Question

What were the causes of the Progressive era

Answer 1

well, during the Progressive Era, many (most prominent were the 3 Progressive Presidents: Roosevelt, Taft and Wilson).

It was mostly caused by the lack of attention to the care of how the US was, because before the US was being "imperialistic" (even though it was trying to help the other countries, such as Guam, Philippines, Hawaii, etc.

So, it started with the muckrakers who wrote about the misfortunes of America. The most important ones were Upton Sinclair and Jacob Riis. They wrote about how the horrible conditions of factories needed to be fixed in order to better America.

Big event that helped spark the Progressive Movement was the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire. The bosses locked the doors so that no women could get out and have unnecessary breaks. The 8th floor caught on fire, and the fire spread, many jumped out the windows to escape. About 146 died that day.

Uh, what else, the food industry was most importantly affected, and caused the movement. For example, muckrakers such as Sinclair and Riis wrote about how children as young as 4 were working in dangerous conditions, some boys working in coal factories were pulled into the machines and killed, some were killed in meat packing factories and packed in with the other meat.

A great awakening for Roosevelt was a book called "The Jungle" written by Sinclair, and Roosevelt wanted to better it, which he did by putting stricter laws in about working conditions and inspection.