Progressives Day 1

Today in class we will be looking at how Progressives use government to attempt reforms in society, with some success! There are some resources you will need to accesss here:

1) Link to survey (as discussed in class)
2) Link to assignment for class (printable version)

Valentine's day is just a month away....do you recognize these people?

Assignment guidelines:

Progressive Era Presentations: Then and Now!

Our discussion of the Populist movement revealed that many of the issues prevalent in the Gilded Age continue to be topics of discussion and debate today: the gap between rich and poor, a feeling of distrust for banks and government, the use of religion and race to divide the public. During the early 20^th century, reformers such as the Populists and Progressives worked to improve many of these problems. Do we still have such reformers today? This project will explore how things have changed and how they have stayed the same!

You and a partner will need to prepare a presentation that reviews one of the following topics. You will create a brief online presentation (using Prezi or Google Docs) to share this information with your class mates. Due date is the beginning of next class. You will need to email me the link to your presentation before then OR post it in the comments!!

Topics:

□    Corruption in cities, i.e. political bosses and machines

□    Corruption in state politics

□    Corruption in national politics

□    Environmental issues

□    Labor issues

□    Moral vices, i.e. prostitution, drinking, and breakdown of families

□    Women’s rights

□    Monopolies and trusts

□    Food safety

□    Economic depression, i.e. unemployment, tariff, money supply

□    African-American civil rights

Presentation requirements—for your topic you will need to:

1. Explain what the problem was.
2. Share how we know about the problem—who were muckrakers that revealed information about the problem? Do we have photos or statistical evidence? This is a good area to make your presentation more visually interesting by including graphics or  quotes
3. Acknowledge important leaders or organizations in this movement
4. Explain how Progressives responded to these problems (including specific legislation that was passed)
5. Evaluate the success of Progressives at solving this problem. Did they?
6. Reflect how this issue remains a concern of Americans today. You will need to briefly summarize the current situation. What are some similarities or differences? (See me if you need some help brainstorming!)
7. A works cited list explaining where you found your information.