During the Progressive Era, there were many issues surrounding labor, the food industry,and trusts. The Labor Union began to protest for better working conditions and hours, along with child labor laws. The Federal Government and the reformers had to act, and bring about reform through the nation. But the real question is whether or not they were effective in doing so. One of the main issues of the working industry that came to light was the terrible state of the meat packing industry. It wasn't just the conditions that they worked at that was the main issue, but rather the fact that the meat itself was unhealthy and possibly coated in bacteria due to the little care it received to stay clean.Neil Reynolds gave a summary of the conditions : "In a word, we saw meat shoveled from filthy wooden floors, piled on tables rarely washed, pushed from room to room in rotten box carts, in all of which processes it was in the way of gathering dirt, splinters, floor filth, and the expectoration of tuberculosis and other diseased workers," (Document B). The condition of the meat packing brought about an issue of welfare for the nation. So, in return to this matter, the Pure Food and Drug Act and The Meat Inspection Act were created to prevent further contamination of the meat. …show more content…
People and children would work ridiculous hours for little wages. Children would be put to work in the mines or even at a factory. As quoted from the Clayton Anti-Trust Act, "The labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce,"(Document E). In response to these issues, labor laws were created. Woodrow Wilson introduced an eight hour workday, minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor laws to prevent children younger than 14 from working in a factory or
Working and living conditions during the beginning of the Gilden Age were often inadequate, leading middle-class and working-class individuals to push for change through the Progressive Era. Accidents resulting in injuries or death were led by poor sanitation in both the work industry and in the homes of low and middle-income citizens. Attention to workplace sanitation resulted from workers and other progressivists speaking up, and fighting for change. Different muckraking journalists such as Upton Sinclair and Lincoln Steffens spoke out against the government for corruption and unsanitary conditions in the workplace which persuaded the public to fight for change in sanitation. During the Progressive Era, epidemiologists and progressives created
During the Gilded age monopolies, which was cause by corruption, gave companies a lot of power resulting in child labor. In reaction to child labor the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act was formed. People were receiving low wages right along with poor working conditions. Along with the low wages and
How did Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” Impact the Meat Factories during the Progressive Age? During the late 1800s and early 1900s a new stage in the United States began, called the Progressive Era. Over the years, America developed into an industrial working country although, like every country the social and economical problems were becoming an issue. Those who were on top were corrupted and vile while those who did the majority of the work took long hours and low pay.
In the early 1900s, there were so many unbearable conditions that needed to be reformed such as factory injuries, overcrowded cities , starvation, wages and so on. Millions of immigrants came to the United States looking for a better life. The working conditions were inhumane and brutal since there were too many labors and those big businesses’ owners were looking for a way to minimize the input and maximize the profit. The meat packing industry was exposed to the public when Upton Sinclair published his book “The Jungle”. This industry was unsanitary and hazardous to workers and consumers.
For one, he passed the Underwood Tariff, which significantly reduced duties on imports, but put a graduated income tax on the richest five percent of Americans in its place (721). Wilson exempted labor unions from antitrust laws and guaranteed workers the right to strike with passage of the Clayton Act of 1914. The president then also child labor in the manufacture of interstate goods and established an eight-hour workday on the nation’s railroads (722). Similar to how Republican Taft supported the graduated income tax that had once been proposed by the Populists, Wilson supported the Warehouse Act, which extended credit to farmers when they stored their crops in federally licensed warehouses – another Populist idea. But perhaps the greatest evidence of Wilson’s expansion of the government in economic affairs was the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913 to regulate currency and promote economic growth, and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and prohibit “unfair” business activities such as cooperative price-fixing and other monopolistic
Due to the fact that industry grew so rapidly and work in factories was the main source of income for majority of families, more and more children were working. Many social reformers and educators spoke out about the detrimental mental and physical effects child labor had on most of America’s youth (Doc C). In 1816, during Wilson’s presidency, the Child Labor Act was passed, outlawing companies from utilizing the skill set of children under the age of fourteen. Activists such as Jane Addams and questions regarding the innocence children in the workfield, helped the Child Labor Act pass with relative ease. Also, earlier within the century, in 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed, further ensuring the quality and safeness of American processed foods.
