Progressive Era Women Essay

Welfare America, home of the brave, the free, and the blessed! In this country many programs have been established to help those in need. One of these programs is welfare. Welfare is a public assisting aid, which gives citizens who live in the minimal level of poverty free money. This program is funded from the taxes payed by all working Americans.

Many portray the 1920s as a time of lighthearted leisure and prosperity. When in fact this period consisted of significant economic , social and cultural conflicts. Technological innovations sparked the economy and life post war was significantly different with the introduction to what we know as the “New women” the new women also sparked many social conflicts. Along with the New women tension between religion and science also sparked many important conflicts during the time we know as the Jazz Age.

Women Suffrage movement began more active after 1894. For example, “In New York City, Josephine Shaw Lowell and Mary Putnam Jacobi formed the Woman Municipal League." (Dubois, 189) This organization was primary focusing on the corruption of public. “By the early 1900s, moreover, the spirit of political reform in New York City spread beyond the elite.”

The Progressive era was a period of widespread activism and political reform across the United States, from the 1900s to 1920s. The goal was to end abuse of power (monopolies, unfair privilege and corruption), and to replace corrupt power with humane institutions, apply scientific principles and efficient management to economic, social, and political institutions. Through the Progressive Era they were able to create the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th Amendment. The 16th Amendment allowed income tax, the 17th Amendment allowed the direct election of senators, the 18th Amendment allowed prohibition (prohibition is the manufacturing and sale of alcohol, especially in the US between 1920 and 1933), and the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote.

In the period between 1900 and 1920, the federal government and reformers were very successful in bringing social, economic, and political reform to the federal government. While not every aspect of it was successful, the rights of women, fighting against child labor and limiting the control of trusts and monopolies were three distinct successes of that time. Even before the progressive era, women challenged their place and articulated new visions of social, political and economic equality. The progressive era was a turning point for women as organizations evolved fighting for equal rights. Woman began to become very involved in a variety of reform movements.

Women Suffrage movement began more active after 1894. For example, “In New York City, Josephine Shaw Lowell and Mary Putnam Jacobi formed the Woman Municipal League." (Dubois, 189) This organization was primary focusing on the corruption of public. “By the early 1900s, moreover, the spirit of political reform in New York City spread beyond the elite.”

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.

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.

This all started to change with the suffrage movement in that women started to enter the professional workforce, obtain higher levels of education, and became more involved in political life resulting in a shift of gender roles as women were entering long held male domains (McCammon et al., 2001, p. 53). Haferkamp and Smelser (1992) discuss further changes regarding social equality and how in the 1970’s the social movements of the 1960’s shifted towards women’s rights. This is when women focused on equal opportunities both in private and public capacities (Haferkamp & Smelser, 1992, p.

The life of Women in the late 1800s. Life for women in the 1800s began to change as they pushed for more rights and equality. Still, men were seen as better than women, this way of thinking pushed women to break out from the limitations imposed on their sex. In the early 1800s women had virtually no rights and ultimately were not seen as people but they rather seen as items of possession, it wasn’t until the late 1800s that women started to gain more rights. The Civil War actually opened opportunities for women to gain more rights, because with many of the men gone to war women were left with the responsibilities that men usually fulfilled during that time period.

Theory The theory that will be used in this paper is the liberalism feminist theory. Liberal feminism has its core in the fight for women to have the same fundamental democratic rights as men. They see women’s lower position in society as a consequence from earlier in history when they have been excluded from political and legal rights, and also that they have been stopped from participating in the work life on the same conditions as men. Instead they have been directed to the private sphere of the family.

After the Civil War, women were willing to gain the same rights and opportunities as men. The war gave women the chance to be independent, to live for themselves. Women’s anger, passion, and voice to protest about what they were feeling was the reason of making the ratification of the 19th amendment, which consisted of giving women the right to vote. One of the largest advancement of that era was the women’s movement for the suffrage, which gave them the reason to start earning

Women in the Progressive Era The Progressive Era was a time of change across America, a time when the country chose to reform into an industrialized urban country. Prosperity was widespread across America, so people turned to social issues to try to expand. Minorities in particular became a focus of this time period, and everyone tried to find a way to integrate them into society.

The issue of women’s rights and how different societies and cultures deal with it had been on the table for many centuries. In the United States of America during the 1800s, women began to move toward and demand getting equal rights as men, they decided to speak up and fight for their stolen rights. In the 1960s, continued working toward their goal, women broadened their activities through the women’s rights movement which aimed to help them in gaining their right to receive education, occupy the same jobs that were once titled only for men, and get an access to leadership positions. The women’s rights movement has a great impact on women today, although it started a long time ago, but it did not stop and women are reaping their fruit today,

Feminism and Its Place in Modern American Society In the 1963, most American’s thought gender equality was not needed or attainable. It was a wide spread thought that a women’s job should be the caretaker and nothing else (Coontz). In 1977, still two thirds thought it was, “much better for everyone involved if the man was the achiever outside the home and the woman takes care of the home and family” (Coontz). By 1994 the numbers flipped and two thirds of Americans rejected this notion (Coontz).