The Progressive Era was one of the most important years in United States History because of the amount of reforms passed. Muckrakers exposed the corruption and the conditions consumer goods were produced, also since the working Working Class and the Rich Class were drifting away in the standard of living, it was clearly noticeable that the slums were an ugly place. The Progressive Era changed how we live today, the reforms passed during that era has made public health better and also how much we pay for goods.
Consumer Goods may seem like an irrational reason to have a reform, but during the 1900’s, people realized that the meat that most people ate came from places that were very unsanitary. This was discovered after Upton Sinclair published…
Overpopulation started to become a problem in very big cities like New York City and Philadelphia. In New York City, many people were crammed in a one room apartment called tenements. The owners of the buildings charged high rent for small rooms which gave them a very large profit. Also the rooms were usually dark without any bathrooms usually. Since New York face this problem the most, they passed the New York State Tenement Act which increased the quality and size of the buildings, the law banned the construction of dark, small apartments. In districts where poverty was present, there were buildings called settlement houses for immigrants (women and children). Immigrants usually had issues adjusting to the American life, the language was different, jobs were harder to get, nativism still existed, and crime was high where most immigrants lived. Settlement Houses were present so that immigrants could adjust to the American Lifestyle. Settlement Houses provided beneficial activities for women and children. Although settlement house were privately owned, they helped immigrants assimilate to the American lifestyle. Today, things are a little bit different, the slums that immigrants and other poor people lived in Manhattan are now developed districts filled with commerce. There are still districts in many parts of the city where apartments exist and the law is still in effect. Some apartment buildings now have…