The Progressive Era began in the 1900s and “ended” in 1917 . During the Progressive Era, many steps were taken to correct the problems facing an industrial America. In this era groups, the old and new working class, sought to reshape the government due to urbanization and industrialization. Industrialization led to the rise of big businesses at the expense of the worker. Factory workers faced long hours, low wages, and unsanitary conditions. The large corporations protected themselves by allying with political parties. Many people felt that all power rested with the politicians and businessmen. Reformers known as Progressives attempted to undo the problems caused by industrialization. The Progressive movement sought to end the control of large …show more content…
With the success of the assembly line it allowed for more men to be hired and time for cars to be fully assembled was cut in half . Even though this is considered a positive thing, it still had a negative effect as well. These are a few quotes Sinclair wrote to emphasize this negative effect, “…irresistible tendency was to increase the speed of the “belt”” , and “...he learns about it from the man who sets the speed of the belt─again it is like a tariff in that he can do nothing about it…there are a dozen strong men waiting outside to take his place. Shut your mouth and do what you’re told!” So even though the assembly created more employment it also made it easier to fire you if you complain about your job and it caused more accidents and injuries. But it also gave reason for the enforcers to overwork the laborers for faster production. Based on the definition of Progressive, Henry Ford was advocating for his workers by providing more employment and opportunities for men. Steve Meyer who wrote the Introduction of The Flivver King says that, “The specialized machines and the Taylorized work tasks destroyed the forms of skill which had long existed in metal-working shops and plants” . This quote tells us that, working the assembly line didn’t require a lot of skills, which in turn took away the “specialness” of the skill that a certain man might have had. A man …show more content…
Ford distributing $10,000,000 to all his employees’ as positive and negative . The minimum wage during this time was 2.34, which was still higher than most businesses. The public thought that he was paying $5 at the starting rate but that was a misconception. Henry Ford was paying qualified workers a bonus every two weeks on their paycheck ranging from $5 to $25. For example, “…even the lowliest laborer and the man who merely sweeps the floors will get at least $5 a day” . With this plan, came a switch from two shifts of nine-hours to three shifts of eight-hours, which in turn allowed Mr. Ford to hire 4,000 more men .To ensure that the men were “qualified” he Ford created the Sociological Department , which looks after the employees. The department consisted of “fifty moral and properly certified young gentlemen…” and the dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Detroit and they went to your house and talked to your family members, and your neighbors. They made sure that the men were not drinking or indulging in any inappropriate activities like, promiscuity . The Sociological Department also helped the workers find a job in the factory that they were good at because some men struggled in certain areas of the factory; so instead of firing the man they gave him an opportunity to experience another duty in the factory to see if it worked for that man . They also analyzed laborer’s income and his record to make sure that his income could sustain him
By implementing this philosophy throughout his company, Ford successfully modernized the industry at the time. The affordable cost of the car significantly boosted the economy. “Due to the mass production of the vehicle, Ford Motor Company could sell the vehicle for between $260 and $850.” That is around $23,000 in today’s dollars. Ford first priced the car at $850, but he kept bringing it down to make it affordable to the typical American worker. With the rising concern about labor motivation and its impact on productivity, Ford introduced the Five-Dollar Day, which aimed to boost the workers’ productiveness and help bring the working class to the middle class.
The American Industrialization was in the late 1800’s making many things to improve the economy. The American Industrialization was caused by multiple factors, some of the factors included a growing population, a willing work force, high tariffs, among many more. These effects made people willing to work at lower wages so they can get jobs and buy American made goods. There were many outcomes of the Industrial Revolution, both positive, like improving people's lives, and negative effects, like exploitation of workers. The positive effects of American Industrialization is how it make work cheaper, employed thousands of workers, and improving people’s lives.
The Industrial Revolution brought many advancements in technology and the economy. However, it also uncovered many issues for the working class, ones that ran dominant and unchecked during the Gilded Age. The mindset of the American working population also began to develop in their mindset to question and fight against the conditions they were forced to endure. Progressives headed the movement, bring on their own era of change and justice. The transition and duration of the Gilded Age to Progressive Era brought many adaptations to worker’s rights and regulations in the workplace.
