On Google dictionary, the definition of significant is “Sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention; noteworthy.” What is important here is that there is no mention of the word "good", simply it demands attention. For that reason I must say that Prohibition, the 18th amendment was by far the most significant amendment of the progressive movement
When looking at the other Amendments it is easy to see how they may not demand as much attention or be as noteworthy as prohibition. For example, in the case of the 16th Amendment (Income tax), the government would either have eventually realized the importance and need for a tax on income, and if they didn’t, then there would simply be more indirect taxes. Making its implementation at this time not overly noteworthy
Looking at the 17th amendment, we see that, while being noteworthy and important, the need for an elected Senate is not vital, this can be seen in both the Irish and British government systems where the senate is selected still. and where both governments are, in my opinion at least, sufficiently democratic.
The last Amendment of the progressive movement; and perhaps the biggest rival to the 18th amendment being the most significant is the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. I would not for a moment suggest this is not a vital amendment and one that was long overdue, it is simply that giving women the vote was becoming more important worldwide at this time and in the coming years, for example, Irish and English women were given the right to vote in 1918. Therefore I feel that women’s getting the right to vote was an inevitable event during this stage of political movement around the world.
These reasons are why I feel that prohibition was such a significant amendment; it has become an amendment that has been ridiculed and become notorious worldwide. Its implementation lead to a complete disregard of the law by the average American citizen and the rise of many underground criminals, such as Al Capone, mentioned by Mr. Gulotta today. Prohibition was significant not because it was actually a good amendment, but because of its uniqueness in western civilization and its complete and utter failure as a result. And none of the other amendments can claim this uniqueness
Throughout most of history, women have been viewed as inferior to men. In many cultures, men tended to be viewed as the superior gender. This mindset went all the way back to the nomads; men were hunters and women were gatherers. Men saw this role as more important as compared to the women’s role because without the food they brought home the family would die. Eventually, social hierarchies, including religion, were formed; the story of Adam and Eve reflects the superiority men felt over women. According to the story, Eve was created from Adam’s rib, meaning she came from him, not the other way around.
The controversial issue of Women’s suffrage arose around the same time as the Women’s Rights movement in the United States. The first Women’s Rights convention took place in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. Later, women proved their ability when they took it upon themselves to preform the duties of their husbands and men in their communities during the Civil War, some women even helped on the battlefield. Women’s Rights activist Susan B. Anthony stirred controversy when she attempted to vote in the 1872 election for Ulysses Grant.
Along with the progressive movement came the expansion of women’s roles and Women’s suffrage becoming mainstream politics. President Woodrow Wilson consistently denied women the right to vote. Alice Paul, the founder of the National Woman’s Party, organized protests against Wilson. Theodore Roosevelt, from the Bull Moose Party, took office in 1901 when President McKinley was assassinated. Theodore Roosevelt supported Women’s suffrage.
Thanks to people like Alice Paul, Susan B. Anthony, and Theodore Roosevelt, the senate passed the nineteenth amendment in 1919. When Alice Paul was asked what women should do with their vote, she replied with “whatever they want.” She was just happy that they now had the ability. Women’s suffrage did not by any means make women equal to men at the time, but it gave them a voice. Women’s suffrage was such a significant accomplishment, not only for the Progressives but the for all mankind.
The Progressive movement, which began around 20th century, was highly successful as a reform group with one of its main motives, to restore the government to the people. The reformer’s had myriad goals some of which were made into amendments. The four amendments that the Progressives are responsible for include: the income tax, direct election of senators, prohibition, and women’s suffrage. While the movement added legislation, they also achieved many other objectives on their agenda for example, the Australian ballot, initiative, and the altercation of child labor laws. Muckrakers should also be credited since they initially exposed flaws unknown by society and helped Progressives gain support. To deem one of the Progressive movement’s achievements more significant than the others is a tough task because all of their accomplishments were impressive. If I had to choose the Progressive feat that is most important, it would be women’s suffrage for a plethora of reasons. First off, Women have been battling for suffrage since the Seneca Falls convention of 1848 when Elizabeth Stanton and Susan Anthony were advocates. Although Mrs. Stanton and Mrs. Anthony were unsuccessful, they still ignited the spark to fight for women’s right to vote and helped contribute to the Progressives mission. While everyone should have their own beliefs, the question of equality in suffrage is based on good or bad principles. Truly, the importance of the 19th Amendment should be derived from moral consciousness, yet in essence mean equality for all rather than what is written in the United States Constitution that states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, all men are created equal.” Women finally gained traction in 1920 and Alice Paul alongside a senator’s wife helped get the 19th Amendment ratified.
The most significant accomplishment of the Progressive era was reforming women's rights. Prior to the Progressive era, women did not have the right to vote. During the Progressive era, some reformers pushed for women's suffrage. They thought that women would be more inclined to support various reformations. By 1896, four states, including Wyoming (1890), Colorado (1893), Utah (1896), and Idaho (1896), had already granted women the right to vote. Twenty-four years later, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, which states that no United States citizen should be denied the right to vote based on gender. This amendment is by far the most significant accomplishment of the Progressive era because it is one step closer to equality. There is no reason to deny the majority of the population the simple yet so significant right to vote. From then on, women's equality has progressed exponentially through the Civil Rights Act, which prevents discrimination within employment on the basis of race and or sex (1964), The National Organization for Women (1966), Title IX, which prevents against gender discrimination in high school athletics and academics (1972), and many more.
1) Boorstin, Daniel J., Brooks Mather. Kelley, and Ruth Frankel. Boorstin. A History of the United States. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
Beginning in 1869, the Nation Women’s Suffrage Association (NWSA) was founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton. This organization was founded after the American Equal Rights Association was torn over whether the women’s movement should support the Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which prohibits the US government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on their race or color. Anthony and Stanton strongly opposed this amendment unless it included women’s suffrage. The NWSA’s main accomplishment was encouraging Congress to draft an amendment granting women’s suffrage, which was eventually adopted as the Nineteenth Amendment of the US Constitution in 1919.
I believe that the Nineteenth Amendment was, by far, the most significant accomplishment of the Progressive era. For one, the United States government was created on the basis of democracy; by definition, a democracy is a: "government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system." In addition, in Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Lincoln advocated for a democracy with true equality, he wished for a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Therefore, if we deny women, the majority of the people, the right to vote, then we are contradicting the basis of our government. We would only be hurting ourselves by restricting the possibilities, just as Mr. Gulotta eloquently stated: “with 50% of the geniuses in America not being able to have rights we’re only limiting ourselves.”
The progressive era accomplished many great things that are still used in the U.S. now, such as that 16th and the 17th amendment, which respectively created Income taxes and the direct election of senators. Most of the reforms created during the progressive era were created in order to purify the government from corruption. However, as significant as those accomplishments are, reforms created in order to give more rights to the people, such as the referendum question and the vote for women, are more significant because they are reforms that mankind depend on. Consequently, I believe that the vote for women was the most significant accomplishment of the progressives.
The vote for women brought equality between women and men that never existed before. The vote for the women showed that society accepted women as equal to men, no matter what color of skin they were, which was an idea very controverted at the time. Allowing women to vote gave them the right to express their opinion. It gave basically allowed half of the American population to vote. President in the future had to try to get not only men but women on their side, which I think also changes the way a future president is going to act and the law he is going to pass.
As Sam Clougher wrote, “giving women the vote was becoming more important worldwide at this time”, but I believe that it was because many women were fighting hard for it; Alice Paul, had to do a hanger strike while she was imprisoned for a crime she had not committed, which also led her to spend time in a prison’s psychiatric ward even though she had no mental problem. Women were still seen as inferior, and people did not understand why they should have the right to vote. Countries like the Germany and Canada (except Quebec), which got women suffrage in 1917 and 1918 respectively, influenced American women to fight for their right. However, The United States was a huge step for women suffrage in the world, and helped lead more countries to allow women to vote. France, which is a very developed country, only got women suffrage in 1944, and the fight that led to suffrage was tough. This shows that you cannot take this right for granted and that it is an accomplishment especially in 1920 to have women vote for an election. America showed the example of a great economic power that believed in equality between women and men, which supported and helped other country in their fight for women suffrage. That is why the right for women to vote is the greatest accomplishment of the progressives.
The Progressive's most significant accomplishment was undoubtedly the passing of the 18th Amendment. As Sam Clougher said above, significant merely means noteworthy, and the Prohibition certainly was that. Alcohol was deeply woven into the roots of this Country. It served recreational purposes, but also had a medicinal role. A good used so widely across our United States obviously had a large impact on many aspects of society. Alcohol played a significant role in our economy in particular. We had farmers, distillers, transporters, and distributors across our country. It provided jobs for so many Americans as it was in such high demand. When the 18th Amendment was passed and all of this alcohol was banned, the impact on the people who worked in this area were at a massive loss. Besides that, the people of America who used alcohol on a regular basis no longer had it. The impact on society was of colossal significance. Furthermore, the beverage that was so widely required throughout America was felt so necessary by many that they would not allow the law to prevent their consumption or distribution. The prohibition led to an immense disregard of the law. Organized crime was at its finest during this time and alcohol was still being smuggled throughout our states. Not only did America give up the large tax income from the selling of Alcohol, but the country also had to fight some the most violent and powerful crime organizations. This 18th Amendment to our Constitution negatively effected jobs and economy, while also bringing about danger and general disregard for the law. If safety, security, and regulation can not be upheld, then government is not serving its purpose. Women's suffrage is undoubtedly a significant accomplishment, but if the Progressives were able to pass an amendment in which government became unable to maintain dominance and power, it is certainly a significant accomplishment for it to have been passed. This was an Amendment with vastly more negatives that positives, which led to its repealing.
The most significant accomplishment of the Progressive movement is women’s suffrage. America was founded on the belief that everyone should be equal, and even fought the Civil for the equal rights of Black Americans; when all the while, women were viewed as less than men. However, during the Progressive Era, many women such as Dorothea Dix and Susan B. Anthony refined America in remarkable ways.
Dorothea Dix disproved the common belief at the time that men were smarter than women, by acknowledging the existence of mental illnesses. In the 1840s, most people believed that people who had mental illnesses were criminals and were locked away and deemed “insane”. Although people called her “softhearted”, she persevered and investigated the jails for 2 years and brought her findings to the Massachusetts Legislature, in order to expand mental hospital so that patients were treated with compassion and medical aid. Without the research, hard work and courage from Dorothea Dix, mentally ill patients would still be treated unfairly. Dix was definitely intelligent, compassionate, and tenacious enough to vote – so why wasn’t able to?
After the Civil War, a war for equality, Susan B. Anthony demanded that the Fourteenth Amendment include women’s guaranteed right to vote, as well as Black males. IN 1869, Anthony and Elizabeth Caddy Stanton founded the National Women Suffrage movement. Women were not granted the right to vote until the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919. At the same time, women were breaking through social barriers. For example, women did not work at home anymore. Women mainly staffed factories in New England towns such as Lowell, and the creation of public schools generated jobs for women teachers. Between 1880 and 1910, the number of women employed increased from 2.6 million to 7.8 million. Now, women were more involved in society; they needed a say in what happened in government.
As women’s employment grew, it would only be logical their rights should grow as well, including the right to vote. It only made sense that women, who are just as knowledgeable and competent as men should have similar rights. However, this reality of equality is one that many people, even presently still fail to see. Where’s the liberty, America? Oh right, America’s liberty is personified through a woman: Lady Liberty’s statue.
Boorstin, Daniel J., Brooks Mather. Kelley, and Ruth Frankel. Boorstin. A History of the United States. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
The most significant accomplishment of the Progressives was the introduction of the Australian ballot. Previously when civilians went in to vote, others could tell whom they voted for because they verbally spoke their vote for others to hear. After that, a law was passed permitting written ballots. These ballots were still not private because they were colored based on the party. Therefore people could tell whom someone voted for by the color ballot that they chose. Bribery was a big problem when people knew whom each other were voting for because they could convince others of who to vote for and then be reassured they voted for the right person by simply going to the poles with them. In hindsight, these ballots caused voters to not vote for whom they thought would best run their country, but instead to vote for whom they thought others would want them to vote for. The Australian ballot made the voting ballots completely secret. The papers were now white so that you could not tell by its color who that person was voting for. This made the governmental voting system fairer because instead of civilians being negatively influenced on whom to vote for, they had fair equal rights to choose whom they wanted to vote for without having to worry about the opinions of others. This, in turn allowed a fairer vote for who was elected president and state senator. In the 17th amendment, people selected the senators instead of the state governments. Without the Australian ballots, unfair senators could have been elected because of the negative influence of other people. Therefore the Australian ballot contributed to the fairness of the senators and presidents elected to rule the country.
Prior to the progressive movement, most Americans had been “disturbed by the strife and violence of the 1890s”, and suffered from the corruption in government during the gilded age (Boorstin and Kelley 527). The progressives aimed to end corruption, correct abuses of power, and ultimately, establish true democracy. The progressive movement accomplished its goals and had an immense impact in the American Society. Reforms took place in governments, 4 amendments were passed, and the movement influenced the Republican and Democratic parties to become more progressive. Among the many accomplishments of the progressives, the most significant was establishing real democracy in voting, which includes setting up the Australian Ballot and establishing women’s suffrage. How were voters suppose to vote freely if bosses or employers knew about their votes through the colored ballots? Furthermore, how could the American government be democratic with ignoring half of the population? The secret Ballot allowed people to vote secretly and honestly. Workers and employees no longer had to worry about their bosses. The 19th amendment granted women the ballot, and finally they could voice their opinions after 300 years of negligence. One of the greatest accomplishments of the progressive movement was establishing true democracy in voting. Whether you were a factory worker or a factory owner, no one could influence or know about your vote, and whether you were men or women, you could voice your opinion.
The Progressive Movement lasted between 1900 and 1920, ending the corruption in government, and correcting the abuses of the new urban industrialism. The aim was to restore control of the government to the people, set a new standard of honesty, abolish child labor, improve housing, end union opposition, and create equal opportunities for small and large businesses. With the help of Bob La Follette, the father of the progressive movement, numerous progressive reforms were championed, but the most significant accomplishment was in 1911 when the first workers’ compensation system was created. This system passed laws to regulate factory safety, encouraged state income tax, and limited work hours. As a result, women and children who had previously been treated unjustly were now beginning to see the brighter side of the working life. This self-sustaining system worked as a form of insurance, keeping people from being destitute if, for various reasons, something happened with their job, provided wage replacement, and gave medical benefits to those injured while working. This allowed workers to have rights in the work force. No longer could women and children be treated poorly, could people work long, arduous, inhumane hours, or work in unsafe conditions. Although this might have seemed tedious to companies, in the long run it helped because people were more encouraged to work, were less inclined to strike against owners or employers, and with more reliable people in the workplace, America did better because its people were doing better.
The Progressive Movement, which lasted between 1900-1920, enabled major change to occur in the United States. One of the movement’s most significant goal was to restore control of the government to the people. Under the leadership of men such as "Battling Bob" La Follette, they were able to accomplish this. How they accomplished this was though introducing the Australian Ballot, recall elections, and 17th Amendment (to name a few). Introducing the Australian Ballot, which was a secretive all white ballot, detoured corruption and outside influence on ones vote. People no longer could tell whom you voted for by the color of the ballot, because every ballot was white. Recall elections were another major democratic accomplishment of the Progressive Movement. This allowed the voters to remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before or during his term (not including senators). Now if an elected official was not doing his duty correctly, the people had the power to remove him/her out of office. A final major reform passed to create a government controlled by the people is the 17th Amendment. Prior to this Amendment being passed, senators were elected through the state legislatures. Allowing the voters to now elect their state senators created more input from the public. These major reforms passed during the Progressive Movement created a more democratic country, and the principles of democracy are what this great country were founded upon.
