Workers Rights During The Progressive Era Of 1897-1920's
Colin Christiansen
Mrs. Atkinson
English 10
29 January 2023
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The great corporations which we have grown to speak of rather loosely as trusts are the creatures of the State, and the State not only has the right to control them, but it is duty bound to control them wherever the need of such control is shown”(Goodreads). This would prove true as the American Government would work to “cage” these animals and “bust” these trusts during the Progressive Era, the years of 1897 to 1920. The Advancement of Workers' rights from 1897 – 1920 benefited American Workers and citizens, by fighting corporate corruption, greed, waste, and unfair wealth distribution The social importance and precedent of this era are important,
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During the times before the progressive era, as I've mentioned previously, wealth distribution was very unfair. As Christopher Klein puts it, “The great wealth accumulated by the “robber barons” came at the expense of the masses. By 1890, the wealthiest 1 percent of American families owned 51 percent of the country’s real and personal property, while the 44 percent at the bottom owned only 1.2 percent” (Klein). This led to outrage as commoners learned of the lavish lifestyle that the top earners were living when they were struggling to put food on the table. Workers protested this inequality among other problems they had with corporate trusts, such as unfair wages and harsh working conditions. It led to the passing of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, forcing Trusts like John D Rockefeller’s Standard Oil to disband. Britannica remarks, “Standard Oil broke up in 1911 as a result of a lawsuit brought against it by the U.S. government in 1906 under the Sherman Antitrust Act” (Britannica). This act broke up trusts during the Progressive Era and shows how workers can effectively fight back against trusts and monopolies taking more than their fair share of the market and profit. People in the modern day have taken inspiration from workers during this time and protested wealth inequality and labor exploitation by modern companies. I connect this back to my argument that the social precedents set during the Progressive Era can help Americans today fight back against corporate monsters taking advantage of hard
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