Progressive Era Through the Great Depression

¶ … Era through the Great Depression

The goal of this essay is to discuss the Progressive Era through Great Depression and for this purpose; two major events that changed the face of American history during this period would be discussed extensively. Furthermore, detailed and comprehensive light would be shed on the historical events that had been successful in changing the face of United States and its society, politics, culture and economy.

The goal of this essay is to discuss the Progressive Era through Great Depression and for this purpose; two major events that changed the face of American history during this period would be discussed extensively. Furthermore, detailed and comprehensive light would be shed on the historical events that had been successful in changing the face of United States and its society, politics, culture and economy. Furthermore, this paper would concentrate on discussing the status of women in United States and how they influenced the American culture. Other sections of the paper would concentrate on discussing the policies that influenced business, the role of Spanish American War in changing the face of America and the boom and bust of the Roaring Twenties, which was followed by the Great Depression and influenced the involvement of government in contributing towards the economy.

Historical Events in Progressive Era and Their Impact

After the end of the nineteenth century, United States of America had to deal with several problems and issues and these issues required to be solved immediately. During this time, several issues arose in the American society. For United States, it was essential to deal with economic and social issues. During the last decades of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, Progressive Era started (Sage, 2010). This era lasted till 1917, which concentrated on introducing innovative ideas and reforms, which have changed United States for good. One of the most important turning points and events in the Progressive Era was the creation of American Oil Industry as well as the establishment of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. These events occurred in 1901 and 1909 respectively.

Discovery of Oil

The main American oil industry is in Texas. Sprindletop, which is located in the Texas, had been drilled and had led to the creation of oil sector. This Sprindletop was located on the salt dome and was found on January 10, in the year 1901(Sage, 2010). The development of oil industry had a major impact on all spheres of American society. Furthermore, this industry assisted in influencing the politics and economy of America as it allowed it to become one of the primary players in the labor market. Furthermore, oil sector created jobs for millions of individuals and remains an important industry for United States.

Formation of NAACP

NAACP had been created in order to deal with racial issues that existed in the United States. The goal of NAAAP is to ensure that people of color are not discriminated on basis of their color (Sage, 2010). Furthermore, during this time, women and people of color were discriminated and were not given political, economic, educational and social equality. The formation of NAACP in the year 1909 assisted in promoting equality as well as giving human rights to people of color as well as to women. Furthermore, it also assisted in protecting the rights of minorities and women and protecting them from discrimination and fortifying the law to avert hate crimes and to promote diversity in the entire region.

Women and their Right to Vote in Progressive Era

During the Progressive Era, women in the western frontier had been successful in earning the right to vote as compared to those women who were in eastern and southern states. In America, the right to vote was given to women influenced American politics as well as the mentality. After the end of the nineteenth century, women were seen as domestic workers whose job was to raise children and doing household chores (Sage, 2010). On the other hand, men were seen as breadwinners. Western states allowed women to vote, whereas in eastern and southern states, men believed that women right to vote would increase the rate of divorce. Eastern states were also diverse in terms of population as compared to West and this also had an influence on laws regarding women's suffrage (Rodgers, 2000). However, in 1913, women in the eastern states were given the right of vote. Nineteenth Amendment was put forward, which made the right to vote as a universal right of any human being.

The Progressive Era for Business

According to Theodore Roosevelt, the industrial sector would be at risk because of the immoral actions and activities of big businesses and corporates. For this purpose, he had concentrated on penalizing and punishing those companies, who had failed to abide by the Sherman Antitrust Act. This act concentrated on tackling unethical business practices such as price fixing, interlocking directorates and price cutting (Mowry, 2001). His main target was the national railroad transportation sector, which had violated rules and regulations. For this purpose, Elkins Act of 1903 had been introduced in which shipping allowances were given to companies who had good record. However this Act failed to stop the activities of railroad organizations and large companies and therefore, the Hepburn Act was introduced in 1906. This law restricted the prices charged by the rail roads. Furthermore, Interstate Commerce Commission was given the authority to control the rates of shipping (Bruce & Nyland, 2001). Furthermore, railroad companies had to adjust their rates and give justifications for their procedures related to accounting. Furthermore, in order to prevent exploitation of employees, 8-hour duty had been assigned for all workers.

Spanish American War and United States of America

The Spanish-American War is considered to be one of the greatest wars that have changed the face of America. Historians believed that the events of the Spanish-American War allowed United States to annex territories using military. Spanish American War allowed United States of America to become a strong power and to reap benefits in terms of commerce and to improve economy (Sage, 2010). During the war, U.S. had been successful in expanding its presence in the international market and furthermore, it gained political and military power. Because of the war, America had been successful in establishing its influence in foreign territories. Political and military influence was also exerted in these territories.