Causes of the Progressive Era

Goal 7

Urbanization

• Caused by the Guilded Age• Immigrants coming to the USA from Eastern

Europe• Industrialization created the need for jobs• Farmers are out of work due to Bonanza Farms

(big business farms)RESULTS –

- Led to tenement houses: Disease- -JacobRiis – “How the Other Half Lives”

Urbanization

• Results (Con’t)• Lack of government response led to POLITICAL

MACHINES– Helped immigrants get on their feet (gave $)– Boss Tweed ran Tammany Hall in NYC (political

Machine)– Corruption!!!

Tenement Houses

Boss Tweed

Thomas Nast

• Brought down Boss Tweed with his cartoons

Labor Unrest

• Industrialization led to greedy factory owners• 18+ hour work days• Low Pay• Children employed• Led to the rise of UNIONS– Strikes were violent

Monopolies

• Big Business Controlled gov’t• Carnegie – Steel (Vertical Integration)• Vanderbilt – RR (Horizontal Integration); led to

creation of trusts and ultimately anti-trust laws

• Rockefeller – Standard Oil (Horizontal)• RESULTS – Politicians eventually started to

crack down