The Industrial Age influenced many new progressive reformers to stand up and make a change to the ravaged society. Before the time of industrialization, manufacturing was mainly accomplished in homes, using hand tools and basic machines, because of the lack of efficiency that was faced with individual manufacturing, it was imperative that the United States switch to something what would allow others to manufacture at mass production, quickly and efficiently. Industrialization marked a point in which the United States switched from basic machines and hand tools to powered machinery, and factories. Although industrialization brought more manufactured goods, and improved the standard of living for the upper class, in its down fall it resulted in terrible working conditions and poverty for the working class. With the decrease in standard living for the working class and the impoverished, many took a stand to change the way society had been living. At this same time, many immigrants started coming from the Eastern and Western countries in Europe. These immigrants caused the United States to struggle with overcrowding, which led to poor living and working conditions. This all led to a huge downward spiral, this caused a mass poverty and this was common among many because the wages were low and many didn’t have the education to be integrated into the society. This started the progressive movement in which many stepped forward to reform the common vices among the society in the industrial age. Through this paper I am going to focus on the effects the high rate of poverty. The Progressive Era Reformers such as Jane Addams and Jacob Riis used different ways to try to solve the problems of poverty during the Progressive Era.
After the industrial age, rapid industrialization made streets way too crowded and created mass poverty around the world. Before industrialization, the main way of manufacturing was done in the home at a small scale. With the huge change the US wasn’t able to function in a way that was appropriate for the country. This really left everyone devastated and needed time to become accustomed to the new way the world worked. The working class was extemely devastated by the problems that came with industrial changes. In the article “The Communist Manifesto” written by Karl Marx, he talks about how the working class “has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, and new forms of struggle in a place of the old ones.” This article shows the struggles that were felt after the industrial age. One may argue that the industrial age brought about new innovations that helped everyone in society, but it is clear to see that many still struggled after these innovations were brought.
Poverty became a huge issue because many families started to suffer and children were forced to work for the family. Many people were struggling and this caused health problems because working conditions were terrible and health conditions were absurd. We needed more reformers like Jane Addams who felt that “nothing could be worse than the fear that one had given up too soon, and left one unexpended effort that might have saved the world.” She said this when she was opening The Hull House, this was a settlement house that helped the poor. This is significant because this shows that she was determine and would never give up if she was nervous for the outcome or feared that it would never happen. She had so much faith in herself and humanity that they would be able to save the world.
Jane Addams was a progressive reformer at the time of the progressive era. Jane Addams’ biggest impact on society is The Hull House, located in Chicago, IL. Jane’s interest in poverty first travelled to England with her two college friends. She was shown the poverty that was scattered all around England. While in England, she had found Toynbee Hall, which was a settlement house used students from Oxford and Cambridge to teach the impoverished working man. Once she arrived back in Chicago, she and her friend decided that they wanted to build and create a settlement house for the streets of Chicago. She thought that settlements would help the country best acclimate to the struggling reality. The settlements were designed to help teach the poor and make them more assimilated into the United States society. She truly wanted to help those engulfed by the poverty taking over their lives. To tackle the huge obstacle of poverty. Her goal was to educate the men and women suffering in poverty, and help them gain the knowledge they needed to obtain a livable wage. Under Addams instruction, the Hull House gave important services to many in poverty weekly. Addams also served as president of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections, she was the first woman to hold that position, and became an activist for women’s suffrage in the National American Women’s Suffrage Association. She also helped found of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In The Subjective Necessity for Social Settlements, Jane Addams discussed the fact that America had “a fast-growing number of cultivated young people who have no recognized outlet for their active faculties,” this is one main reason that the settlement was so important to Addams and society as a whole because she felt like it would give people suffering in poverty the opportunity to reach their full potential. Addams’ concept of settlement houses is something that helped many slip out of poverty and would be an important facility to implement into the United States now. She created a place for those to be educated and to have purpose in life. With teaching others to express their thoughts in an educational setting she was able to help stop poverty on a bigger scale while teaching the immigrants to conform to the American ideals. Not only did she help set an important stage for those who fought for women's suffrage and racial equality she was able to help stop the steady incline of people falling into poverty.
Jacob Riis social reformer, muckrucker, journalist and social documentary photographer. Through his photos he wanted to expose the social vices of the time. He used his talent and his opportunity to have a flash camera at the time, to expose the poor living conditions and working conditions of the those suffering by poverty. While working as a police reporter for the New York Tribune, he published many exposés on the terrible conditions of Manhattan, which led him utilize photography as a way of showing the need for reform for those suffering in poverty. In a photo titled “Dens of death,” he captured the real destruction that was left after the industrial age. The houses were left ravaged because they were overcrowded and many either work too much to fix them or didn’t have enough money, likely both. In another photo “The single typhus lodger in Eldridge St,” we are shown a dying person. He likely caught typhus because of the poor working and living conditions, because of the poverty at the time he could not receive treatment. He was worked to death. The most powerful impact that Jacob Riis has was the thought of exposing “how the other half lives.” In a world where industrialization, economic wealth, and the desire for material progress took over the American social life, Riis exposed the effects of this lifestyle. The impact Riis made was that he brought attention to the other side of obtaining material progress in America at the time. Legislative change, his impact is not as broadly seen, but as a voice of the Progressivist movement in America, he took charge and brought attention to the importance of those being abused by the industrialization.
Jane Addams and Jacob Riis were both disgusted by the terrible things those suffering by poverty had to deal with. They both tried in different ways to change the way the poor were being treated. Jane Addams tried to fix the problem of poverty by taking a more active approach and making a safe place that would help stop poverty. Jacob Riis tired to expose the effects and suffering of the people in poverty. He used this through the best way he could by taking photos of the real life experiences that they struggled with. Jacob Riis’ lasting effects were impactful because it brought attention to the other side, those being hurt by the lavish lifestyle of those abusing the workers.
In conclusion, after the industrialization many struggled because of the lack of space and lack of safe working and living conditions. Many immigrants were immigrating which helped lead to the overcrowding and the low income rates. Jane Addams chose to reform by creating places for those in poverty to express creativity and also learn to thrive. While Jacob Riis decided to expose the vices involved in the lifestyle of those suffering in poverty. Both of these progressive reformers helped change poverty during this era, but in different ways.