The Progressive Era was widely effective in a multitude of ways in the United States. The most important aspect of this time period in American History is the precedent it set for the future. Americans such as Theodore Roosevelt and Robert Lafollette, the ferocious Muckrakers, and many other educated followers were unhappy with governmental policies. Because of this, with passion and force, they fought for, and achieved change in our government. This displayed that the power of the people in the United States was extremely substantial. The Progressive Era left many positive governmental policies and freedoms in this country. For example, they instilled 'direct elections' of United States senators; they put in place initiative and referendum, allowing people to contribute to their own laws; they pushed for higher taxes on higher incomes, and helped fight for women's rights. All these social, economic, and governmental changes left a mark on this country, expanded democracy, and influenced liberal values that the US holds today. That said, though the progressives promoted important policies and freedoms, the most crucial aspect of this era was its encouragement of justice, rights, and the power of the people.
La Follette established the Progressive Movement in the beginning of the 20th century to end the corruption of the industrialized society and monopoly-controlled government. This movement’s goal was to end this corruption and to bring back the voice of the nation back to its people. A more democratic society was needed, which the Labor Unions and the Grangers started to develop, to have a strong central government and more patriotism throughout the United States. This movement needed to relinquish the wealthy people’s control over the society to the everyday man, fix the industrialists ways, like abolish child labor, increase safety standards, improve work hours, end opposition to unions, improve housing, and also maintain monopoly powers by creating the same opportunities between any companies, whether small or large.
These goals were only going to be reached if laws were passed that would please the nation’s people. This movement had its leader, the father of the Progressive Movement, also known as “Battling Bob” La Follette that championed many progressive reforms, including the first worker’s compensation system, the minimum wage, women’s suffrage, commission created to regulate utilities, direct election of U.S. senators, and many more. The progressives earned so many reforms during this movement like the Australian ballot, the right to recall elections, income tax, prohibition (18th Amendment), and the repeal of prohibition (21st Amendment). Although, the most significant of all reforms was the 19th Amendment, passed in 1920, which gave the women the right to vote. So many people ask, why did it take so long? But what they should be doing is thanking the government for finally giving women a voice in governmental decisions. This amendment for women’s suffrage proves that during this era, people were changing their views on the impact women had on society, and men had to finally accept them as their equal. Now the reference to ‘men’ in the Constitution alludes to the men and women of the United States. For so many years women were perceived as a token of a men’s life, to be used as a mother to his children and to clean up around the house. Women that made a difference in any society were looked at in a strange manner like what they were doing was wrong. Although for so long women were so crucial to American society. Women like Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton nurses during the Civil War, Amelia Earhart, the first woman pilot, and Harriet Tubman, the African-American woman who saved so many slaves lives. Because they were women they were less significant then any ordinary men. Now the government was giving them an equal say in governmental decisions, so men had to treat them more as equals.
The Progressive Movement repaired so many previous issues. Society in America was changed for the better.
After the industrial revolution in the 19th century many people moved towards changing political problems in the federal government, and at a local level. Acts and Amendments were passed to protect the rights of the middle class, organized labor, blacks, and even women. The most significant accomplishment of the Progressives could be the changes in local level, such as direct primary elections, the secret ballot, initiative, referendum, or the recall of officials, it could have been “The Square Deal”, The Sherman Anti-Trust act, the Payne-Aldrich Tariff, the Ballinger-Pinchot Affair, Wilson’s “New Freedom”, the Underwood Tariff, the Sixteenth Amendment, the Federal Reserve Act, or even the 17th Amendment. The amount of change and progress that was made in the progressive era was exponential; however there is one particular accomplishment that stands out: Roosevelt’s Environmental Conservation. Theodore Roosevelt had a past before he became the 26th President of the United States of America, he attended Harvard University, and then he was elected to the New York State Assembly. Later he would become the president of the board of New York City Police Commissioners, the Assistant secretary of the Navy, Colonel of the Rough Riders, Governor of New York, Vice President to McKinley, then President. Way back in the 1880’s his wife and mother died on the same day. He left politics for the great outdoors and moved west to the Badlands of North Dakota, where the Teddy Roosevelt National Park is today. Roosevelt went west to hunt bison, when he got out there and realized how dwindled the bison population was, how the grasslands were barely grass, and how the habitat of animals that lived in Central/Rocky U.S were almost demolished, a piece of him realized that someone needed to do something. During Roosevelt's time as President, the forest reserves in the U.S. went from approximately 43-million acres to about 194-million acres. Mr. Gulotta stated in our class that he was way ahead of his time. Which he was! Roosevelt changed the way America treated its land, and influenced people after his time. Roosevelt’s love for nature drove his conservation efforts. He believed that Nature existed to mankind. “In a conserved wilderness, timber could be harvested, sport could be had, water could be taken to irrigate farmland. All of these benefits would be lost if the wilderness were destroyed.” The Federal Reclaim service of 1902 brought farmland into use. In 1905, Roosevelt created the Bureau of Forestry, with Gifford Pinchot as chief forester. There is a dam in Phoenix, Arizona that is mainly for irrigation water supply and flood control that is named after Roosevelt. Roosevelt left a “Conservation Legacy” of 4 national Game Preserves; 5 National Parks; 7 Conservation Conferences; 18 National Monuments; 24 Reclamation Projects; 51 Federal Bird Reservations; and 150 National Forests. Roosevelt stated: "I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the nature resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us." (Osawatomie, Kansas, August 31, 1910) This is the most significant accomplishments of the progressives because it not only affected the people, but the land in which they used, lived, and thrived. Environmental Conservation is a process that takes time, hard work, and effort, which the U.S is still struggling with today.
The most significant accomplishment of the progressives was the initiation of the referendum question. The idea behind the referendum question was to bypass congress, and give the citizens the power to vote on different issues. It is done at state level, and is as easy as majority wins. This idea is so simplistic because it allow the voters to become the legislative bodies, skipping the step of going through congress. The reason the referendum question is the most important idea pushed by the progressives is because it allows legislation to bypass congress. In present day America, congress is one of the most corrupt sectors of the US government. A perfect example of this corruption is how congress has handled the issue of the fiscal cliff. Congress had ample time to figure out a solution, but they waited until the last minute. The reasons behind this procastination was that many members of congress simply would not agree with anything President Obama had to say, even if it made sense. The stubbornness of congress has pushed back the date of the fiscal cliff, further risking the economy. This is just one example of many. So bypassing it completely, and letting the citizens vote themselves, allows a much more productive democracy. Althought the other accomplishments of the progressives were important, the creation of the referendum question is the most significant, which is why it is still in affect today.
Between 1900 and 1920, the Progressive party was able to make many great changes such as the Australian Ballot, recall elections, and direct primaries. However, the most important accomplishment was the ability to have Referendum Questions where the "voter becomes the legislative body" (Gullota). This is still very important because it allows the people to have the most direct say in government. Previously, citizens often had to wait for different laws to go through Congress only to get shut down without the direct say from the people. Although Congress is elected directly from the people, Referendum Questions give the people the best opportunity to voice their opinion. Another reason this was a great progression in politics was how it allowed difficult decisions to be made without politicians worrying about there reputation. A controversial topic, such as climate change today, makes voting difficult when large, polluting, energy companies endorse the politicians. Having a Referendum Question pertaining a solution to the crisis would allow the people to make a change that the politicians can’t. The ability to have direct say from the people is what the country was based on and what democracy stands for. However, there are a few problems that need to be recognized when having certain referendum questions. Some critics argue that some people are to uninformed to make an educated vote on some topics. I believe that have been great recent changes made by the Referendum Question however there needs to be a limit on what the general public can make. There are many issues that only highly educated elected officials should make, such as decisions to go to war. This was a great progression for the country and gave people a more direct say in what goes on in the country, there just needs to be a limit on what the questions can be.
In the 1900's, there was the time of reform called: The Progressive Era. Based on dictionary.com, the definition of progressive is favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are especially political matters. There were many progressive reforms made throughout the years but only some can be considered truly progressive. For instance, the 16th Amendment is about income tax and how the taxes would be collected based on percentages. Although this amendment is important for the economy of our country, it only presents a financial change. This just reveals how much power the Congress has which is not the basis of the importance of the survival of our country. Then, there was the 17th amendment that focuses on how Senators can now be selected by the people. That provides the people with more power but what use is that if not everyone is free to vote like the women. After that was the 18th Amendment which refers to prohibition, prohibition is the prohibiting of buying, selling, making and drinking hard liquor. The women’s temperance union felt hard liquor was harmful to our society and took action, “Lips that touch liquor will not touch ours” – restated by Mr. Gulotta. The men though were opposed to this and continued to involve themselves with alcohol illegally. In fact, the men tried maintaining things as they are which is not really progressive even though a reform was established. Although all of these amendments are still progressive movements and I don't doubt that they are important, the 19th amendment was the most significant accomplishment of the progressives. A reform was made to allow women the right to vote. This reform was a change done opposed to maintaining the previous male dominating society. Women proved themselves just as important and powerful as men through the prohibition act. With women, the other amendments would truly be considered progressive with the help of their knowledge and opinion of what their society needs. Society was truly moving forward with this progressive movement through how now women also had a say in who should be elected and what should be passed. Women have already proved that they have strong opinions and are willing to do what it takes to have their argument heard, and accounted for. Why not allow women the right to vote? Without the 19th amendment and people being open-minded, women would still not be allowed to vote today. We would still be a male dominated society and all the women would probably be treated like the women in the third world countries of today. Is that what we want? Although all the other amendments are just as important, the 19th amendment was our country’s biggest step towards true progress.
The early 1900s in America was known as the Progressive Movement in the United States of America. Many movements were formed including the Temperance & Prohibition Movements, Referendum Movements, Recall Elections, and much more. By far the best movement to affect the country was the Women's Suffrage Movement.
One lady who lead the movement was Alice Paul. Known as the "Straw that broke the jackass' back," this fearless leader of the Women's Suffrage Movement lead many rallies outside of the White House, and was even imprisoned. From prison she and lead a hunger strike with the other women of her cause and was force fed raw eggs. From the tubes inside her esophagus, she even suffered temporary physical harm. This extreme protesting exemplified their strong will and desire to see through that women would someday receive equal treatment and rights under the law.
Without the giving women right to vote in state and federal elections, America would show its reluctance to change its ways. This oppressive view toward women would not only hold them back personally, but would certainly hold our country back. Women have contributed much to this country's politics. One such lady who has fulfilled the ideals of Alice Paul and the Women's Suffrage Movement is Sandra Day O'Connor. Overcoming gender-based obstacles, O'Connor was the first female Supreme Court Justice in US history. Having joined the Supreme Court under the Reagan administration from 1981-2006, she was not afraid to voice her opinion on feminist issues such as women's rights to abortion, even though she refuses to be viewed as a feminist herself. O'Connor is an asset to America, but without the work of the women of the early 1900s, her accomplishments as well as many other women would not have been able to be achieved. Other such accomplishments in the US by women were Amelia Earhart's solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928, Janet Gunthrie becoming the first women to race in the Indy 500 in 1977, and Kathryn Bigelow in 2012 becoming the first female to win an Oscar for Best Director for her 2008 military film "The Hurt Locker." Our great country allows women to be doctors, astronauts, priests, and military combatants in all branches of military service. For these advancements in American history, we have the 19th Amendment to thank.
(2) Boorstin, Daniel J., and Brooks M. Kelley. A History of the United States. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2007. 326. Print.
(3) "Famous Firsts in American Women's History." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. . Website
(4) Winerip, Michael. "‘Justice O’Connor, Welcome to the Court’." ‘Justice O’Connor, Welcome to the Court’ - NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 21 Sept. 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. .
The most significant accomplishment of the Progressive era was the 19th Amendment, the Amendment that granted women the right to vote. The Progressive movement was a group of Americans whose main goal was to, as Sam put it, "restore the government to the people". This group was able to institute four new amendments, yet the most significant amendment was the 19th.
"Battling" Bob La Follette was a governor of Wisconsin and one of the first people in office to fight for women's rights. Besides Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Idaho, none of the other states allowed women the right to vote and participate in government. During the Progressive Era, "many women such as Dorothea Dix and Susan B. Anthony refined America in remarkable ways" (Singh, Pratima). Alice Paul is arguably the most influential woman during this Era, specifically towards ratifying the 19th Amendment.
Alice Paul had extreme gumption that pushed her to fight for what was rightfully hers. She was the leader of the Picketing the Wilson. The picketing was to convince President Woodrow to support the addition of women's rights into the Constitution. Many of the slogans and pleads were along the lines of, "How Long Must Women Wait for Liberty?" (Americaslibrary). Which the fact that women even needed to wait for their rights is ridiculous. An observation that Pratima made, our symbol is the Lady of Liberty, so why is there no liberty for our ladies?
Without the 19th Amendment women could possibly be still stuck in an age with zero progression, an age where men were superior to women and that was gladly accepted. As Mr. Gulotta said, "with 50% of our geniuses not being able to have rights were are only limiting ourselves", (Gulotta, Bill). America was limiting itself, which is why the 19th Amendment was a HUGE first step in the correct direction. With women gaining rights America could truly become progressive; once they started allowing all of it's people to contribute.
Boorstin, Daniel J., Brooks Mather. Kelley, and Ruth Frankel. Boorstin. A History of the United States. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
The most important achievement of the progressives in my opinion was their ability to dissolve powerful trusts that were controlling the economy. These large corporations favored the top one percent of Americans. America was at a crossroads and was seeking out new directions with leaders interested in change (the Progressives). Workers were demanding better right and wages while the corporations were looking to keep their cheap labor, for maximum net profit. Teddy Roosevelt was elected in office and asserted a square deal to offer better conditions for laborers. This conflict of coal miners came about in 1902, with the anthracite coal strike in Pennsylvania. Coal mining was strenuous and dangerous work, and more than 140,000 miners went on strike and demanded a twenty percent pay increase and fewer hours in the workday. The mine owners were unsympathetic and refused to negotiate with labor representatives. Concern began growing in the nation because coal was a lifeline that made trade possible in America. He summoned the mine owners and union representatives to meet with him in Washington. Mine owners did not want to partake in negotiations and continued to refuse until Roosevelt threatened he would seize the mines and operate them with federal troops. Owners reluctantly agreed to arbitration, where the striking workers received a ten percent pay increase and a nine-hour working day. Roosevelt truly was a “peoples” president and wanted all of America to thrive, not just the fat cats that controlled Wall Street and the economy. Roosevelt, gaining more confidence, began to attack larger, monopolistic corporations. Some trusts were effective and legitimate, but many of these companies engaged in corrupt business practices. In 1902, the Northern Securities Company, owned by J.P. Morgan and James J. Hill, controlled most of the railroads in the northwest United States and intended to create a total monopoly. Roosevelt began legal action against Northern Securities and eventually the Supreme Court ordered that the company be dissolved. Roosevelt’s radical actions angered big business and earned him the reputation of a “trust buster. Roosevelt attacked many more large corporations like railroad companies, which also were dangerously close to monopolizing their industry. He passed the Hepburn act, which greatly strengthened the ICC. This law allowed the Commission to set maximum rates, inspect a company’s books, and investigate railroads. This allowed for more widespread use of railroads because the Hepburn act regulated fairer wages for honest businessmen. Roosevelt set in motion the destruction of many trust which many argued was socialistic but benefitted the overall population of America who sought out democracy and equal rights, which large corporations stripped them of for years. America was headed in the right direction economically with the progressives at the wheel.
sources:
Boorstin, Daniel J., Brooks Mather. Kelley, and Ruth Frankel. Boorstin. A History of the United States. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
God created the first woman from one of Adam’s rib in order to give him a companion since it is not good for a man to live alone. It was also Eve who was tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit and to share it with Adam. Even before Christianity, the Greeks have written derogatory stories about women, such as the myth of Pandora who was the first woman on Earth. She was created as a punishment from Zeus to mankind when Prometheus stole fire from the heavens. Pandora left the heavens holding a forbidden box, which the gods have ordered to never be opened. However, the curious Pandora disobeyed the gods’ orders and opened the box, letting all the evils escape and spread throughout the world.
