The Progressive Era Changes
Introduction into industrial society turned out to be very beneficial to the American way of living today, but it had to undergo a series of changes to become the success it is presently. The time period in which these changes in society, economics, and politics were pushed, in hopes to solve the problems created by The Industrial Age, was The Progressive Era. The Progressive Era approached many issues on a large and small scale to create change but did not always do so successfully or to the extent the people of America desired. Two of the areas that demonstrate the progress of The Progressive Era are the changes in federal government, through large efforts, such as the 16th and 17th amendments, and more subtle …show more content…
The 16th amendment, proposed by taft, instituted a federal income tax on all people with an income above 12,000 dollars. This meant that the federal government would be getting more money from the working class and thus have more power over us and more money to institute more reforms. The 17th amendment, in contrast to the 16th amendment, gave the people more power in their government by causing the direct election of senators by the people also causing a significant change in the power the people have over congress (“THE GILDED AGE”). The 17th amendment was high up on what the platform for the progressive party and this was a reason that it was pushed to become an amendment (“The Progressive Party Platform”). The 19th amendment was a very interesting change in federal power. It gave the people more power because it gave the people more votes and made way for a more equal society. It also caused different areas of reform, such as the child labor reform movement, to gain more power so, by passing this amendment, it created a domino effect of change in many areas of reform (“Women and …show more content…
Other than what the labor unions could bargain for in terms of workers protection and safety, which was not much, the workplace itself did not change in the way it produced and ran its factories. The one exception to this was change that occurred after the Triangle Shirt Factory fire. This tragedy caused many to lose their life in a factory fire because the doors were locked and they open inwards and because the factory had no fire escapes or evacuation plans causing many to panic and die. The reforms that followed this tragedy were reforms that caused factories to install sprinklers and fire escapes which helped the workers in factories everywhere become more safe (“NEAR CLOSING TIME”). Upton Sinclair, Jr, an influential writer at the time, tried to change the awful conditions for workers in meat factories. He instead, by inadvertently causing the Meat Inspection Act to be passed, caused the food to become more healthy and changed little for the workers other than the workers having a slightly cleaner work
Introduction into industrial society turned out to be very beneficial to the American way of living today, but it had to undergo a series of changes to become the success it is presently. The time period in which these changes in society, economics, and politics were pushed, in hopes to solve the problems created by The Industrial Age, was The Progressive Era. The Progressive Era approached many issues on a large and small scale to create change but did not always do so successfully or to the extent the people of America desired. Two of the areas that demonstrate the progress of The Progressive Era are the changes in federal government, through large efforts, such as the 16th and 17th amendments, and more subtle …show more content…
The 16th amendment, proposed by taft, instituted a federal income tax on all people with an income above 12,000 dollars. This meant that the federal government would be getting more money from the working class and thus have more power over us and more money to institute more reforms. The 17th amendment, in contrast to the 16th amendment, gave the people more power in their government by causing the direct election of senators by the people also causing a significant change in the power the people have over congress (“THE GILDED AGE”). The 17th amendment was high up on what the platform for the progressive party and this was a reason that it was pushed to become an amendment (“The Progressive Party Platform”). The 19th amendment was a very interesting change in federal power. It gave the people more power because it gave the people more votes and made way for a more equal society. It also caused different areas of reform, such as the child labor reform movement, to gain more power so, by passing this amendment, it created a domino effect of change in many areas of reform (“Women and …show more content…
Other than what the labor unions could bargain for in terms of workers protection and safety, which was not much, the workplace itself did not change in the way it produced and ran its factories. The one exception to this was change that occurred after the Triangle Shirt Factory fire. This tragedy caused many to lose their life in a factory fire because the doors were locked and they open inwards and because the factory had no fire escapes or evacuation plans causing many to panic and die. The reforms that followed this tragedy were reforms that caused factories to install sprinklers and fire escapes which helped the workers in factories everywhere become more safe (“NEAR CLOSING TIME”). Upton Sinclair, Jr, an influential writer at the time, tried to change the awful conditions for workers in meat factories. He instead, by inadvertently causing the Meat Inspection Act to be passed, caused the food to become more healthy and changed little for the workers other than the workers having a slightly cleaner work