Progressive Era Dbq Analysis

During the Gilded Age, the period that was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath, the government attempted to settle the issues of this age by the reforms of the Progressive Era. The term “gilded” means something is beautiful on the surface but is really worthless underneath; however, it didn’t live up to its name. Although the reform of the Progressive Era attempted to resolve the issues of the Gilded Age; ultimately, it didn’t solve all the problems because there still were corruption in government, unethical business condition, and unequal distribution of wealth. During this Era, there were lots of issues and corruption in government was one of the biggest issue. The image from “Washington as Seen by the Trust” demonstrates that the government is corrupted and the white house is on top of Rockefeller’s hand, which means it is being controlled by Rockefeller (Doc. D). A system called, Patronage or Spoils System was created and it gave government jobs to loyal party workers or friends. This system gave government jobs to the people who weren’t qualifying and …show more content…
The image from “The protectors of our industries,” shows how the owners are relaxing on top of the workers and it’s the workers that are doing the jobs (Doc. A). The working conditions were extremely dangerous because people lost fingers, limbs, become physically handicapped, stooped over, or other health problems. Woman and children were paid less and there were sexual harassment, poor ventilation, beatings, abuse, no breaks, and monotonous work. In order to solve this problem, the government created the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, it was a law outlawing a combination of companies that restrained interstate trade or commerce;important to prevent monopolies. However, this Act didn’t help anyone nor did anything. Unethical business was another problem that they struggle to resolve, but