Ever since ancient times, women have been considered as inferior to men. They were supposedly created from a part of a man’s body and are therefore subservient, born to attend to and belonging to men. They were also viewed as the sinners who were responsible for all the evils of the world. This mindset had caused the society to disregard the importance of women and ignore their rights as citizens, considering them lower than men. In 1870, United States of America was revolutionized when the 15th amendment allowing black men’s suffrage was ratified. But up until 1920, women were still kept out of politics. As a historically racist and segregated nation, the fact that women were even placed lower than the black slaves exposed the place of the “weaker” sex in the society.
Starting since in 1848, the women’s rights movement was striving with its first convention in Seneca Falls, New York. However, it took the government 72 years to finally accept the importance of women in the society. Pioneering women such as Alice Paul are the main catalyst for this change in the traditional mindset. In 1916, she formed the National Woman’s Party and picketed the White House to put pressure on president Wilson to accept women’s suffrage. Arrested for “blocking traffic”, she refused to pay a fine, as it would insinuate that she admits her charges, and decided to go to jail. While on a hunger strike in jail against the terrible conditions of the convicts, she was forced-fed with raw eggs poured into a tube that was shoved in her throat, which caused bleeding and immense pain. Upon her release, she became a symbol for the woman’s rights movement, proving that gender has never been a handicap preventing perseverance and bravery.
I have always been shocked that a country like the United States of America, founded on the basic ideas of equality and justice, with a government created “by the people, for the people”, would leave half of its population on the marge of the society because of their gender. Women have played a crucial role in many historical events, such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, “the little woman whose book made such a great war” (Lincoln), therefore there is no reason for women to be excluded from politics. The only logical explanation for the government’s unwillingness to ratify the nineteenth amendment allowing women’s suffrage would be that the government was directed by men, who, with their mindset that women were “lesser”, would not give up their power to a “weaker” sex. This absurd reasoning, as egoistic as it is, was for a long time a handicap to the American society because it deprived the country from a potentially brilliant and capable workforce, which is why I believe that the nineteenth amendment is the most important change of the Progressive era.
The Progressive Era began at the beginning of the 20th century. During this era, the Progressive Party was able to make many positive changes to American culture such as women’s suffrage, the Australian ballot, and establishing referendum questions. Theodore Roosevelt and Robert Lafollette powered the Progressive party. These men made all these changes possible. Of the transformations created by these men, I believe the most important was the passing of the 19th Amendment in 1920. This Amendment gave women the right to vote. Alice Paul was “the straw that broke the jackasses back” (Gulotta Progressives PowerPoint Slide 20) and fought for women’s right to vote. This Amendment proved how far American culture and society had come. Women were getting closer and closer to becoming equal to men. This right did not come easy for women. They stood outside the White House and protested President Woodrow Wilson for their right to vote. Eventually, they got their wish and were on their way to becoming equal, that is why this was the most important change the Progressive Party made in my opinion.
The progressive period aimed to end the corruption and exploitation of the industrial work life and to clean up the politics of the United States from 1900-1920. The party included “Battling Bob” La Follette, who was known to be “The Father of the Progressive Movement” because he made many reforms that helped the movement, such as minimum wage, direct election of senators, and an open primary system. The progressive party earned many reforms during their time that changed America for the better. One of the most significant reforms that were made was the 19th Amendment, which prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based off of their gender. People believed that women’s’ only jobs were to work in the house. Women had been fighting for more rights since the 1800’s, but the Progressive Period allowed them to take control in order to gain their privileges. The Progressive Movement gave women the opportunity to change their views in society for equality. Even La Follette fought for woman suffrage because he believed it was ridiculous that women did not have the right to vote. Female reformers formed organizations such as the National American Woman Suffrage Association, under the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt, and the National Woman’s Party, under the leadership of Alice Paul. Efforts began at a local level and soon enough expanded to the national level. These organizations campaigned against President Wilson to pass a woman suffrage Constitutional Amendment and even picketed the White House in order to convince the President and Congress. They were able to accomplish their goal in time. By 1912, 9 western states, such as Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho, adopted the woman suffrage legislation. In 1917, New York adopted the woman suffrage, which made President Wilson change his view and support the amendment. The House of Representatives and then the Senate passed the 19th Amendment in 1919. Women were officially allowed to vote in 1920. The 19th Amendment is the most significant accomplishment of the Progressives because it created more equality in the nation. Woman throughout history rarely had a voice and this gave them a chance. It was a big step in the government to becoming more democratic by giving more representation to the people. The Progressive period’s goals were to end corruption in the nation, and the prejudice against woman was finally abolished.
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=63with the 19th Amendment (1919) http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/progressiveera/statuswomenprogressive.html
In the late 19th century, the United States experienced the swift industrialization, urbanization and the development of businesses. Yet, there were still many political, social and economic problems entrenched in the nation. Many reformers followed a speech by President Roosevelt, “There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil man, whether politician or businessman; every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life….”( Speech by Theodore Roosevelt, 1906), and these reformers embodied the Progressive movement. The Progressives had many accomplishments, whether it was to fight women’s rights or the compromise between workers and their bosses. The most important accomplishment in my opinion, however, was the introduction of income tax. Unlike some evanescent achievement, the income tax is still constitutional today and benefits the nation both politically and socially. First ratified by Taft in the 16th Amendment, the income tax allowed the government to have the extra money so they can lower the importing tariff. Later on President Woodrow Wilson also passed the Underwood Tariff in 1913. By lowering the tariff, the act increased trade and force the big business to become more competitive in addition to stop monopoly. Although only 1 percent of the population paid the income tax, this tax had a long and permanent effect to the nation. Today, most of the countries have income tax. It has become the most important “salary” for the government. Statistically about 31% of the US government revenues are from income tax. The government uses the money to build roads for transportation, army for safety, so eventually the money goes back to the people and benefit the society. Moreover, the income tax takes more money from the riches and less from the poor, therefore it balance the society better. Yet, there were still some flaws in the taxations. The government cannot get corrupt from collecting the tax to using the tax. Also, the percentage of how much is taken should be precisely calculated for the best of the nation.
The Progressive Movement was very successful, and has four very impacting amendments to prove it. The four amendments in the Progressive Movement achieved the creation of income tax, the direct election of senators, prohibition, and women’s suffrage. Among the amendments there is one that shines brighter than the others. Amendment number nineteen is the most important amendment. Regardless of my bias as a woman, the right for woman to vote was the most significant because it required the greatest fight and had the most substantial and important impact on America.
The words of the Constitution promise that people cannot be denied a natural right. The right to have a voice in society falls under this category of proclaimed “equality”. Equality cannot discriminate based on color nor gender, for when it does, the word is no longer appropriately used. Black suffrage was perhaps one of the hardest amendments to ratify because of the deep roots of hatred and ignorance imbedded in our society. But more shockingly, people believed that even the so-called inferior race of society had the right to vote before a single woman at all.
In Devon’s response, he argues that the gender inferiority problems date back to the story of Adam and Eve and have grown into about every culture on the planet. This social ignorance made the fight for woman’s suffrage all the more difficult and much more important than several other amendments who’s issues could have been resolved or improved and changed easily. Woman’s suffrage was a battle for a natural right for half of the entire population!
The fight began in 1848 when the first group of abolitionist activists gathered in Seneca Falls, New York to discuss woman’s rights. In attendance were Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott, two women who propelled the woman’s right movement at the start. Later in 1869, a group was created by Susan B. Anthony known as the National Woman Suffrage Association and began the direct fight for women’s right to vote. The association’s first president was Elizabeth Stanton. Woman in the association protested and were jailed through several of their efforts in the fight to achieve their right. By 1910, some states extended the right to vote for women. But it wasn’t until August of 1920 when President Roosevelt ratified the nineteenth amendment.
Women’s suffrage has greatly impacted the United States. It gives a voice to every single person, therefore giving meaning to the word equality in the constitution. Women’s suffrage fueled the movement for women’s rights in several other areas too. Women’s suffrage is also responsible for getting women involved in economy and society and break away from their traditional stereotypes. What would the world do with out woman? We have importance beyond reproduction, especially now in present day where several women have proved our importance through their successes. Women are not inferior to men, and therefore should have the same right to having a voice.
"The Fight for Women's Suffrage." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. .
The most significant accomplishment of the progressives was the certification and ratification of the 18th Amendment in January of 1919 and 1920. Section 1 of this amendement states, "After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited." At this moment in time our country was highly dependent on alcohol for various reasons such as recreational and medical purposes. The production and sale of alcohol provided an immense amount of jobs for citizens and had a colossal influence on our country's economy. Under these new circumstances, enforced by the 18th amendment, our country's population was banned from alcohol and for those who relied on alcohol regularly were at a substantial loss. However, this prohibition sparked the demand for alcohol at a greater level than before. Society ignored the new law and organized crime thrived. The 18th amendement backfired and had more of a negative impact rather than a positive one. Although the government's intended act of banning alcohol to better women's rights did not work positively it is still considered a significant accomplishment, as Nick states above, "Women's suffrage is undoubtedly a significant accomplishment, but if the Progressives were able to pass an amendment in which government became unable to maintain dominance and power, it is certainly a significant accomplishment for it to have been passed."
The most significant accomplishment during the Progressive Movement (1900-1920) was the Women’s Suffrage Movement. The Women’s Suffrage Movement cleared the way for the National Women’s Party (NWP). Alice Paul led the NWP. She picketed at the White House and took other actions to persuade President Wilson, Congress, and the rest of the nation that women deserved the right to vote. The Women’s Movement was the most significant accomplishment because it resulted in the 19th amendment, which finally allowed women the right to vote. “It was the single largest extension of democratic voting rights in our nation’s history, and it was achieved peacefully, through democratic processes”(www.nwhm.org). This amendment was not passed until 1920 and was long overdue. It was an important step to show that men were not superior to women, and also as Jeanne said, it led to more countries allowing women the right to vote. The Women’s movement caused the 19th amendment, but pertained the 18th amendment as well. Women supported the prohibition movement with the slogan, “Lips that touch alcohol shall not touch ours.” Women’s suffrage did not make it so women were treated equal to men, but it gave them a voice in our government. The Women’s movement was a significant accomplishment not only for women, but for the country as a whole.
The progressive era which began in the late 1800s and early 1900s was a very successful group who got things done in the US government and politics. One person who was a strong progressive and pushed for very much change was President Theodore Roosevelt. T. Roosevelt has been considered one of our country's best presidents because of the things he got done while in office. For instance, he made new public health laws like meat inspection and food labels, all brought to his attention by the muckrakers, a group of people who wrote about nothing but the truth. He also put down the 1902 coal miners strike, all of this showing how the progressive party wanted to get things done. By accomplishing so many great things in America such as income tax, prohibition, and women’s suffrage, it is difficult to say what their most significant accomplishment was. However, I believe their most significant accomplishment to be women’s suffrage. The reason in which women’s suffrage is such a great accomplishment is because prior to the 19th amendment to the US constitution when women could not vote, some of the smartest people in our country were denied the right to vote. With half of the population not being able to vote, that half of the population is not represented in Congress or anywhere in politics meaning that there is a good possibility that these people may be the ones complaining about who is in charge. Allowing women to vote then allowed them to have a say in who was representing them in the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive branches. Though all of the accomplishments of the Progressives helped stimulate social, economic, and governmental changes in the US, women’s suffrage made the most change.
The Progressive Movement in the United States lasted from 1900 to 1920. This era was a breakthrough for the United States, bringing about several substantial changes in the country. Its main goal was to end corruption in the government and restore control of the government to the people. However, there was not one specific reform that surpassed another in terms of importance. Bob La Follette, or “Battling Bob”, was known as the father of the Progressive Movement, due to his many beneficial reforms in the government. To name a few, the use of minimum wage, the open primary system, and the direct election of senators. He also successfully enacted the Workers’ Compensation System, which is an insurance program that provides compensation to employees who suffer from job-related injuries or illnesses. Another major development established by La Follette was the 19th Amendment, or in other words, Women’s Suffrage. This amendment gave the women of the United States the well-deserved right to vote. They finally got representation in the government, and were legally no longer inferior to men. Although Bob La Follette played a major role in the success of the Progressive Movement, he was not the only hero. President Theodore Roosevelt made ample improvements to the government as well. He was an outstanding politician, and was well liked by most of the country. For example, in 1906 he got the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act passed as a result of the careless working environments demonstrated in slaughterhouses across the country. Before these acts were passed, employees would accidentally fall into grinding pits and their meat would be mixed with that of the animals. Slaughterhouses had an extremely impure system running, and the Meat Inspection Act helped to clean it up. All of this being said, it is not legitimate to identify one particular reform as superior to another. Every step made in the Progressive Movement helped America to become a stronger, more just country, and helped it to grow into the world power that it is today.
The Progressive era was a time of necessary and open-minded reforms in the United States. With the progressive movement came many accomplishments including four amendments. These four amendments created the income tax, direct election of senators, prohibition, and women’s suffrage. Although each has their benefits, the legalization of women’s suffrage was the biggest accomplishment. Giving women the right to vote was one step closer to a totally free and equal United States. Until only recently, women have been viewed as secondary to men for reasons that are unknown, generation after generation since man first walked the earth. When the Civil war ended, the country was going through many changes, and at this time women such as Susan Anthony an Alice Paul were pushing for women’s rights and demanding that women’s suffrage be included in the fourteenth amendment. Although the amendment did include the possibilities of black males and (white) women getting the right to vote, it was ratified. In the fifteenth amendment Black males were given the right to votes and women were still denied. How could the U.S. give voting rights to black men so quickly, after the way we treated them, yet women, who have been free forever, still were denied? This ignorance totally contradicted the countries recent push for racial equality. Finally the Bill was passed after years of movements and civil disobedience. Now that women had the right to vote, politics would forever be changed because now half the population suddenly had a say in elections. By gaining the right to vote, many women hoped it would bring along a world in which women were seen as equally capable as men, such as in the workforce. Before women’s suffrage and as the amendment began passing in various states, the amount of women in the work force skyrocketed. From 1880 and 1910, the number of women working within the United States went from 2.6 million to 7.8 million. This increase proved that women were looking to move away from the stereotypical housewife era into being equally active members of society, helping to benefit the country. This was the most important accomplishment of the progressive era because how could America claim to be a land of freedom and equality if half its population is suppressed.
The Progressive era was a very significant time period during American History. The Progressive party, led by Theodore Roosevelt, made many positive changes to America such as Australian Ballots, the creation of income tax, direct election of senators, etc. However, the reform to woman’s suffrage was the most significant accomplishment of the Progressives. Robert M. La Follette, “Battling Bob”, started the Progressive reforms in Wisconsin, and pushed for women’s rights along with other reforms. He was able to establish women compensation laws, minimum wage, women working conditions, and many more. The 19th amendment was passed on June 4, 1919, which gave the women the right to vote; before that point only four states had allowed women to vote (in 1896). Alice Paul was one of the most influential, of the progressives, in getting the 19th amendment passed. She led the “Picketing the Wilson”, which was a group that pushed for President Woodrow to pass more laws benefiting the rights of women. She was determined to make a change for women all over the world, and “the straw that broke the jackasses back” according to Mr. Gulotta. Because of Alice’s efforts, along with other progressives, women were starting to be recognized more. This movement showed that the country and culture of America had come a long way. This was essential for the development of our country, and the reason why we are where we are today. As Mr. Gulotta said, “With fifty percent geniuses not being able to have rights we’re only limiting ourselves”. In 2013 we are one of the most advanced countries, and no one is limited.
