Progression Era through the Great Depression was a time of many accomplishment as well as many disasters. Two major historical turning points that occurred during this time were the Women’s Right Movement and the Stock Market Crash. There were also many pieces of legislations passed during this time. All of these had a major impact on the economy, politics and culture of America.
The woman suffrage movement actually began in 1848, when the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. For the next 50 years, woman suffrage supporters worked to educate the public about the validity of woman suffrage. Under the leadership of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and other women’s rights pioneers, suffragists circulated petitions and lobbied Congress to pass a Constitutional Amendment to enfranchise women (Reforming their World:Women in the Progressive Era, 2007). Leadership of the suffrage movement passed to two organizations. The first, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), under the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt, was a moderate organization. The NAWSA undertook campaigns to enfranchise women in individual states, and simultaneously lobbied President Wilson and Congress to pass a woman suffrage Constitutional Amendment (Schultz, 2012). The second group, the National Woman’s Party (NWP), under the leadership of Alice Paul, was a more militant organization. The NWP undertook radical actions, including picketing the White House, in order to convince Wilson and Congress to pass a woman suffrage amendment (Schultz, 2012).
In 1920, due to the combined efforts of the NAWSA and the NWP, the 19th Amendment, enfranchising women, was finally ratified. This victory is considered the most significant achievement of women in the Progressive Era (Reforming their World:Women in the Progressive Era, 2007).
In the frontier states in the West, women worked side by side along with men in numerous ways. When pioneers headed west, they took upon themselves the task of forging new ground mostly by taking raw, unworked land and turning it into farms. This required women to “get dirty” right along with men. They did an extreme amount of physical labor and this, in some ways, made them seem more like equals. In the eastern and southern states, women were not usually engaged in physically demanding work. They rarely worked, but if they did, they did “women’s work” and did jobs such as seamstress, teachers, or perhaps nurses. They were considered as not quite as smart and not quite as able to make decisions. Women were supposed to be, for the most part, protected and taken care of. They were not considered to be able to be informed or intelligent enough to make such a major decision as voting.
The stock market crash of 1929 was the most significant crash in U.S. history. Although the crash itself only lasted four days, it led to a catastrophic sell-off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 90% of its value between its record high close of 381.2 on September 3, 1929, and its subsequent bottom of 41.22 on July 8, 1932 (Schultz, 2012). That was the worst bear market in terms of percentage loss in modern U.S. history. The crash began on October 24, 1929, a day known as Black Thursday. The stock market opened at 305.85, falling 11% during day trading, barely a stock market correction. It regained, to close just 2% down for the day. Even so, Wall Street bankers were worried because trading was triple the normal volume. Even though they feverishly bought stocks to prop up the market, it fell again on Black Monday. The stock market crash ended with a panicked stampede out of the stock market on Black Tuesday. Over 16 million shares were sold that day. This crash led to the Great Depression. During the Depression, unemployment rose to 25%, wages fell 42%, economic growth fell 50%, and world trade plummeted 65% (Schultz, 2012).
During the 1920s, some freedoms were expanded while others were curtailed. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1919, had banned the manufacture and sale of “intoxicating liquors,” and at 12 A.M. on January 16, 1920, the federal Volstead Act closed every tavern, bar and saloon in the United States. From then on, it was illegal to sell any “intoxication beverages” with more than 0.5% alcohol. To many middle-class white Americans, Prohibition was a way to assert some control over the unruly immigrant masses who crowded the nation’s cities.
The 1920s were an age of dramatic social and political change. For the first time, more Americans lived in cities than on farms. The nation’s total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, and this economic growth swept many Americans into an affluent but unfamiliar “consumer society.” People from coast to coast bought the same goods (thanks to nationwide advertising and the spread of chain stores), listened to the same music, did the same dances and even used the same slang! Many Americans were uncomfortable with this new, urban, sometimes racy “mass culture”; in fact, for many–even most–people in the United States, the 1920s brought more conflict than celebration. At the beginning of the roaring twenties, the United States was converting from wartime to peacetime economy. When weapons for World War I were no longer needed, there was a temporary stall in the economy. After a few years, the country prospered. In this decade, America became the richest nation on Earth and a culture of consumerism was born. Technology played a vital part in delivering the economic and cultural good times that most of America enjoyed during the 1920s. On April 25, 1898 the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898.The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. As a result Spain lost its control over the remains of its overseas empire: Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines Islands, Guam, and other islands (The War of 1989: The Spanish-American War). Following its declaration of war against Spain, the United States added the Teller Amendment asserting that it would not attempt to exercise hegemony over Cuba. Representatives of Spain and the United States signed a peace treaty in Paris on December 10, 1898, which established the independence of Cuba, ceded Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States, and allowed the victorious power to purchase the Philippines Islands from Spain for $20 million. The war had cost the United States $250 million and 3,000 lives, of which 90% had perished from infectious diseases. When looking at the events that transpired from the Progressive Era through the Great Depression each incident has a direct impact on the next. The Women’s Right’s Movement led to the establishment of the NAWSA and the NWP, which lead the passing of the 18th amendment. The Spanish-American war leads to America becoming a world power, which lead to the roaring twenties: a time of prosperity and change. This will ultimately leads to the Great Depression. Reference

Reforming their World:Women in the Progressive Era. (2007). Retrieved November 13, 2012, from The NAtional Women's History Museum: http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/progressiveera/suffrage.html
Schultz, K. M. (2012). HIST. Mason: Cengage Learning.
The War of 1989: The Spanish-American War. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2012, from Library of Congree: http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/intro.html