The Progressive Era lasted from the 1890’s to the early 1920’s. It was centralized around socialism and political reform. One of the major changes that took place during this era, was the labor legislation. Many workers were working long shifts, for several days straight, making their work life just about unbearable, and unworkable conditions. The job environment had become to where it was unsafe, unsanitary, and unregulated conditions for very low wages.
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,
The Progressive Era was a period of time, from 1890 to 1920, that people start believing that the society problem could be faded by providing a safe environment, good education and an efficient workplace. The people who wanted changes in the society were called Progressives. Most of them were well educated, journalist, they went to college. There were a lot of problems that people tried to fix them or improve them, most of them were fixed but other we are still trying to fix them. During this period there were a lot of issues and problems but there were some prominent ones, like: Women Suffrage, Temperance or Food and Health.
The “Progressive Movement was an early-20th century reform movement seeking to return control of the government to the people, to restore economic opportunity, and to correct injustices in American life.” (Danzer R54). The Progressive Era marked the end of the “Gilded Ages” and a start of a new era. The Progressive Era started in 1901 in the United States (Fagnilli 26). There were many major reforms in the Progressive Era that altered and advanced American society.
From 1896 to 1924, America went through a period known as progressivism in which people of all walks of life banded together to oppose conservatism and reform society. Progressives generally believed that government is necessary for change, however; it had to more significantly embody the ideals of democracy. Some of the specific changes that progressives wanted were regulating railroads, a direct election of senators, graduated income tax, limited immigration and eight-hour workdays. By supporting these changes, the progressives hoped to promote and expand democracy and thus give the people more power.
The progressive era which lasted from 1890-1920 in American society was the institution of radical reforms brought about by the millions of Americans involved in volunteer organizations across the country. During this time Americans worked to create solutions to the problems caused by the rapid industrialization and urbanization of the country. The progressive era was not a single movement, but rather a collection of movements all of which were intended to improve the lives of Americans. This was a truly remarkable time for women and the end of the era would see almost universal women’s suffrage with the passing of the nineteenth amendment in 1920.
The average pay rate for people at other automotive industries was $2/hr for an 8-hour work day, Ford however, paid $5/hr. Although Ford paid his employees higher than the average employer did this came with rules. If his employees expected to be paid this price then they were expected to maintain clean and healthy lifestyles. This meant that the employees couldn’t be caught using tobacco products or be caught drinking alcohol (Henry Ford and Fordism). Unlike other business at the time, not just automakers, Ford also gave equal pay to both white and black Americans (U.S. History).
Reforming the Government During the years 1890 to 1920, there was a group of people called the Progressives they identified many problems that they saw in the city at the time. The Progressives were a diverse group of people from every work of life for example: journalists, Democratic politicians, Republican politicians, industry leaders, and many more. They agreed to use scientific principles in order to identify problems, offer solutions, and then in a rational ways solve these problems. For example, a group of journalists who utilized the Progressive ideals were called, “ the Muckrakers,” which helped spread knowledge about political and social problems. The Progressive’s believed society had these problems because of industrialization and organization, however, that is not completely correct.
Question 1. The progressive period in US history started in the 1890s and remained current through the 1920s. Progressive leaders in the US include President Teddy Roosevelt, President William Howard Taft, and President Woodrow Willson. The main objective of progressives was to rid the government of corruption. These progressive leaders targeted political machines and worked to rid the country of monopolistic enterprises that were exploiting regular citizens.
During the Progressive Era there were multiple of changes occurring that people became overwhelmed. New resources in the oil market, industrialization, fights for equality. There were many factory jobs, however, no one to stand up for the workers. So of course people will turn to their government for help, the power house of the country. However, even the government was picky in what they helped with.
Because Ford was paying all his employees $5 a day, he expected them to live in a manner he deemed fit. Thus, to qualify for the extra salary the
In 1914, Ford changed the salary of all of his employees to $5 a day, almost twice the amount of previous pay in the industry. In theory, this seemed like an incredible turning point for these works, however when you take a closer look it was actually an extensive plan to control every aspect of his workers’ lives. Ford described his intentions as clean, that he was making this decision to better align the values and work goals of the top managers with the other workers. He said the goal was to share in the company’s prosperity at home and make sure their workers are getting a part of the company’s profit. The bonus in the new pay came with costs of requirements enforced by the Sociological Organization, where committees of people would go to the employees’ homes, question, them, know everything about their lifestyles, and determine whether they were Americanized enough to be deserving of the bonus.