How Successful Was The Progressive Movement In The Late 1800s

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Early twentieth century was an era of many changes in which the American industrial Revolution created a huge amount of economic wealth and social prosperity never seen in human history. The progressive movement aimed to fix corruption in government and business, equal rights of women and other groups. In the late 1800s the progressive movement achieved most of their aims. Economic growth opened up gap between the poor and the rich, and industrialization led to unsafe working conditions and crowded cities. Populist had protested what they saw as unfair business practices and had pressed the government action to stop them. Populism was just really a rural movement. On the other hand, progressivism focused on urban problems for example poor …show more content…

Corporations needed more than organizational stability to deal with economic climate of the late 1800s. Where competition increased and prices and profits increased as well immensely. Some corporations reacted by forming trust and if a trust gains too much control of an industry it holds a monopoly. The most famous Industrial Giants were Carnegie Steel and John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company. They controlled most of the oil that the city used in their daily life, so basically all the profit went to them. Many progressives thought that was unfair because only certain people were getting rich and progressives thought that everyone should be part of it. While business leaders began to embrace the theory of Social Darwinism. This was influenced by English philosopher Herbert Spencer; Social Darwinism adapted the ideas of Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection and evolution. “The fittest people, business, or nations should and would rise to positions of wealth and power, the unfit would fail.” Although behind all the monopolies and trusts that certain companies had gain their fortune from, progressives fought a way to end this. In 1896 all this came to an end because Anti-trust legislation was passed to prohibit monopolies and

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