The United State's Progressive Movement started in 1900 and took place for twenty years, it's goal was to restore control of the government to people end the corruption that had sprung up during the reign of political figures such as Boss Tweed. This movement set a new standard of honesty and corrected many abuses caused by the new urban Industrialization in America. The most significant accomplishments of the Progressive Movement were the reforms regarding the election of Government members. These reforms gave American citizens an invaluable voice in their Government and ended some of the larger malfeasances regarding voting rights. The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gave the people the power to directly elect their state senators, instead of electing them through state legislature. The Australian ballot reform then allowed citizens a fair chance to vote for whomever they truly felt was the best candidate instead of being influenced by others because the Australian ballot kept the candidate you were voting for completely secret. Previously voters would have to announce the candidate they chose aloud in the voting hall, eventually the voting system graduated to paper ballots however these ballots were still color-coded by political party so it was still possible to know who people were voting for. These systems gave people like Boss Tweed the chance to influence voters and force them to vote for the candidates they was supporting. The Australian ballot eliminated this corruption because the ballots were all identical pieces of paper which gave all citizens the right to keep their choice private. Also accredited to the Progressive Movement were the Referendum Questions added to these improved ballots. The Referendum Questions gave citizens a chance to vote on proposals that would directly effect their state, these allowed the voter to become a legislative body. The Referendum Questions,the Australian ballot system, and the Seventeenth Amendment all helped the Progressive Movement take massive steps forward in achieving it's goals of ending corruption within the Government and giving more power to the people. These voting reforms helped the United States to become a more Democratic Nation as a whole and restored the balance of power between the people and the Government.
The most significant and notable accomplishment of the Progressives was the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. This was a huge milestone in United States history as it put an end to an extremely long time period of women’s suffrage. Alice Paul, a passionate and empowered woman, was someone who made a difference during this time, spearheading many protests and demonstrations for women’s rights. She is considered a crucial component to the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, being the Chairwoman of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. She headed the picketing of former President Wilson at the White House, where along with many others, she protested until arrested. People said she was the straw that broke the “jackass’s back.” Without the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, women to this day would not have the right to vote, and would still be seen as inferior in our society. Women make up half of our population; so not having them be involved in government and the foundations of America would completely throw off the balance and justice we have. Giving women the right to vote and a place in American society was the most outstanding accomplishment of the Progressives during the early 1900s.
The Progressive era took place from the mid 1890’s to 1920. During this time many social activist movements were born along with many political reforms. The people of the progressive era were disappointed with how our country came out of the gilded age, the corruption and inefficiencies of our government, the people of the progressive movement wanted to reform everything. The most important of these reforms were the creation of the 16th, 17th, and 19th amendments. The 16th amendment allowed the government to collect income tax from those who could afford to pay it. Although only about 1% of all people at this time paid income tax the money that the government collected could improve the infrastructure and domestic issues within the United States. The 17th amendment gave the people the power with the direct election of senators. This was very important because it bypassed much of the corruption in the senate at the time, and made it so the senators would have to win over the people’s favor in order to keep representing them. Without this amendment we can only wonder what might have been passed by the senate to keep themselves in power. The 19th amendment is the most important out of all the amendments during the progressive era because it gave women the right to vote. “Women’s suffrage”, the right to vote gained through democracy, meant that for the first time in America’s history women could vote on who would be our next president. Although the amendment gave women the right to vote it was more important since women stood on the same level as men in our Democracy. Although their were many changes made by the progressives during the progressive era there is no arguing that the creation of these amendments was the most influential and important change made at the time, to argue against it infringes upon the rights of women. Who knows, we might have a women president in 2016. -Fortenbaugh
In the early 20th century, the progressive movement came to be as a response to the various political, socioeconomic issues that appeared along with the rapid industrialization and development of the US. What I consider to be the most significant accomplishment of this period is the appearance of the muckrakers. They were literally doing what Theodore Roosevelt wanted to do, as mentioned in one of his speeches (also mentioned above in Olly Liu’s comment), “There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil man, whether politician or businessman; every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life….” (Theodore Roosevelt 1906) and these “muckrakers” put an emphasis mostly on the “exposure”: putting the horrible reality to the light, while leaving the “attack” to the wise lawmakers and executors who will conduct countermeasures. One example is Sinclair Upton with “The Jungle”, in which he exposes the abuses and exploits in the meat packing industry, leading to the passage of the “Pure Food and Drug Act” and the “Meat Inspection Act”. Another is Ida Tarbell with “History of the Standard Oil Company” in which she documented cutthroat business behind Rockefeller’s rise. Furthermore, muckrakers helped calming down sensationalist journalism and shifting the US’s focus towards dealing with its own internal problems as sensationalism was one of the reasons why US went to war with Spain.
The Progressive Movement from 1900 to 1920 was a time of meaningful reform that shaped the America we know today. Overall, progressives aimed to bring the rights back to the people, as the rich elite had been dominant in the previous years. To do this, the main goals were to stop to corruption in government and exploitation in the work force. However, I believe the most significant accomplishment of the progressives was getting women the right to vote. Belle Case La Follette and Carrie Chapman Catt were the main leaders of the women’s movement. La Follette, the first female graduate of University of Wisconsin Law School, was the perfect person to lead the movement. She was, “arguably the most important and recognized leader of the opposition to the growing dominance of corporations over the Government" (The American Radical). La Follette knew how politicians worked in Washington D.C., she worked as secretary for her husband, Robert M. La Follette, in congress for three terms. Robert La Follette, known as “fighting Bob,” was a strong opponent of trusts and bossism. He is widely known for his role in the progressive movement, but it was Belle La Follette who provided much of the intellectual sophistication behind it. Belle La Follette founded the Women’s Peace Party in 1918. While in Washington, she took every opportunity to make the case for woman suffrage. Carrie Chapman Catt was a woman’s suffrage leader who campaigned hard for the 19th amendment. Catt was the founder of both the League of Voters and the International Alliance of Women, and was president of the National Women Suffrage Association. She lead protests and demonstrations along with creating petitions and writing articles to make the women’s voice heard in the early 1900’s. Catt has been called, “the most prominent leader of her time” (Makers of a New Nation). Giving women the right to vote was the most important breakthrough of the progressive era because it brought long awaited equality to the United States.
-Dylan O'Connor
Source: Mari Jo (1994). The American Radical. New York, NY: Routledge.
Although many of the reforms enacted during the Progressive era had noteworthy impacts on the social and political structure of the United States, the enfranchisement of women under the Constitution was, by far, the most significant. Up until June 4th of 1919, about fifty percent of the entire United States population was forbidden to vote or have any say in government because they did not count as a significant voting demographic - or in other words- because they were female. Even previously enslaved black men were allowed to vote before women in the United States, and that is because sexism, unlike racism, has been prevalent and very consistent since the dawn of time. Contrastingly, the oppressors and the oppressed, within the realm of racism, have varied considerably over the years. Racial discrimination shifted from the ancient Egyptians enslaving the Jews, to Americans enslaving Africans, and a plethora of other chauvinistic acts throughout history. However, up until the early twentieth century, there was rarely ever a time in any nation’s history, when women weren’t regarded as subservient to men in one form or another. If it were not for the forward-thinking, progressive women that had the courage to begin the Women’s Suffrage movement in 1848 at Seneca Falls, and the brave young women, such as Alice Paul, that followed and continued to advocate this cause, the 19th Amendment would have never been passed during this period of great progression in American History. Now Americans can assuredly proclaim that all eligible U.S. citizens of voting age retain the right to vote and have an equal say in his or her government. This is the truly democratic society which the Progressive Movement helped propel into fruition.
In my opinion, it is easy to say that the most significant accomplishment of the progressive movement is what resulted in the 19th amendment: women's suffrage. Now, the progressive movement and era was one of open-mindedness with the idea of getting common people's ideas heard in government in hopes of a brighter future. For all of history, women were inferior to men. But, the women's suffrage movement brought America up to speed and gave the other 50% of America's geniuses the rights to share their opinions about the government. Many strong women spearheaded this movement, like Alice Paul, one of the leaders of the National Women's Party. They showed that there were women out there who would endure any circumstances to get their equal rights in government and voting, and that is what they ultimately received. This was the most significant progression in the progressive movement because although many others made a large impact on America, women's right to vote proved that America was really beginning to give different people the same opportunities. America was, after all, founded on a basis of equality and this movement, and ultimately this amendment, was a huge step in the right direction.
I believe that the progressive movement got many reforms to be made about the rights of all citizens, not just white men. Of all these reforms, the most important was giving women the right to vote because women constitute about half of the population of this country and if the country is being run by only half of the people, then it is not really a democracy. The women's rights movement also brought some great opportunities for half of the americans at the time and created the society that we have today, where both parents can work; because of this, poverty rates in the country have considerably gone down since the beginning of the 20th century. These opportunities also gave way to great advances in technology and science, because as Mr. Gulotta always says, it gave a chance to 50% of the geniuses in america to shine in society. Thanks to the progressive movement we now have a fair and almost equal amount of opportunities for men and women in american society. "If I have an illness, I would like to be treated by the best doctor; not by the best white male doctor" Mr. Gulotta.
The Progressive Movement, which happened from 1900 to 1920, created new era of more American people gained rights, especially for labors and women. Prior to this movement, Americans suffered from the corrupted government’s policies, called the Glided Age. Labors did not have rights to speak their voices and their working condition was harsh. Women did not have a right to vote, which means that half of the population was denied to vote. In addition, there was also a problem with the government having lack of money to lower importing tariff. As the Progressive Movement began, 4 new constitutional amendments were passed that would change America. Among many accomplishments that the progressives made, I believe that the women suffrage is the most significant accomplishment of the Progressives. As I mentioned before, prior to the 19th Amendment was ratified by the congress, women were not allowed to vote for presidential elections. Although a president was supposed to represent the whole American people, a president actually represented half of the population, which means that the president could not listen to women’s opinions. Therefore, few people created movements in the United States to put the woman suffrage in the Constitution. Alice Paul founded the National Woman’s Party. Also, under the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt, female reformers founded the National American Woman Suffrage Association. These movements started to affect at a local level and they quickly expanded to the national level. Finally, the congress passed the 19th Amendment in 1919, which states that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Women Suffrage is considered the most significant accomplishment because women could finally speak their voices in politics. This would give equality among all Americans whether that person is a male or female. It showed us that women have same rights as men have. Because of these movements, the U.S. government became more democratic and they eventually ended the corruption in this nation.
The progressive party was a group politicians who wished to see the United States change. These politicians saw the US government as corrupt and their main goal throughout progressive movement (1900-1920) was to restore the control of the government to the people of the United States.The most significant accomplishment of the progressive party was the abolishment of childhood labor. How could we, as a society, expect to get anywhere in terms of innovation and creativity if "our future", the children at work, were put in a factory and ordered to work for 12 hours each day? Depriving children from their right to education is repugnant. Our leaders of tomorrow, the children of today, were uneducated and were forced to do a mindless job, machinery work. The implementation of children in factories in the early 20th century was one of the more injudicious decisions in American history. With our children at work, how can we expect them to solve any of our current let alone future problems? Thanks to the progressive movement and the brilliant politicians behind it, the termination of child labor and education reforms took place. This will allow for children to be educated; which is such an important aspect of our society. With educated children, issues like women's suffrage can arise and be debated and talked about by knowledgeable people one day. It is way more important to put smart people in power so that movements like women's suffrage and the reconstruction of work environments and our government can one day take place, when that new generation of children will become our leaders of tomorrow.
The Progressive movement, which happened from 1900 to 1920, created the new era in which more American people gained rights, especially for laborers and women. Prior to this movement, Americans suffered from the corrupted government’s policies, called the Glided Age. Laborers did not have rights to speak for their voices and their harsh working condition. Women did not have a right to vote; almost the half of the population was denied to vote. In addition, there was also a problem with the government having lack of money to lower importing tariff. As the Progressive Movement began, 4 new amendments were passed to change America. Among many accomplishments that the progressives made, I believe that the women suffrage is the most significant accomplishment that the Progressives made. As I mentioned before, prior to the 19th Amendment ratified by the congress, women were not allowed to vote for presidential elections. Although supposed to represent the all American people, president actually represented half of the population, a result the president could not listen to women’s opinions. Therefore, few people in the United States created movements to put the woman suffrage in the Constitution. Under the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt, female reformers, the National American Woman Suffrage Association was founded. Also, the National Woman’s Party was founded by Alice Paul. These movements started to affect at a local level and then quickly expanded to the national level. Later, they claimed to President Wilson to pass the Woman suffrage in the Constitutional Amendment. Finally, the congress passed the 19th Amendment in 1919, stating that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Women Suffrage is considered the most significant accomplishment because women could finally speak their voices in politics, showing us that in America women have the same rights as men have. Because these movements eventually ended the corruption in this nation, the U.S. government became more democratic.
The Progressive movement was the era that began at the turn of the 20th century and lasted to around 1920. It was this movement that helped lift America out of the desolate times of the Gilded Age. During this age, a small group of men, such as Rockefeller or Carnegie, owned an incredible amount of wealth (the top 5% owned more than 90% of the wealth in the country), and through this power, were able to use congress to pass whatever they wanted. The problem with these monopolistic owners was that the commoners were brutalized with awful conditions, gruesome hours, terrible wages, and were at the mercy of these owners, amongst other things.
The Progressive movement sought to pry the power away from these corporations, and their owners, and put it back in the hands of the people. This movement involved labor unions, and the lower wages, better hours and other beneficial conditions for the workers. However, this was not the most significant achievement by the Progressive movement. Other important changes the movement made were the secret ballot, referendum questions, and other more democratic policies. The most important accomplishment was women's suffrage, which was sworn into law when congress passed the 19th amendment, which states, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.". Although their were some political incentives behind this bill, mainly the thought that women would be much more likely to support the progressive movement and its ideals, especially if they give them the right to vote, that it would give them even more say than they already have, this was a great change nonetheless. Women suffrage is so critical because it not only gave a voice to even more people in America, now America wasn't depriving some of its population's smartest people the right to contribute to the countries welfare. For these reasons, women's suffrage was the most important goal achieved by the progressive movement.
The most significant accomplishment of the progressive movement was the ratification of the nineteenth amendment. This amendment permitted woman’s suffrage, or in other words gave women the right to vote. The amendment specifically stated that the United States of America could not deny any citizen the right to vote based on sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920 and obviously still stands today. This amendment, originally drafted by Susan B Anthony, was first formally introduced to the senate as the Anthony Amendment. It was extremely sexist and very undemocratic to not present women with equal rights. It was thought that woman, just because of their gender, fell short to the dominant male population. Women in this time period suffered from many other restrictions and limitations other than the right to vote. For example, some jobs were reserved for men only, but as Mr. Gulotta has eluded to many times, if you’re a hospital patient requiring medical attention you want treatment from the best doctor, not the best male doctor. This ratification was so significant because it finally gave woman a chance to add their opinion in our government and see the candidate they truly believed would do they best job be elected into office. The nineteenth amendment was also significant because it paved to way towards women achieving complete equality to males.
On Google dictionary, the definition of significant is “Sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention; noteworthy.” What is important here is that there is no mention of the word "good", simply it demands attention. For that reason I must say that Prohibition, the 18th amendment was by far the most significant amendment of the progressive movement
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at the other Amendments it is easy to see how they may not demand as much attention or be as noteworthy as prohibition. For example, in the case of the 16th Amendment (Income tax), the government would either have eventually realized the importance and need for a tax on income, and if they didn’t, then there would simply be more indirect taxes. Making its implementation at this time not overly noteworthy
Looking at the 17th amendment, we see that, while being noteworthy and important, the need for an elected Senate is not vital, this can be seen in both the Irish and British government systems where the senate is selected still. and where both governments are, in my opinion at least, sufficiently democratic.
The last Amendment of the progressive movement; and perhaps the biggest rival to the 18th amendment being the most significant is the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. I would not for a moment suggest this is not a vital amendment and one that was long overdue, it is simply that giving women the vote was becoming more important worldwide at this time and in the coming years, for example, Irish and English women were given the right to vote in 1918. Therefore I feel that women’s getting the right to vote was an inevitable event during this stage of political movement around the world.
