Lesson 2.01 Origins of the Progressive Era

Progressive Era

The Progressive Era was a time a great change and reform. Reformers of the period sought to achieve "progress" in a host of social areas ranging from child labor to suffrage to government reform and food processing. What had begun as a grassroots effort, quickly blossomed into a national movement with support from well-known political figures such as Theodore RooseveltU.S. President from 1901-1909. Through legislative action, rallies, and even hunger strikes, the Progressives left a mark on the nation that would not soon be forgotten.

View the following video clip about Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Era. Click here to view the instructions for logging in to Discovery Education Streaming videos. Theodore Roosevelt (6:09)

	The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle (1906) revealed the revelations of unsanitary conditions in the meat packing industry. It shocked Americans into demanding regulation of the food industry.

	Workers in a Chicago Meat Packing Plant, 1905

President Roosevelt played a key role in the fashioning of a Pure Food and Drug Act, and a Meat Inspection Act, both in 1906. He worked with meat packers to design compromise legislation under which government inspectors were allowed into the packing houses, but meat packers could appeal their decisions in court.

Muckrakers

"We muckrake, not because we hated our world, but because we loved. We were not hopeless, we were not cynical, we were not bitter." -Ray Stannard Baker, a muckraker and one of the most renowned contributors to McClure's magazine.

MuckrakersReform minded journalists of the Progressive Era, such as Mr. Baker, often had good intentions and genuinely sought to improve the lives of the less fortunate. Through their investigative work, the world came to see and understand the plight of poor and the true nature of conditions within many of the nation's leading factories. The images and tales were often disturbing and graphic. The utter shock of the conditions helped to inspire change across the nation. Jacob Riis was one such muckraker. Through the medium of photography, Riis exposed the dark side of tenement living.

Read more about Riis and other muckrakers: US History Muckrakers

Photograph Citations:

by Upton Sinclair  IRC, 2005. Image. Discovery Education. Web. 21 March 2014. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com/>.

Workers in a Chicago Meat Packing Plant, 1905 IRC,  2005. Image. Discovery Education. Web. 22 March 2014. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com/>.