How Progressive was the Progressive Era?

→ How it was progressive.

Minimum Wage Regulations. During the Progressive Era, certain states initiated providing minimum wage laws for women workers. This ensured reasonable pay for women in the work force.

Advancements in Technology. The Progressive Era provided the access to brand new technologies for Americans. These new technologies changed the home environment, the work industry, and daily life. These advancements are important because we still see them today. New inventions, like automobiles, drastically changed the years following the invention.

Transportation. Railroads and Pullman Cars were widely common and were a main source of transportation.

Accessable Information. Newspapers and advertising grew, causing a huge increase in the number of people who knew the news and how quickly they heard it. New means of communication were introduced, like the telegraph and the radio.

→ How it was not progressive.

Child Labor. The 1890 census revealed that more than one million children, ten to fifteen years old, worked in America. That number increased to two million by 1910. Children as young as five or six were employed to work as many as eighteen to twenty hours a day.

Poor Working Conditions. Men, women and children worked long hours in unsafe factories. Incidents like the Triangle-Shirtwaist Factory Fire are proof of poor working conditions. 148 workers, mostly women, died in the fire. It was caused by the hazardous building with no decent fire escape route and illegally locked doors.

Farmers lost jobs. Many farmers lost their jobs and income, due to a decrease in demand for their services. Machinery took over many of their jobs and they were no longer needed.

→ My stand on it.

The Progressive Era definitely had its share of pros and cons. In some cases, they went hand in hand, meaning that a good thing was also a bad thing. For instance, technology advanced and brought new innovations and ideas, yet it put farmers out of work and replaced humans with machines. I see the Progressive Era as something that was necessary to our nation. It had to happen because it made our country move forward and it did solve many problems. However, it had its share of trials and tribulations that of course, stand out in our minds. In my opinion, the Progressive Era was great because it moved our society forward, yet I think it could have gone more smoothly if it had been taken slower. Maybe then, incidents like the Shirtwaist Fire and child labor would have been noticed and addressed, because America wouldn’t have been so fast-paced and aimed for quick success.