Brittany Peck Period 1 03/18/12 Progressive Era DBQ In the first part of the twentieth century, the reformers

and federal government tackled the growing problems of the nation. While the reformers were the ones to notify the public and authorities of these issues, it was truly the federal government that swept in with reforms. Although the government was able to make some headway, the limitations of the Progressive Era outweighed its successes. At the turn of the twentieth century, trusts became growing burdens to the nation. In Wealth Against Commonwealth, Henry Demarest Lloyd exposed the corruption of the Standard oil company monopoly. As well as Lloyd, Theodore Dreiser, Lincoln Steffens, and Ida M. Tarbell accused and presented the fraud of trust and large companies. Continually, David G. Phillips asserted that 75 of 90 American Senators did not represent the people, but rather the railroads and trusts. Taking into account what theses reformers had declared, the federal government in 1903, created the Department of Commerce and Labor. It investigates businesses involved with interstate commerce and succeeded in trust busting many companies. In that same year, congress passed the Elkins Act, which fined railroads giving rebates and the shippers that accepted them. The Hepburn Act restricted the free passes of railroads. The effect that these laws had was beneficial to some extent, but President Roosevelt decided that there were both good and bad trusts, and he needed to only go after the bad trusts (Doc A). Although he managed to take down about forty trusts in the beef, sugar, fertilizer, and harvester trusts, this number was small in

comparison to what the nation needed. The next president, Taft, dissolved almost 90 trusts. Lastly, when congress passed the Clayton Anti-Trust Act in 1914, it outlined the types of practices deemed objectionable, excused labor unions from being labeled as trusts, and legalized peaceful strikes (Doc E). Although these laws helped to disband many trusts, once the nation became involved with WWI, congress did not continue its efforts until after 1920. When Upton Sinclair wrote his famous novel, the Jungle, millions across the nation were made aware of the horrors of meatpacking. The factories where meat was packaged were revolting. Meat scraps, dirt, and rotten box carts piled up around workplaces (Doc B). As there were no laws at the time stopping this unseemliness, owners were able to get away with endangering their workers health. Food was prepared by unsanitary means and drugs were often mislabeled. In the same year that Sinclair published his book, 1906, the federal government passed the Pure Food and Drug act, which prohibited the sale of fraudulently labeled drugs and food. It also passed the Meat Inspection Act, which enforced sanitary conditions in meatpacking plants. In this instance, the reformer notified the nation and the government swiftly came up with a solution. While the Meat Inspection Act has had lasting effects, the authorities did not do a proficient job of enforcing the Pure Food and drug act. At the turn of the twentieth century, many adult and child laborers faced working in poor conditions, for long hours, with terrible pay. These workers had no way to voice their opinions, as unions usually didnt help. According to Jane Addams,

people were too busy appreciating the great outcomes of industrialization, that they are overlooking the negative effects child labor is having on youths (Doc C). John Spargo wrote The Bitter Cry of the Children, a novel that exposed the woes of child labor. Although his book did not directly help children, its message did help lead to better conditions and hours. By 1920, almost all states forbade employment of children under the age of fourteen. In 1902, a coal strike broke out. About 140,000 workers demanded a twenty percent raise in wages and a nine-hour workday. When the federal government got involved, Theodore Roosevelts threats led to a ten percent increase in wages and a nine-hour workday. In 1916, the federal government passed the Adamson Act, which established and eight-hour workday with overtime pay. Although many steps were taken in the right direction to help workers, the Unites States involvement in World War I stalled these improvements. Price inflation jeopardized wage gains and although congress discouraged strikes during the war, more than 6,000 broke out. In 1919, 250,000 steelworkers walked off the job. The owners brought in 30,000 black strikebreakers, damaging the labor cause for over a decade. The progressive reformers favored the initiative so voters could directly propose legislation, the referendum so people could vote on laws that affected them, and the recall to remove corrupt officials from office. They also pushed for a secret Australian ballot to curtail the corruption of senators. The federal government yet again listened to the complaints of the reformers, and, in 1913, they passed the 17th Amendment, which provided the direct election of American senators. Although the progressives and government were making some headway, by 1920, only forty-nine

percent of the population was eligible to cast ballots in presidential elections (Doc J). Not many citizens were able to choose their national leader. Therefore, the successes of direct democracy was limited. Women and African Americans were entirely denied the right to vote. Prior to the Progressive Era, there many exploited natural resources for monetary gain. Only a quarter of the nations timber remained. As the nation continued to industrialized, reformers realized that something needed to be done to conserve these finite resources. Gifford Pinchot, head of the federal Division of forestry, convinced President Roosevelt to establish massive conservation projects. It was also the help of Jack London and his Call of the Wild and the establishment of the Boy Scouts of American and the Sierra Club, that so many projects were set up to protect wildlife. During Roosevelts presidency, over 148 million acres of land were set aside as national forest lands. The Newlands Act of 1902 initiated irrigation projects for the Western States. In 1905, the United States Forest Service was created, and in 1916, the National Park System was created. Although many steps were taken to preserve the nations wildlife, the amount of wide scale industrialization continued to skyrocket, filling the air with pollutants and debris that even the millions of acres of preserved forests could not stop. All in all, a few laws could not change the social and industrial lifestyle of the American people (Doc F). It would take a lot more than Amendments and acts to make all of the necessary reforms. Although the Progressive Era reformers and the federal government made a lot of headway in fixing issues at hand, racial

discrimination, womens rights, corruption, and conservationism would remain unsettled issues for decades after.