1. The Progressives

2. Beginnings The Progressive Era sought to bring change to the country through government It was an attempt to combat the problems created by Industrialization, Urbanization, and Immigration Sought to change the attitude that the government should stay away rather than help people

3. What Problems? 1) Poor working conditions 2) Consumer fraud 3) Unfair business practices 4) Political Corruption 5) Environmental destruction

4. Muckrakers This group exposed many of the problems to the American people The most famous literature was Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, which exposed Chicago’s meat-packing industry

5. The Jungle “There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms…and thousands of rats would race about on it…a man could run his and over these piles of meat and sweep off handfuls of dried rat dung. These rats were nuisances and the packers would put out poisoned bread for them, they would die and then the rats, bread, and meat would be thrown in the hoppers together.” – The Jungle

6. Labor In 1900 steel workers worked 7 days a week, 12 hours a day Textile workers, mostly women and children, worked 60 – 80 hours per week No minimum wage laws

7. Child Labor Children as young as six were subjected to the perils of labor Children were paid little money as compared to their adult counterparts Children worked in every industry imaginable

8. Textiles

10. Steel Factory

11. Working at home with family

12. Coal mines

13. Seafood

14. NAACP Most progressives felt as though blacks were inferior to whites Southern Progressives looked to bring African- Americans into society W.E.B. DuBois became the outspoken leader of the NAACP By 1914, the NAACP had a membership of 6,000

15. Major Legislation 1903 – Department of Commerce and Labor 1906 – Pure Food and Drug Act 1914 – Federal Trade Commission Act 16 th Amendment – Direct Election of Senators 19 th Amendment – Women’s Suffrage