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Progressivism was the social movement that eventually turned into the political movement. The theory of Social Darwinism was primarily rejected by the progressives. Progressives were the people who thought that issues of the society, such as poverty, racism, class inequalities, and violence, could be solved by bringing in progressive ideas. They thought of removing these evils from society by providing equal opportunities for education, a safe environment, and safe employment. They were the rich and educated people who believed that the government could be used as a tool for change. Few of the powerful voices for this movement were social reformers such as Jane Addams, Ida Tarbel, and Jacob Riis. They raised their voices for exposing social evils such as corporate greed, issued related to the immigrants and common perception of democracy. The Progressive leaders encouraged the commoners to register for vote, fight against political corruption and to give a chance to the public to decide how their issues should be addressed ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"slXHaiZB","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Glaser)","plainCitation":"(Glaser)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":592,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/F2YXRZS3"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/F2YXRZS3"],"itemData":{"id":592,"type":"article-journal","title":"Post Reconstruction through 1920","collection-title":"A Guide to Primary Resources for US History","URL":"http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/solguide/VUS08/essay08d.html","journalAbbreviation":"Virginia Center for Digital History","author":[{"family":"Glaser","given":"Leah S."}],"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",11,7]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Glaser).
While exploring the historical evidence, it can be found out that progressives "offered an impressive array of reform proposals" as the country was in need of significant changes and reforms. According to those leaders, the only way to achieve success and improve development was bringing about reforms in society. The classes that were focusing on the issue were well developed. However, there was a considerable disproportion in the society based on the resources availability. There was a need to offer programs that would help in redistribution of the goods. There were a number of laborers that worked in dangerous jobs and at extremely low wages and additional working hours and they could barely feed their families. Men, women and youngsters worked almost eighty hours a week with low incomes beyond the standardized minimum wages. The compensation packages for labors were unreasonably insufficient. While on the other hand, the employers enjoyed the perks of good profits and improved their life standards. Workers in the Progressive Era and the Gilded Age toiled themselves as they were forced to work because work could not be ceased at any cost ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"wrtUpYFu","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Zinn)","plainCitation":"(Zinn)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":590,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/JLB8ZDHY"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/JLB8ZDHY"],"itemData":{"id":590,"type":"book","title":"Howard Zinn on history","publisher":"Seven Stories Press","publisher-place":"New York","source":"http://worldcat.org","archive":"/z-wcorg/","event-place":"New York","ISBN":"978-1-60980-234-9","language":"English","author":[{"family":"Zinn","given":"Howard","suffix":""}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2014"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Zinn).
The country was in a total chaos during the Gilded Age. Factories were an important source of income for the people but condition of those factories was extremely poor. The lives of the workers were at risk. They had to use the dangerous equipment being utilized in the industries. They faced hot temperatures and toxic fumes. Many tragic incidents took place and there was an abundance of sickness, disaster, and accidents. The governments whether state, local or natural were highly corrupt. Bribery was common for the officials and corruption dominated everything. Various proposals were made by the Progressives to transform the system and bring about reforms in the United States. They battled social issues like racism, poverty, and sexism to create a sophisticated social atmosphere. The result of these proposals was positive as the United States became a gentler and kinder nation. The Progressives tried to bring changes to the United States by making it a stronger democratic and ideal nation.
The Progressives in the past were very effective in creating a reform that transformed United States into a gentler and kinder nation. For example, the Progressive mind set changed American society into one of the world’s commendable democracy apart from that they also helped in institutionalizing women suffer. However, there are still many examples where they failed to achieve their targeted goals. The working environment in many institutions and industries continued to be very unfaithful and demotivated. The environment of the present American poultry slaughter houses is very disgusting and inhuman. Workers are supposed to endure scorching heat and also remain aware of the fumes that come out of the decomposing blood. The case for many meat workers is the same they have to suffer serious pain every day. Many unskilled laborers suffer trauma injuries and disc problems which in the long run can permanently stop them from earning a living for their family ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"16z3VxZl","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Link)","plainCitation":"(Link)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":591,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/6VCR6K5L"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/6VCR6K5L"],"itemData":{"id":591,"type":"book","title":"The paradox of southern progressivism, 1880-1930","publisher":"Univ of North Carolina Press","ISBN":"0-8078-4589-2","author":[{"family":"Link","given":"William A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1997"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Link).
The factory working environment has not improved as much as the Progressive forefathers of the nations would had wished for. The injury of many laborers is a serious concern yet many of the company owners don’t focus on its seriousness because for them the goal is to achieve higher productivity with efficiency. Due to the work conditions in factories, there was not a day that could be assumed safe for the workers. The Progressive era was not as successful as leaders wanted it to be for building a more “kinder and gentler nation”. In general, many historians have assessed that there was need for many reforms that could not be brought in the system due to the unwillingness of the participants. The historians have criticized the progressive period for its inability to make necessary fundamental changes. In reality, the Progressives did not focus on the reforms rather they focused on silencing the uprisings that were growing up at that time. The modern-day work conditions in factories for many people are still the same as that of people in old times ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"HN1fwetq","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Hogan and Bruce)","plainCitation":"(Hogan and Bruce)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":589,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/C3LKTREG"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/C3LKTREG"],"itemData":{"id":589,"type":"article-journal","title":"What's Next?: The Future of Progressivism as an\" Infinite Succession of Presents\"","container-title":"International Journal of Progressive Education (IJPE)","author":[{"family":"Hogan","given":"Maureen P."},{"family":"Bruce","given":"Bertram C."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Hogan and Bruce). The wages that many factory workers receive are very little as compared to the work they do. In short, we can safely assume that while the Progressive forefathers of nation helped in pressing some major issues in the society, they ultimately failed to achieve the goal of an ideal nation.
Works Cited
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Glaser, Leah S. Post Reconstruction through 1920. http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/solguide/VUS08/essay08d.html. Accessed 7 Nov. 2019.
Hogan, Maureen P., and Bertram C. Bruce. “What’s Next?: The Future of Progressivism as an" Infinite Succession of Presents".” International Journal of Progressive Education (IJPE), 2013.
Link, William A. The Paradox of Southern Progressivism, 1880-1930. Univ of North Carolina Press, 1997.
Zinn, Howard. Howard Zinn on History. Seven Stories Press, 2014. /z-wcorg/.
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