These reasons are why I feel that prohibition was such a significant amendment; it has become an amendment that has been ridiculed and become notorious worldwide. Its implementation lead to a complete disregard of the law by the average American citizen and the rise of many underground criminals, such as Al Capone, mentioned by Mr. Gulotta today. Prohibition was significant not because it was actually a good amendment, but because of its uniqueness in western civilization and its complete and utter failure as a result. And none of the other amendments can claim this uniqueness
Throughout most of history, women have been viewed as inferior to men. In many cultures, men tended to be viewed as the superior gender. This mindset went all the way back to the nomads; men were hunters and women were gatherers. Men saw this role as more important as compared to the women’s role because without the food they brought home the family would die. Eventually, social hierarchies, including religion, were formed; the story of Adam and Eve reflects the superiority men felt over women. According to the story, Eve was created from Adam’s rib, meaning she came from him, not the other way around.
ReplyDeleteThe controversial issue of Women’s suffrage arose around the same time as the Women’s Rights movement in the United States. The first Women’s Rights convention took place in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. Later, women proved their ability when they took it upon themselves to preform the duties of their husbands and men in their communities during the Civil War, some women even helped on the battlefield. Women’s Rights activist Susan B. Anthony stirred controversy when she attempted to vote in the 1872 election for Ulysses Grant.
Along with the progressive movement came the expansion of women’s roles and Women’s suffrage becoming mainstream politics. President Woodrow Wilson consistently denied women the right to vote. Alice Paul, the founder of the National Woman’s Party, organized protests against Wilson. Theodore Roosevelt, from the Bull Moose Party, took office in 1901 when President McKinley was assassinated. Theodore Roosevelt supported Women’s suffrage.
Thanks to people like Alice Paul, Susan B. Anthony, and Theodore Roosevelt, the senate passed the nineteenth amendment in 1919. When Alice Paul was asked what women should do with their vote, she replied with “whatever they want.” She was just happy that they now had the ability. Women’s suffrage did not by any means make women equal to men at the time, but it gave them a voice. Women’s suffrage was such a significant accomplishment, not only for the Progressives but the for all mankind.
"National Women's History Museum." Education & Resources. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2013.
DeleteThe Progressive movement, which began around 20th century, was highly successful as a reform group with one of its main motives, to restore the government to the people. The reformer’s had myriad goals some of which were made into amendments. The four amendments that the Progressives are responsible for include: the income tax, direct election of senators, prohibition, and women’s suffrage. While the movement added legislation, they also achieved many other objectives on their agenda for example, the Australian ballot, initiative, and the altercation of child labor laws. Muckrakers should also be credited since they initially exposed flaws unknown by society and helped Progressives gain support.
ReplyDeleteTo deem one of the Progressive movement’s achievements more significant than the others is a tough task because all of their accomplishments were impressive. If I had to choose the Progressive feat that is most important, it would be women’s suffrage for a plethora of reasons. First off, Women have been battling for suffrage since the Seneca Falls convention of 1848 when Elizabeth Stanton and Susan Anthony were advocates. Although Mrs. Stanton and Mrs. Anthony were unsuccessful, they still ignited the spark to fight for women’s right to vote and helped contribute to the Progressives mission. While everyone should have their own beliefs, the question of equality in suffrage is based on good or bad principles. Truly, the importance of the 19th Amendment should be derived from moral consciousness, yet in essence mean equality for all rather than what is written in the United States Constitution that states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, all men are created equal.”
Women finally gained traction in 1920 and Alice Paul alongside a senator’s wife helped get the 19th Amendment ratified.
The most significant accomplishment of the Progressive era was reforming women's rights. Prior to the Progressive era, women did not have the right to vote. During the Progressive era, some reformers pushed for women's suffrage. They thought that women would be more inclined to support various reformations. By 1896, four states, including Wyoming (1890), Colorado (1893), Utah (1896), and Idaho (1896), had already granted women the right to vote. Twenty-four years later, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, which states that no United States citizen should be denied the right to vote based on gender. This amendment is by far the most significant accomplishment of the Progressive era because it is one step closer to equality. There is no reason to deny the majority of the population the simple yet so significant right to vote. From then on, women's equality has progressed exponentially through the Civil Rights Act, which prevents discrimination within employment on the basis of race and or sex (1964), The National Organization for Women (1966), Title IX, which prevents against gender discrimination in high school athletics and academics (1972), and many more.
ReplyDelete- Nicky Friedman
Bibliography:
Delete1) Boorstin, Daniel J., Brooks Mather. Kelley, and Ruth Frankel. Boorstin. A History of the United States. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
2) Infoplease. Infoplease. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
To add...
DeleteBeginning in 1869, the Nation Women’s Suffrage Association (NWSA) was founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton. This organization was founded after the American Equal Rights Association was torn over whether the women’s movement should support the Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which prohibits the US government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on their race or color. Anthony and Stanton strongly opposed this amendment unless it included women’s suffrage. The NWSA’s main accomplishment was encouraging Congress to draft an amendment granting women’s suffrage, which was eventually adopted as the Nineteenth Amendment of the US Constitution in 1919.
I believe that the Nineteenth Amendment was, by far, the most significant accomplishment of the Progressive era. For one, the United States government was created on the basis of democracy; by definition, a democracy is a: "government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system." In addition, in Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Lincoln advocated for a democracy with true equality, he wished for a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Therefore, if we deny women, the majority of the people, the right to vote, then we are contradicting the basis of our government. We would only be hurting ourselves by restricting the possibilities, just as Mr. Gulotta eloquently stated: “with 50% of the geniuses in America not being able to have rights we’re only limiting ourselves.”
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/democracy?s=t
http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm
The progressive era accomplished many great things that are still used in the U.S. now, such as that 16th and the 17th amendment, which respectively created Income taxes and the direct election of senators. Most of the reforms created during the progressive era were created in order to purify the government from corruption. However, as significant as those accomplishments are, reforms created in order to give more rights to the people, such as the referendum question and the vote for women, are more significant because they are reforms that mankind depend on. Consequently, I believe that the vote for women was the most significant accomplishment of the progressives.
ReplyDeleteThe vote for women brought equality between women and men that never existed before. The vote for the women showed that society accepted women as equal to men, no matter what color of skin they were, which was an idea very controverted at the time. Allowing women to vote gave them the right to express their opinion. It gave basically allowed half of the American population to vote. President in the future had to try to get not only men but women on their side, which I think also changes the way a future president is going to act and the law he is going to pass.
As Sam Clougher wrote, “giving women the vote was becoming more important worldwide at this time”, but I believe that it was because many women were fighting hard for it; Alice Paul, had to do a hanger strike while she was imprisoned for a crime she had not committed, which also led her to spend time in a prison’s psychiatric ward even though she had no mental problem. Women were still seen as inferior, and people did not understand why they should have the right to vote. Countries like the Germany and Canada (except Quebec), which got women suffrage in 1917 and 1918 respectively, influenced American women to fight for their right. However, The United States was a huge step for women suffrage in the world, and helped lead more countries to allow women to vote. France, which is a very developed country, only got women suffrage in 1944, and the fight that led to suffrage was tough. This shows that you cannot take this right for granted and that it is an accomplishment especially in 1920 to have women vote for an election. America showed the example of a great economic power that believed in equality between women and men, which supported and helped other country in their fight for women suffrage. That is why the right for women to vote is the greatest accomplishment of the progressives.
The Progressive's most significant accomplishment was undoubtedly the passing of the 18th Amendment. As Sam Clougher said above, significant merely means noteworthy, and the Prohibition certainly was that. Alcohol was deeply woven into the roots of this Country. It served recreational purposes, but also had a medicinal role. A good used so widely across our United States obviously had a large impact on many aspects of society. Alcohol played a significant role in our economy in particular. We had farmers, distillers, transporters, and distributors across our country. It provided jobs for so many Americans as it was in such high demand. When the 18th Amendment was passed and all of this alcohol was banned, the impact on the people who worked in this area were at a massive loss. Besides that, the people of America who used alcohol on a regular basis no longer had it. The impact on society was of colossal significance. Furthermore, the beverage that was so widely required throughout America was felt so necessary by many that they would not allow the law to prevent their consumption or distribution. The prohibition led to an immense disregard of the law. Organized crime was at its finest during this time and alcohol was still being smuggled throughout our states. Not only did America give up the large tax income from the selling of Alcohol, but the country also had to fight some the most violent and powerful crime organizations. This 18th Amendment to our Constitution negatively effected jobs and economy, while also bringing about danger and general disregard for the law. If safety, security, and regulation can not be upheld, then government is not serving its purpose. Women's suffrage is undoubtedly a significant accomplishment, but if the Progressives were able to pass an amendment in which government became unable to maintain dominance and power, it is certainly a significant accomplishment for it to have been passed. This was an Amendment with vastly more negatives that positives, which led to its repealing.
ReplyDeleteThe most significant accomplishment of the Progressive movement is women’s suffrage. America was founded on the belief that everyone should be equal, and even fought the Civil for the equal rights of Black Americans; when all the while, women were viewed as less than men. However, during the Progressive Era, many women such as Dorothea Dix and Susan B. Anthony refined America in remarkable ways.
ReplyDeleteDorothea Dix disproved the common belief at the time that men were smarter than women, by acknowledging the existence of mental illnesses. In the 1840s, most people believed that people who had mental illnesses were criminals and were locked away and deemed “insane”. Although people called her “softhearted”, she persevered and investigated the jails for 2 years and brought her findings to the Massachusetts Legislature, in order to expand mental hospital so that patients were treated with compassion and medical aid. Without the research, hard work and courage from Dorothea Dix, mentally ill patients would still be treated unfairly. Dix was definitely intelligent, compassionate, and tenacious enough to vote – so why wasn’t able to?
After the Civil War, a war for equality, Susan B. Anthony demanded that the Fourteenth Amendment include women’s guaranteed right to vote, as well as Black males. IN 1869, Anthony and Elizabeth Caddy Stanton founded the National Women Suffrage movement. Women were not granted the right to vote until the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919. At the same time, women were breaking through social barriers. For example, women did not work at home anymore. Women mainly staffed factories in New England towns such as Lowell, and the creation of public schools generated jobs for women teachers. Between 1880 and 1910, the number of women employed increased from 2.6 million to 7.8 million. Now, women were more involved in society; they needed a say in what happened in government.
As women’s employment grew, it would only be logical their rights should grow as well, including the right to vote. It only made sense that women, who are just as knowledgeable and competent as men should have similar rights. However, this reality of equality is one that many people, even presently still fail to see. Where’s the liberty, America? Oh right, America’s liberty is personified through a woman: Lady Liberty’s statue.
Sources:
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/progress/suffrage/
Singh
additional source:
DeleteBoorstin, Daniel J., Brooks Mather. Kelley, and Ruth Frankel. Boorstin. A History of the United States. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
The most significant accomplishment of the Progressives was the introduction of the Australian ballot. Previously when civilians went in to vote, others could tell whom they voted for because they verbally spoke their vote for others to hear. After that, a law was passed permitting written ballots. These ballots were still not private because they were colored based on the party. Therefore people could tell whom someone voted for by the color ballot that they chose. Bribery was a big problem when people knew whom each other were voting for because they could convince others of who to vote for and then be reassured they voted for the right person by simply going to the poles with them. In hindsight, these ballots caused voters to not vote for whom they thought would best run their country, but instead to vote for whom they thought others would want them to vote for. The Australian ballot made the voting ballots completely secret. The papers were now white so that you could not tell by its color who that person was voting for. This made the governmental voting system fairer because instead of civilians being negatively influenced on whom to vote for, they had fair equal rights to choose whom they wanted to vote for without having to worry about the opinions of others. This, in turn allowed a fairer vote for who was elected president and state senator. In the 17th amendment, people selected the senators instead of the state governments. Without the Australian ballots, unfair senators could have been elected because of the negative influence of other people. Therefore the Australian ballot contributed to the fairness of the senators and presidents elected to rule the country.
ReplyDeletePrior to the progressive movement, most Americans had been “disturbed by the strife and violence of the 1890s”, and suffered from the corruption in government during the gilded age (Boorstin and Kelley 527). The progressives aimed to end corruption, correct abuses of power, and ultimately, establish true democracy. The progressive movement accomplished its goals and had an immense impact in the American Society. Reforms took place in governments, 4 amendments were passed, and the movement influenced the Republican and Democratic parties to become more progressive. Among the many accomplishments of the progressives, the most significant was establishing real democracy in voting, which includes setting up the Australian Ballot and establishing women’s suffrage. How were voters suppose to vote freely if bosses or employers knew about their votes through the colored ballots? Furthermore, how could the American government be democratic with ignoring half of the population? The secret Ballot allowed people to vote secretly and honestly. Workers and employees no longer had to worry about their bosses. The 19th amendment granted women the ballot, and finally they could voice their opinions after 300 years of negligence. One of the greatest accomplishments of the progressive movement was establishing true democracy in voting. Whether you were a factory worker or a factory owner, no one could influence or know about your vote, and whether you were men or women, you could voice your opinion.
ReplyDeleteThe Progressive Movement lasted between 1900 and 1920, ending the corruption in government, and correcting the abuses of the new urban industrialism. The aim was to restore control of the government to the people, set a new standard of honesty, abolish child labor, improve housing, end union opposition, and create equal opportunities for small and large businesses. With the help of Bob La Follette, the father of the progressive movement, numerous progressive reforms were championed, but the most significant accomplishment was in 1911 when the first workers’ compensation system was created. This system passed laws to regulate factory safety, encouraged state income tax, and limited work hours. As a result, women and children who had previously been treated unjustly were now beginning to see the brighter side of the working life. This self-sustaining system worked as a form of insurance, keeping people from being destitute if, for various reasons, something happened with their job, provided wage replacement, and gave medical benefits to those injured while working. This allowed workers to have rights in the work force. No longer could women and children be treated poorly, could people work long, arduous, inhumane hours, or work in unsafe conditions. Although this might have seemed tedious to companies, in the long run it helped because people were more encouraged to work, were less inclined to strike against owners or employers, and with more reliable people in the workplace, America did better because its people were doing better.
ReplyDeleteThe Progressive Movement, which lasted between 1900-1920, enabled major change to occur in the United States. One of the movement’s most significant goal was to restore control of the government to the people. Under the leadership of men such as "Battling Bob" La Follette, they were able to accomplish this. How they accomplished this was though introducing the Australian Ballot, recall elections, and 17th Amendment (to name a few). Introducing the Australian Ballot, which was a secretive all white ballot, detoured corruption and outside influence on ones vote. People no longer could tell whom you voted for by the color of the ballot, because every ballot was white. Recall elections were another major democratic accomplishment of the Progressive Movement. This allowed the voters to remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before or during his term (not including senators). Now if an elected official was not doing his duty correctly, the people had the power to remove him/her out of office. A final major reform passed to create a government controlled by the people is the 17th Amendment. Prior to this Amendment being passed, senators were elected through the state legislatures. Allowing the voters to now elect their state senators created more input from the public. These major reforms passed during the Progressive Movement created a more democratic country, and the principles of democracy are what this great country were founded upon.
ReplyDeleteThe Progressive Era was widely effective in a multitude of ways in the United States. The most important aspect of this time period in American History is the precedent it set for the future. Americans such as Theodore Roosevelt and Robert Lafollette, the ferocious Muckrakers, and many other educated followers were unhappy with governmental policies. Because of this, with passion and force, they fought for, and achieved change in our government. This displayed that the power of the people in the United States was extremely substantial. The Progressive Era left many positive governmental policies and freedoms in this country. For example, they instilled 'direct elections' of United States senators; they put in place initiative and referendum, allowing people to contribute to their own laws; they pushed for higher taxes on higher incomes, and helped fight for women's rights. All these social, economic, and governmental changes left a mark on this country, expanded democracy, and influenced liberal values that the US holds today. That said, though the progressives promoted important policies and freedoms, the most crucial aspect of this era was its encouragement of justice, rights, and the power of the people.
