The Industrial Revolution: The Causes Of The Progressive Era

The Industrial Revolution had greatly changed the dynamic of American lives, creating the rise of big business and masses of new workers and people. From this, emerged new issues that sought resolution in the coming age. During the Progressive Era from 1900-1920, Progressive reformers and the federal government fostered moderate reforms in corporate regulation, labor reform, and extending suffrage. However, the persisting continuity of limited legislation and hands-off government did not culminate in the radical changes needed to address and change the problems developed by the Industrial Revolution. First and foremost, the Progressive Era was one that sought to reform economic problems, of which included corporate regulation, or trust-busting. This time period saw a slight change in the laissez-faire economic policy that had existed in time before, the new alarmingly corrupt wealth of large corporations needing regulation. Document 1 depicts Theodore Roosevelt “killing” off bad trusts, effectively keeping good trusts in line. A progressive himself, Roosevelt also initiated the Sherman Antitrust Act to disallow the existence of monopolies, the Interstate Commerce Act …show more content…
However, it is important to note the way the hands-off government’s limited legislation affected the true change of these issues, often only addressing certain things and being unable to truly address the larger bulk of problems caused by the Industrial Revolution that had occurred prior. While this occurred in the U.S. similar industrial revolutions were happening abroad and WWI obscured the severity of domestic issues. Such problems that were left unaddressed in this era would flow over into the coming era of the Roaring 20’s whose stagnant policy would catalyze the Great