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Progressive Era DBQ

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At the start of the 20th century, America entered the Progressive Era, after a period known as the Gilded Age, where the wealth distribution in the United States became drastically uneven, with the rise of trusts and corporations. The unfortunate result of this process was extremely poor living conditions for a large proportion of the nation’s population (Doc B). The progressives recognised these horrendous conditions and set out to make reforms across a wide variety of areas. These reforms were successful economically, politically, and socially, except in regard to the black population. A major area of improvement to the nation was through societal changes, which included women’s and children’s rights, as well as better regulation in the food industry. Prior to the reforms of the era, women were forced to work long hours within the poor conditions of factories. These were protested by progressives, culminating …show more content…
Several new political institutions were put in place during this period, such as the recall, initiative, silent ballot, and direct election of senators. These political endeavors resulted in the 17th amendment, allowing for direct election of senators (Doc D) by the American people. Additionally, the process of women’s rights produced the 19th amendment, women’s suffrage, in 1920 (Doc H). The politics of the era in regard to the presidency ultimately resulted in progressive extremism, which approached socialistic views, especially through Roosevelt’s pushes for all types of legislation (Doc F) such as those that created social welfare programs. By the end of the Progressive Era, the fire of the movement had begun to die off in politics as tensions on the global front rose in the lead up to the first world war. Just as in the social reforms, the changes in politics were beneficial, however little to no changes were made for blacks in the country (Doc

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