The Politics of a New Industrial Order - Essay Example

Teacher Politics 28th September The Politics of a New Industrial Order Progressive reform movement was an effort to correct many flaws in the American society that rose after the industrial revolution in the late 18th century. Although the industrial revolution brought advances in technology and increased the wealth of people, but that wealth was unevenly distributed. This leads to a disparity in the society with the labor being the sufferers. To remove this imbalance, different authors wrote about dangerous the outcomes of this inequality.

There are some beliefs and motives that the progressives follow. The progressives believed that every individual is equal and no one should be treated unequally in the society so they struggled to remove corruption and influence of rich people on the society. They also aimed to increase the government-public relationship so that there will be no communication gaps between and the problems of people could be solved. (Ideas and movements, 19th Century)To carry on with their motives and beliefs the progressives used different tactics.

Many intellectuals wrote about the horrors of poverty, urban slums, dangerous factory conditions, and child labor to inform the people and get their support which was needed for the movement to succeed. The next major thing in the early reform period was abolitionism that is the force to remove slavery from the society. It also prohibited the intake of intoxicants as it pollutes the mind. After that was the struggle for the rights of women and the decreasing value of rural areas. After that it was the turn of social Darwinism to be removed from the society.

This step was taken to loosen the grip of wealthy people on the society.The movement benefitted the people by loosening the power of their bosses on them. It helped them in getting rid of the gentry. The steps to stop labor exploitation gave safer work environment to the workers and this dropped the death rate. Different acts that were passed helped the investors (Sherman Antitrust Act 1890).Apart from benefits, the movement had some drawbacks. It triggered long work hours as the economy was expanding and the labor worked for very long hours.

The next flaw was that by increasing the public-government relationship, the movement increased the chances of corruption and bribery. The movement encouraged schooling but at that time the industry had a great influence due to which the intellectual became reluctant to teach and thus the students became reluctant to study. (Shistainz)Works Cited Page“Ideas and movements, 19th Century”. u-s-history.com. United States history, n.d. Web. 28 Sep. 2011.Shistainz. “What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Progressive era?”. answers.yahoo.com.

Yahoo Answers, 2006. Web. 28 Sep. 2011.