ReplyDelete-Amelia Patsalos-Fox
La Follette established the Progressive Movement in the beginning of the 20th century to end the corruption of the industrialized society and monopoly-controlled government. This movement’s goal was to end this corruption and to bring back the voice of the nation back to its people. A more democratic society was needed, which the Labor Unions and the Grangers started to develop, to have a strong central government and more patriotism throughout the United States. This movement needed to relinquish the wealthy people’s control over the society to the everyday man, fix the industrialists ways, like abolish child labor, increase safety standards, improve work hours, end opposition to unions, improve housing, and also maintain monopoly powers by creating the same opportunities between any companies, whether small or large.
ReplyDeleteThese goals were only going to be reached if laws were passed that would please the nation’s people. This movement had its leader, the father of the Progressive Movement, also known as “Battling Bob” La Follette that championed many progressive reforms, including the first worker’s compensation system, the minimum wage, women’s suffrage, commission created to regulate utilities, direct election of U.S. senators, and many more. The progressives earned so many reforms during this movement like the Australian ballot, the right to recall elections, income tax, prohibition (18th Amendment), and the repeal of prohibition (21st Amendment). Although, the most significant of all reforms was the 19th Amendment, passed in 1920, which gave the women the right to vote. So many people ask, why did it take so long? But what they should be doing is thanking the government for finally giving women a voice in governmental decisions. This amendment for women’s suffrage proves that during this era, people were changing their views on the impact women had on society, and men had to finally accept them as their equal. Now the reference to ‘men’ in the Constitution alludes to the men and women of the United States. For so many years women were perceived as a token of a men’s life, to be used as a mother to his children and to clean up around the house. Women that made a difference in any society were looked at in a strange manner like what they were doing was wrong. Although for so long women were so crucial to American society. Women like Louisa May Alcott and Clara Barton nurses during the Civil War, Amelia Earhart, the first woman pilot, and Harriet Tubman, the African-American woman who saved so many slaves lives. Because they were women they were less significant then any ordinary men. Now the government was giving them an equal say in governmental decisions, so men had to treat them more as equals.
The Progressive Movement repaired so many previous issues. Society in America was changed for the better.
Alli Toffolon
After the industrial revolution in the 19th century many people moved towards changing political problems in the federal government, and at a local level. Acts and Amendments were passed to protect the rights of the middle class, organized labor, blacks, and even women. The most significant accomplishment of the Progressives could be the changes in local level, such as direct primary elections, the secret ballot, initiative, referendum, or the recall of officials, it could have been “The Square Deal”, The Sherman Anti-Trust act, the Payne-Aldrich Tariff, the Ballinger-Pinchot Affair, Wilson’s “New Freedom”, the Underwood Tariff, the Sixteenth Amendment, the Federal Reserve Act, or even the 17th Amendment. The amount of change and progress that was made in the progressive era was exponential; however there is one particular accomplishment that stands out: Roosevelt’s Environmental Conservation. Theodore Roosevelt had a past before he became the 26th President of the United States of America, he attended Harvard University, and then he was elected to the New York State Assembly. Later he would become the president of the board of New York City Police Commissioners, the Assistant secretary of the Navy, Colonel of the Rough Riders, Governor of New York, Vice President to McKinley, then President. Way back in the 1880’s his wife and mother died on the same day. He left politics for the great outdoors and moved west to the Badlands of North Dakota, where the Teddy Roosevelt National Park is today. Roosevelt went west to hunt bison, when he got out there and realized how dwindled the bison population was, how the grasslands were barely grass, and how the habitat of animals that lived in Central/Rocky U.S were almost demolished, a piece of him realized that someone needed to do something. During Roosevelt's time as President, the forest reserves in the U.S. went from approximately 43-million acres to about 194-million acres. Mr. Gulotta stated in our class that he was way ahead of his time. Which he was! Roosevelt changed the way America treated its land, and influenced people after his time. Roosevelt’s love for nature drove his conservation efforts. He believed that Nature existed to mankind. “In a conserved wilderness, timber could be harvested, sport could be had, water could be taken to irrigate farmland. All of these benefits would be lost if the wilderness were destroyed.” The Federal Reclaim service of 1902 brought farmland into use. In 1905, Roosevelt created the Bureau of Forestry, with Gifford Pinchot as chief forester. There is a dam in Phoenix, Arizona that is mainly for irrigation water supply and flood control that is named after Roosevelt. Roosevelt left a “Conservation Legacy” of 4 national Game Preserves; 5 National Parks; 7 Conservation Conferences; 18 National Monuments; 24 Reclamation Projects; 51 Federal Bird Reservations; and 150 National Forests. Roosevelt stated: "I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the nature resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us." (Osawatomie, Kansas, August 31, 1910) This is the most significant accomplishments of the progressives because it not only affected the people, but the land in which they used, lived, and thrived. Environmental Conservation is a process that takes time, hard work, and effort, which the U.S is still struggling with today.
ReplyDeletep.s. Sorry for the length.
Sources:
http://www.nps.gov/thro/historyculture/theodore-roosevelt-and-conservation.htm
http://www.nps.gov/history/logcabin/html/tr5.html
http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trenv.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tr-environment/
The most significant accomplishment of the progressives was the initiation of the referendum question. The idea behind the referendum question was to bypass congress, and give the citizens the power to vote on different issues. It is done at state level, and is as easy as majority wins. This idea is so simplistic because it allow the voters to become the legislative bodies, skipping the step of going through congress. The reason the referendum question is the most important idea pushed by the progressives is because it allows legislation to bypass congress. In present day America, congress is one of the most corrupt sectors of the US government. A perfect example of this corruption is how congress has handled the issue of the fiscal cliff. Congress had ample time to figure out a solution, but they waited until the last minute. The reasons behind this procastination was that many members of congress simply would not agree with anything President Obama had to say, even if it made sense. The stubbornness of congress has pushed back the date of the fiscal cliff, further risking the economy. This is just one example of many. So bypassing it completely, and letting the citizens vote themselves, allows a much more productive democracy. Althought the other accomplishments of the progressives were important, the creation of the referendum question is the most significant, which is why it is still in affect today.
ReplyDelete-Austin Brandt
Between 1900 and 1920, the Progressive party was able to make many great changes such as the Australian Ballot, recall elections, and direct primaries. However, the most important accomplishment was the ability to have Referendum Questions where the "voter becomes the legislative body" (Gullota). This is still very important because it allows the people to have the most direct say in government. Previously, citizens often had to wait for different laws to go through Congress only to get shut down without the direct say from the people. Although Congress is elected directly from the people, Referendum Questions give the people the best opportunity to voice their opinion. Another reason this was a great progression in politics was how it allowed difficult decisions to be made without politicians worrying about there reputation. A controversial topic, such as climate change today, makes voting difficult when large, polluting, energy companies endorse the politicians. Having a Referendum Question pertaining a solution to the crisis would allow the people to make a change that the politicians can’t. The ability to have direct say from the people is what the country was based on and what democracy stands for.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are a few problems that need to be recognized when having certain referendum questions. Some critics argue that some people are to uninformed to make an educated vote on some topics. I believe that have been great recent changes made by the Referendum Question however there needs to be a limit on what the general public can make. There are many issues that only highly educated elected officials should make, such as decisions to go to war. This was a great progression for the country and gave people a more direct say in what goes on in the country, there just needs to be a limit on what the questions can be.
-Jeff Thompson
In the 1900's, there was the time of reform called: The Progressive Era. Based on dictionary.com, the definition of progressive is favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are especially political matters. There were many progressive reforms made throughout the years but only some can be considered truly progressive. For instance, the 16th Amendment is about income tax and how the taxes would be collected based on percentages. Although this amendment is important for the economy of our country, it only presents a financial change. This just reveals how much power the Congress has which is not the basis of the importance of the survival of our country. Then, there was the 17th amendment that focuses on how Senators can now be selected by the people. That provides the people with more power but what use is that if not everyone is free to vote like the women. After that was the 18th Amendment which refers to prohibition, prohibition is the prohibiting of buying, selling, making and drinking hard liquor. The women’s temperance union felt hard liquor was harmful to our society and took action, “Lips that touch liquor will not touch ours” – restated by Mr. Gulotta. The men though were opposed to this and continued to involve themselves with alcohol illegally. In fact, the men tried maintaining things as they are which is not really progressive even though a reform was established.
ReplyDeleteAlthough all of these amendments are still progressive movements and I don't doubt that they are important, the 19th amendment was the most significant accomplishment of the progressives. A reform was made to allow women the right to vote. This reform was a change done opposed to maintaining the previous male dominating society. Women proved themselves just as important and powerful as men through the prohibition act. With women, the other amendments would truly be considered progressive with the help of their knowledge and opinion of what their society needs. Society was truly moving forward with this progressive movement through how now women also had a say in who should be elected and what should be passed. Women have already proved that they have strong opinions and are willing to do what it takes to have their argument heard, and accounted for. Why not allow women the right to vote? Without the 19th amendment and people being open-minded, women would still not be allowed to vote today. We would still be a male dominated society and all the women would probably be treated like the women in the third world countries of today. Is that what we want? Although all the other amendments are just as important, the 19th amendment was our country’s biggest step towards true progress.
-Jenalyn Rembish
The early 1900s in America was known as the Progressive Movement in the United States of America. Many movements were formed including the Temperance & Prohibition Movements, Referendum Movements, Recall Elections, and much more. By far the best movement to affect the country was the Women's Suffrage Movement.
ReplyDeleteOne lady who lead the movement was Alice Paul. Known as the "Straw that broke the jackass' back," this fearless leader of the Women's Suffrage Movement lead many rallies outside of the White House, and was even imprisoned. From prison she and lead a hunger strike with the other women of her cause and was force fed raw eggs. From the tubes inside her esophagus, she even suffered temporary physical harm. This extreme protesting exemplified their strong will and desire to see through that women would someday receive equal treatment and rights under the law.
Without the giving women right to vote in state and federal elections, America would show its reluctance to change its ways. This oppressive view toward women would not only hold them back personally, but would certainly hold our country back. Women have contributed much to this country's politics. One such lady who has fulfilled the ideals of Alice Paul and the Women's Suffrage Movement is Sandra Day O'Connor. Overcoming gender-based obstacles, O'Connor was the first female Supreme Court Justice in US history. Having joined the Supreme Court under the Reagan administration from 1981-2006, she was not afraid to voice her opinion on feminist issues such as women's rights to abortion, even though she refuses to be viewed as a feminist herself. O'Connor is an asset to America, but without the work of the women of the early 1900s, her accomplishments as well as many other women would not have been able to be achieved. Other such accomplishments in the US by women were Amelia Earhart's solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928, Janet Gunthrie becoming the first women to race in the Indy 500 in 1977, and Kathryn Bigelow in 2012 becoming the first female to win an Oscar for Best Director for her 2008 military film "The Hurt Locker." Our great country allows women to be doctors, astronauts, priests, and military combatants in all branches of military service. For these advancements in American history, we have the 19th Amendment to thank.
Sources:
Delete(1) "Alice Paul." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013. .
(2) Boorstin, Daniel J., and Brooks M. Kelley. A History of the United States. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2007. 326. Print.
(3) "Famous Firsts in American Women's History." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. .
Website
(4) Winerip, Michael. "‘Justice O’Connor, Welcome to the Court’." ‘Justice O’Connor, Welcome to the Court’ - NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 21 Sept. 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. .
The most significant accomplishment of the Progressive era was the 19th Amendment, the Amendment that granted women the right to vote. The Progressive movement was a group of Americans whose main goal was to, as Sam put it, "restore the government to the people". This group was able to institute four new amendments, yet the most significant amendment was the 19th.
ReplyDelete"Battling" Bob La Follette was a governor of Wisconsin and one of the first people in office to fight for women's rights. Besides Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Idaho, none of the other states allowed women the right to vote and participate in government. During the Progressive Era, "many women such as Dorothea Dix and Susan B. Anthony refined America in remarkable ways" (Singh, Pratima). Alice Paul is arguably the most influential woman during this Era, specifically towards ratifying the 19th Amendment.
Alice Paul had extreme gumption that pushed her to fight for what was rightfully hers. She was the leader of the Picketing the Wilson. The picketing was to convince President Woodrow to support the addition of women's rights into the Constitution. Many of the slogans and pleads were along the lines of, "How Long Must Women Wait for Liberty?" (Americaslibrary). Which the fact that women even needed to wait for their rights is ridiculous. An observation that Pratima made, our symbol is the Lady of Liberty, so why is there no liberty for our ladies?
Without the 19th Amendment women could possibly be still stuck in an age with zero progression, an age where men were superior to women and that was gladly accepted. As Mr. Gulotta said, "with 50% of our geniuses not being able to have rights were are only limiting ourselves", (Gulotta, Bill). America was limiting itself, which is why the 19th Amendment was a HUGE first step in the correct direction. With women gaining rights America could truly become progressive; once they started allowing all of it's people to contribute.
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/jazz/jb_jazz_sufarrst_1.html
Boorstin, Daniel J., Brooks Mather. Kelley, and Ruth Frankel. Boorstin. A History of the United States. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
The most important achievement of the progressives in my opinion was their ability to dissolve powerful trusts that were controlling the economy. These large corporations favored the top one percent of Americans. America was at a crossroads and was seeking out new directions with leaders interested in change (the Progressives). Workers were demanding better right and wages while the corporations were looking to keep their cheap labor, for maximum net profit. Teddy Roosevelt was elected in office and asserted a square deal to offer better conditions for laborers. This conflict of coal miners came about in 1902, with the anthracite coal strike in Pennsylvania. Coal mining was strenuous and dangerous work, and more than 140,000 miners went on strike and demanded a twenty percent pay increase and fewer hours in the workday. The mine owners were unsympathetic and refused to negotiate with labor representatives. Concern began growing in the nation because coal was a lifeline that made trade possible in America. He summoned the mine owners and union representatives to meet with him in Washington. Mine owners did not want to partake in negotiations and continued to refuse until Roosevelt threatened he would seize the mines and operate them with federal troops. Owners reluctantly agreed to arbitration, where the striking workers received a ten percent pay increase and a nine-hour working day. Roosevelt truly was a “peoples” president and wanted all of America to thrive, not just the fat cats that controlled Wall Street and the economy.
ReplyDeleteRoosevelt, gaining more confidence, began to attack larger, monopolistic corporations. Some trusts were effective and legitimate, but many of these companies engaged in corrupt business practices. In 1902, the Northern Securities Company, owned by J.P. Morgan and James J. Hill, controlled most of the railroads in the northwest United States and intended to create a total monopoly. Roosevelt began legal action against Northern Securities and eventually the Supreme Court ordered that the company be dissolved. Roosevelt’s radical actions angered big business and earned him the reputation of a “trust buster. Roosevelt attacked many more large corporations like railroad companies, which also were dangerously close to monopolizing their industry. He passed the Hepburn act, which greatly strengthened the ICC. This law allowed the Commission to set maximum rates, inspect a company’s books, and investigate railroads. This allowed for more widespread use of railroads because the Hepburn act regulated fairer wages for honest businessmen. Roosevelt set in motion the destruction of many trust which many argued was socialistic but benefitted the overall population of America who sought out democracy and equal rights, which large corporations stripped them of for years. America was headed in the right direction economically with the progressives at the wheel.
sources:
Boorstin, Daniel J., Brooks Mather. Kelley, and Ruth Frankel. Boorstin. A History of the United States. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
God created the first woman from one of Adam’s rib in order to give him a companion since it is not good for a man to live alone. It was also Eve who was tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit and to share it with Adam. Even before Christianity, the Greeks have written derogatory stories about women, such as the myth of Pandora who was the first woman on Earth. She was created as a punishment from Zeus to mankind when Prometheus stole fire from the heavens. Pandora left the heavens holding a forbidden box, which the gods have ordered to never be opened. However, the curious Pandora disobeyed the gods’ orders and opened the box, letting all the evils escape and spread throughout the world.
