Dbq On The Progressive Era

During the era of the Gilded age, America industrialized at a previously unprecedented rate and became the greatest industrial producer across the globe. With the rapid growth of businesses, common citizens became worried that the government would become indifferent, with only the interests of the wealthy businessmen and businesses. This could be seen in many political cartoons of the time period, which often saw monopolists and businessmen looking down at their workers or other ordinary people. The Populists, who consisted of rural farmers and other workers, attempted to reform both federal and state governments and ultimately failed. However, the more educated and higher social status Progressive reformers found more success in their efforts.

Theodore Roosevelt, the President at the time, argued that the big corporations needed to be controlled and strongly supervised by the government to avoid any issues (Doc 2). In his speech, Roosevelt shared the various principles of his Square Deal, which was his program that promised to regulate business and protect the American consumer. Ultimately, the government gained power over big business during the Progressive Era, which could be seen by the Clayton Antitrust Act, which was a strong act aiming to regulate business that replaced the weaker Sherman Antitrust Act. However, this didn’t necessarily mean that the government and business were enemies during the Progressive Era. Occasionally, some business leaders would even become involved in government to make it more efficient and beneficial for business owners. The manager of the Ford Motor Company, James Couzens, helped to reform the Detroit Police Department in order to make it more efficient and effective (Doc 6). The Progressive were able to successfully balance the intricate relationship between big business and government, which provided for more

Progressives were under the impression that the government should protect the people from their vices, like the consumption of alcohol. Prohibitionists printed and distributed many propaganda pieces, such as the one published by the Anti-Saloon League in 1918, that portrayed a brewer as evil and against the interests of American women and children (Doc 7). Even though Prohibition was successfully implemented into the Constitution, it was later repealed because it resulted in a skyrocketing of organized crime because Americans were determined to find a way to get alcohol, whether that be legal or illegal. Also, President Wilson segregated the employees of the federal government, following the excuse that it would make the employees safer and make the government more efficient. However, the NAACP strongly protested this move in a letter to the president, which claimed that the actual result was the humiliation of African American workers (Doc 5). Because members of the NAACP were African Americans that were directly affected by the changes made by President Wilson, they were in a stronger position to express how his segregation plan affected the workers, rather than Wilson and other white Americans who made the