Reforms in Progressive Era - Essay Example

The reform concept was rather than the punishment of the developed criminals. Another scenario during the era of the first reform was utopian community development (Jaycox, 120). Here, rather than reforming the society, the reformed decided to come up with a new community from the general society. Some of the communities were based on religious grounds. Another first reform was abolitionism; a movement that gained strength during the first half of the nineteenth century. The driving motive in removing what many people believed was the great slavery’s great moral. The second reform started with removing slavery issues during the civil war and a continuous reconstruction. The progressive era was seen as the third reform.

America’s progressive movement was meant to address some of the social issues that came up in the Us after the civil war due to industrialization. The progressive movement addressed some of the long-term issues like the suffering of women (Jaycox, 43). America changed big time after the civil war. The frontier was already settled, where America emerged as one of the world’s industrial and agricultural power. During this period, there was an imperialism experiment, the development of great cities, and large numbers of immigrants were accepted. The American community was bustled with industrial expansion, optimism, and wealth. Most Americans benefitted from the rising American industrial power Large numbers of Americans subsisted on the edge of the economy. The women and children toiled in the mills and sweatshops for the pitiful sums. Poor children were unable in attending school. The health programs were not stable and the products were unhealthy.

The working conditions of the employees were not safe and there was no protection of the workplace. The old age, widows, orphans, and women had no protection schemes. The state hospitals and prisons for the mentally ill were commonly horror houses. The state governments operated on the spoils system. The legislators in the various states were not chosen through direct vote. The trusts and the monopolies gained greater power in the economy of America. A growing movement in prohibiting alcoholic beverages fell within the progressive movement (Gould, 75). Therefore, the outbreak of the World war took up the pacifism cause. Some of the journalists drew the problem of the American public. Therefore, the first reform in the history of America happened during the early nineteenth century. Another first reform was abolitionism, a movement that gained strength during the first half of the nineteenth century The second reform started with removing slavery issues during the civil war and a continuous reconstruction. The progressive era was seen as the third reform. The focus at the period was efforts in improving the working conditions. Read More