(America, pg. 847) Children were working underage as well, legislation was pushing or justice. It was then that children were banned from working under the age of 14 working outside the home. It was the democrats that pushed to pass the child-labor law.
According to the 1900 Census, 1.75 million children aged 10-15 held jobs, and they comprised more than 6 percent of the labor force (“Labor”). With the ratification of the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act in 1916, 14- and 15-year-olds were heavily restricted in terms of hours and present dangers and all products manufactured by children less than 14 were banned from being sold (“Labor”). These guidelines are customary today in the United States (“Labor”). The final significant issue organized labor tackled was a minimum wage, which they got with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; it set forth a federal wage floor of $0.25 per hour and established the time-and-a-half provision for overtime pay (“1.1”).
Divya Rathore Mr .Meurs Social Studies The period known as the progressive era was the one of great political and social reform in the united states throughout this era politicians and reformers began the to try to better the lives of americans though legislation and social movements their efforts helped to create a more equal and just society for all the their accomplishments were far reaching and still be felt today. The progressions era, have got to change such as women are fighting to have the right to vote but many people believed that this was irresponsible that it was wrong for them to vote stated in document 1 and with this information it did not stop women from getting the right to vote they work even harder and stronger,
The Progressive Era was a time of many reformations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that boosted the economy tremendously and benefited many Americans. As the economy was growing, so were people’s rights and their working and living conditions. Many problems people faced during this time were corrupt governments, ruthless business practices, child labor, health hazards, unsafe working conditions and poor wages that led to many difficulties facing the many citizens. The conditions of this time were brutal forcing children to work, having unfair relations between gender roles, and causing people to become sick from the sanitized food or water. Life was definitely not easy for these hard-working Americans who were treated very unfairly,
Intro: When people eat food they do not think about what is in it, or how it is made. The only thing people care about is what the food tastes like and how much they get. During the 1900’s the meat packing industry had not regulations of any kind. All that mattered to the industry was that they made as much money as possible with as little expenditure as possible. During this times people were often made sick and died either from working conditions or poor food quality.
The Gilded age was a period in the late 1800s (1865-1900) that showed tremendous increase of wealth caused by the industrial age. The lifestyle of the rich during this period hid the many problems of the time that eventually brought about the progressive era movement. This was a movement for reform between 1900-1920s. Progressives typically held that the irresponsible actions of the rich were corrupting both public and private life. Forces such as immigration, the Populist Party and industrialization that led to the progressive era also impacted the American government both in its activeness and its democracy.
As Adams noticed, in order to gain enough income to support their families, children at a young age were often forced to work full day as adults under terrible working conditions, operating unguarded machines. Although former acts banning or restricting child labor had been passed, they were usually not enforced or simply ignored until 7 years later, when Keating-Owen Child Labor Bill was passed. The act banned any products from companies that employed children under the age of 14. Although this first child labor bill was short-living, it did alert the people and drew attention to the national issue of child labor. The demand of women’s suffrage caused yet another major movement during the era.
Both Progressive Era reformers and the federal government sought to bring about reform at the national level. Examples of such reforms they wanted to make include: trust-busting, consumer safety, restrictions on child labour, civil rights, and women’s suffrage. Overall, the Progressive Era reformers and the federal government were effective in their efforts from 1900 to 1920, however there were some limitations. During the Gilded Age, and prior, the quality of America was unsatisfactory.
Profits for the farmers were getting smaller and smaller due to the increase in prices for the goods to be sold. These farmers believed in many different things- they believed in rules and regulations for the road (which included the fact that the government should control the railroad), lower tariffs, and that money should be based off of silver standard. For the industrial workers, their working conditions were not ideal. Each worker did not get paid nearly enough to support them and their families, even though they worked ten plus hour days, six days a week. Workers were not paid for sick days or injury.