Chapter 21

This section also talks about immigrants and how cities are being popular. More than half the populations lived in cities and were often crowded. The city was over populated and unhealthful. What shocked me was during this era the native born middle class increased. In this era African Americans had migrated to southern cities where they were governed by the Jim Crow law. African Americans were treated with no respect; they were treated separately from the Whites. The Northern African Americans their situation were slightly better. Real wages rose in the economy but people still couldn't support their family. However workers wanted to be treated better and finally decided to form union groups. They wanted to improve working conditions and increase pay roll. Progressivism became really popular it urged a diverse collection of reform activities, some emphasizing social and economic justice. Others focused on reforming the government structure and restricting immigration. Citizens wanted the government to oversee economic enterprises because businesses were getting out of control. Some progressives focused on problems such as child labor, and improve industrial safety, and corporate regulation (good things to be focused on especially in today's society) However others emphasized on personal behavior and morality. Also during this era women movements was pushing through. This era I believed to be an era of progress and open many doors for citizens to improve their life style. It was an era of change and to push the barriers that the government was trying to build. Very interesting and exciting to read!