ReplyDeleteEver since ancient times, women have been considered as inferior to men. They were supposedly created from a part of a man’s body and are therefore subservient, born to attend to and belonging to men. They were also viewed as the sinners who were responsible for all the evils of the world. This mindset had caused the society to disregard the importance of women and ignore their rights as citizens, considering them lower than men. In 1870, United States of America was revolutionized when the 15th amendment allowing black men’s suffrage was ratified. But up until 1920, women were still kept out of politics. As a historically racist and segregated nation, the fact that women were even placed lower than the black slaves exposed the place of the “weaker” sex in the society.
Starting since in 1848, the women’s rights movement was striving with its first convention in Seneca Falls, New York. However, it took the government 72 years to finally accept the importance of women in the society. Pioneering women such as Alice Paul are the main catalyst for this change in the traditional mindset. In 1916, she formed the National Woman’s Party and picketed the White House to put pressure on president Wilson to accept women’s suffrage. Arrested for “blocking traffic”, she refused to pay a fine, as it would insinuate that she admits her charges, and decided to go to jail. While on a hunger strike in jail against the terrible conditions of the convicts, she was forced-fed with raw eggs poured into a tube that was shoved in her throat, which caused bleeding and immense pain. Upon her release, she became a symbol for the woman’s rights movement, proving that gender has never been a handicap preventing perseverance and bravery.
I have always been shocked that a country like the United States of America, founded on the basic ideas of equality and justice, with a government created “by the people, for the people”, would leave half of its population on the marge of the society because of their gender. Women have played a crucial role in many historical events, such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, “the little woman whose book made such a great war” (Lincoln), therefore there is no reason for women to be excluded from politics. The only logical explanation for the government’s unwillingness to ratify the nineteenth amendment allowing women’s suffrage would be that the government was directed by men, who, with their mindset that women were “lesser”, would not give up their power to a “weaker” sex. This absurd reasoning, as egoistic as it is, was for a long time a handicap to the American society because it deprived the country from a potentially brilliant and capable workforce, which is why I believe that the nineteenth amendment is the most important change of the Progressive era.
Linh Vo
Sources:
http://berkshire.mrooms2.net/mod/resource/view.php?id=13519
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/progress/suffrage/
http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/progressiveera/suffrage.html
The Progressive Era began at the beginning of the 20th century. During this era, the Progressive Party was able to make many positive changes to American culture such as women’s suffrage, the Australian ballot, and establishing referendum questions. Theodore Roosevelt and Robert Lafollette powered the Progressive party. These men made all these changes possible. Of the transformations created by these men, I believe the most important was the passing of the 19th Amendment in 1920. This Amendment gave women the right to vote. Alice Paul was “the straw that broke the jackasses back” (Gulotta Progressives PowerPoint Slide 20) and fought for women’s right to vote. This Amendment proved how far American culture and society had come. Women were getting closer and closer to becoming equal to men. This right did not come easy for women. They stood outside the White House and protested President Woodrow Wilson for their right to vote. Eventually, they got their wish and were on their way to becoming equal, that is why this was the most important change the Progressive Party made in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThe progressive period aimed to end the corruption and exploitation of the industrial work life and to clean up the politics of the United States from 1900-1920. The party included “Battling Bob” La Follette, who was known to be “The Father of the Progressive Movement” because he made many reforms that helped the movement, such as minimum wage, direct election of senators, and an open primary system. The progressive party earned many reforms during their time that changed America for the better. One of the most significant reforms that were made was the 19th Amendment, which prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based off of their gender. People believed that women’s’ only jobs were to work in the house. Women had been fighting for more rights since the 1800’s, but the Progressive Period allowed them to take control in order to gain their privileges. The Progressive Movement gave women the opportunity to change their views in society for equality. Even La Follette fought for woman suffrage because he believed it was ridiculous that women did not have the right to vote. Female reformers formed organizations such as the National American Woman Suffrage Association, under the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt, and the National Woman’s Party, under the leadership of Alice Paul. Efforts began at a local level and soon enough expanded to the national level. These organizations campaigned against President Wilson to pass a woman suffrage Constitutional Amendment and even picketed the White House in order to convince the President and Congress. They were able to accomplish their goal in time. By 1912, 9 western states, such as Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho, adopted the woman suffrage legislation. In 1917, New York adopted the woman suffrage, which made President Wilson change his view and support the amendment. The House of Representatives and then the Senate passed the 19th Amendment in 1919. Women were officially allowed to vote in 1920. The 19th Amendment is the most significant accomplishment of the Progressives because it created more equality in the nation. Woman throughout history rarely had a voice and this gave them a chance. It was a big step in the government to becoming more democratic by giving more representation to the people. The Progressive period’s goals were to end corruption in the nation, and the prejudice against woman was finally abolished.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=63with the 19th Amendment (1919)
http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/progressiveera/statuswomenprogressive.html
In the late 19th century, the United States experienced the swift industrialization, urbanization and the development of businesses. Yet, there were still many political, social and economic problems entrenched in the nation. Many reformers followed a speech by President Roosevelt, “There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil man, whether politician or businessman; every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life….”( Speech by Theodore Roosevelt, 1906), and these reformers embodied the Progressive movement.
ReplyDeleteThe Progressives had many accomplishments, whether it was to fight women’s rights or the compromise between workers and their bosses. The most important accomplishment in my opinion, however, was the introduction of income tax. Unlike some evanescent achievement, the income tax is still constitutional today and benefits the nation both politically and socially.
First ratified by Taft in the 16th Amendment, the income tax allowed the government to have the extra money so they can lower the importing tariff. Later on President Woodrow Wilson also passed the Underwood Tariff in 1913. By lowering the tariff, the act increased trade and force the big business to become more competitive in addition to stop monopoly. Although only 1 percent of the population paid the income tax, this tax had a long and permanent effect to the nation.
Today, most of the countries have income tax. It has become the most important “salary” for the government. Statistically about 31% of the US government revenues are from income tax. The government uses the money to build roads for transportation, army for safety, so eventually the money goes back to the people and benefit the society. Moreover, the income tax takes more money from the riches and less from the poor, therefore it balance the society better.
Yet, there were still some flaws in the taxations. The government cannot get corrupt from collecting the tax to using the tax. Also, the percentage of how much is taken should be precisely calculated for the best of the nation.
sources: http://artofmanliness.com/the-man-with-the-muck-rake-by-theodore-roosevelt/
DeleteThe Progressive Movement was very successful, and has four very impacting amendments to prove it. The four amendments in the Progressive Movement achieved the creation of income tax, the direct election of senators, prohibition, and women’s suffrage. Among the amendments there is one that shines brighter than the others. Amendment number nineteen is the most important amendment. Regardless of my bias as a woman, the right for woman to vote was the most significant because it required the greatest fight and had the most substantial and important impact on America.
ReplyDeleteThe words of the Constitution promise that people cannot be denied a natural right. The right to have a voice in society falls under this category of proclaimed “equality”. Equality cannot discriminate based on color nor gender, for when it does, the word is no longer appropriately used. Black suffrage was perhaps one of the hardest amendments to ratify because of the deep roots of hatred and ignorance imbedded in our society. But more shockingly, people believed that even the so-called inferior race of society had the right to vote before a single woman at all.
In Devon’s response, he argues that the gender inferiority problems date back to the story of Adam and Eve and have grown into about every culture on the planet. This social ignorance made the fight for woman’s suffrage all the more difficult and much more important than several other amendments who’s issues could have been resolved or improved and changed easily. Woman’s suffrage was a battle for a natural right for half of the entire population!
The fight began in 1848 when the first group of abolitionist activists gathered in Seneca Falls, New York to discuss woman’s rights. In attendance were Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott, two women who propelled the woman’s right movement at the start. Later in 1869, a group was created by Susan B. Anthony known as the National Woman Suffrage Association and began the direct fight for women’s right to vote. The association’s first president was Elizabeth Stanton. Woman in the association protested and were jailed through several of their efforts in the fight to achieve their right. By 1910, some states extended the right to vote for women. But it wasn’t until August of 1920 when President Roosevelt ratified the nineteenth amendment.
Women’s suffrage has greatly impacted the United States. It gives a voice to every single person, therefore giving meaning to the word equality in the constitution. Women’s suffrage fueled the movement for women’s rights in several other areas too. Women’s suffrage is also responsible for getting women involved in economy and society and break away from their traditional stereotypes. What would the world do with out woman? We have importance beyond reproduction, especially now in present day where several women have proved our importance through their successes. Women are not inferior to men, and therefore should have the same right to having a voice.
"The Fight for Women's Suffrage." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. .
- Cooke (E period)
The most significant accomplishment of the progressives was the certification and ratification of the 18th Amendment in January of 1919 and 1920. Section 1 of this amendement states, "After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited." At this moment in time our country was highly dependent on alcohol for various reasons such as recreational and medical purposes. The production and sale of alcohol provided an immense amount of jobs for citizens and had a colossal influence on our country's economy. Under these new circumstances, enforced by the 18th amendment, our country's population was banned from alcohol and for those who relied on alcohol regularly were at a substantial loss. However, this prohibition sparked the demand for alcohol at a greater level than before. Society ignored the new law and organized crime thrived. The 18th amendement backfired and had more of a negative impact rather than a positive one. Although the government's intended act of banning alcohol to better women's rights did not work positively it is still considered a significant accomplishment, as Nick states above, "Women's suffrage is undoubtedly a significant accomplishment, but if the Progressives were able to pass an amendment in which government became unable to maintain dominance and power, it is certainly a significant accomplishment for it to have been passed."
ReplyDeletehttp://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment18/amendment.html
The most significant accomplishment during the Progressive Movement (1900-1920) was the Women’s Suffrage Movement. The Women’s Suffrage Movement cleared the way for the National Women’s Party (NWP). Alice Paul led the NWP. She picketed at the White House and took other actions to persuade President Wilson, Congress, and the rest of the nation that women deserved the right to vote. The Women’s Movement was the most significant accomplishment because it resulted in the 19th amendment, which finally allowed women the right to vote. “It was the single largest extension of democratic voting rights in our nation’s history, and it was achieved peacefully, through democratic processes”(www.nwhm.org). This amendment was not passed until 1920 and was long overdue. It was an important step to show that men were not superior to women, and also as Jeanne said, it led to more countries allowing women the right to vote. The Women’s movement caused the 19th amendment, but pertained the 18th amendment as well. Women supported the prohibition movement with the slogan, “Lips that touch alcohol shall not touch ours.” Women’s suffrage did not make it so women were treated equal to men, but it gave them a voice in our government. The Women’s movement was a significant accomplishment not only for women, but for the country as a whole.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/progressiveera/suffrage.html
Tipper Higgins
The progressive era which began in the late 1800s and early 1900s was a very successful group who got things done in the US government and politics. One person who was a strong progressive and pushed for very much change was President Theodore Roosevelt. T. Roosevelt has been considered one of our country's best presidents because of the things he got done while in office. For instance, he made new public health laws like meat inspection and food labels, all brought to his attention by the muckrakers, a group of people who wrote about nothing but the truth. He also put down the 1902 coal miners strike, all of this showing how the progressive party wanted to get things done. By accomplishing so many great things in America such as income tax, prohibition, and women’s suffrage, it is difficult to say what their most significant accomplishment was. However, I believe their most significant accomplishment to be women’s suffrage. The reason in which women’s suffrage is such a great accomplishment is because prior to the 19th amendment to the US constitution when women could not vote, some of the smartest people in our country were denied the right to vote. With half of the population not being able to vote, that half of the population is not represented in Congress or anywhere in politics meaning that there is a good possibility that these people may be the ones complaining about who is in charge. Allowing women to vote then allowed them to have a say in who was representing them in the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive branches. Though all of the accomplishments of the Progressives helped stimulate social, economic, and governmental changes in the US, women’s suffrage made the most change.
ReplyDeleteThe Progressive Movement in the United States lasted from 1900 to 1920. This era was a breakthrough for the United States, bringing about several substantial changes in the country. Its main goal was to end corruption in the government and restore control of the government to the people. However, there was not one specific reform that surpassed another in terms of importance. Bob La Follette, or “Battling Bob”, was known as the father of the Progressive Movement, due to his many beneficial reforms in the government. To name a few, the use of minimum wage, the open primary system, and the direct election of senators. He also successfully enacted the Workers’ Compensation System, which is an insurance program that provides compensation to employees who suffer from job-related injuries or illnesses. Another major development established by La Follette was the 19th Amendment, or in other words, Women’s Suffrage. This amendment gave the women of the United States the well-deserved right to vote. They finally got representation in the government, and were legally no longer inferior to men. Although Bob La Follette played a major role in the success of the Progressive Movement, he was not the only hero. President Theodore Roosevelt made ample improvements to the government as well. He was an outstanding politician, and was well liked by most of the country. For example, in 1906 he got the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act passed as a result of the careless working environments demonstrated in slaughterhouses across the country. Before these acts were passed, employees would accidentally fall into grinding pits and their meat would be mixed with that of the animals. Slaughterhouses had an extremely impure system running, and the Meat Inspection Act helped to clean it up.
ReplyDeleteAll of this being said, it is not legitimate to identify one particular reform as superior to another. Every step made in the Progressive Movement helped America to become a stronger, more just country, and helped it to grow into the world power that it is today.
-Allie McErlean
The Progressive era was a time of necessary and open-minded reforms in the United States. With the progressive movement came many accomplishments including four amendments. These four amendments created the income tax, direct election of senators, prohibition, and women’s suffrage. Although each has their benefits, the legalization of women’s suffrage was the biggest accomplishment. Giving women the right to vote was one step closer to a totally free and equal United States. Until only recently, women have been viewed as secondary to men for reasons that are unknown, generation after generation since man first walked the earth.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Civil war ended, the country was going through many changes, and at this time women such as Susan Anthony an Alice Paul were pushing for women’s rights and demanding that women’s suffrage be included in the fourteenth amendment. Although the amendment did include the possibilities of black males and (white) women getting the right to vote, it was ratified. In the fifteenth amendment Black males were given the right to votes and women were still denied. How could the U.S. give voting rights to black men so quickly, after the way we treated them, yet women, who have been free forever, still were denied? This ignorance totally contradicted the countries recent push for racial equality. Finally the Bill was passed after years of movements and civil disobedience. Now that women had the right to vote, politics would forever be changed because now half the population suddenly had a say in elections. By gaining the right to vote, many women hoped it would bring along a world in which women were seen as equally capable as men, such as in the workforce. Before women’s suffrage and as the amendment began passing in various states, the amount of women in the work force skyrocketed. From 1880 and 1910, the number of women working within the United States went from 2.6 million to 7.8 million. This increase proved that women were looking to move away from the stereotypical housewife era into being equally active members of society, helping to benefit the country. This was the most important accomplishment of the progressive era because how could America claim to be a land of freedom and equality if half its population is suppressed.
The Progressive era was a very significant time period during American History. The Progressive party, led by Theodore Roosevelt, made many positive changes to America such as Australian Ballots, the creation of income tax, direct election of senators, etc. However, the reform to woman’s suffrage was the most significant accomplishment of the Progressives. Robert M. La Follette, “Battling Bob”, started the Progressive reforms in Wisconsin, and pushed for women’s rights along with other reforms. He was able to establish women compensation laws, minimum wage, women working conditions, and many more. The 19th amendment was passed on June 4, 1919, which gave the women the right to vote; before that point only four states had allowed women to vote (in 1896). Alice Paul was one of the most influential, of the progressives, in getting the 19th amendment passed. She led the “Picketing the Wilson”, which was a group that pushed for President Woodrow to pass more laws benefiting the rights of women. She was determined to make a change for women all over the world, and “the straw that broke the jackasses back” according to Mr. Gulotta. Because of Alice’s efforts, along with other progressives, women were starting to be recognized more. This movement showed that the country and culture of America had come a long way. This was essential for the development of our country, and the reason why we are where we are today. As Mr. Gulotta said, “With fifty percent geniuses not being able to have rights we’re only limiting ourselves”. In 2013 we are one of the most advanced countries, and no one is limited.
