of major changes in the United States that took place during the late 1800’s to the early 1900's.The rise of industrialization, urbanization, and immigration brought changes and benefits, but it also causes major problems and difficulties in the United States. In 1900’s, twenty-six percent of boys and ten percent of girls between ten and fifteen years old had to work. The average work hour per week was sixty hours. The food was not any better, the noxious meat was filled with chemicals. Ultimately, the Progressive Era was a time of positive change because it ended child labor and created safety measures for the food we eat.
Firstly, child labor was one of the major problems that people fought for during the Progressive Era. People fought for child labor because children should be in school and learns new thing, instead of working. For example, “ … two breaker boys of 15 years… fell or were carried by the coal down into the car below. One was badly burned and the other smothered to death” (Document B). This shows how dangerous and unsafe child labor can be. Another example from Document B, “Fingers are calloused and cut by the coal and slate, the noise and monotony are …show more content…
The ending of child labor is important because children had to work for sixty hours a week and injuring themselves without even knowing it. Likewise, the creation of safety measures for the food that we eat is important because when you eat unhealthy or unsanitary then you could get really sick and possibly die if you eat too much. Nonetheless, the Progressive Era made the United States the country it is today. The country that we know today would not be the same if children were still working and the food was still