ReplyDeleteNunez
The United State's Progressive Movement started in 1900 and took place for twenty years, it's goal was to restore control of the government to people end the corruption that had sprung up during the reign of political figures such as Boss Tweed. This movement set a new standard of honesty and corrected many abuses caused by the new urban Industrialization in America. The most significant accomplishments of the Progressive Movement were the reforms regarding the election of Government members. These reforms gave American citizens an invaluable voice in their Government and ended some of the larger malfeasances regarding voting rights. The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gave the people the power to directly elect their state senators, instead of electing them through state legislature. The Australian ballot reform then allowed citizens a fair chance to vote for whomever they truly felt was the best candidate instead of being influenced by others because the Australian ballot kept the candidate you were voting for completely secret. Previously voters would have to announce the candidate they chose aloud in the voting hall, eventually the voting system graduated to paper ballots however these ballots were still color-coded by political party so it was still possible to know who people were voting for. These systems gave people like Boss Tweed the chance to influence voters and force them to vote for the candidates they was supporting. The Australian ballot eliminated this corruption because the ballots were all identical pieces of paper which gave all citizens the right to keep their choice private. Also accredited to the Progressive Movement were the Referendum Questions added to these improved ballots. The Referendum Questions gave citizens a chance to vote on proposals that would directly effect their state, these allowed the voter to become a legislative body. The Referendum Questions,the Australian ballot system, and the Seventeenth Amendment all helped the Progressive Movement take massive steps forward in achieving it's goals of ending corruption within the Government and giving more power to the people. These voting reforms helped the United States to become a more Democratic Nation as a whole and restored the balance of power between the people and the Government.
ReplyDeleteThe most significant and notable accomplishment of the Progressives was the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. This was a huge milestone in United States history as it put an end to an extremely long time period of women’s suffrage. Alice Paul, a passionate and empowered woman, was someone who made a difference during this time, spearheading many protests and demonstrations for women’s rights. She is considered a crucial component to the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, being the Chairwoman of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. She headed the picketing of former President Wilson at the White House, where along with many others, she protested until arrested. People said she was the straw that broke the “jackass’s back.”
ReplyDeleteWithout the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, women to this day would not have the right to vote, and would still be seen as inferior in our society. Women make up half of our population; so not having them be involved in government and the foundations of America would completely throw off the balance and justice we have. Giving women the right to vote and a place in American society was the most outstanding accomplishment of the Progressives during the early 1900s.
Citations:
Deletehttp://www.alicepaul.org/alicepaul.htm
Mr. Gulotta's slideshow
The Progressive era took place from the mid 1890’s to 1920. During this time many social activist movements were born along with many political reforms. The people of the progressive era were disappointed with how our country came out of the gilded age, the corruption and inefficiencies of our government, the people of the progressive movement wanted to reform everything. The most important of these reforms were the creation of the 16th, 17th, and 19th amendments. The 16th amendment allowed the government to collect income tax from those who could afford to pay it. Although only about 1% of all people at this time paid income tax the money that the government collected could improve the infrastructure and domestic issues within the United States. The 17th amendment gave the people the power with the direct election of senators. This was very important because it bypassed much of the corruption in the senate at the time, and made it so the senators would have to win over the people’s favor in order to keep representing them. Without this amendment we can only wonder what might have been passed by the senate to keep themselves in power. The 19th amendment is the most important out of all the amendments during the progressive era because it gave women the right to vote. “Women’s suffrage”, the right to vote gained through democracy, meant that for the first time in America’s history women could vote on who would be our next president. Although the amendment gave women the right to vote it was more important since women stood on the same level as men in our Democracy. Although their were many changes made by the progressives during the progressive era there is no arguing that the creation of these amendments was the most influential and important change made at the time, to argue against it infringes upon the rights of women. Who knows, we might have a women president in 2016.
ReplyDelete-Fortenbaugh
In the early 20th century, the progressive movement came to be as a response to the various political, socioeconomic issues that appeared along with the rapid industrialization and development of the US. What I consider to be the most significant accomplishment of this period is the appearance of the muckrakers. They were literally doing what Theodore Roosevelt wanted to do, as mentioned in one of his speeches (also mentioned above in Olly Liu’s comment), “There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil man, whether politician or businessman; every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life….” (Theodore Roosevelt 1906) and these “muckrakers” put an emphasis mostly on the “exposure”: putting the horrible reality to the light, while leaving the “attack” to the wise lawmakers and executors who will conduct countermeasures. One example is Sinclair Upton with “The Jungle”, in which he exposes the abuses and exploits in the meat packing industry, leading to the passage of the “Pure Food and Drug Act” and the “Meat Inspection Act”. Another is Ida Tarbell with “History of the Standard Oil Company” in which she documented cutthroat business behind Rockefeller’s rise. Furthermore, muckrakers helped calming down sensationalist journalism and shifting the US’s focus towards dealing with its own internal problems as sensationalism was one of the reasons why US went to war with Spain.
ReplyDeleteThe Progressive Movement from 1900 to 1920 was a time of meaningful reform that shaped the America we know today. Overall, progressives aimed to bring the rights back to the people, as the rich elite had been dominant in the previous years. To do this, the main goals were to stop to corruption in government and exploitation in the work force. However, I believe the most significant accomplishment of the progressives was getting women the right to vote. Belle Case La Follette and Carrie Chapman Catt were the main leaders of the women’s movement. La Follette, the first female graduate of University of Wisconsin Law School, was the perfect person to lead the movement. She was, “arguably the most important and recognized leader of the opposition to the growing dominance of corporations over the Government" (The American Radical). La Follette knew how politicians worked in Washington D.C., she worked as secretary for her husband, Robert M. La Follette, in congress for three terms. Robert La Follette, known as “fighting Bob,” was a strong opponent of trusts and bossism. He is widely known for his role in the progressive movement, but it was Belle La Follette who provided much of the intellectual sophistication behind it. Belle La Follette founded the Women’s Peace Party in 1918. While in Washington, she took every opportunity to make the case for woman suffrage. Carrie Chapman Catt was a woman’s suffrage leader who campaigned hard for the 19th amendment. Catt was the founder of both the League of Voters and the International Alliance of Women, and was president of the National Women Suffrage Association. She lead protests and demonstrations along with creating petitions and writing articles to make the women’s voice heard in the early 1900’s. Catt has been called, “the most prominent leader of her time” (Makers of a New Nation). Giving women the right to vote was the most important breakthrough of the progressive era because it brought long awaited equality to the United States.
ReplyDelete-Dylan O'Connor
Source:
Mari Jo (1994). The American Radical. New York, NY: Routledge.
Although many of the reforms enacted during the Progressive era had noteworthy impacts on the social and political structure of the United States, the enfranchisement of women under the Constitution was, by far, the most significant. Up until June 4th of 1919, about fifty percent of the entire United States population was forbidden to vote or have any say in government because they did not count as a significant voting demographic - or in other words- because they were female. Even previously enslaved black men were allowed to vote before women in the United States, and that is because sexism, unlike racism, has been prevalent and very consistent since the dawn of time. Contrastingly, the oppressors and the oppressed, within the realm of racism, have varied considerably over the years. Racial discrimination shifted from the ancient Egyptians enslaving the Jews, to Americans enslaving Africans, and a plethora of other chauvinistic acts throughout history. However, up until the early twentieth century, there was rarely ever a time in any nation’s history, when women weren’t regarded as subservient to men in one form or another. If it were not for the forward-thinking, progressive women that had the courage to begin the Women’s Suffrage movement in 1848 at Seneca Falls, and the brave young women, such as Alice Paul, that followed and continued to advocate this cause, the 19th Amendment would have never been passed during this period of great progression in American History. Now Americans can assuredly proclaim that all eligible U.S. citizens of voting age retain the right to vote and have an equal say in his or her government. This is the truly democratic society which the Progressive Movement helped propel into fruition.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, it is easy to say that the most significant accomplishment of the progressive movement is what resulted in the 19th amendment: women's suffrage. Now, the progressive movement and era was one of open-mindedness with the idea of getting common people's ideas heard in government in hopes of a brighter future. For all of history, women were inferior to men. But, the women's suffrage movement brought America up to speed and gave the other 50% of America's geniuses the rights to share their opinions about the government. Many strong women spearheaded this movement, like Alice Paul, one of the leaders of the National Women's Party. They showed that there were women out there who would endure any circumstances to get their equal rights in government and voting, and that is what they ultimately received. This was the most significant progression in the progressive movement because although many others made a large impact on America, women's right to vote proved that America was really beginning to give different people the same opportunities. America was, after all, founded on a basis of equality and this movement, and ultimately this amendment, was a huge step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the progressive movement got many reforms to be made about the rights of all citizens, not just white men. Of all these reforms, the most important was giving women the right to vote because women constitute about half of the population of this country and if the country is being run by only half of the people, then it is not really a democracy. The women's rights movement also brought some great opportunities for half of the americans at the time and created the society that we have today, where both parents can work; because of this, poverty rates in the country have considerably gone down since the beginning of the 20th century. These opportunities also gave way to great advances in technology and science, because as Mr. Gulotta always says, it gave a chance to 50% of the geniuses in america to shine in society. Thanks to the progressive movement we now have a fair and almost equal amount of opportunities for men and women in american society. "If I have an illness, I would like to be treated by the best doctor; not by the best white male doctor" Mr. Gulotta.
ReplyDelete-Escobar
The Progressive Movement, which happened from 1900 to 1920, created new era of more American people gained rights, especially for labors and women. Prior to this movement, Americans suffered from the corrupted government’s policies, called the Glided Age. Labors did not have rights to speak their voices and their working condition was harsh. Women did not have a right to vote, which means that half of the population was denied to vote. In addition, there was also a problem with the government having lack of money to lower importing tariff. As the Progressive Movement began, 4 new constitutional amendments were passed that would change America. Among many accomplishments that the progressives made, I believe that the women suffrage is the most significant accomplishment of the Progressives. As I mentioned before, prior to the 19th Amendment was ratified by the congress, women were not allowed to vote for presidential elections. Although a president was supposed to represent the whole American people, a president actually represented half of the population, which means that the president could not listen to women’s opinions. Therefore, few people created movements in the United States to put the woman suffrage in the Constitution. Alice Paul founded the National Woman’s Party. Also, under the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt, female reformers founded the National American Woman Suffrage Association. These movements started to affect at a local level and they quickly expanded to the national level. Finally, the congress passed the 19th Amendment in 1919, which states that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Women Suffrage is considered the most significant accomplishment because women could finally speak their voices in politics. This would give equality among all Americans whether that person is a male or female. It showed us that women have same rights as men have. Because of these movements, the U.S. government became more democratic and they eventually ended the corruption in this nation.
ReplyDeleteCitation used: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html
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DeleteThe progressive party was a group politicians who wished to see the United States change. These politicians saw the US government as corrupt and their main goal throughout progressive movement (1900-1920) was to restore the control of the government to the people of the United States.The most significant accomplishment of the progressive party was the abolishment of childhood labor. How could we, as a society, expect to get anywhere in terms of innovation and creativity if "our future", the children at work, were put in a factory and ordered to work for 12 hours each day? Depriving children from their right to education is repugnant. Our leaders of tomorrow, the children of today, were uneducated and were forced to do a mindless job, machinery work. The implementation of children in factories in the early 20th century was one of the more injudicious decisions in American history. With our children at work, how can we expect them to solve any of our current let alone future problems? Thanks to the progressive movement and the brilliant politicians behind it, the termination of child labor and education reforms took place. This will allow for children to be educated; which is such an important aspect of our society. With educated children, issues like women's suffrage can arise and be debated and talked about by knowledgeable people one day. It is way more important to put smart people in power so that movements like women's suffrage and the reconstruction of work environments and our government can one day take place, when that new generation of children will become our leaders of tomorrow.
ReplyDelete-Schiffer
The Progressive movement, which happened from 1900 to 1920, created the new era in which more American people gained rights, especially for laborers and women. Prior to this movement, Americans suffered from the corrupted government’s policies, called the Glided Age. Laborers did not have rights to speak for their voices and their harsh working condition. Women did not have a right to vote; almost the half of the population was denied to vote. In addition, there was also a problem with the government having lack of money to lower importing tariff. As the Progressive Movement began, 4 new amendments were passed to change America. Among many accomplishments that the progressives made, I believe that the women suffrage is the most significant accomplishment that the Progressives made. As I mentioned before, prior to the 19th Amendment ratified by the congress, women were not allowed to vote for presidential elections. Although supposed to represent the all American people, president actually represented half of the population, a result the president could not listen to women’s opinions. Therefore, few people in the United States created movements to put the woman suffrage in the Constitution. Under the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt, female reformers, the National American Woman Suffrage Association was founded. Also, the National Woman’s Party was founded by Alice Paul. These movements started to affect at a local level and then quickly expanded to the national level. Later, they claimed to President Wilson to pass the Woman suffrage in the Constitutional Amendment. Finally, the congress passed the 19th Amendment in 1919, stating that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Women Suffrage is considered the most significant accomplishment because women could finally speak their voices in politics, showing us that in America women have the same rights as men have. Because these movements eventually ended the corruption in this nation, the U.S. government became more democratic.
ReplyDeleteCitation used: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html
Ignore the previous one.
DeleteThis is the new one.
The Progressive movement was the era that began at the turn of the 20th century and lasted to around 1920. It was this movement that helped lift America out of the desolate times of the Gilded Age. During this age, a small group of men, such as Rockefeller or Carnegie, owned an incredible amount of wealth (the top 5% owned more than 90% of the wealth in the country), and through this power, were able to use congress to pass whatever they wanted. The problem with these monopolistic owners was that the commoners were brutalized with awful conditions, gruesome hours, terrible wages, and were at the mercy of these owners, amongst other things.
ReplyDeleteThe Progressive movement sought to pry the power away from these corporations, and their owners, and put it back in the hands of the people. This movement involved labor unions, and the lower wages, better hours and other beneficial conditions for the workers. However, this was not the most significant achievement by the Progressive movement. Other important changes the movement made were the secret ballot, referendum questions, and other more democratic policies. The most important accomplishment was women's suffrage, which was sworn into law when congress passed the 19th amendment, which states, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.". Although their were some political incentives behind this bill, mainly the thought that women would be much more likely to support the progressive movement and its ideals, especially if they give them the right to vote, that it would give them even more say than they already have, this was a great change nonetheless. Women suffrage is so critical because it not only gave a voice to even more people in America, now America wasn't depriving some of its population's smartest people the right to contribute to the countries welfare. For these reasons, women's suffrage was the most important goal achieved by the progressive movement.
Eloise Morrow
ReplyDeleteThe most significant accomplishment of the progressive movement was the ratification of the nineteenth amendment. This amendment permitted woman’s suffrage, or in other words gave women the right to vote. The amendment specifically stated that the United States of America could not deny any citizen the right to vote based on sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920 and obviously still stands today. This amendment, originally drafted by Susan B Anthony, was first formally introduced to the senate as the Anthony Amendment. It was extremely sexist and very undemocratic to not present women with equal rights. It was thought that woman, just because of their gender, fell short to the dominant male population. Women in this time period suffered from many other restrictions and limitations other than the right to vote. For example, some jobs were reserved for men only, but as Mr. Gulotta has eluded to many times, if you’re a hospital patient requiring medical attention you want treatment from the best doctor, not the best male doctor. This ratification was so significant because it finally gave woman a chance to add their opinion in our government and see the candidate they truly believed would do they best job be elected into office. The nineteenth amendment was also significant because it paved to way towards women achieving complete equality to males.
http://www.newsinhistory.com/feature/19th-amendment-voting-equality-women